Embrace the Highland Warrior

by Anita Clenney

  Sean and Coira appeared at the doorway. They glanced at Shay and Cody and then welcomed their visitors, while Cody pulled the luggage from the trunk.

  “Woo hoo… we’ll see you in a little while,” Matilda called. “Coira’s giving us a tour. She’s got red hair too. I bet she’s a doll.”

  “She doesn’t know what she’s in for,” Cody muttered.

  “Did you warn Coira about Matilda and dungeons?” Shay asked.

  “Check.”

  “And towers?”

  “Done.”

  “Secret passages?”

  “Damn!”

  ***

  Malek waited until after dark to approach the castle. He had followed Tristol’s lieutenant from Shay’s house, where he intended to look for the book, since Ellis hadn’t searched there yet. They assumed Renee hid the book in one of the pieces of furniture she shipped out. He would go back and search Shay’s house later. First he wanted to get close enough to see how well protected the castle was. The first warrior Malek encountered was no problem. He was young, easily distracted by Malek’s halfling. With the path clear, Malek left his halfling to guard his back and crept through the dark woods, cautiously placing each footstep against the floor of leaves, angry that he couldn’t just storm in and take her. He, who had lived nearly a thousand years, was forced to play foolish games. He couldn’t kill her until he knew where she’d hidden the book. She could already be pregnant. She and Cody had been together for days. Once Malek found the book, he would kill them both, rectifying his earlier mistake. There could be no offspring without a father or mother.

  This time he would do the job himself, not entrust it to a frail human. Malek was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t see the man until he was fifty feet away. The man tensed and turned. Malek slipped behind a large tree and tried to control the shift that had started, brought on by alarm. He knew the man was a warrior by his stance and the sword he was removing from its scabbard. Malek put his head against the rough bark and pushed hard, feeling it dig into his human skin, pressing against bones that were trying to lengthen. If he shifted, he knew the warrior would smell him. Malek knew a lot of things no one would suspect. He had spent centuries researching his enemies’ secrets.

  A large bird took flight from the branches above Malek. He jumped, and his tight hold on his shift shattered. His bones broke free of their restraints, skin thickened and stretched.

  The warrior frowned, sniffed, and lifted the sword he had withdrawn. Malek waited until the warrior drew close and then lunged at him, slashing with his claws. The warrior jumped aside and swung to confront him. Malek moved in and hit hard. The warrior was strong, not inexperienced like the one he killed near the wall. Another lunge, and Malek caught the warrior’s side with his claws. Blood seeped through the warrior’s shirt, but he turned and came at Malek again, gripping his sword. He was quick. The sword sliced Malek’s shoulder before he could move clear. He seethed with rage. He hadn’t been injured in battle in two centuries. How dare this child raise a sword to him?

  Malek raised his claws and rushed at the warrior. He caught him in the stomach, and the warrior went down, and then he realized it was the man Shay almost married. If he lived, he might bring a wedge between Shay and Cody until Malek had a chance to kill them. Malek heard a voice beyond the woods, and he backed away from the fallen warrior. He wasn’t prepared for a full scale battle yet. He needed to get in without being seen. He had lived in castles for hundreds of years. There was always a bolt hole. He just had to find it.

  ***

  “I’d bet my hair on it,” Matilda said, whispering so loud in Nina’s ear that her voice carried all the way up the ladder. “Look at them.” The two old women stared at Niall and Duncan working on the balcony. “And that Ronan… Lordy, what else can they be?”

  “Think they have any idea we can hear them?” Duncan asked.

  “Doubt it. Cody says their hearing’s shot. That’s why they talk so loud,” Niall replied, handing Duncan a trowel. “What is it they think this place is?”

  “Beats me.”

  “You’re insane,” Nina said. “If you keep this up, I’m going to stick you in that retirement village Frieda Simms is in.”

  “You wouldn’t dare.”

  “Try me.” Nina huffed off, and Matilda turned to the men.

  “Hello,” she said, waving.

  “Hello,” Niall called, and then whispered from the corner of his mouth. “She scares me more than that two-headed demon I had to destroy last year.”

  “I don’t know how the MacBains do it. Guess they’re used to her,” Duncan said.

