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ChapterTwenty-Six
The smack isloud and shocking. Dugald rolls with the hit but bloody spit flies from his mouth. He puts his hand on his jaw, rubbing where Duncan struck him. For a moment I think this will be okay.
Dugald moves his jaw back and forth and there is an audible popping sound as it snaps back into place. He stares at Duncan, who still has his fists raised, ready to fight.
“Boys,” I say, stepping forward but the sound of my voice breaks the moment.
Dugald’s fist flies so fast it’s a blur, striking Duncan, who stumbles back and away from the mirror portal. Dugald doesn’t hold back, rushing into Duncan with his shoulder low. He drives into Duncan’s gut and lifts him off his feet. He runs forward and slams Duncan against the wall.
“Stop!” I scream, but either they don’t hear me in their rage, or they don’t care.
“I’ll show you,” Duncan growls as his fists fly too.
The two of them exchange rapid blows, some to the body, some to the face. They seem intent on beating one another senseless. My mom and I yell, trying to stop this craziness, but it’s not working.
“You don’t deserve her,” Dugald says.
“Ach, but she chose me, didn’t she?” Duncan says. “How can a Fae satisfy a woman’s needs. That takes a man.”
Duncan’s words enrage Dugald, who attacks with a new ferocity. I pause, unable to intervene without risking hurting one of them. I knew Dugald was jealous, but Duncan hasn’t been. I didn’t think they’d come to blows, especially now. Still, I must be a fool to not have seen this coming.
“No,” I shout. “Stop.”
They’re circling each other, feinting, and looking for any opening. If nothing else, it’s clear that this has been building between the two of them for a long time and it’s not going to be over for them until one or the other is on the ground in submission.
Desperate to stop them, I do the only thing I can think of. I run between them. As I do, by bad luck or stupid fate I don’t know, they both throw a punch. I try to dodge but misjudge. I see in their faces the surprise and they try to stop their fists, but my timing is the absolute worst. They pull the punches back best they can but it’s not going to be in time.
Instinctively I manage to throw up a barrier of magic and their fists slam into it. I feel the impact, but it doesn’t hurt. It’s clear, though, that they don’t know they didn’t hit me and the look on their faces is priceless.
“Quinn!” they yell as one, both forgetting the other and rushing to my side.
“Are you two quite done?” I ask.
I put my hand on each of their shoulders. My fingers tingle at the contact and I’m acutely aware of both men’s presence, their being, I don’t know, them. It’s a sense that’s hard to define but I feel their love and their devotion to me.
They fought because of me. They both want to be the only one in my eyes, but they both know in their hearts that I care for them both. I know, recalling our past lives now, that jealousy is always a part of it and has more than once been the downfall of the three of us.
“Quinn, I am sorry,” Dugald says.
“Ach, I am too, my love,” Duncan says. He looks over at the mirror. “But I cannae stand by and let my Clan be slaughtered.”
“I know,” I say, and I also know the words he’s not saying. That he, in some part of his primal man brain feels he must prove his dominance over Dugald. “But we’ll be smart. We can’t charge in headlong without a plan.”
Duncan nods. He takes a deep breath, then looks at Dugald.
“I apologize,” he says. “I’ll be needing you at my side and we cannae let our personal differences stand in the way of doing what must be done.”
Dugald stares at him for one too many heartbeats without answering. My nerves tingle as he stretches the moment and even I’m not sure what he’s thinking. Then, at long last, he nods and offers his hand.
“I too apologize, MacGregor,” he says.
They shake hands and the sense of relief that rushes over is welcome. Now all we have to do is defeat the darkness and find our happily ever after. Which will mean navigating the relationship between the three of us. Somehow. That, though, is a future me problem.
“The castle will not hold long,” Mom says.
She’s standing by the mirror, having discreetly removed herself from the interpersonal drama between the three of us.
“The castle is not the problem,” Dugald says.
