Girl Desecrated 1984: Vampires, Asylums and Highlanders, page 28
A door clicked from the direction of her gaze. Somebody was still in the house.
A sudden concern for my safety alighted in my thoughts. Two men had died in this house, and though I was sure Magda and her clan had removed Lennox and Angus’ bodies, I could pay the price for the evidence left behind.
Scarlett could take care of the cops, but now that I was a fiend, there were worse forms of justice, like staking. Scarlett deserved it, but it would be into my soft flesh that Magda and her Scottish groupies would drive their sharp wooden spears.
A floorboard creaked, I fluttered an S.O.S. to Scarlett, and then a man staggered out of the bathroom. He was wiping his face with a towel, as he walked forward, oblivious of the threat watching him. His bangs draped over his hands as he scrubbed at his face. His body was naked above his jeans, and Scarlett ran her hot glance over the six-pack beneath his elbows. I knew that body, intimately. But then again, so did She.
Scarlett drawled in her Southern accent, “Forgive me for not making my presence known sooner, Mr. McNab.”
Angus ripped the towel away from his face. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open as he stared at Scarlett sitting there in my black satin skirt, curling up her blood red lips.
His square chin was shaven, and I swear it quivered.
He knew who he was talking to. He knew I was gone, replaced by the she-bitch he had released as part of his family “destiny”. I should have hated him for what he had done to me, but seeing him standing there set angels singing in my heart to the tune of a momentous truth: My Highlander was still alive!
I waited for Angus to ask about me or ask for forgiveness, but he stood silent.
Scarlett’s laugh came out like a triumphant purr. She uncrossed her legs and stood up, the movement as smooth as velvet. His green eyes narrowed, as she sashayed toward him.
The shadows under his cheekbones grew darker as if being near to Scarlett was increasing the gaunt look in his face.
“Aren’t you going to offer a lady a drink?”
Scarlett’s taunting glance dropped to his neck where a sloppy bandage rolled away from his ravaged skin. The fact she had driven my teeth into his flesh lent a sinister undertone to her question.
The spicy scent of fear drifted off him like a dark tide promising treasures in the deep. Scarlett pretended to look around.
“Now where ‘o’ where are all of your friends?” she whispered.
Silence was his only answer. His fists clutched the towel like a lifeline. His hard breathing pushed his pecs up to glisten with sweat under the light.
Scarlett stepped closer. Angus stepped back, bracing himself against the wall. She stretched out her hand to touch his bare skin, but Angus sucked his stomach in, pulling himself as flat as he could against the paneling. He even turned his head to the side.
Scarlett paused, leaving her hand in the air between them. It was a delicious hesitation, even I could appreciate.
“Don’t tell me they abandoned you here?”
Angus squeezed his eyes shut. A shudder skittered over his belly. Scarlett sensed it. She was feeding on his reactions, delicacies to her palate. She licked the succulent aftertaste of his alarm off my lips.
I was sorry Magda, his own cousin, had left him for dead.
Scarlett echoed my sentiments. “My, my, what a fickle family you have, Angus.”
Family was everything to the Highlander. Hell, he’d been willing to sacrifice me to pay his family’s debt. Her insult hit a nerve.
His head spun to face her. His chin came up, jutting out below his grim mouth. “Leave.”
C’mon Angus, I silently cheered him on. Let’s see the ox in action.
He pushed off from the wall and walked away from her. She didn’t stop him. He disappeared into the bedroom.
Scarlett feigned indignation, pretending to fan herself, “Well, I never!”
“Ye ne’er what?” Angus came charging out of the room taking Scarlett by surprise. Wrapping his hand around her throat, he pulled my face right up to his. “What did ye ne’er dae? Ne’er hurt? Ne’er ruin?”
He was growling through his teeth with a reckless fury that made me worry for my body’s safety.
Scarlett freed me as effortlessly as blowing dandelion fluff into the air. I floated up into my rightful place, face-to-face with my lover, the man who had destroyed my life and who was now trying to take it.
CHAPTER 35: DUTY IS THE DAGGER
~
“Angus?” My voice squeaked past the strangling hold he had on my larynx.
I gently wrapped my fingers around his wrist, imploring him with my eyes to let go.
At my touch, he became still. Then he yanked his hand from my throat as if burned, and gave me a searching look. Conflicting emotions flickered across his face.
With a slow, disbelieving shake of his head, he asked, “Is it truly ye, Kit?”
At the sound of his pet name for me, grief stabbed at my chest. His hands were callused and dry as they cupped either side of my face.
“Kit?”
“It’s… I’m me.”
The intensity of his gaze slayed me. I turned my face into his hand.
“Ach!”
He pulled me into his arms. My skin tingled with warmth, and a sense of giddiness made me want to laugh aloud and cry, all at the same time.
Angus stroked my hair, and even though I wasn’t uttering a sound, he murmured, “Shhhhhh”.
I pressed into his body, clutching at his back, wishing I could stay forever in his arms. It was a foolish wish, because Scarlett was still inside, snickering as she eavesdropped on our moment.
Angus’ legs began to shake, his knees banging against mine. “Och lassie, I have tae sit down.”
