Anita Clenney - Embrace the Highland Warrior

“Do you have to go? Who’s guarding the castle?”

“I have to help. Only a few of us are going. Most will stay here, and the warriors from Ireland have arrived to help. Still, I don’t want you to leave the castle. I’d prefer if you didn’t leave this room.” His eyes showed worry.

She smoothed down his hair and ran her hands over his neck and shoulders, feeling the solid strength of muscle and bone. He was a warrior, but he was also human; he could bleed. And he could die. Her hand moved down his arm, and his hand turned over, linking with hers. Cody lowered his head.

“Promise me you’ll be careful,” he said, his breath a whisper against her mouth.

She buried her face in his neck, the side that had the mate mark, her mark, feeling his pulse beating there. “You’re the one going after vampires.” He held her tight. Too tight. “What’s wrong?”

He leaned back, studying her face as if trying to memorize it. He kissed her, tender at first, then desperate.

Faelan appeared in the hallway behind Cody. “Ready?”

Cody pressed his lips to her hair for a long moment. “I have to go. I love you. I’ve loved you forever. Always know that.” With a look that made her knees weak, he turned and strode away.

***

The warriors parked behind Beauly Priory, near the river, where they had less chance of being seen. The priory had been built in the thirteenth century by monks. There wasn’t much left of it, other than a few walls and the north transept, which had been restored and used as a mausoleum for the Mackenzies. If the vampire legends were accurate, and the vampires needed to avoid daylight, that was where they would be, since the roof of the priory had long since been gone. It was almost dusk; they wouldn’t sleep much longer. Only ten warriors were here. They agreed not to pull more from guarding the castle. It should be enough to catch the vampires off guard and get the book. The warriors entered the priory grounds, moving stealthily, weapons hidden. So far, they hadn’t met any other visitors.

Cody slipped the dagger from his boot. Marcas and Lach were at his back, which gave some comfort, as did the others, whom he considered brothers.

“P-s-s-s-t.” Ronan stood behind one of the old walls motioning to them. “They’re in the mausoleum,” he said, when they reached him.

“How many?” Lach asked.

“Nine, maybe more. They must be using the mausoleum to rest during the day. They’re stronger at night. I don’t know why they’re staying so close to the castle, but it can’t be good.”

“Well, we’d better hurry before they wake up,” Brodie said, looking at the lengthening shadows. “We’re losing daylight.”

“You sure they’re vampires?” Shane asked.

Ronan nodded. “I saw that blond vampire. Nobody touches him. He’s mine.”

Duncan pulled out his dagger, which made a soft ring when he extended it into a sword. “Guess we take their heads, like we did in Druan’s castle.”

“Works every time,” Sorcha said, pulling her dagger from her boot.

“If the legends are right and they’re sleeping, we can grab the book and lop off their heads before they wake,” Niall said.

“Keep one,” Cody said. “We need to find out why they still want Shay.” Just speaking her name made him ache all the way to his bones.

“I’ll keep the blond,” Ronan said. “He should have more knowledge. Quiet now. We don’t know how sharp their hearing is, and we don’t want the neighbors getting nosy.”

“No battle cries, Brodie,” Sorcha said.

“One friggin’ mistake,” Brodie said.

“But outside the Sistine Chapel?” Sorcha said. “I thought that tourist would have a heart attack when you stabbed that old woman.”

“She wasn’t an old woman any more than I am.”

“Shut up, you two,” Ronan said. “Keep to the walls and stay out of sight. We don’t want an audience. Let’s go.” Ronan and Cody reached the door to the mausoleum first. Ronan put his ear to the door and shook his head, to show that he heard no sound. The warriors lined up, swords ready, and Ronan eased the door open. “Damn!”

A hiss came from inside. Ronan rushed in with Cody right behind him. Several vampires had been lounging on the floor and the crypts, not a one of them asleep. They leapt up and rushed toward the door.

Ronan took the head of the one closest, and the vampire fell to dust. Another rushed at him, slamming him against a wall. Cody picked off two trying to get out the door, clearing the path for the others to move inside. A short vampire leapt at him, teeth dangerously close to his neck. Niall batted the thing down, and Cody drove his sword through its heart. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it,” Niall said, and turned to meet another one.

The space was small, making for dangerous fighting. Cody attacked every vampire in his path, taking his anger and frustration out on them so he didn’t have to think about what he had to do.

“Leave some for us,” Lach said, behind him.

The vampires were strong, and quick, but not as fast as they were in the woods. They were, however, escaping.

“The blond just got away,” Shane said. “He has the book.” He turned and cut off a female vampire’s head so fast Cody didn’t even see the blade swing.

Ronan took off after the blond vampire, picking up the bow he had left by the door. Declan headed out after him. The vampires that were left spread out among the priory ruins. Dusk had settled, giving the warriors some cover but not enough if anyone was nearby. “Get them,” Cody said.

“Keep the one who has the book alive,” Faelan called.

Ronan had the blond vampire pinned to a tree with an arrow on either side of the heart. The vampire hissed, bearing broken fangs, his eyes burning with hatred. He tried to pull free, but the arrows were stuck deep.

“I got it,” Ronan said, dodging the creature’s short fangs as he removed the satchel. “Here, I think the Mighty Faelan should hold the book until we can get it to Sean.”

The vampire’s eyes widened. He stared at Faelan, and the blue in his eyes turned red.

“He seems wary of you,” Ronan said.

Faelan took the satchel, opened it, and looked inside. He closed the satchel again.

“Aren’t you even going to look at it?” Brodie asked.

“That’s for Sean to do,” Faelan said.

“They’re all dead,” Marcas said. “What are we going to do with him?” He nodded toward the vampire.

“Take him to the castle,” Ronan said.

“Sure we want to do that?” Duncan asked.

Cody tucked his dagger back inside his boot. “This is our chance to find out what these things are and what they want.” He had to save Shay.

“Whatever we do, we need to do it fast, before someone sees him,” Marcas said. They bound the vampire with so much rope, his clothing couldn’t be seen.

“He looks like a damn mummy,” Brodie said.

“No one in sight except a few kids over by those houses,” Lach said. “They’re not paying attention.”

They loaded the vampire into one of the Range Rovers. “I’ll meet you back at the castle,” Cody told them.

“Where are you going?” Marcas asked, his eyes narrowed.

“I’ve got something to do first.”

***

Shay stood at the French doors, looking over the driveway. The night was beautiful. It should have been like a thousand others, but it wasn’t. Both vampires and an ancient demon were after her for God knew what reason, the same demon who killed her parents and tried to kill her as a baby. Michael the Archangel had told her she was assigned to destroy the demon. Twenty-six-year-old Shay, versus a nine-hundred-year-old demon, and vampires, one who marked her for God knows what. Not a normal night.