Charmed by His Love (40 page)

“No, Mom, remember we said we’re gonna buy Nerf swords,” Peter reminded her for the tenth time that afternoon.

Peg had lost that particular battle, seeing how the twins had Duncan on their side. Damn if she didn’t lose more arguments to her husband than she won—although she won the really, really important ones, so she guessed that made them even. Like this boat; Duncan had gotten her a pontoon boat so he could have the fast and way-too-sexy boat for himself. But the reason she could lounge around in the sun for another half hour before she had to meet the school bus in town was because
her
fast and way-too-sexy boat would get them to Ezra’s dock in ten minutes.

Yup, there was nothing like having rousing arguments with a big strong man and winning the ones that counted. Life was good. Everyone was happy, including her mom and Aunt Bea, who were both enjoying the attention of several eligible men from Robbie’s and Duncan’s crews. At Duncan’s suggestion, Peg had told her mom and aunt that she was pretty sure only men born in the Bottomless Lake area were susceptible to the curse. The women had looked through their family history, and sure enough, all the husbands who had met an early demise had been locals—which meant any male from away was fair game.

Chris Dubois and Aaron Jenkins had disappeared off the face of the earth just like Duncan had said they would, but everyone knew the lowlifes were still around because there had been several hit-and-run attacks on the resort site. It was virtually impossible to guard fourteen miles of road up through the wilderness, and sometimes a bridge under construction got blown up, grade stakes got relocated, and equipment tires got shot out with a high-power rifle. Occasionally notes were left saying it had been the work of one or another radical conservation group, but everyone in town knew Chris and Aaron were the culprits, since most of the protests against the resort had died down. Aaron’s poor wife, Phyllis, was so embarrassed that she’d filed for divorce and gone to live with her sister in Indiana.

There’d only been one attack on the site where Duncan was building their new home on the fiord at the base of his mountain, and then it appeared to have been interrupted by … something. Peg suspected Duncan had had a little talk with his mountain about napping on the job after he’d found the slightly scorched pile of lumber, because he’d taken a hike up to the cave and there hadn’t been any incidents since. In fact, despite every board and nail having to be hauled over on a small barge, Peg guessed they’d be moved into their new home before school started in the fall.

Oh yeah, she was married to a very relentless man.

Mac and Olivia would be home in a few days, which meant Olivia hadn’t followed through on her threat to push Mac into the Grand Canyon—probably afraid her husband might decide to rearrange the national landmark. And according to the
letter Olivia had sent Peg, the bone marrow transplant had gone well for both little Riley and Sophie, and Riley’s prognosis was very promising. But then, why shouldn’t it be if the stepdaughter of a
friggin’ wizard
was involved?

“Here, give me the camera,” Peg said, dropping her feet to the floor of the boat and holding out her hand. “I’ll take a picture of you two patting Leviathan just to make Mr. Steve really jealous.”

“I bet he’d be really jealous if you took a picture of us
riding
on Levi,” Peter said, one of his legs already halfway over the gunwale.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Peg yelped, jumping up and pulling him back with a laugh. “The water’s too cold and Leviathan might accidentally squish you.”

“No, he wouldn’t,” Jacob said, immediately jumping to the whale’s defense. “Duncan told us Levi’s a rescue hero.” He pointed toward the whale’s tail. “See, he’s even got a badge. Duncan called it a tattoo and said it means he’s from Alantus. It’s a tide … a trilide …”

“A trident,” Peter said. “It looks like a fork you eat with, but Duncan called it a trident just like Pesidon carries. He’s the boss of the ocean,” her son added with great authority, his little chest puffing out against his life vest.

Peg smiled, remembering how it had taken Duncan nearly a week of subtle corrections before he’d finally gotten all the children to drop the “mister.” He’d introduced them to Leviathan the day he’d taken the kids to see where he intended to build their new home, and he explained the whale was from a faraway magical island by the name of Atlantis—which was, Peg had finally realized, why Henry Oceanus was so well versed on mythological gods. So when the twins told people in town about their pet whale, everyone thought her boys had quite the imaginations.

