CHAPTER 26
We took two separate cars to the motel. Payton, who refused to leave my side, was sitting in the front next to me, with Blair in the car, too. Ryan was following us with Kim and Justin. We had agreed that the three of them would wait for Ashley in the parking lot; if it should prove necessary, they would call the police.
The last thing I wanted to think about was any kind of escalation. I couldn’t really think, anyway, because being so close to Payton completely threw me off balance. After I rebuffed him at my house, he had hardly said a word. His face was tight, and the warm glow had disappeared from his eyes. It was as if a Scottish wall of mist had pushed itself in front of his feelings. He didn’t even seem bothered to be sitting close to me. Either the pain he felt near me had gotten weaker, or he had become accustomed to it. I knew that I was getting used to my pendant; I could hardly feel the burning sensation anymore.
I so wished I could go back to the beginning, when Payton and I had first met. Before all the doubt and distrust. Just the dizzy excitement and rush of new love. When I didn’t know he was deceiving me—that he had followed me, spied on me, to find out who I was. I sighed. Looking back, it seemed to me that it was only my feelings for him that had been so strong—not his for me. I closed my eyes and tried to bring back the memory of that magical night at the beach.
We were on the same road as the day before. But we hadn’t seen anything unusual then at the motel we were driving up to now.
I asked myself whether Blair had been right. Was Sean feeling attracted to Ashley? They were both good-looking and, as I had experienced firsthand, Sean was a real charmer. Somehow, the idea made me feel happy for Ashley. Maybe this terrible, scary night could have a good side.
But there was still the question of what would happen to Sean—and Payton—if the curse were lifted. Could it really be that they would all just drop dead, or would they only lose their immortality and grow older, like the rest of us? Or could it be that nothing at all would happen? That Payton and his family would carry on living exactly as they had up until now, because neither I nor anyone else was actually capable of influencing the curse? There was, after all, nothing in my grandma’s book about the Camerons being destined to lift the curse.
Blair turned into the motel’s parking lot and stopped the car. When Ryan and the others had pulled up behind us, we all got out. Nobody except me seemed to have any difficulty moving; my legs would hardly obey. I had to force myself to put one foot in front of the other. Ryan tried to comfort me by patting my shoulder, but I was so on edge I jumped as if he’d attacked.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to freak you out.”
“It’s fine. My nerves are just shot,” I said.
“If you don’t want to do this, then you just call it off. We can easily call my dad, and he’ll deal with everything.”
“No, I know it seems crazy—but trust me, this is the only option.”
“All right, but shouldn’t we all go in together?”
I shook my head. “That would be way too dangerous. Let’s stick with the plan. As soon as Ashley is free, you get her away from here and wait for me at home.”
He bent down close to me and whispered, “Do you really trust these men?”
Well, I actually still didn’t have an answer to that one, but I knew Ryan would never let me go upstairs if he thought I was in doubt, so I answered firmly, “Yes, don’t worry. It’ll be fine.”
Ryan looked me deep in the eyes, and then he nodded and squeezed my hand.
“Ryan,” I called as I walked away, “today I almost like you!” I winked.
“Nice. But after seeing you with Payton, I know that’s not going to help my case. Your heart obviously belongs to him.” He turned to head back to his car.
As Blair, Payton, and I started up the motel’s outer staircase, I asked myself what Ryan had meant. Was it clear to everybody that I loved Payton? And if it was so clear, why did everything have to be so complicated?
“Sam, mo luaidh, you don’t have to do this.” It was Payton’s turn to try to comfort me.
His soft voice almost succeeded in collapsing the dam holding back my tears. But I wanted to learn my destiny. And if it was here, waiting for me in this shabby motel, well then, so be it.
“Payton, please. If everything that you say is true, then we have to protect Ashley and get her out of here. We’ll see about everything else later.”
“What can I do to make you trust me again, Sam? I love you and will defend you with my life.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to trust you. It’s too late for that.” I shook my head sadly. “Let’s just focus on what we have to do now.”
“Sam, please.”
In the meantime, we had reached the fourth floor, and Blair was knocking on one of the doors. I scrambled behind him quickly, seeking protection behind his broad back. Still, I shrieked when the giant Alasdair opened the door.
“Blair. What a surprise… First Sean and now all the others, eh?”
Blair wasn’t used to explaining himself to anybody, much less Alasdair, and he pushed his way past him into the room. When Alasdair saw me, his grin became wider, and he gave me a sneering mock bow.
“Ah, and our Miss Cameron is here, too!”
Every fiber in my body was screaming for me to get away from there as quickly as possible, but Payton’s hand on my shoulder gave me the necessary strength to go in. The room was dark and stuffy.
“Sam! Help me!” Ashley shouted when she saw me. “Please!”
My cousin was sitting upright, but with her hands tied to one of the bedposts. Sean was standing protectively in front of her. At least I knew she wasn’t in serious danger just then.
“Don’t worry, Ashley,” I said. “We’ll get out of here.”
Every inch of space in the room seemed to be taken up. The size of the immortal Scots really was impressive. Even Nathaira was several inches taller than me. She was the first to speak.
