Embrace the Highland Warrior

by Anita Clenney

  Jamie shifted, wincing. “Is someone guarding the tunnel?”

  “Shane and Tomas checked it earlier, and we’ve posted two guards there.”

  “Maybe we should move Shay to New York,” Jamie said.

  “If we move her, we’ll risk having her out in the open until we can get her inside the castle walls there. Even though we’ve been breached here, more warriors are on the way. France has a dozen on the way, and Ireland’s sending twenty.” He hadn’t asked the clan in Ireland, not after sending one of their own back in a casket, but they had volunteered. “We can line them up shoulder to shoulder, if we have to.” Cody looked around the room, trying to decide how to ask Jamie what he wanted to ask. “I need a favor.”

  Jamie looked surprised. “I’m listening.”

  Cody held Jamie’s gaze and remembered staring at him across the body in the woods, thinking Shay was dead. “If something happens to me… I want you to take care of Shay.” His throat tightened at the words, but he had to make sure she would be okay. Jamie loved her. He would protect her. Give her a good life.

  Jamie watched him for a minute and then he nodded. “You have my word.”

  “Thank you.”

  Duncan stuck his head in the door, his scowl even more pronounced than usual. “Has anyone seen Sorcha? Bloody woman’s never where she’s supposed to be.”

  “She’s guarding the gate,” Cody said. He hadn’t seen Sorcha and Duncan together since Duncan kissed her during the Council meeting.

  “I’m going to check on her,” Duncan said, passing Coira on the way out.

  “Have you been to the bathroom tonight?” she asked Jamie.

  He rolled his eyes. “Not yet.”

  “Better do it while you have a man to help you, or I’ll have to stick a bedpan under you. I’m going to sleep in the infirmary so I can watch Shay. Don’t forget your pain pills. Won’t do anyone any good if you don’t rest so your body can heal.”

  “Damn,” Jamie said, after she left.

  “Uh… you need to go?” Cody asked.

  Jamie nodded and slowly sat up. It took him a minute to stand. Cody put his arm around Jamie, supporting him, and helped him into the bathroom, wondering if this was some kind of karma or penance for acting like an asshole.

  ***

  Ronan frowned as Bree stood over Shay’s bed. He and Niall had spent the night hunting that thing in the woods. Cody left minutes after they had. He hoped Cody had better luck. It was as if it had vanished into thin air with not even a track.

  “What’s wrong?” Faelan asked Bree.

  She leaned closer and touched the bandage on Shay’s arm. “Vampire,” she said, and blinked several times. “She’s been marked by a vampire.”

  Chapter 18

  Ronan felt as if he had swallowed a frog. “Are you sure?” he choked.

  “I think so,” Bree said.

  Faelan moved closer. “Marked by an ancient demon and a vampire? Damnation. Poor wee lass.”

  Bree pressed her hand to her forehead. “I think I need to sit down.”

  “You don’t need to sit down, you need to lie down,” Ronan scolded. To Faelan he said, “She’s been hanging off those ladders in the library like a monkey when you’re not watching.”

  Bree gave Ronan the evil eye.

  “I don’t need you to take care of my wife,” Faelan said to Ronan. He turned to Bree. “Are ye trying to drive me mad?” He swung her up in his arms and carried her sputtering from the room.

  The whole clan couldn’t keep Bree out of trouble. Ronan wished he could just tell Faelan about the baby, so he didn’t have to worry about letting Bree’s secret slip.

  “You think it’s a bite?” Coira asked, unwinding the bandage to check Shay’s scratch.

  “Scratch, bite, it doesn’t matter,” Ronan said. “If her blood’s been tainted by a vampire, she needs a transfusion.”

  “A transfusion? I don’t have enough blood. She’ll have to go to the hospital, and Cody will kill us if we take her outside these walls. You know how he feels about her.”

  “There’s no time for the hospital. She’s his mate. What do you think he’ll do if we let a vampire lure her away? I think she’s been marked.”

  “Cody said she got the scratch days ago. Why isn’t she dead? I thought vampire bites were supposed to kill, drain the blood, you know,” Coira said.

