Embrace the Highland Warrior

Cody’s stomach dropped. “You’re sure?”

“Sure as my hair’s naturally curly. You got any enemies? If you don’t, you’d better start looking for one.” A car rolled up behind them. “There’s my ride. Gotta go.” He patted Cody’s truck on the hood. “She’s good as new, except for that dent.”

“Sorry I couldn’t get over to pick it up. Things got a little hectic here.”

“No problem. I’ll deliver anytime. You guys always go to the top of the list. If it weren’t for you, my sister Clarisse would be dead. I still don’t know how you found the rat hole that scumbag boyfriend of hers was holding her in. Even the FBI couldn’t find any sign of him.”

The scumbag boyfriend wasn’t hard to track. His human form couldn’t hide his scent. Halflings couldn’t shift, not like powerful demons, but some learned to project an illusion. The demon form was still there, as was the scent, usually. Humans weren’t sensitive enough to detect it. “Luck,” Cody told Darrell.

“Tell Lachlan that Clarisse said hi. She wanted to come, but she had to work.”

Clarisse had been after Lach since she first laid eyes on him. Darrell left, and Cody crawled under the truck with a flashlight, not convinced until he saw with his own eyes that the line had been repaired. Shay and Bree could have died. This was the second time she almost died in an automobile crash, which made him wonder if the accident was meant for him or her.

He opened the truck door to look for Shay’s cell phone and saw a glint of something shiny under the seat. It was a necklace. A cross. The chain had broken. Cody turned it over and saw the emblem on the back. Edward’s family crest. The necklace wasn’t a talisman. Edward’s talisman was safe in the cellar, but this had belonged to him. How had Shay gotten it? The clan had agreed she wasn’t to have anything that could be traced back to her father.

***

“Nice setup,” Duncan said, looking over the weapons, high-tech computer equipment, camera monitors, and gym in the Bat Cave. “Got a training room too. So this is how they kept their secrets.”

Cody, who had rejoined the group, glanced at Shay and then looked away. It still bothered her that they lied, but she could understand why they thought it necessary.

“Are you okay?” Faelan asked Bree. She stood next to Shay, running her hands over the wooden box.

I’m fine,” Bree said, frowning. She opened the box. A heavy piece of metal hung from a leather cord.

“That’s a talisman, isn’t it?” Shay asked.

“It was your father’s,” Cody said.

Her father’s. A real flesh-and-blood man. Had he loved her? Tried to protect her? Held her and tossed her into the air? Shay picked up the box, and a thought, a memory, something familiar, flashed in her head. She felt strong arms holding her, heard a deep laugh and a woman’s gentler one and then softer arms reaching for her and the smell of perfume. Was it a real memory or a desperate attempt to connect with the man and woman who gave her life?

A door slammed at the top of the stairs. “Jamie,” Sorcha purred, facing the door. “You’re back.”

Jamie stood at the top of the stairs, clothes rumpled, hair mussed, anger radiating off him like a fog. “What the hell did you do to me, MacBain?”

“Wasn’t me,” Cody said.

“You saying you didn’t drug me?”

“No, Nina and Matilda did,” Cody said. “Had you in a wheelbarrow trying to load you into the car.”

Jamie’s handsome face went slack. “What for?”

“They were matchmaking and wanted you out of the way.” Cody didn’t go into detail, but Jamie got the point. “Must have seen the rose you gave Shay.”

“I didn’t give her a rose,” Jamie said.

Cody’s puzzled look turned to alarm. “If you didn’t give it to her, who did?”

“Her aunt, maybe,” Duncan suggested.

Shay shook her head. “Nina never sends roses.”

“You don’t think…” Bree didn’t finish her sentence.

“The stalker?” Shay asked.

“Where did you find the rose?” Jamie asked.

“On my pillow last night.”

“That means he got in again,” Cody said. “Damn it. Must have been while we were in Luray.”

“How’s he getting past the locks and security system?” Ronan asked.

“Guess they’re not good enough,” Cody said.

***

The servant was on his way to Walmart for a clean change of clothes when he saw the woman leaving her car. At first he thought it was her, because of the blond hair, slim build, and long legs. She’d parked on the side of the store, away from the crowded lot. He watched her walk, a long-limbed sexy gait, and ached to touch, to tease, to cut. Her head was down, focused on something in her purse. He pulled around to the empty space on her driver’s side, and eased his car in to wait.

Chapter 9