The Selkie (20 page)

beard. His blue eyes twinkled with the same flirty mischief that regularly shone from Calan’s eyes. He leaned down and gave Maggie a kiss on the top of her head and grinned.
“
You’re welcome here, lass. We haven’t seen Calan with a woman since Kyla, you know.
”

“
Da.
”
Calan’s eyes flashed in warning.

Okay, this is worse than the whole
“
not my mate
”
thing. Way worse. Who’s Kyla?
She swallowed the horrible punching sensation in her gut. Sure, she’d known Calan had had other women, lots of women, but had never heard a name applied to any of them other than the heart-broken Annette. He’d never mentioned this Kyla. God, even her name sounded beautiful and exotic. And from Calan’s reaction to hearing her name, she must have really meant something to him.

Maggie dug deep into her soul for a shred of composure as she faced Calan’s father.
“
Thank you, Mr. Kirk.
”

The big man elbowed her gently.
“
Alun. I insist. Mr. Kirk sounds like someone off of that god-awful telly show about the aliens. The one with the green women.
”

Despite herself, Maggie laughed. Man, his whole freaking family was too charming.

Suddenly, she was confronted by a wall of large men. She felt Calan’s arm wind around her in a possessive grip. He eyed the other men with one eyebrow cocked.
“
Maggie, I’d like to introduce you to my other brothers. At least, I think I’d like to do so. They’re such randy buggers, I may live to regret the decision.
”
He nodded toward the man on their left.
“
That’s Breannan, the man of this house.
”

“
A pleasure,
”
Breannan drawled, kissing her hand.

Maggie stared at him. He was a slightly smaller version of Calan, only slightly, but with short brown hair, and just as gorgeous.
“
Um, nice to meet you.
”

“
Next to him is Jamie,
”
Calan continued, indicating a hard-bodied strawberry blond.

“
When you’re ready for a real man, Miss Maggie,
”
Jamie joked,
“
just call my name.
”

Calan took a moment to whack his brother, making them all laugh. He composed himself, and then pointed a thumb at the next brother, a startlingly attractive man with black hair and blacker eyes.
“
That’s Machar.
”

Machar shook her hand, holding it for a moment.
“
You can call me ‘Mack.’ My friends all do.
”

“
She’s not your friend yet,
Machar
,
”
Calan threatened in a good-humored tone.
“
Onward and upward then. Next we have Drummond.
”

Maggie grinned at the brunette with the buzz cut and shook his strong hand.
“
It’s a pleasure.
”

Drummond smiled back through shiny blue eyes.
“
The pleasure’s all mine, believe me.
”

Maggie felt her cheeks glow as Calan impatiently introduced the last of the brothers, another tall redhead with long hair like their father.
“
And finally, completing this peanut gallery, we have Edan.
”

“
Don’t listen to him, Maggie love,
”
Edan said in a deep, resonating voice that shivered her timbers.
“
Our boy Calan has always been the jealous sort. He has good reason with such fine specimens as brothers.
”

“
I’ll give you a fine specimen, you peedie piss weasel,
”
Calan muttered.

Maggie couldn’t help laughing at him, as they all did. Poor man! He really did look

flustered in front of his brothers, and who could blame him? As sexy as Calan was, it must be hard to be the baby brother of all those other sexy, flirty men. No wonder he never brought women home.

Other than Kyla.

Maggie stopped laughing at the thought. Who
was
she?

She didn’t have time to ask. From the back room, a shattered cry erupted. Elsie. The woman in labor.

Calan’s mother inserted herself in front of her huge sons.
“
I’m sorry to rush the introductions, Maggie dear, but Elsie needs me. A selkie labor can be a long, drawn-out affair. Poor Elsie has suffered with the contractions for two days now.
”

Two days? God help her.

Fae continued.
“
We’ve told her time and again that it would be best to birth underwater, but she’s got a notion that the babe won’t be able to swim. Imagine! A selkie babe unable to swim.
”

Maggie stared at the woman. Either the whole family was delusional over this selkie thing, or they were all drinking the same Kool-Aid. For a second, Maggie decided to chalk it up to Scottish eccentricity. It was the only explanation she could stomach.

But then again … maybe this selkie thing could be real.

Fae nodded at Calan.
“
Elsie needs you, my love. We’re hoping your special talent will calm the poor lass.
”

With that, the family dispersed into the back room.

Maggie turned to Calan.
“
Are you a midwife or something?
”

“
Funny. Do I look like one?
”
He smiled.
“
No. But I do have a bit of a bond with Elsie. And she has an appreciation for my singing voice.
”

“
Okay,
”
she replied, still not understanding.

“
Come,
”
he said, holding her hand and leading her into the other room.

Maggie sucked in a breath. After having treated her to the most stressful meet-the-family moment of her life, he was going to make her witness a stranger in labor. It didn’t seem right. She felt as if she were invading Elsie’s sacred space.

But as she entered the room full of supposed selkies, the space didn’t feel all that sacred anymore.

Especially as Elsie took one look at her and screamed,
“
A human!
”

All the selkie heads turned to stare at her, and Maggie uttered a silent prayer, wishing she could disappear.

Chapter 11

“
Uh, hi,
”
Maggie said, waving like a lunatic at the red-faced Elsie.
“
Congrats.
”

“
Bring her. To me,
”
Elsie panted in Angus’s direction.

Okay, it’s about to get real.