  “I think marking a victim is different, like injecting a poison or drug. It makes you weak at first, and then if it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger.”

  “And how do you know so much about it?”

  Ronan looked away. “I’ve been researching.”

  Shay opened her eyes. “Where am I?”

  “You’re in the infirmary. You… passed out. Can you tell us what you were doing outside?” Coira asked.

  She blinked slowly. “Him. I was going to him.”

  “Who?” Ronan asked.

  She looked puzzled. “I don’t know.”

  “The vampire is trying to lure her to him,” Ronan said.

  “What on God’s green earth do they want with her?” Coira asked.

  “I don’t know, but we’re not going to let them have her. We’ll have to do it here,” Ronan said. “And it will have to be my blood.”

  “Your blood?” Shay asked, her voice groggy. “What are you doing to me? I want Cody.”

  “We’re going to give you blood,” Coira said.

  “I’m O-pos—”

  “O-positive, I know,” Ronan said. “All warriors are.”

  “I’m no warrior,” Shay whispered.

  “Aye, you are,” Ronan said. “Well, you most likely are.”

  She slumped against the bed. “Cody lied to me again.” She passed out.

  “Do it fast,” Ronan said, watching Shay’s breathing grow more shallow. “I’ll take responsibility.”

  ***

  “You say she had red hair?” Cody asked. He’d run into Nick’s friend at the police station when the guy came to see if there were any new leads in his friend’s murder.

  “That she did,” Nick’s roommate said, “but I couldn’t say what she wanted with him. Seemed all secretive like.”

  “Was the woman young?” Sorcha immediately came to mind, but Sorcha wasn’t the only red-haired woman in the world. Maybe for Duncan…

  “That’s what was so noticeable. She wasn’t young at all. She was old, and her hair…” the guy held his hands out over his head, “like the color of… you ever see a baboon’s nose?”

  It couldn’t be. Cody tilted his head. “Nick didn’t mention her name?”

  “No. Just said he was playing Cupid. He was a good bloke. We roomed together for a year. Treated me like a brother.”

  “I’m sorry. Can you tell me what the woman was wearing?”

  “Now that was bloody odd. Purple, and another thing…” he leaned closer, as if imparting national secrets. “She had cleavage.”

  Matilda.

  ***

  “They found what?” Cody had just returned to the castle when Sam caught up to him in the corridor.

  “The neighbor, Lucy Bell, the bones belonged to her, but the fire didn’t kill her. She was already dead. Just wanted to give you a heads up that they’ll probably have some questions for Shay. Honestly, I think they suspect Ellis killed her, but you’d better use that super mojo you got and solve this thing fast. There’s some weird stuff going on.”

  If Sam only knew.

  “If anyone owes you favors, now’s the time to call them in. The cops are getting nervous about talking to me. If my superiors find out what I’ve done for you, I’m toast.”

  Why kill an old woman, unless she interrupted something she shouldn’t have, like someone searching for a stolen book? A neighbor who lived behind Shay claimed she saw a man near Shay’s house the night before the fire. Maybe the fire wasn’t to lure Shay into a trap, but to hide a dead body.

  Sam left to make some phone calls, and Cody went toward the infirmary t
o check on Shay. He’d spent the whole day tracking and following leads. He was fairly sure Nina and Matilda had something to do with Nick and those phone calls.

  Coira met him at the door. “Cody, you’re back.” She darted a glance inside.

  “What’s wrong? Is it Shay?” He hurried inside. She was in bed, attached to a tube. An iron fist closed around his heart. “Why are you giving her blood?”

  Ronan lay on a table near her. He looked pale. “Bree had one of her visions. The mark on Shay’s arm is from a vampire. Her blood is tainted.”

  “A vampire? Bloody hell! Why didn’t you call me?”

  “We had to work fast,” Coira said.

  “Is she okay?” If something happened to her, he didn’t know if he could live, but she actually looked healthier than she had in days.

  “She’s doing much better,” Coira said. “Her color is improving by the minute.”

  Ronan watched Shay, his expression growing soft in a way Cody didn’t like, and then Cody saw the gauze on Ronan’s arm.

  “Whose blood?” Cody asked.

