Anita Clenney - Embrace the Highland Warrior

Shay collapsed in the stream of brilliant light.

No!” Cody roared. Everything went black.

Chapter 21

Cody heard buzzing in his ears. He slowly opened his eyes. Everything was blurred. He blinked several times and saw lights twinkling above him. Stars. Night. A metallic taste lingered in his mouth. Reality slammed back into focus. Shay! He rolled to his knees. His side burned, and his head felt like a thousand pins stabbing his skull. Where was Shay? He blinked again, trying to clear his vision, and saw her. She lay on her side several feet away, unmoving. Struggling to his feet, he lurched toward her as the blackness clawed at him like fingers of hell, broken only by the brilliant flashes in his head. He felt burnt, inside and out. He dropped beside her. “Shay! Wake up.” She didn’t move. He felt for her pulse. It was still. “No. No.” He pulled her into his arms. “God, no.”

Voices called behind him, feet pounding, cries of alarm.

“Cody, give her to me.” Marcas tried to lift Shay, but Cody wouldn’t let go.

Lachlan dropped beside him, and together he and Marcas pried Shay from his arms, as the world spun.

Someone grabbed his arm. “You’re injured, Cody. Let them help her.” Faelan pulled off his shirt and pressed it to Cody’s side. When he took it away, Cody saw blood. A lot of blood.

Shay lay on the ground with Bree bending over her, pressing on her chest. Ronan was near her head—Cody blinked—kissing her. Blackness threatened to overtake him again, and when it cleared, he dimly recognized that Bree and Ronan were trying to resuscitate Shay. The other warriors gathered in a circle around them.

Cody pulled away from Faelan and crawled to Shay’s side. “Let me,” Cody said.

Bree pushed against Shay’s heart. Cody breathed into her mouth, begging her to live. Cody felt air stir on his lips, so faint he thought it was his own. He felt it again. His heart surged, sending a wave of pain through his body. “She’s breathing. She’s breathing. I love you,” he whispered as the black abyss swallowed him.

***

Shay saw a flash of light and heard voices.

“What are you doing out of bed again?” The voice was familiar. “You’re a fine warrior, but a lousy patient, Cody MacBain. I told you to stay in bed. What have you done with your IV?”

Cody. Shay opened her eyes and saw Cody lifting his head from her stomach. His eyes were sleep-blurred, his face lined from resting against her bunched covers. “Sorry, Coira, it was getting in the way.”

Coira gave him a stern look and at the same time patted his cheek. “Sleeping in that chair next to her bed isn’t going to make her—well, look at that. She’s awake.”

“Shay.” Cody leaned closer, his eyes devouring her face. “Are you okay?”

“Move back a bit, Cody, and let me check her over. Shay, dear, how to do you feel?”

“Like I’ve been hit by a train.”

“That’s to be expected. You gave us a right good scare. Both of you nearly dead when they brought you in. How about your head? Does it feel all right? You both had nosebleeds something terrible.”

Shay touched her temples. “Okay, I think,” she said, staring at Cody, who stood off to the side, not taking his eyes off her. He wore sleeping pants and a T-shirt, his jaw shadowed with a beard. Shay wanted to cry, seeing him alive and whole. She reached for his hand. “I thought you were dead. Malek?”

“Destroyed.”

“How?”

Coira shook her head. “Let me finish up with her, and I’ll leave you two alone. The others are in the library.” She bent close and peered at Shay. “I’ll let them know you’re awake. They’ll be thrilled to see you. I’ve had to post guards at the door to keep them out of here.” Coira checked them both thoroughly. “Now climb back in bed, both of you. You’ve a ways to go before you can go tramping out of here.”

Cody leaned over Shay’s bed, pressing his face to her hair. “I thought I’d lost you, Shay.”

She gripped his shoulders and buried her nose in his T-shirt, breathing in his scent, feeling the muscle and warmth of his skin under the cotton. “How did Malek die?”

“The only thing I can figure is that we killed him together. You stabbed him through the heart at the same time I hit him with the light from my talisman. The timing must have been perfect.”

“I remember the flash of light. And then you calling to me, kissing me.”

“You were dead, Shay.” His voice was rough. “You weren’t breathing. We resuscitated you.”

Shay reached for Cody’s hand. “Hold me.”

He gave a wry smile. “Coira didn’t say which bed I was supposed to get in.” He eased in next to Shay. It was a tight fit, but she snuggled against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. She’d almost lost him. She ducked her head so he wouldn’t see her tears.

“Hey, now,” he said, tilting her chin. “No crying. We did it. We destroyed Malek.” Cody’s hand tightened on hers. “Everyone’s fine. Coira’s been letting them in here two at a time. I think the battle with Jamie probably weakened Malek, and Bree helped. She used Edward’s talisman to destroy Malek’s demons.”

“I didn’t think anyone could use another warrior’s talisman unless it had been reassigned.”

“They aren’t supposed to. At least that’s what we’ve been taught.”

“She can kill vampires too,” Shay said.

“I saw you both. I don’t understand it, but I saw it.”

Shay lay her head against Cody’s battle marks. She heard the faint whispers again, almost like music, soothing. “Malek said something strange. He said our child was destined to destroy him.”

Cody frowned. “Our child? So he was trying to kill you to stop you from having a child?”

“He even told me his name. Alexander. That’s what I named our baby.”

A look of sadness crossed Cody’s face. “Then he was assigned to kill Malek.”

“But Michael said it was me.”

“Malek must have been reassigned to you.”

Shay traced the battle marks with her finger. “How did Malek know who was assigned to kill him? That’s alarming.”

“It is, but the Book of Battles was missing for a long time. He must have seen it,” Cody said. “Let’s hope no one else did.”

“I think Alexander would have been a great warrior,” Shay said, her throat tight. “Like his father.”

Cody brushed a kiss over her hair. “And strong, like his mother.”

Shay blinked back tears and snuggled closer to Cody.

“I’d say they’re feeling better. What do you think?” Lachlan said from the doorway. Ronan stood behind him.

“I’d feel better if we had some privacy,” Cody joked as the warriors approached the bed. “Seriously, thank you. You saved our lives.”

Ronan looked at Shay and grinned. “Anytime she needs resuscitation, just let me know.”

“Jackass,” Cody said, lightly punching Ronan on the arm.

Voices sounded in the hallway. “The troupe descends,” Lachlan said. “Coira said everyone could come in for ten minutes.”

The room filled with people and the air swarmed with smiles and laughter and gratitude and a few jokes about Cody and Shay in the same hospital bed. When Shay grew tired, she closed her eyes, listening to the voices of her family and friends. She slid her hand into Cody’s and knew she had come home.

***

“Darling.” Nina hugged her as soon as Shay and Cody entered the library. Coira had made them rest for another day before releasing them, and a celebration had been planned. “He hasn’t left your side,” she whispered, glancing at Cody.

“I know.” Shay reached behind her, and Cody took her hand.