CHAPTER 10
Payton raced behind his brother, both of them flying along the wind-buffeted road on their motorcycles. Sean took a turn so low his knee almost touched the ground. Payton accelerated and followed suit. They’d been on the road together since the break of dawn, but they hadn’t spoken a single word. Payton had almost caught up with Sean. When he reached him, he pulled up his handlebars and zoomed past him on his back wheel. Then he turned into a parking lot and stopped.
Sean pulled in and got off his bike. “Not bad. If you practice another hundred years, you might get as good as me.” He patted his little brother on the back.
“And in another hundred years, you might finally notice that I’ve been letting you win.”
The brothers were very competitive; it seemed every ride they did together ended up as a race. But there was no more time for that—it was almost noon, and Payton had quite a lot to discuss with Sean.
“So what’s so important that Nathaira has called the whole clan together?”
“Something strange happened,” said Sean. He paused. He seemed to be having a hard time putting itinto words. “I was hoping to annoy Blair. He was polishing his Bentley, and I thought a little gravel shower would do the trick. Unfortunately, my stupid prank backfired on me. I slipped and landed under the bike.”
Payton lifted an eyebrow. “As I said, I let you win. You really are a pathetic driver.”
“No, seriously. When I fell off, I actually got hurt. I felt pain. Terrible pain.”
Payton paled. “Pain?”
“Yes! Ask Blair. He thought it was so funny he nearly fell over laughing. Don’t you think that’s strange, too?”
“That is strange. I wonder if this is all connected.” Payton rubbed his forehead.
Sean watched his brother briefly. “If what is all connected?”
“Everything. I think everything is connected.”
“Really, Payton. Could you please be a bit more precise? I have no bloody idea what you’re talking about.”
“I’d better start at the beginning.” He leaned against his bike. “I was driving along one evening, and I saw this girl next to the road. I suddenly felt incredible pain. Pain so bad I couldn’t even see. I rammed straight into her suitcase. Thank God I didn’t kill her.”
Tensely, Sean urged his brother to go on. “Well, what happened then?”
“Then, boom, I see her again, not even a week later. It was raining, she missed her bus, and she needed help. I almost rode past her, but then my curiosity got the better of me. I gave her a ride to Aviemore, and the whole time I thought I was going to die any minute. When she touched me, it felt as if I were burning.”
Sean was paying very close attention.
“Since then, I’ve been following her. At a certain distance, the pain is bearable, but the closer I get to her, the worse it gets.”
“What do you mean, the closer you get to her?” Sean asked. “How close have you been?”
It was clear from Sean’s voice that he was not at all pleased, but Payton couldn’t do anything about that at this point. His words tumbled out.
“I talked to her. Then we took a walk, and the next time we spent a whole day together. I’m supposed to see her again tomorrow. She’s beautiful, and kind, and… well, it’s hard to explain. I feel like I need her. I even need the pain! I haven’t felt anything in so long that I now crave pain. I need to find out what is going on, why I react to her that way. I think it must have to do with the resemblance she has to—”
“Wait, what resemblance?” Sean still didn’t quite seem to understand what his brother was talking about, but he couldn’t miss the passion in Payton’s voice.
“This sounds crazy, but when I first saw her, I thought one of the Cameron women was standing in front of me.”
Now it was Sean’s turn to go pale.
“Payton, for God’s sake! Why didn’t you tell me any of this earlier? She’s a Cameron? Do you think this has anything to do with the curse?”
Payton felt cornered, but since when was it up to Sean who he spent time with?
“Sguir!” He warned his brother to stop.
As often happened when they fought, they had switched to Gaelic.
“I am to stop?” countered Sean. “With what? You are the one who needs to stop seeing that girl. It is far too dangerous.”
“You can’t tell me what to do. Pog mo thon!” Payton turned and stormed off, onto a footpath that led away from the parking lot, out into a park along the cliffs.
“No, I will not kiss your arse,” Sean yelled before running after him. “And what do you think Cathal will say to this?” He tried to calm himself down, knowing that otherwise Payton would end the conversation for good.
“It’s not up to Cathal, either,” Payton said, slowing.
“But what about Blair? You swore an oath to him. And Blair will, as always, be of the same opinion as Cathal.”
