“Where did they—we—live in Scotland?”
“Outside Beauly, not far from the clan castle.”
She’d been all over that area, walked the grounds of Beauly Priory. Had she passed her own home?
“After we get rid of this problem, I’ll take you to see where you were born. I know it’s hard to understand why the clan did this, but they were afraid you’d be killed.”
She reached for the talisman again, liking the way it felt in her hand, but stopped at Cody’s frown.
“Careful. Talismans are not toys. Treat them with respect and a good dose of fear, because they’ll destroy anything in their path. You can’t even look at it if it’s engaged.”
“But you’ve seen it.”
“It won’t hurt the warrior it belongs to. Anyone else, even another warrior, has to close his eyes when the light is released.”
“I’m glad you didn’t have that thing in high school.” She smiled. “All the guys were afraid of you and your brothers. None of them dared ask me out on a date. Only one had the nerve to ask me to dance.”
“Who?”
“Zack Anderson. He was new.”
“Where was I?” Cody asked.
“Home cleaning your room, unless you followed me. Remember the race I won?”
“Aye. I didn’t realize we were such a pain. We were just trying to look out for you. There were a lot of guys interested in you, and we didn’t want—”
“What guys? No one would come near me.”
“That was because we…” Cody stopped.
Shay narrowed her eyes. “Because you what?”
“We made sure they didn’t get close.”
“Why?”
“We weren’t sure if they were guys.”
“You mean… you mean they could’ve been demons?” she squeaked. “
“They don’t come full grown,” Cody said.
“I never considered… kids?”
“That’s why Dad and Nina didn’t want you going to public school. Dad had to do security checks on everyone around you. Teachers, principals, kids, even the lunchroom attendants.”
“I just wanted to be like all the other girls. I was tired of tutors.”
“The other girls didn’t have a demon after them.”
“I thought you were just being overprotective. Renee always said I expected too much from men because of you guys. She had a crush on you when she was younger.”
“That changed,” he said dryly. “What do you think she meant about the letters? Why would she say she was sorry?”
Shay had forgotten that part in all the chaos. “I don’t know… oh, the missing letters, Renee was supposed to mail them.”
“That explains why I didn’t get them,” Cody said. “She didn’t want you talking to me.”
Could Renee have done such an awful thing? She knew how upset Shay had been about everything. Was that why Renee asked for forgiveness?
“Let’s try to get at least a few hours of sleep. We have a lot to do tomorrow.”
Shay tossed and turned, drawing her legs closer to her body, but she was too cold to sleep.
“What’re you doing over there? Wrestling?”
“I’m cold,” Shay said.
“It’s chillier up here on the mountain. Want my blanket?”
“You’ll freeze,” she said. What she wanted was him next to her. For warmth. For comfort. But how could she, when Renee could be hurting… or dead?
“I’ll be fine.” He spread his blanket over her and climbed back into bed, both of them staring at the dark space between them.
Shay rubbed her feet together, and a broken toenail made a scratching noise on the cheap sheets.
“What are you doing now?”
“My feet are still cold.”
He sighed, climbed out of bed again, and walked over to her. He stood for a few seconds, lifted the covers, and slid in. She started to protest, and then his skin brushed hers, warm as a heater. She rolled over, and he moved behind her, tucking his body close. She wedged her feet between his calves.