“Okay, stand just a little bit apart,” Peg said, looking at the screen on the camera, “so I can get Leviathan between you. You get in the picture, too, Hero. Smile. Smile, Leviathan!” she called out, which effectively put huge grins on the boys. Only the whale slipped below the surface just before she could snap the picture, and Peg looked up when she heard the sound of a fast-moving boat coming from the far end of the fiord.

“Oh, shoot,” Peter said, also looking toward the boat. “I bet it’s them scientists and they scared off Levi before we got our picture.”

“I already got some of him,” Jacob said. “Look in the camera, Mom.”

Peg took one last glance at the fast approaching boat, then turned to put the camera in the shade of her body and scrolled through the last few pictures. “Sorry, big man,” she said, showing Jacob the screen when he came over to see. “But … no, wait; you got part of his tail in this one.” She kept scrolling. “And I think that’s his blowhole.” She sighed as she shut off the camera, set it on the steering console, and ruffled Jacob’s hair. “You must have hit the zoom button, so none of the shots show him well enough for ten dollars, I’m afraid. But don’t worry; we’ll get more pictures tomorrow.”

“It ain’t Mr. Steve anyway,” Peter said just as the boat slowed down at the very last minute and pulled up beside them.

Too late, Peg recognized Chris Dubois. “Boys, lie down on the floor!” she snapped as she lunged to start her engine—only to cry out when Chris rammed his boat into the side of theirs.

He leapt onboard, his beefy fist catching Peg on the shoulder with enough force to shove her against the opposite gunwale, making her glad she’d worn her life vest when it knocked the wind out of her. She scrambled after her screaming boys, only to have Chris slap her hard enough to knock her off her feet again.

He then gave Hero a swift kick in the ribs, the dog’s snarl turning into a yelp of pain as it went skidding into one of the rear fishing chairs. Chris grabbed the dog before it could scramble to its feet, picked it up, and threw it over the side of the boat, only to swing around and backhand Peg when she tried to stop him.

She got to her feet when she saw him make a grab for Peter, then watched the boy leap away so quickly that he slammed against the console with a shriek. “Leave them alone!” she shouted, going for Chris’s face even as she tried to knee him in the groin.

Only he twisted at the last minute and pulled her off balance,
spinning her to clamp a hand around her throat. “Call them off, Peggy,” he growled, kicking Jacob when he tried to ram into him. “Get back, you little shit!” The blow sent Jacob sprawling to the floor, the momentum slamming him into the stern. “Both you little shits climb in my boat,” he shouted. “Now!”

“No!” Peg twisted free but Chris shoved her hard enough that she fell to her knees again. “No! You’re not taking them!”

He grabbed Peter and tossed him into his boat, then went after Jacob. Peg looked around for something to fight with and grabbed the fire extinguisher. But Chris kicked it out of her hands, and she heard it plop into the water just as he grabbed Jacob by the vest and flung the kid toward his boat. Realizing it had drifted away from theirs, Peg ran to the gunwale to jump in after him, only to have Chris yank her to the floor—but not before she saw her son climbing onboard with Peter’s help. Hero was barking and treading water between the two boats, apparently uncertain which one to swim to.

“Mom! Mom!” Peter and Jacob cried as their boat drifted farther away.

“No, you can’t just leave them! They’re only babies!” Peg screamed, lunging for Chris’s arm when he turned the key and started her motor.

He grabbed her by her vest and dragged her kicking and screaming to the front of the boat, then punched her in the head hard enough that Peg nearly passed out. He unhooked the bow rope and used it to tie her hands to the post of the front fishing chair.

“You leave Mom alone!” Peter shouted over Jacob’s screams.

Peg struggled to sit up as Chris walked back to the console and pushed the throttle forward. “Boys! Just sit still and someone will find you!” she shouted over the roar of the motor, not knowing if they could even hear her as Chris sped toward the end of the fiord. Shaking with both rage and terror, Peg could only helplessly watch the twins clinging to each other while screaming something she couldn’t hear as Hero clawed at the side of their boat.

She touched her throbbing cheek with her shoulder as she glared at Chris. “God
damn
you. How can you leave two little boys adrift like that!”