Pulling his arm over my shoulders, I helped him stagger to the couch, and sat gingerly beside him.
Angus leaned his head back and closed his eyes. His dark reddish hair stood out in stark contrast to his skin, which had paled to a sickly grey.
“Are you going to be okay?” I asked.
“Ah’ll be fine.”
He gave me a sidelong glance without lifting his head.
He won’t be fine, Scarlett whispered into my guts.
I jumped, startled by Scarlett’s intrusion.
“It’s ye Ah’m worried about.”
To avoid Angus’ concerned gaze, I leaned forward and gingerly lifted a corner of the bandage away from his neck. His skin was red around the jagged edges of the slash, a slash made with my teeth. I averted my gaze and rubbed my nose.
“I’m so sorry, Angus!” My voice cracked on his name.
“None o’that,” he admonished, sitting up and taking both of my hands in his. “We had a role tae play. We didna have a choice.”
“We always have a choice.”
He cursed under his breath. “We’re back tae that, are we?”
Unbidden, Magda’s explanation of Angus’ actions came to my mind.
I slowly pulled my hands from his.
He sighed and stared off into the dark hallway.
I stared down the hall thinking something was there, but I guess it was only his past, because then he said, “Ah’m Angus McNab of the clan McNab, and Ah was born tae a burden that comes with mah birthright.”
I knew if he could, he would have spoken his name with pride, standing on his feet like a man.
“Yoo’re …” He searched for a word.
I ground my teeth together, waiting.
“The Fergus She cursed mah family hundreds of years ago.”
“Angus, why am I paying the price for your family’s curse?”
His eyebrows drew together, creasing the skin at the bridge of his nose. “Who lass, do ye think the She is?”
Scarlett snorted, and I pressed her down with a warning.
I poked my chest with my fingers. “She’s not me, Angus!”
He licked his lips which were no longer soft and full, no longer lips to make a woman swoon.
“Don’t confuse us! She is not me.”
“Yoo’re bound tae carry her. Ah’m bound tae raise her.” He blew out a noisy breath. “Nae matter how far she goes, nae matter what year she lives in, the McNabs must follow.”
I was shaking my head, denying what he was about to say.
“But yoo’re the woman. Yoo’re the line!”
“No…”
He spread his hands out in a helpless gesture. “Ye cannae deny yer birthright.”
“No…” My voice trembled. “No, this is a mistake. She’s just some demon bitch who hooked herself into me because I … did something…”
He tilted his head down, looking at me with sorrowful eyes.
“I kin yer life has nae been easy. We’re beholden tae kindle the demon.”
“How?”
His green eyes darted to the bedroom and back to me, guilt making them lighten.
I pointed at the bedroom where we had come together. “That’s what you call it… kindling?”
I stood up and walked across the living room, pretending to stare out the window at the street. “Where I come from, we call it sex and usually it means two people like each other.”
The couch springs creaked and his footsteps approached me. A warm hand brushed my shoulder. “I dae like ye.”
My anger made my face ugly, as I spun, “Is this what you do to people you like?”
He let go of my arm and ran his hand through his hair. The movement reminded me of our first night together, at the Albion.
“Why couldn’t you just… not do it Angus? Why couldn’t you just let me be?”
“Duty”. The word came out like a slap.
“You ruined my life, because of duty?”
He stared at me in silence.
My arms were trembling with the desire to punch him in the face. “So don’t do your duty! Did that thought ever occur to you?”
“Aye, it did.” His eyes darkened with his own storm of emotions. “It occurred tae me after Ah met ye.”
He reached out to me and I stepped back, banging against the window ledge.
“Ah thought when Ah arrived, yoo’d ken who Ah was. Yoo’d ken what had tae be done. But…ye were ignorant.” He frowned and shook his head. “Ah didna kin it. Ah had been told from the time Ah was a wee lad, what mah role would be.”
“And Magda, did she know from birth she was going to be a deceiving bitch-friend?”
“Things changed. It used tae be one McNab could dae the job.” He winced as he realized how that sounded. “We track yer line. Magda was placed in yer life long before the calling came.”
Every word he spoke put a nail in the coffin Magda had started building. Ironic that he was the one I had started trusting. How foolish I had been. My life had taught me that hope and love were not options. I should never have wanted or believed I could have more.
You will always have me, dah-lin’ Scarlett’s sarcasm licked at my entrails.
The familiar lure of suicide pulled at the back of my head, where a burning had started up.
“Ah didna expect a woman like ye.” He took my hand in his. “An independent, wounded lass, prickling with pride and aching tae be loved.”
I blinked away the tears his words drew from me, not wanting him to know how his words affected me.
“After Ah saw ye struggling, Ah realized ye have been fighting her all yer life.”
He gave me a tight smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“Never in the stories had Ah heard of sech a thing—ye holdin’ off the She. It was then Ah decided, Ah wasn’t going tae see ye again, Lass. Not after ye left the restaurant with Lennox.”
The image of Angus pounding Lennox into a bloody pulp came unbidden to my mind. I pulled my hands away from his hot grip.
“Lennox…”
Angus held up his hand to silence me, and I flinched.