  “Oh yeah,” Niall said. “How many times have you seen Lachlan since Matilda got here? He’s been staying in a cottage near the back perimeter. I don’t blame him. You know what really jolts me?”

  “Besides her hair?”

  “Forget the hair. Everywhere you turn, she’s there. It’s like there are ten of her. Did you hear she got locked in the tower this morning? It took them an hour to find her.”

  “What scares me is I saw her talking to Brodie earlier,” Duncan said. “They looked like they were scheming.”

  Niall took a swig of water. “Brodie and Matilda. I think I’ll see if I can stay with Lachlan.”

  “I’ll fight you for it.”

  “My sword arm’s so stiff, you’d probably take me.”

  “Mine too, but we can’t practice until they leave,” Duncan said.

  Matilda headed back inside, almost running into Conall in the doorway. “Oh, hello there, Conrad?”

  “Conall, ma’am.”

  “Hm. Nice outfit.” She tilted her head, eyeing him up and down. “Don’t see many men in kilts. Hmmm. What is it you do here, again, Conrad?”

  “I… security. I’m with security, ma’am.”

  “Security, huh?” she said, eyes lingering on his legs. “And them?” she whispered loudly, nodding toward Duncan and Niall.

  “They’re security too… ma’am. It’s a big place.”

  “Security?” Matilda said, drawing the word out like taffy. “Hmm. Oh, there’s Shane. Shane, wait up.” Through the window, they saw Shane take off like a bullet.

  Duncan grinned. “The only exercise we get around here lately is running from Matilda.”

  “I swear. Can’t we put ’em in a hotel or something?” Conall asked.

  Niall chuckled. “What’s the matter, Conrad? You don’t like her looking at your legs?”

  “She’s looking at everybody’s legs,” Conall said. “You’d think she’d never seen a kilt.”

  ***

  Shay dressed and slipped quietly down the hall. Cody had come to bed well after midnight, another meeting about demons and vampires. Sam’s image flashed through Shay’s head, but she squashed it. Cody couldn’t possibly use as much energy as he did loving her and still have leftovers for someone else. Nina and Matilda’s door was closed. They were sharing a room so Nina could keep an eye on Matilda. Each had taken one of Matilda’s sleeping pills, so they should still be sleeping. In spite of their sense of adventure, the two were getting on in years. Shay had no appetite that morning, so she went in search of the secret passage. She knew there was an entrance in the library. A table was piled with books that Bree had been studying. A thump came from near the fireplace. A dislodged book? Nothing was on the floor. She heard it again, a knocking sound. Was someone already inside the passage? Don’t let it be Matilda. Shay had brought the warriors enough trouble without Matilda’s antics.

  “Hello,” she called to the wall. No answer. She found the catch, and a section of wall beside the fireplace swung inward. She stuck her head inside, wrinkling her nose at the mustiness. She found a flashlight on a table and set off to explore. Some of the passages were wide enough to accommodate several people, others much narrower. The passage she was in came to a dead end. She turned and went back the other way. She heard a whisper, a tiny sound. She aimed the light at her feet to be sure it wasn’t a mouse.
The whisper came again, reminding her of the sound she heard at the lake. Cody? Was he in here, or was she hearing something from the other side of the wall? “Cody?”

  There was no answer. She followed the passage to where it forked. A shadow moved, and her heart leapt into her throat. “Hello? Anyone here?” Just her echo, then a hiss. Her hair stood on end. She ran the opposite way, bumping into walls, stumbling. Rounding a corner, she hit a dead end. She ran her hands over the wall, searching for a catch. A section of the wall moved. She yelped and aimed her flashlight.

  “Damn, that’s bright.”

  “Ronan. Oh, thank God. I got lost in there.” It must have been him she heard.

  “You’re found now.” He smiled. “But I’m not Ronan. I’m Declan.”

  “You could be Hitler right now, for all I care. Just get me out of here.”

  “Where do you want to go? The library, the dungeon? Outside?”

  “Outside.” Sunshine seemed like a good thing.

  “Outside it is. This way.”

  She stepped into a tunnel, dank and musty. “Do warriors have a thing for tunnels?” She had always liked them herself, but she’d had enough of this one.

  “Aye. Got to have a way to escape.”

  “How long have you been in here? I heard something earlier.”