“You’re lucky I didn’t just toss them overboard like the dog,” he said with a laugh that sounded more sick than sane. “Or maybe you wanted me to bring them along.” He suddenly jerked the wheel sharply then straightened back out, making Peg slam against the seat and fall on the floor. “So they could watch what I’m going to do to their stuck-up bitch of a mother.”

He jerked the wheel again just as she sat up trying to see the building sight at the base of Duncan’s mountain, making her cry out when she slid sideways and the rope tightened against her wrists. But she knew her husband wasn’t there because he’d taken the pontoon boat when she and the boys had left in the speedboat half an hour ago; Duncan going down to the pit to meet the blasting contractor while she’d only gone a little ways down the fiord in search of Leviathan.

Peg looked back over the stern trying to spot the twins, just barely able to see Chris’s boat now. Dammit, the boys were only maybe two miles from the pit; would their screams and Hero’s barks carry that far over water, even with machinery running? Or maybe the scientists would come into the fiord. Surely
someone
would find them.

She turned her attention to Chris. “Are you insane? Why are you doing this?”

He just smiled.

“Is getting even with me for buying your mother’s land worth going to jail for years and years?” she shouted over the roar of the powerful engine going full throttle. “You’re a woodsman, Chris; getting locked up would kill you. It’s not worth it. Just beach the boat and walk away, and I promise I won’t press charges.”

All that petition got her was a laugh.

“Look, there’s a marine radio. At least call someone. Ezra; he’s got a radio in his store now. Call and tell him to send someone after my boys. They’re four years old, Chris! If anything happens to them, that’s
murder
.”

He eased back on the throttle, and Peg looked around to realize they were already nearing the end of the fiord. “They can’t lock me up if they can’t catch me,” he said past a smug grin. “And by this time next week, we’ll be far enough into Canada that nobody will find us.” He slowly guided the boat
up a small stream until it became too shallow, running it up onto the bank around a bend so it couldn’t be seen from the fiord.

For the love of God, he was taking her to Canada? “Um, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I got married several weeks ago,” she said as he walked to her.

He squatted down and clasped her jaw in his grimy hand. “I heard you married that MacKeage bastard.” She tried to pull free when he leaned in, and his hand tightened painfully. “So is that why I never appealed to you, Peggy? You like your men
big
?” His fingers dug into her jaw, his thumb pressing her flesh against her teeth as he leaned closer. “Only this time I see you went for rich as well.” He licked his tongue across her lips, then reared back with a laugh when she tried to bite him.

“He’s going to kill you. And I swear to God, if anything happens to Jacob and Peter, I’m going to help him.”

“Yeah, him and you and what army?” Chris said, untying her from the post of the seat. He shoved her down when she tried to scramble away, then grabbed her hands and quickly retied them, leaving a length of rope to pull her to her feet. “Like I said, Peggy darlin’, he’s going to have to catch me first. Come on,” he growled, giving the rope a yank as he stepped onto the bank. “It’s a long walk to Canada.”

Peg fell onto the ground, then scrambled to her feet when he started dragging her after him. Dammit, she needed to do something! Had he taken the keys out of the boat? Where in hell was Aaron? He gave another jerk when she apparently wasn’t moving fast enough, the rope chafing against the cuff on her left wrist. Yes, the magic! Surely it could help her get away. Or maybe she could at least use it to rattle Chris enough to get him to make a mistake.

“Um, do you believe in the magic, Chris?” she asked, only to bump into him when he suddenly stopped and turned to her.

“What in hell are you talking about?” he growled, looking as if
she
were insane.

So Peg gave him the best insane smile she could muster. “You know, magic; the kind that moves mountains and turns lakes into inland seas like what happened here a few months ago? The scientists still haven’t been able to explain it, so
people are starting to think this entire area might be … cursed,” she whispered. “You believe someone can put a curse on a place or a … person?”

“What in Jesus kind of question is that?”

Peg dropped her gaze and shrugged. “I was just wondering if you believe in stuff like magic and curses and bad karma.”

He turned and started walking again, giving the rope another violent snap.

Peg let out a loud, exaggerated sigh. “It doesn’t matter,” she said, adding an insane little laugh, “because I’ve been told the magic goes about its business whether you believe in it or not, and that it especially likes to sneak up and surprise a person.”