“Just wanted some fresh air.”
“Don’t wander off.”
“I won’t.”
“I’ll be close by if you need anything,” he said, pointing to a balcony on the second floor where Duncan and Niall were working.
The weather was mild for Scotland, but she was glad she wore a sweater. There were several fenced areas with horses in the back field. She saw Clydesdales in one area and smaller horses in another. There was a large garage and a number of outbuildings. She saw a bare spot near one of the buildings. A giant buzzard circled overhead, landed, and tucked its huge wings away, probably searching for dinner. Shay followed a cobblestone path lined with boxwoods toward the trees where she saw the warriors stationed last night. She’d always been drawn to the woods, the smell of trees and pine needles and leaves. Some of her best memories were tied to earthy aromas. When she wasn’t off playing with the boys, she often curled up with a book beneath her favorite canopied tree, resting on a bed of pine needles, sometimes just listening to the birds talk. Her solitude would last until Cody found her, usually waiting until he thought she was asleep so he could leap through the low-hanging boughs and scare the crap out of her. He then lay there with her, talking or napping, whatever notion struck. Shay stood at the tree line, closed her eyes, and breathed deeply through her nose. Something pulled at her, a feeling she couldn’t place, a smell that wasn’t right. She turned back, disturbed, because she liked it.
The buzzard was still there, his wings hunched around his shoulders, waiting. He moved, and Shay could see past him, where something dark lay behind the small building. A deer? She squinted and saw it move. It was alive! The damned bird was waiting for its meal to die. Shay moved closer, planning to scare it away. She saw boots, not hooves, and then legs, hips. She yelled as she ran, startling the great bird into flight.
When recognition dawned, she opened her mouth and screamed.
Chapter 17
Cody knocked on Shay’s door. It swung open. “Shay?” He checked the balcony, but she wasn’t there. Maybe the shower. No. The room was empty. She could be with Bree or Nina and Matilda. As much as he loved them, the two old women were going to complicate things.
The small silver jewelry box he rescued from the fire sat on Shay’s dresser. He gave it to her on her sixteenth birthday. He bought it and the white-gold heart inside with the money he made from helping the farmer down the road make hay. He had known he would be leaving for training soon and worried they would grow apart with him gone so much and having to keep his secrets. Then his father had told him Shay’s secret. They probably would have been better off if they just told her. He headed down to the kitchen, where Coira was banging around. The clan had offered to hire cooks, but Coira guarded her kitchen like a pirate guarded his treasure. “Have you seen Shay?” Cody asked.
“Not this morning. She didn’t come to breakfast. Such a sweet girl, but she doesn’t eat enough.”
“I’m sure you’ll take care of that, Coira.” Cody grabbed a biscuit. “I’ll check the library.”
When he entered the room, he saw the secret-passage entrance standing open. His pulse quickened as he stepped inside. “Shay,” he called. His voice echoed back to him, hollow. He smelled her and another scent too faded to identify. He followed her trail through several passages. The scent stopped where the tunnel door led outside. He stepped into daylight as Declan came around the corner, carrying a ladder.
“Have you seen Shay?” Cody asked.
“She went to get some fresh air.”
A scream pierced Cody’s ears.
“That was Shay!” Cody bolted toward the sound.
“Help!” Shay screamed. She knelt on the ground beside Jamie. His bloody shirt hung in tatters. Deep wounds covered his stomach and side. “Help him.” Shay’s eyes were wide, her face pinched. “Please, help him.”
Cody and Declan knelt beside Shay. Jamie was unconscious but breathing. His knees and hands were covered in dirt. “Looks like he crawled here,” Declan said.
“Run ahead of us and get Coira. She’s in the kitchen,” Cody told Shay. “We’ll carry him.” Together he and Declan carried Jamie to the house. Coira met them in the infirmary. They laid Jamie down and stood back as Coira cut away his filthy shirt, revealing long, gaping wounds.
“Claw marks,” Declan said.
“They’re deep,” Coira said, “but the bleeding has stopped.”
Shay hovered over Jamie, holding his hand, as Coira checked Jamie’s vital signs. “Will he be okay?”
Cody could see the tears staining her cheeks.
“Unless it gets infected. He was lying out there for God knows how long.” Coira’s hands moved deftly as she cleaned the injuries.
Infection and sickness were rare among warriors. Strong genes were part of their weaponry. The biggest danger was dying in battle. “I’m going to sound the alarm,” Cody told them.
When he came back to check on Shay, she was removing Jamie’s jeans. She laid them on a chair and straightened his boxers, her movements smooth and sure, as if in familiar territory. Of course she was. She almost married him.
She picked up a washcloth and began to wash dirt from Jamie’s arm. He muttered something and reached for her hand.
Cody eased the door shut and walked away.
The warriors assembled a group and searched the woods. It didn’t take long to find signs of a fight where Jamie had been posted last night.
“You think it was a vampire?” Brodie asked Cody, who had bent down to sniff the tracks.
“There’s no scent. It’s too old.”