  “Mine,” Ronan said.

  “She has your blood?” A warrior’s blood was powerful. He’d seen transfusions create bonds between warriors, give them a stronger sense of brotherhood than they already had. What would it do between male and female?

  Faelan walked into the room, catching the last of the conversation. “Bree said Shay had been marked. It might be why she was sleepwalking outside. Who knows what the vampires can do? Track her. Summon her.”

  Ronan started to say something, but stopped. He looked so pale Cody wondered if Coira had taken too much blood.

  Cody touched Shay’s forehead. She didn’t have a fever, and she looked much better. “It should’ve been my blood,” he said, stroking Shay’s hair as Coira removed the tube.

  “I know,” Ronan said quietly. “But in this case it had to be mine.”

  “Why?” Would he have to fight Ronan for her now?

  “I have immunities you don’t have.” His jaw clenched. “I was bitten by a vampire.”

  “During the battle?” Cody asked.

  “Not at the castle. Two years ago, and I suspect a vampire killed my brother, Cam.”

  “Oh my,” Coira said, putting gauze on Shay’s arm.

  A harsh breath sounded at the door. Declan stood frozen, staring at his twin. “A vampire? You think a vampire killed Cam? And you didn’t say anything?”

  “You knew there were vampires two years ago? Why didn’t you warn the clan?” Faelan asked.

  “I didn’t know it was a vampire, then. Nobody believed vampires existed in this day and age. When we saw the vampires at Druan’s castle, I knew I’d made a mistake.”

  “Mistake? How could you not know you’ve been bitten by a vampire?” Faelan asked.

  “Cam and I were hunting. We destroyed four demons. Something attacked our camp that night. I’d gone to take a piss when I heard Cam scream. The night was so black I couldn’t see what it was, but it was fast and strong. I attacked it, and I don’t know what happened. When I woke up, Cam was gone. I saw the blood where it dragged him off, but the trail disappeared.”

  “You never found the body?” Cody asked, slipping his hand over Shay’s. He felt her pulse throbbing softly under his finger. It must be his imagination, but he thought it sped up.

  “No. We looked, Declan and I, and a lot of others, but there was no trace of him. At first I didn’t notice the marks on my neck. They were small. When they started burning, I thought they must be scratches from a demon.”

  “Damn it! Why didn’t you tell me at Druan’s castle?” Declan asked, face tight with anger.

  “I wanted more information first. I think that blond is important. He can give us answers.”

  “Why would being bitten by a vampire make you better suited for Shay’s transfusion?” Cody asked. “Isn’t getting bitten a bad thing?”

  “I think if you don’t die, you develop immunities to their poison,” Ronan said. “I don’t understand it, but there’s more to it than just draining a victim’s blood. I think I got stronger afterward. My eyesight and my hearing seem sharper.”

  “You’re my bloody twin, and you’re just now telling me?” Declan slammed his fist against the wall and stalked out, passing Jamie on the way in. He wasn’t moving fast, but he looked a lot better than he had before.

  “What’s wrong with Shay?”

  “Jamie Waters, what are you doing out of bed?” Coira hurried over to him and checked his bandage.

  “Sorry, Coira, I remembered something I needed to tell Cody.” Jamie walked to Shay’s bed. “Is she okay?” When he saw Cody holding Shay’s hand, his jaw tightened, and he looked away.

  “She had what we thought was a scratch on her arm,” Cody said, pulling his hand from Shay’s. He didn’t want to make things harder on Jamie than it already was. “Bree said a vampire marked her. Ronan gave her some blood.”

  “A vampire? She’s marked by a demon and a vampire? Is she okay?” Jamie asked, worry shadowing his eyes.

  Coira nodded. “Much better.”

  “What did you want to tell me?” Cody asked.

  “I remember where I heard the name Anson Masters. He was Renee’s client.”

  “Are you sure?” Cody asked. “The police didn’t mention it.”

  “Yeah. I called Renee a few days ago, to see how Shay was doing. She sounded uneasy. I asked if she was okay. She said she had to deliver a chair to a client, Anson Masters. She didn’t say anything else. I figured she was just in a rush.”