  “A while. I was checking the tunnel for loose stones. The part closest to the entrance is old. It’s getting dangerous.”

  “Where does it lead?”

  “Outside the castle grounds.”

  “A bolt hole.”

  “Aye.”

  She aimed the beam and saw that the tunnel widened ahead, but Declan opened a door in the wall, and they stepped into the sunlight. “That’s better.” She wasn’t usually afraid of dark places. She explored plenty of caves with the MacBains, but this time she welcomed the sunshine. In the bright light, she could see Declan’s hair was shorter than Ronan’s, but the brothers were startlingly alike, and equally handsome. “Where are you headed?” Declan asked, surveying the place.

  “Just wanted some fresh air.”

  “Don’t wander off.”

  “I won’t.”

  “I’ll be close by if you need anything,” he said, pointing to a balcony on the second floor where Duncan and Niall were working.

  The weather was mild for Scotland, but she was glad she wore a sweater. There were several fenced areas with horses in the back field. She saw Clydesdales in one area and smaller horses in another. There was a large garage and a number of outbuildings. She saw a bare spot near one of the buildings. A giant buzzard circled overhead, landed, and tucked its huge wings away, probably searching for dinner. Shay followed a cobblestone path lined with boxwoods toward the trees where she saw the warriors stationed last night. She’d always been drawn to the woods, the smell of trees and pine needles and leaves. Some of her best memories were tied to earthy aromas. When she wasn’t off playing with the boys, she often curled up with a book beneath her favorite canopied tree, resting on a bed of pine needles, sometimes just listening to the birds talk. Her solitude would last until Cody found her, usually waiting until he thought she was asleep so he could leap through the low-hanging boughs and scare the crap out of her. He then lay there with her, talking or napping, whatever notion struck. Shay stood at the tree line, closed her eyes, and breathed deeply through her nose. Something pulled at her, a feeling she couldn’t place, a smell that wasn’t right. She turned back, disturbed, because she liked it.

  The buzzard was still there, his wings hunched around his shoulders, waiting. He moved, and Shay could see past him, where something dark lay behind the small building. A deer? She squinted and saw it move. It was alive! The damned bird was waiting for its meal to die. Shay moved closer, planning to scare it away. She saw boots, not hooves, and then legs, hips. She yelled as she ran, startling the great bird into flight.

  When recognition dawned, she opened her mouth and screamed.

  Chapter 17

  Cody knocked on Shay’s door. It swung open. “Shay?” He checked the balcony, but she wasn’t there. Maybe the shower. No. The room was empty. She could be with Bree or Nina and Matilda. As much as he loved them, the two old women were going to complicate things.

  The small silver jewelry box he rescued from the fire sat on Shay’s dresser. He gave it to her on her sixteenth birthday. He bought it and the white-gold heart inside with the money he made from helping the farmer down the road make hay. He had known he would be leaving for training soon and worried they would grow apart with him gone so much and having to keep his secrets. Then his father had told him Shay’s secret. They probably would have been better off if they just told her. He headed down to the kitchen, where Coira was banging around. The clan had offered to hire cooks, but Coira guarded her kitchen like a pirate guarded his treasure. “Have you seen Shay?” Cody asked.

  “Not this morning. She didn’t come to breakfast. Such a sweet girl, but she doesn’t eat enough.”

  “I’m sure you’ll take care of that, Coira.” Cody grabbed a biscuit. “I’ll check the library.”

  When he entered the room, he saw the secret-passage entrance standing open. His pulse quickened as he stepped inside. “Shay,” he called. His voice echoed back to him, hollow. He smelled her and another scent too faded to identify. He followed her trail through several passages. The scent stopped where the tunnel door led outside. He stepped into daylight as Declan came around the corner, carrying a ladder.

  “Have you seen Shay?” Cody asked.

  “She went to get some fresh air.”

  A scream pierced Cody’s ears.

  “That was Shay!” Cody bolted toward the sound.

  “Help!” Shay screamed. She knelt on the ground beside Jamie. His bloody shirt hung in tatters. Deep wounds covered his stomach and side. “Help him.” Shay’s eyes were wide, her face pinched. “Please, help him.”

  Cody and Declan knelt beside Shay. Jamie was unconscious but breathing. His knees and hands were covered in dirt. “Looks like he crawled here,” Declan said.

