the kitchen. She’s been dying to meet you. Another body to fatten up. But don’t tell her I said so. Come along, now.” He took Shay’s arm, as if he had known her all her life. “She’s been cooking for two hours, but she won’t hear of hiring a cook—Look who I’ve found,” he said to the red-haired woman bustling around the kitchen.
“She’s awake,” the woman said, beaming. “We’ve been worried about you, sleeping so much, and you haven’t eaten a bite. We’ll fix that. You have to keep up your strength with the way things move around here. Sit, I’ll fix you a plate.” She scurried over and came back with a heaping plate, silverware, and a napkin.
“What’d I tell you?” Sean whispered.
“Thank you,” Shay said, charmed by the couple. “I’ve heard your names, but there have been so many faces to keep track of.” And she had slept a lot since she arrived. “You’re a nurse, aren’t you, Coira?”
“And a bloody good one,” Sean said.
“Thank you for the compliment, but watch your tongue,” she said to Sean. “There’s no excuse for rough language.”
“She’s got a thing about cursing too,” Sean whispered. “Cursing and food. Woman’s obsessed with mouths. Always making us shove food in or walloping us if a rude word slips out.”
“I hear you, dear.”
“And she’s got ears like a warrior,” he said in an exaggerated whisper. “So be warned. Eat in here, if you’d like. The others have eaten and gone or haven’t come down yet.”
“Have you seen Cody?” she asked as Coira filled two more plates. “We have to talk to the police, and then he’s going to take me by my house to get some things.” If there was enough time, she wanted to visit the place where her parents had lived. She had gone to Scotland searching for her roots, never suspecting that she settled so close by.
“Saw Cody earlier,” Sean said. “He’s a good man. I think he was helping Ronan with something. Here’s Marcas. Have you seen your brother, Marcas?”
Marcas kissed Shay on the head and stole a bite of her sausage. “He was headed to his room, I think. I’ve got to run. I’m trying to track down Anna.”
Shay sat at an old wooden table, explaining her story as she ate. Sean and Coira asked questions and sympathized like grandparents. Shay had never had grandparents. Nina tried to cover all the bases; mother, father, grandmother, and aunt, but while she did a good job, Shay secretly longed for grandparents like her friends had, to make cookies for her and take her to the park or the zoo.
Coira refused to let Shay help clean up the dishes, so she explored the castle while waiting for Cody. She roamed halls wider than some of the rooms in her house. Massive rooms and staircases, with stone everywhere, on both floors and walls. It was an antique lover’s dream. Old rugs, ancient tapestries, leather, and antiques everywhere she looked. She rounded a corner and ran into Faelan.
“Whoa, there,” he said, steadying her with one hand. In the other, he held a tray. “How are you feeling?”
“Better. I just ate breakfast. Too much, I think.”
“Coira got hold of you, aye? I just heard the same thing from Bree. No worry of going hungry around here,” he said, smiling.
Cody wasn’t the only one who looked good in a kilt. “Where is Bree?”
“In the library with her nose stuck in a book. Can’t get her out of there.” His eyes lit as he talked. He obviously adored Bree. Would she and Cody be like that?
“Where is the library? I’ll pop in and see her.”
Faelan pointed out a room in the opposite direction and touched Shay’s shoulder. “See if you can get her to rest. She didn’t get much sleep last night. She’s upset over all this. Not about you, lass. She’s glad to have you as a sister, but she feels betrayed. I’m sure you know all about that.”
“She just needs time to sort it out.”
“Aye. Between us, maybe we can help her. I think I’ll like having a sister again, even if by marriage.” His smile was genuine, but she saw the shadow underneath. He lost his real sister when the demon locked him in the time vault.
“I can always use a brother-in-law,” she said, returning his smile.
“And if you need help keeping Cody in line, just let me know, aye?” He patted her head, as he usually did. “Tell Bree I’ll be there in a few minutes with her tea.”
Shay stepped through the archway, and her mouth fell open. “Jiminy Christmas!” The room was huge, two stories tall, with floor-to-ceiling shelves lining the walls and a ledge that ran around the top for access to the upper level.
“Isn’t it grand?” a voice called from somewhere above her head. Bree had one foot and hand on the ladder, stretching out to reach a book.
“Are you trying to give your husband an ulcer?”
“There’s a book, just there.”
“Won’t the ladder move closer?”
“It’s stuck.”
“Come down, and I’ll get it.”
“I’ve almost got it.” She stretched farther, perilously unbalanced.
“Faelan will kill you if he sees you up there.”
“Why do you think I’m trying to hurry?” Bree turned to grin at Shay, and her foot slipped.
