Embrace the Highland Warrior

Jamie returned the swing, catching Cody in the jaw.

Shay jumped between them, and they both drew up short, glaring at each other over her head. “What’s going on?”

“Ask your boyfriend about his talisman.”

“Talisman?” She looked at Jamie. Guilt was written on his face. Her gaze fell to the necklace he never took off, not even in bed. He’d said it was a family heirloom. It resembled Cody’s. And Marcas’s. And Lachlan’s. “No,” she whispered.

“I’m sorry, Shay,” Jamie said. “I didn’t intend—”

“You’re one of them?” She backed away until she hit something solid. Strong hands gripped her shoulders. Shay turned, her eyes level with Faelan’s necklace—talisman—outlined beneath his shirt.

“You’re bleeding. Where’s Bree?” He followed Shay’s gaze to where Bree stood by the overturned table, bloody hands extended over it, a blank look in her eyes, while Cody and Jamie hurled insults like knives.

“Be quiet,” Faelan told them. He hurried to her side. “She’s having a vision.”

Bree ran her hands down the front of the table, reached underneath, and a drawer popped out. A piece of paper lay inside.

“I didn’t know it did that,” Shay said.

Bree snapped out of her vision as Faelan reached for the paper. “The Book of Battles.” His voice was grainy, like it was made of sand. “It’s the last page from the Book of Battles.”

“What’s a Book of Battles?” Shay asked, alarmed at the stricken looks on the faces around her, even Jamie’s. She was the outsider again.

“You think the book was in there?” Jamie asked.

“You’re the one with the table. Why don’t you tell us?” Cody said.

“Go to hell, MacBain.”

“You were sent to protect her,” Cody growled. “Not sleep with her.”

“You were sent to protect me?” Shay shook her head in disbelief.

“I’m sorry, Shay. Marcas and Lachlan asked me to keep an eye on you. I didn’t mean to—”

Cody stepped in front of Jamie. Shay slipped from the room while they circled each other like predators.

Shay dug for her keys as she hurried to her car, but they weren’t in her pocket. She must have dropped them when she and Bree moved Jamie. She wasn’t going back in there. She looked inside Cody’s truck. His keys were in the ignition. He could drive her car or stay with Jamie. As far as she was concerned, Cody and Jamie could both rot in hell.

Bree ran out as Shay opened Cody’s truck door. “Where are you going?”

“I need to get away from here.”

“You can’t go alone. It’s too dangerous.” A roar erupted from inside the house. “Heck. I’m coming with you.” Bree opened the passenger door and slid in. “Let them fight it out.”

***

The servant parked down the street, watching the house through binoculars. It was the ex-boyfriend’s house. What was she doing there? Reconciling? A truck pulled into the driveway, and two men got out. The warrior who was always with her, the one the master said she had to stay away from, and the man in the kilt. He was tired of all these men hovering. It was impossible to get near her. Her house was like a damned hotel. Was she sleeping with one—or all—of them?

The rage built inside him, growing until he thought it might burn him alive. He pulled out his knife, put it to his arm, and stopped. He’d cut something, all right. The master said it was crucial that they not have children. He couldn’t kill her yet, even if the master wanted him too, but he could get rid of the warrior. The master would like that.

After the men entered the house, he pulled closer and parked his car behind a thick maple covered with red leaves. He glanced at the house. All clear. He approached the man’s truck and lay down beside the wheel, holding his knife and an empty 7-11 coffee cup. It didn’t take long.

Hurrying back to his car, he moved out of sight and wiped the fluid from his knife blade with a dirty handkerchief. He heard an engine start, and the warrior’s truck backed out of the driveway. It wouldn’t be long. As the truck sped by his hiding place, he saw Shay in the driver’s seat.

“No!” he screamed.

***

“Get your hands off me—” Jamie said, bristling.

“Shut up! Both of you,” Faelan shouted, pulling Jamie and Cody apart. “Where’s Bree and Shay?”

An engine roared to life. “That’s my truck,” Cody said. “Damn it, that’s my truck!” They sprinted outside in time to see the Toyota pull away with Shay and Bree inside. “Stop!”

The truck kept going, spitting dirt and gravel. Cody ran to Shay’s rental car and yanked open the door. “No keys.”