  “Run ahead of us and get Coira. She’s in the kitchen,” Cody told Shay. “We’ll carry him.” Together he and Declan carried Jamie to the house. Coira met them in the infirmary. They laid Jamie down and stood back as Coira cut away his filthy shirt, revealing long, gaping wounds.

  “Claw marks,” Declan said.

  “They’re deep,” Coira said, “but the bleeding has stopped.”

  Shay hovered over Jamie, holding his hand, as Coira checked Jamie’s vital signs. “Will he be okay?”

  Cody could see the tears staining her cheeks.

  “Unless it gets infected. He was lying out there for God knows how long.” Coira’s hands moved deftly as she cleaned the injuries.

  Infection and sickness were rare among warriors. Strong genes were part of their weaponry. The biggest danger was dying in battle. “I’m going to sound the alarm,” Cody told them.

  When he came back to check on Shay, she was removing Jamie’s jeans. She laid them on a chair and straightened his boxers, her movements smooth and sure, as if in familiar territory. Of course she was. She almost married him.

  She picked up a washcloth and began to wash dirt from Jamie’s arm. He muttered something and reached for her hand.

  Cody eased the door shut and walked away.

  The warriors assembled a group and searched the woods. It didn’t take long to find signs of a fight where Jamie had been posted last night.

  “You think it was a vampire?” Brodie asked Cody, who had bent down to sniff the tracks.

  “There’s no scent. It’s too old.”

  “Looked like demon claws to me,” Niall said.

  Cody sat back on his haunches, staring at the tracks. Problem was, a vampire had a footprint just like a human… or a demon in disguise. Had one of Malek’s demons tracked Shay to the castle? “We’ll need guards, twenty-four seven. Shane, can you organize it? Someone tell Sean to alert the Council that we’ve been at
tacked.”

  ***

  Shay pulled back the sheet and lifted Jamie’s bandage. She could already see a difference in the wound after just a few hours. Coira said the warriors healed quickly. The cut from Cody’s sword was proof. It was just a thin line already. Other scars dotted Jamie’s body. She asked him about them once. He laughed and said he was a reckless kid.

  His eyes flew open, and his hand clamped on her arm, surprisingly strong. He focused on her face and relaxed his grip. “Shay.” He looked down at his bandage and winced.

  “How do you feel?”

  “Cold.”

  “Let me get Coira.”

  “No. Stay with me.”

  This was the first time he’d spoken to her since the attack. Coira said he’d woken a few times, but hadn’t said what happened.

  “You were hurt. Something attacked you.”

  He frowned hard and rubbed his forehead. “A demon, I think… can’t remember…” his voice trailed off, and he shivered.

  “I’ll get another blanket,” she said, starting to pull away.

  He held onto her hand. “Lie down with me, just for a few minutes. Please.”

  She hesitated, knowing she shouldn’t, but she felt bad for Jamie. Not just for his physical pain, but for the emotional pain she’d caused him, although it hadn’t been intentional. He’d offered her his heart and his home. The least she could do was comfort him for five minutes. Maybe he would fall asleep quickly and she could put another blanket on him and leave. After all, Sam had been in Cody’s bedroom while he wore nothing but a towel, and he expected Shay to believe it was innocent. Was this any worse? Against Shay’s better judgment, she slipped off her shoes and lay on top of the covers, stiffly, trying not to let their bodies touch. The pillow was soft. She hadn’t realized how tired she was, and her arm burned like the dickens. Maybe she was the one who should worry about infection. Shay closed her eyes, to rest for just a moment. As soon as Jamie fell asleep, she would leave.

  ***

  Cody returned to the castle at eight o’clock. He missed dinner, but he didn’t care. All he wanted was to crawl into bed with Shay and hold her. Seeing her caring for Jamie left him with an uneasy feeling. He yawned. He’d spent most of the day talking to the fire investigators and looking for some sign of who might have attacked Jamie. He found a young warrior dead, probably killed before Jamie was attacked. The warrior had recently arrived from Ireland after finishing his training. His mentor hadn’t come; they thought it was a safe enough task. He shouldn’t have been guarding such an isolated section of the wall, but he talked another warrior into switching places. Sean was taking Patrick’s body home to his parents.