Anita Clenney - Embrace the Highland Warrior

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 to 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.”