“Blair, who have you brought with you?”
“Hello, darling. Interesting to find you here. You don’t seem to think it’s necessary to discuss a trip to the United States with your fiancé? You went behind my back.”
At these words, Alasdair twitched slightly and lowered his eyes with a guilty look.
“Do you think I will ask you for permission before I leave the house?”
“No, I don’t expect that,” said Blair, “but it does seem as if you were all intending to leave me in the dark about what you are up to just now.”
His eyes darted from Nathaira to his best friend Cathal, who looked remarkably calm.
“Don’t get upset. Now we are all here and so is the Cameron girl. I don’t see why we shouldn’t just clear the situation once and for all.” Cathal stepped toward me, studying me from head to toe, as if I were a rare plant. “The similarity in appearance really is astonishing, don’t you think?”
Nathaira and Alasdair nodded in agreement, which made me feel even more uncomfortable. I reached for Payton’s hand. He twitched in pain at my unexpected touch.
“Sorry,” I whispered.
He squeezed my hand and smiled.
“How sweet,” snarled Nathaira.
Great, we had attracted her attention. But I knew she wouldn’t have let me out of her sight, anyway.
“I fear, Payton, that the love sessions are over for you two now. That girl is harming us. But not for long. We can make sure of that!”
Everyone started speaking all at once. It was all in Gaelic, but they were obviously talking about me. I was relieved to see that Payton and his brothers were still standing by my side. The exchange of words got louder and more aggressive by the minute. Then suddenly, the volume dropped, and we could all hear the sound of Ashley crying.
I gathered all my courage and used the break to my advantage.
“May I please say something, too?” I said. “This all has to do with the Cameron clan, doesn’t it? I understand that you want to clear things up with me, but you don’t need Ashley here. I’m the one you really want. She has absolutely nothing to do with it.”
“Is she not your cousin? Your own blood?” Alasdair asked roughly.
“Yes, but my mom’s side is the Cameron one. Ashley’s mom is my dad’s sister. She’s not a Cameron.”
To prove it, I pulled Grandma’s book out of my jacket pocket and pointed to the last page. There, at the bottom of the family tree, stood my name.
I lifted the book up, moving it from one side of the group to the other so that everyone could see what was written there.
“What is that? Where did you get that?” Cathal asked.
“I found it, purely accidentally, in my grandmother’s attic when we were clearing out her belongings after she died. It seems someone named Marta McGabhan started these notes.”
“Who is this Marta supposed to be?” Alasdair asked.
Since I had some leverage, it seemed like a good time to make a second attempt to get Ashley out of there.
“I’ll tell you later, but first, you need to let Ashley go. As you can plainly see, you don’t need her.”
Nathaira started to contradict me, but Payton cut her off.
“Exactly,” he said. “This all seems to be between me and Sam. It’s only when I am near her that I’m in such unbelievable pain—and only when we are close to her that our self-healing abilities are affected. Samantha’s cousin has nothing to do with it. We should let her go.”
Cathal and Nathaira’s eyes met briefly. I held my breath. At last, Cathal went to the bed, cut the ropes, and pulled Ashley to the door.
Turning to Blair, he growled, “I hope she’s worth it for you.”
“May I remind you, I am the one being betrayed here,” Blair said. “The three of you have created this divide and abused my trust.” Blair opened the door for Ashley and demanded of Cathal, “And now, let her go!”
Cathal released his steely grip on Ashley’s arm, and she ran off crying.
I saw the relief in Sean’s face as the door closed behind her. It looked as if a great stone had rolled away from his heart. It was obvious to me that his feelings were almost back to full strength, and I hoped the others didn’t notice how much weaker the curse had become.
With all eyes on me again, I felt really sick. My heart was beating like a drum, and my blood was pounding in my ears. I had never felt so scared before in all my life.
“Cathal, I have found something out,” Payton started. There was a layer of sweat on his forehead, and the tendons stood out on his arms. He was still holding my hand, standing close by my side, but his face stayed blank.
“About the curse. That witch, Vanora, wrote everything down. Blair and I found her writings on Fair Isle. She had a vision before our attack. She saw almost everything in advance. In her last letter, she wrote that there would be a possibility to lift the curse. We don’t have to harm Samantha. There is another way!”
“And what is that supposed to be? I can hardly wait to hear about it,” Alasdair said snarkily.
Somewhat abashed, Blair confessed, “We are not really sure. Supposedly, the witch had a daughter who would lift the curse.”
Cathal shook his head in disbelief. “A daughter? Who would bed a witch? And anyway, that child would long be dead.”
“We don’t know that. We ourselves are the best proof that she could very well still be alive. We must not forget that her mother had extraordinary powers,” Payton explained.
Nathaira had gone white, but her closed expression gave no hint of her racing thoughts.
“Sguir, mo nighean. Mo gràdh ort.” That was what the crazy old woman had said the night of the massacre. In all her years, Nathaira had never forgotten that moment. The moment the dying witch claimed that Nathaira was her daughter—and told her that she loved her.