“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.”

“Looked like demon claws to me,” Niall said.

Cody sat back on his haunches, staring at the tracks. Problem was, a vampire had a footprint just like a human… or a demon in disguise. Had one of Malek’s demons tracked Shay to the castle? “We’ll need guards, twenty-four seven. Shane, can you organize it? Someone tell Sean to alert the Council that we’ve been attacked.”

***

Shay pulled back the sheet and lifted Jamie’s bandage. She could already see a difference in the wound after just a few hours. Coira said the warriors healed quickly. The cut from Cody’s sword was proof. It was just a thin line already. Other scars dotted Jamie’s body. She asked him about them once. He laughed and said he was a reckless kid.

His eyes flew open, and his hand clamped on her arm, surprisingly strong. He focused on her face and relaxed his grip. “Shay.” He looked down at his bandage and winced.

“How do you feel?”

“Cold.”

“Let me get Coira.”

“No. Stay with me.”

This was the first time he’d spoken to her since the attack. Coira said he’d woken a few times, but hadn’t said what happened.

“You were hurt. Something attacked you.”

He frowned hard and rubbed his forehead. “A demon, I think… can’t remember…” his voice trailed off, and he shivered.

“I’ll get another blanket,” she said, starting to pull away.

He held onto her hand. “Lie down with me, just for a few minutes. Please.”

She hesitated, knowing she shouldn’t, but she felt bad for Jamie. Not just for his physical pain, but for the emotional pain she’d caused him, although it hadn’t been intentional. He’d offered her his heart and his home. The least she could do was comfort him for five minutes. Maybe he would fall asleep quickly and she could put another blanket on him and leave. After all, Sam had been in Cody’s bedroom while he wore nothing but a towel, and he expected Shay to believe it was innocent. Was this any worse? Against Shay’s better judgment, she slipped off her shoes and lay on top of the covers, stiffly, trying not to let their bodies touch. The pillow was soft. She hadn’t realized how tired she was, and her arm burned like the dickens. Maybe she was the one who should worry about infection. Shay closed her eyes, to rest for just a moment. As soon as Jamie fell asleep, she would leave.

***

Cody returned to the castle at eight o’clock. He missed dinner, but he didn’t care. All he wanted was to crawl into bed with Shay and hold her. Seeing her caring for Jamie left him with an uneasy feeling. He yawned. He’d spent most of the day talking to the fire investigators and looking for some sign of who might have attacked Jamie. He found a young warrior dead, probably killed before Jamie was attacked. The warrior had recently arrived from Ireland after finishing his training. His mentor hadn’t come; they thought it was a safe enough task. He shouldn’t have been guarding such an isolated section of the wall, but he talked another warrior into switching places. Sean was taking Patrick’s body home to his parents.

Cody headed to the room where they’d moved Jamie. If he was awake, Cody needed to ask him some questions about the attack. Perhaps they could clear the air as well. They weren’t at each other’s throats anymore, but Cody owed the man an apology. At one time Jamie had been a friend, and now he was sacrificing his life to protect Shay. He’d broken the rules and gotten involved with her, but Cody had too.

Jamie’s door was cracked. He lay on his back. Shay lay beside him, holding his hand. Cody’s heart felt like a block of wood. Had seeing Jamie injured made her realize that she still loved him? She’d cared enough to almost marry him. She had spent far more time in Jamie’s bed than his, and Jamie hadn’t gotten her pregnant and left her to carry and bury a baby alone. Cody turned and headed to his room, weary to the bone.

***

Shay was headed for the shower when she heard a knock. She threw on a robe and opened the door.

Cody stood outside. She hadn’t seen him since Jamie was hurt. It was pathetic how badly she wanted to run into his arms and feel his heart beating safe and sound against hers, but the warriors were swamped, trying to keep the place surrounded and trying to find Malek and the vampires. She noticed his face, pale and tight.

“Cody, what’s wrong? Is it Jamie?” She had just left him minutes earlier.

His jaw clenched. “Jamie’s fine,” he said, his voice rough. “I heard you come in and wanted to see if you were okay.”

“I’m good. I was just going to take a shower.”

“Okay, then.” He looked her over once, cold as a stranger, and turned to leave.

“Wait. What on earth’s wrong with you? One minute you’re telling me I’m your mate, the next you’re acting like a robot.”

He stepped inside and closed the door. “I don’t share my women.”

“What are you talking about?”

It was like she flipped a switch. The ice in his face melted and bitterness gushed out. “I saw you with him.”

“Who?”

“Jamie.”

Oh no. “If you mean—”

“I saw you in bed with him.” He looked almost as angry as he had when he and Jamie fought at Cody’s house.

“I wasn’t—”

“Are you denying it?”

“No, but… it wasn’t like that.”

“What was it like, then? Tell me that. What do you call it when a man and a woman are snuggled together in bed? Friends? Not in my book.”

“We weren’t snuggling, and he was freezing. Don’t look at me like that. He needed body heat and a little comfort from a friend. I was fully clothed on top of the covers. I shouldn’t have done it, but I felt sorry for him. He is my friend, Cody. He’ll always be my friend, but I’m not in love with him.”

Cody’s jaw worked. “Damn. I don’t know what to think. You say you don’t love him, but seems every time I turn around, you have your hands on him.”

“It was no more than being a nurse.”

“I don’t know any nurses who crawl into bed with their patients to warm them up.”

“You know what I mean.” Shay moved closer and touched Cody’s arm. “I’m sorry. It was a stupid decision, but nothing happened. I swear it. I love Jamie, but not like that. Not like I love you.”

His expression and body went completely still. “You love me?”

In all their lovemaking, she’d never said the words. Maybe because she was afraid. Those words carried commitment, expectation. Shay untied her robe, letting it fall. “Come here, and I’ll show you how much.”

After they were finally sated with love, they slept. The darkness crept in, shadows twisting and writhing in her head, dark and light, evil and good. She felt him beckoning her as she dreamed. Her skin was hot, the scratch on her arm throbbed.

“Come to me.” He waited in the trees. She couldn’t see him, yet she knew his face. Pale, long hair, black as midnight. He smiled and she gasped at his beauty.

***

Cody brushed a strand of hair from Shay’s face and kissed her neck, but she didn’t wake. Her brow wrinkled and she muttered something under her breath. Her face was pale, drawn, as if she fought troubled dreams. Or had he just worn her out? His stomach rumbled. He needed food after all the energy he expended. His legs and hips felt heavy as lead, but his heart soared. Shay loved him. He had no doubts now. If he didn’t stop thinking about it, he’d have to put on a sporran just to get to the kitchen. He and Shay had gone from the bed to the shower and back to the bed again, from desperate to languid, both trying to make up for nine lost years. He felt a stab of sadness again, thinking about the baby he and Shay lost, the pain she suffered alone, but focusing too much on grief or pleasure could affect his ability to keep Shay safe. He should probably sleep in his own room tonight. He climbed out of bed and put on his kilt. He started to pull up her covers and saw the mark on her arm. It looked red. He’d get Coira to check it.