“Lennox.” The name caught in his throat. “He was willing tae risk his life tae warn ye.”
My chin quivered. “And you killed him for it.”
He stepped away from me, hammering his fist into his hand. “Aye! Once things got out of control, Ah couldn’t stop. The same as ye couldn’t stop!”
Shame burned my face, for he was right. I hadn’t stopped, even after Lennox was cooling on the floor, I had opened my body to Angus.
I wiped roughly at the snot running over my lip.
Angus turned back to me, regret etched in the lines of his face. He needed my forgiveness. But I couldn’t give it.
“Rachel, Ah was going tae avoid ye, end the curse,” he pleaded with me to believe him. “Free my family…even if it meant Ah had tae die.”
A tear cut loose from his lash and slid over his cheekbone.
All I could muster was a whisper. “Then why are we here?”
A sheen of sweat shone on his face, the dark circles under his eyes becoming more prominent as he paled.
I set my jaw against pity and took a step towards him. “Why? If you were going to end it, why didn’t you?”
He held my gaze as I recalled it hadn’t really been him who’d sought me out. Magda had invited me to Angus’ house. He had been here, in his bed, half-unconscious, and I’d come to him because she had encouraged me to.
It all became clear.
Magda had betrayed us both.
“It was her,” my voice rose. “She did this!”
“She’s been trained fer this, lass.”
I was shaking my head, my rage building a fire under Scarlett.
“That hellacious...” I stuttered for a word bad enough, “…skank!”
“Nae…”
His expression was pained, and I know he wanted me to understand. But, I needed someone else to blame. Someone other than him. Someone other than me.
“She got in my life.” I threw up my hands. “She pretended to be my friend!”
“It was her job.”
“Her job?” The rage boiled out of my mouth. “Her JOB?”
“You Scottish bastards ruined my life!”
He grimaced as if in pain, and staggered back to lean against the wall.
Scarlett trilled like a madwoman inside me.
I positioned myself in front of him, poking my finger into his space. “You screwed me over Angus…” I wanted to hit him. “You fix it!”
He rubbed his big hand over his face.
“It cannae be undone”.
It
Cannot
Be
Undone
Each word drove me further into outrage.
His heart is faltering, Scarlett whispered from behind my spleen.
“I don’t care!” I hollered at the voice Angus couldn’t hear. “He didn’t care about me!”
Angus groaned, and staggered to the couch, half-falling off the cushion. He was panting with the effort of pulling himself into a sitting position.
Rachel, can you feel him fading?
Scarlett wasn’t snickering anymore.
I ignored her and moved away from Angus. Leaning against the far wall, I slid down into a squat on the floor. I needed time to think, time to sort all of this out.
Angus had a strong heart. I knew how strong his heart was for his muscled flesh had imprinted on my mind when we had come together. He was so alive and so powerful, the perfect man to carry out such an important deed. I had watched him standing naked, beating Lennox to death with his bare hands, like a gladiator.
There is no time.
No, not a gladiator. Angus was the kind of man who became King. The kind of man who put duty before love, and love before life. The kind of man who would die before bringing dishonour upon his family. The kind of man you never want to fall in love with. The kind of man who would always leave you wanting.
I lifted my head and looked at him. He was leaning forward, his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands. A shock of his hair fell forward partially covering his fingers.
My new-found Scarlett skills kicked in as I stared at him. A light flickered around the outside of his body, tracing to create an opaque outline that shimmered, as if threatening to go out at any moment.
His shoulders slumped and he tipped forward. I thought he was going to fall off the couch, but he spread his feet farther apart to steady himself.
Come to me, Scarlett called. Give yourself up to me, willingly, and I will save him.
Angus coughed, once. A dry, hacking sound.
I tried to harden myself against Angus, willing the ache in my chest to stop. I could let him die. Pay him back for what he did to me. Try to keep Scarlett down, and go back to my life as if none of this had ever happened.
He leaned against the back of the couch, then tipped to the side to lie with his legs hanging down.
Big man brought down, I thought, trying to harden my feelings.
Come to me or he’ll die.
From where I crouched on the floor, I couldn’t tell if he was still conscious.
His arm slipped to hang down from the couch, his lax fingers pointing at the floor. The light coming from the window cast shadows along the muscles of his arm. I knew this pose. I’d touched this flesh. I loved this man.
Angus’ was like Adam in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel painting, resting as he had been in my dream. The image had adorned the first pages of my mother’s Bible and often when I was locked up and ordered to read the scriptures, I would stare at the picture, memorizing the curves and dips of the muscular limbs.
Angus’ hand pointed to the floor just as Adam’s had stretched out for God’s touch.
I blew hot air out of my nose in disgust.
It was useless. The ache in my chest bloomed into life as I failed to supress my emotions. Angus had ruined me, in more ways than one. I moved to his side, as I made my decision.
Leaning close to Angus’ ear, I inhaled the scent of forest trees and man musk.
“You did this, you bastard.”
He didn’t move, didn’t make a sound.
“You did this, and now you better come find me and reverse it.”
Scarlett squealed in delight.
“Hear me?” I yelled, punching his shoulder hard. “You… fix… this!”