Rotten wooden planks led up to a scenic viewing area. Payton leaned his back against the fence, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “We don’t have to tell them.”
Sean didn’t say a word for several minutes.
“All right, then,” he finally said, “tell me the rest of the story, and we’ll figure out what’s best, together. What’s important to the clan and what’s not.”
Payton shrugged, like he might be amenable.
“So she looks like a Cameron,” Sean said. “But is she a Cameron?”
“I haven’t any idea. Her name is Samantha Watts. She’s American. But I doubt she’s a Cameron. How could she be?”
“We have to find out. And if she is, we must tell Cathal.”
“Ifrinn! I will not tell him! He hates the Camerons. I will not put her into danger.”
“Why is this Samantha so important to you? You keep reverting back into Gaelic. That shows me how much you care.”
Payton turned away. He felt caught. Sean always seemed to know his thoughts; it didn’t seem fair. If only he knew himself what he should do. He briefly closed his eyes and breathed in the salty sea air.
Sean shook his head in disbelief. His question was hardly more than a whisper.
“You think I love her? How could that be possible? Have you forgotten that we are cursed?” Payton shoved his hands into his face, running them up and over his hair.
“Yes, I think that you love her. And the curse, for whatever reason, seems to be changing. Your feelings for this girl, the fact that I felt pain, the fact that we’re all laughing so much more readily. These are all signs that something is happening. Nathaira is very unsettled, too.”
Payton made a dismissive gesture. “We have only the Stuarts to thank—and their ancient fight—for this infernal curse. Had I known that night what a price we would all have to pay for it, I would have turned against Cathal.”
They had talked about that night many times since. The McLean family had joined together with the Stuarts, and had sworn to support Cathal, the chieftain of the Stuarts, and his people. So like Payton, Sean had followed Cathal into battle. Blair, Cathal’s childhood friend, had joined with them, too. Sean and Payton had trusted Blair and chose to ride with him. But Blair’s youngest brother, Kyle, had secretly followed their group, hoping to stop them. When they spotted his horse, on a hill far behind them, Nathaira had ridden back to tell Kyle to go home. But it was too late. By the time she galloped up to him, he was already dying. A stab in the back had dug deeply into his lung, and the enemy had fled. Nathaira had returned to the group, smeared all over with Kyle’s blood, and had told them about the Camerons’ treacherous murder of innocent Kyle. Beside himself with anger, Blair swore he would take revenge.
Payton had always wondered how things between the Stuarts and Camerons would have been different if the Camerons had left Kyle in peace.
“Payton, we’ve talked this over for hundreds of years, and you know there’s no sense in talking about it again. It’s over.”
“You know nothing! I let Isobel Cameron die. And because I wanted to save her, Kenzie Stuart died. For that alone I deserve purgatory. And now, almost three hundred years later, I meet this girl. I even dreamed I would let her fall. Just like Isobel!”
Sean couldn’t answer to that. He himself was not free of guilt. But he had learned to live with it.
Payton sighed. “Sean, please understand. I have to protect her. And I must find out what is happening to me.”
He kicked at the ground, knocking a few pebbles over the cliff. “Do you know what else? I felt the warmth of the sun.”
“And what does it feel like? I can’t even remember.”
“Och, it was unbelievable. I also had goose bumps because I was cold.”
“God, I would risk everything to have feelings, too.”
Payton nodded. “So what shall we do now?”
Sean rubbed his chin, thinking, “We will wait to see what the meeting brings.”
Payton was relieved. “Thanks, brother.”
“Don’t thank me too early,” he warned. “I want to meet this girl.”
“What? No way!”
“That’s my condition. Otherwise, I’ll tell the others everything.”
Payton’s jaw muscles twitched angrily.
“No!” he growled. “You will stay away from her, or there will be trouble.”
Sean did not seem the slightest bit impressed by Payton’s warning. “I’ll have time on Friday. Think on this, brother. I will stand true to the oath that I swore Blair. I will not stand against the clan just because of some girl you told me about. I want to see her for myself.”
With that, he left Payton standing on the cliff. With the engine of his motorcycle running, he yelled, “If you want another race, then you’ll have to come now. Maybe I’ll let you win this time!”
Then he sped off with screaming tires. Payton stared at his disappearing brother, and stayed right where he was. He didn’t want to race. He felt the calamity that was brewing for them all.