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“Wait,” she says suddenly, her voice a sharp outburst in the still air surrounding us. “Nessie is a girl!”

“It would appear that is not the case,” I remark.

“But Nessie has always been a girl!”

“Ididtry to hint at the falsity of that, you remember,” I remind her. “Outside of Loch Land.”

“Yeah, but I just thought you were being a dick.”

“No, I was trying to tell you that Nessiehasa dick.”

She instantly flushes red, and I have to admit that some part ofme, however small, really loves riling her. She really is very pretty when she blushes.

Stop thinking about how pretty she is, you arse.

“So then who is the other monster?”

I go still in the process of putting on my jacket, my jaw clenching as my mouth presses into a firm line. I turn my head to gaze at the water, letting it skim the now-smooth surface fruitlessly. I know that during the day he’ll have gone to deeper waters, as if some part of him still remembers the necessity of doing so.

Even if that’s all he remembers.

“Never you mind,” I tell her.

I keep walking with every intention of finding my car, my mind still racing on how best to handle this situation. If Key starts blabbing about what she saw to everyone in town…What will happen? If Rhona knew that it was more than just stories and legends passed down in her clan…Would history repeat itself? She is still a MacKay after all. No matter how welcoming she’s been. It’s in their nature.

“You have to give mesomething,” she practically whines.

I spin on my heel, stepping closer to her so quickly that she takes a step back to put distance between us. “I don’t have to tell youanything,” I practically growl. “This isn’t a fun party trick, it’s mylife. Do you understand? Can you imagine what would happen to me if people knew? Can you imagine the consequences? Because I can. I’ve thought of nothing else for years. So no, I don’t have to give anyoneanything.” I eye her shocked expression, and I don’t know what possesses me to poke her further, but I feel a sudden anger that isn’t even meant for her, I think, only her kin. “Least of all you,” I grind out. “Least of all aMacKay.”

I leave her there to stomp in the other direction, my temple throbbing and my chest hot with anger at the entire situation. I know thatit’s not really aimed at Keyanna—it’s notherfault specifically, after all, but she’s the only one here now. The only receptacle for my rage.

And yet she doesn’t seem to be deterred in the slightest.

“But you work for my grandmother,” she points out, jogging to catch up with me. “If you don’t like my family, why are you living on her land?”

I purse my lips, cursing myself. I definitely set myself up for that question. I rattle off a distracted excuse. “Your line is as auld as mine. I’m just hoping there’s something in your family records that might shed some light on my curse.”

“Aha!” She stops walking, pointing a finger at me with a grin. “So it’s a curse!”

“Fuck’s sake,” I mumble. “Can’t you just let this go?”

She looksexcited, damn her. Why does she look so bloody excited? Can’t she be properly terrified of me? I’m a monster, for fuck’s sake. Not a fucking puppy.

“But this is incredible,” she exclaims. “My father was right! Was it you that he saw? I mean, you said you were only six when he left…How would that even be possible?”

“It wasn’t me,” I say. “It was…” I inhale deeply just to let it out. “It was someone else.”

“Wow.” She stares at her feet as we walk. “So all this time there have beenmoreof you. That’s wild. I mean, my dad was always soconvincingwhen he told the story, but some part of me always wondered.”

“Well,” I sigh. “You got what you came for. You proved him right. Can you leave now?”

“What?” Her head snaps up, her eyes finding mine. “I can’t leave now. I have so many questions!”

I stop walking again, my car close now, but my fear at what thisslight woman could do to me is much closer. “And what will you do with this information?”

“What?” She looks confused now. “What do you mean?”

“Are you going to tell the world? Tell everyone what you saw?”