  “What do you want to bet he’s the client she didn’t like? Shay thought Renee said something about ‘faster,’ but she could have been trying to warn Shay about Masters.”

  “I think so. I checked the invoice for the table. It was in my wallet. His name was scribbled on the corner. I think she was trying to give us a clue,” Jamie said. “She probably sent the table to me because she knew I had a top-secret job. She thought I was military. She probably figured the table would be safe with me.” Jamie gave a humorless laugh.

  “She didn’t know you’d be guarding it from vampires,” Ronan said.

  Sam stepped into the room. “Did someone say vampires—” She broke off, staring at Jamie. Her eyes flared and she looked away, her cheeks growing pink.

  “Uh, we were just talking nonsense,” Cody said. “Sam, Jamie Waters. Jamie, Samantha Skye. You met the others already.”

  “You’re Sam?” Jamie asked, eyebrows cocked. He and Sam nodded in greeting but didn’t attempt to shake hands.

  “Jamie says Ellis’s boss, Anson Masters, was a client of Renee’s,” Cody said, watching Sam’s blush fade. He couldn’t remember ever seeing her blush.

  “Now that’s interesting,” Sam said, pulling her gaze from Jamie. “He left out that little detail. I haven’t been able to find him and wondered if you had anyone you could spare. This guy’s harder to track down than Osama bin Laden.”

  He could be Osama bin Laden, for all they knew. Cody was pretty sure Osama was a demon. Some of the wickedest rulers in human history were either demons or minions. “Jamie, think you’re up to helping Sam?” He looked much stronger than he had before.

  Coira planted her hands on her hips. “Cody MacBain, what kind of foolishness are you putting in this boy’s head? He needs to rest a couple more days.”

  Jamie patted Coira’s shoulder. “I’ll be fine, Coira. You know I’m a fast healer.”

  “I know you’re hardheaded; that’s what I know.”

  He glanced from Shay to the mark on Cody’s neck. “You’ll take care of her?” he asked Cody, and something passed between them, like a final changing of the guards.

  “I will,” Cody said. “You have my word.”

  Jamie nodded.

  “I’ll take it easy on Jamie,” Sam told Coira, and this time Jamie blushed.

  “I’m holding you and Cody responsible for him,” Coira said.

  He gave one final look over his shou
lder at Shay, his expression torn. “Lead the way,” he said, following Sam.

  “When we’re in the car,” Sam said, “you can explain why you were really talking about vampires. It wouldn’t surprise me to find out Cody’s a creature of the night.” After they left, Shay coughed. Coira and Cody rushed to her side. She struggled to rise.

  “Relax now,” Coira said.

  Cody grabbed Shay’s hand. “How do you feel?”

  “Betrayed.”

  “What have I done now?” Cody asked.

  “You lied to me,” Shay said, after the others fled the room.

  “How did I lie?”

  “I’m a warrior? Ronan had to tell me.”

  Damn.

  “You said you’d stop.”

  “We weren’t sure you were a warrior.”

  “But I might be?”

  “It’s possible.” He sighed. “I think you probably are. The Watchers thought so at one time, and they’re usually right. I wasn’t hiding it from you; there’s just been so much going on.”

  “So I’ve found out I’m a warrior a year before I have to retire?” She sat down on the bed.

  “You can always choose to remain active. That’s what Anna plans to do. So does Ronan.” That distressing thought had him so troubled he almost missed what she said next.

  “What you said about the demons using the book to kill warriors when they’re born, do you think that’s what happened to me? I was left for dead as a baby, and someone is obviously worried enough about whether I’m alive to dig up my fake grave. And Bree thinks it’s an ancient demon.”

  Cody sat down next to her. “God forbid. It’s possible that Malek believed your father had the book and left it to you. It’s all speculation. We don’t know anything for sure except that someone is after you, and someone stole our Book of Battles.” He reached for her hand. “Are you mad at me again?”

  “A little.”

  “I should have told you. I would have, but there’s been so much happening. And subconsciously, I probably didn’t want to put another burden on you. I love you. I want you safe.”

  “I know. I kept secrets too, but we have to stop,” she said, leaning her head on shoulder.