Angus stood and motioned to her and Calan.
“
Would you mind?
”

They approached the bed and Elsie grabbed for Maggie’s hand. Not knowing what else to do, and not wanting to further upset the pregnant woman, Maggie just held it, giving her hand a little squeeze. In too much pain to smile, Elsie blinked her dark eyes at her.

Elsie then turned to Calan and forced out a few labored breaths.
“
Took you. Long enough. You big shit.
”

Calan exploded into a laugh.
“
I’m sorry, Elsie, love. How are you?
”

“
I’m about to pass. A selkie watermelon. Through my ass. What do you think?
”

He smiled. Angus resumed his seat near Elsie’s head and wiped her wet brow.

Maggie couldn’t help smiling, too. She liked this Elsie. Even though she seemed all too willing to continue the selkie charade.

Maybe this was one of those prank shows where everyone was in on the act except her. Was it possible?

But as she gazed upon all the earnest, concerned faces in the room, she knew deep down this could not be a charade.

“
Sing for me, Calan,
”
Elsie pleaded, gasping.
“
Please.
”

Angus gave him a frantic look that echoed the sentiment.

“
Of course, love,
”
Calan said softly. He turned and nodded to his other family members. Everyone vacated the room, leaving her alone with Calan, Elsie, and Angus.

And then he began to sing. Maggie wished she knew what he was saying, but it was in some language she’d never heard before. It wasn’t even Orcadian. But it was haunting and sweet and had the same effect as a lullaby on a tired child.

Within seconds, Elsie stopped panting and her pain seemed to subside. She just stared at Calan, rapt, her eyes drooping a little with every lovely note. Eventually, as his beautiful song reached its lilting cadence, Elsie’s eyes closed. Maggie felt the death grip on her hand subside, but she didn’t let go of Elsie, just in case.

As the poignant song ended, as Calan breathed into his final gorgeous note, they all watched as Elsie’s head relaxed into the pillow. She seemed to be sleeping, getting some much-needed rest in a labor that was winding her, to say the least. No one said a word; they all just watched her for a moment.

And then Maggie started when she felt Calan turn his gaze upon her and smile. The most beautiful, heart-warming smile. She smiled back, smitten. She felt her eyes tear up and blinked the tears away. It didn’t matter because the tears just filled up her eyes once more. He’d done something wonderful for Elsie. He’d taken her pain away. Like some crazy, musical anesthesiologist.

Maggie wanted to hug him, but didn’t dare let go of Elsie’s hand.

Wiping at her eyes with her other hand, Maggie turned to Angus.
“
Why don’t you take her to the hospital?
”

He reddened, clearly feeling at a loss.
“
I can’t, Maggie, because of what we are. When this baby arrives, well, it won’t look like other babes.
”

You’ll be able to witness the birth of a little selkie. How many humans can say that?

Oh, God, this was way too much to absorb.

Maggie frowned, feeling the weight of the world upon her all of a sudden.
“
But, it can’t be…
”

“
Maggie,
”
Calan said quietly.
“
It’s time to face the truth.
”

She stared at him, the man with whom she was falling in love, and felt her eyes water even more.
“
I’m afraid.
”

She felt Elsie’s hand move in hers, pressing with urgency. Maggie turned to the sleeping woman, only to find her awake. At peace, but awake.
“
Angus. Calan. Let me have a chat with Maggie.
”

The men stood. Angus dropped a kiss onto Elsie’s brow. Calan stood before Maggie, tipped up her chin, and claimed her mouth. Then he kissed the tip of her nose.
“
I’ll be in the other room.
”

She watched the two men leave, and then turned to Elsie.
“
I don’t know what you think you can say to convince me.
”

“
I don’t have to say anything,
”
Elsie replied, her voice tired.
“
Pretty soon this massive seal baby is going to claw its way out of me, and you’ll have all the proof you need. Still, I find it always helps to talk with someone who understands.
”

Maggie shook her head.
“
How could you understand? Aren’t you like them?
”

“
No. A year ago, I was like you.
”
She grinned at the memories, but then her grin faded as if a blacker memory had infiltrated her mind.
“
I’m an archaeologist and had come to Orkney to do some work at Skara Brae.
”

“
The Neolithic ruins?
”

“
The very ones. I was here with a team. A team that included my husband.
”
She paused.
“
My husband who beat me.
”

Maggie suddenly didn’t know where to look, but returned Elsie’s gaze anyway, eyes wide.
“
I’m so sorry.
”

Elsie smiled softly at her.
“
It’s okay. Things were really bad for a while, and I just couldn’t seem to break free. I needed help and didn’t know where to turn. I was embarrassed, ashamed. One day, I took a few hours off from the site and went to Scapa Beach. I remember staring out at the sea and it looked so inviting. And then I remembered that old wives’ tale about crying seven tears into the sea to call a selkie man.
”
She laughed at her story.
“
I knew how stupid it sounded, and yet I just started crying at the edge of the water. I wasn’t trying to tempt fate or to prove the legend wrong. Everything just came to a head in that moment and I couldn’t stop crying.
”

“
What happened?
”

“
Angus happened.
”
She grinned.
“
The next day, this huge redheaded beast appeared out of nowhere, telling me this unbelievable tale about who he was.
What
he was. And that he was there to change my life.
”
She shook her head, still mystified.
“
Maggie, I know it sounds crazy, but I fell for him in that moment. I took one look at that gorgeous man and knew I had to run with him. I felt the urge just as strongly as I felt the urge to breathe.
”

“
But your husband?
”

Elsie’s face fell.
“
John didn’t react well. He came after me and tried to hurt me. It