Page 38

“Didyou go swimming last night, Key?”

My brow wrinkles, and it occurs to me that I might not be the only one who knows that there is some truth to the legend of Loch Ness. Lachlan said he’d been friends with the twins since childhood, didn’t he?

“I…might have,” I try cautiously. “Why?”

Rory’s eyes go wide, his hands slapping to the counter as he practically leans all the way over it. “Did you see anything?”

“What exactly would there be to see?”

I’m trying to be stoic, trying not to show all my cards in case I might be somehow betraying Lachlan, which is a strange thought, given that I still sort of hate him. But I meant it when I said my dad would have wanted me to help him, and if for no other reason than that, I won’t hand out his secrets so quickly.

“Skallangal Cove,” Blair says pointedly, “isnotsafe. You ought not be going there. Not again. Especially not alone.”

I keep my expression as flat as I can manage, deciding to test the waters. “I wasn’t alone,” I answer. “Lachlan was there.”

Now it’s Blair who looks rattled, her eyes rounding slightly as her lips part in surprise. Her gaze moves over my face for a second or two, then a wave of understanding seems to pass over her expression.

“You do know. Don’t you.”

“I can neither confirm nor deny,” I tell her.

She nods slowly. “That’s a good answer. There are…things about that cove we have to protect, see?”

“I would never hurt anyone intentionally,” I promise without explaining myself. I have a feeling we’re on the same page here. “But somethingdidtry to hurt me.”

Rory sucks in a breath. “You saw him? Not Lachlan, but—”

“Rory,” Blair warns, still eyeing me. “S’not your place.” She assesses me for another moment, and then, “Lachlan is a good man, Key. I know he might seem like an arsehole upon first meeting, but he’s seen a lot in his life. Too much for someone as young as he is. He doesn’t deserve the lot he’s been cast, and it’s made him harder than he should be. Harder than he wants to be, I imagine. Do you understand?”

“Not really,” I answer honestly. “He wouldn’t exactly talk to me…after.”

I’m staring at my hands as the memory of last night resurfaces—the details a little hazy but prominent nonetheless. I remember the desperation I felt when I saw that the creature—Lachlan—was bleeding, how hopeless I’d felt wanting to save him somehow. In the fog of my memory, I can almost recall a warm glow, a heat in my palms; I’d been so focused on staunching the blood flow, on slowing the bleeding, but have I actually stopped to ponder what happened? Everything went so dark, and his wound had been mostly healed the next morning…Was ithewho made that happen? What could possibly be the alternative? Surely there’s no way that I could have—

“Aye, I reckon he wouldn’t,” Blair sighs, jolting me out of my memories. “He’s not an easy man to know. He thinks he has to carry everything on those stupidly big shoulders alone.”

That makes my mouth twitch in a smile. “Now, I can totally believethatabout him.”

“Just…give him the benefit of the doubt, aye? He has his reasons to be so skittish. Especially with you.”

“What does that mean?”

She shakes her head. “That’s not my story to tell. You’d have to ask him yourself.”

“How can I do that?” I snort. “The stubborn ass won’t even—”

“Keyanna!”

I turn on my stool, taking sight of my grandpa standing in the open door of the bar, his chest heaving as if he ran here. His eyes are watery with old or maybe even fresh tears, and his thin frame seems to shake as he crosses the space toward me.

“There you are,” he cries. “I thought you’d up and left! When you weren’t there this morning, I…”

He trails off, looking so forlorn it forces me off my stool, and theminute my feet touch the floor, he’s rushing to embrace me. I can rest my temple on top of his thinning hair at my height, inhaling the scent of tobacco and peppermint, which is strangely comforting.

“I’m sorry,” I murmur. “I didn’t mean to worry you, but I…”

“I know you heard what your granny said,” he sniffles. “She didn’t mean it, hen.”

“I kind of think she did,” I counter.