Heart Of A Highland Warrior (28 page)

“You need to talk to him,” Bree said. “I know all this is hard, given the trouble you’ve had with men.”

“Which apparently Ronan told everyone about.”

“He was just concerned,” Shay said.

“Speaking of Ronan, is there anything you want to tell us?” Bree asked.

“No,” Anna said.

Bree sighed. “That’s the same thing he said. I’m curious about this hybrid. What was he like?”

Anna looked down at her hands and kept her voice steady. Bree had uncanny abilities, and she didn’t want her picking up on something Anna had sworn not to tell. “It was dark. It was hard to tell. He was strong.”

“A vampire?” Shay asked. “Or part vampire?”

“I’m not sure.” That much was true. She knew part of what he was, but not all.

“Why would he help you escape if he’s part vampire?” Bree asked.

“If he was a prisoner,” Shay said, “then he wasn’t there by choice, no matter what he was. You’re lucky he was there.”

“We were.” But he wasn’t. “Can we forget about my unpleasant past and uncertain future and talk about this wedding?”

Tavis knocked on Anna’s door until she opened it. She wore a frown and some kind of little garment that exposed her long, smooth legs. He knew just how smooth they felt against his own legs. “What are you wearing?”

She tugged at the legs. “Sleeping shorts.”

“I like them. Can I come in?”

“Why?”

“We need to talk. That’s my bairn you’re carrying. I have a right to know what your plans are.”

Anna opened the door. “Come in.” She glanced at the bed. “Have a seat.”

He started to sit on the settee, but they might need something with a little more breathing room. They were like fire and dry kindling together, but right now they needed to settle things, not kiss. Maybe afterward, if things went well. So he sat on the chair, and they stared at each other. “What are we going to do?”

“I need some space, so I’m going to leave for a while.”

“No.”

“Did you just tell me no?”

Tavis cleared his throat. “I did. That’s my bairn.”

“It’s in my uterus. If it’s really there.”

“You think it might not be? Someone told me Bree’s never wrong about these things.”

“There’s always a first time. But it’s my body.”

“And my bairn. It’s mine as much as it’s yours. I’m sorry for the circumstances, but I won’t lose another child. I’ve already lost one.”

Anna’s eyes were wide, her lips parted. “I understand how you feel, but I have to get away so I can think.”

“You’re not going.”

“Tavis, you can’t control me.”

“No, but I…bloody hell, you’re carrying my bairn, and I love you—”

“What?”

“I love you.” What the hell was he doing? He jumped up and rubbed his sweaty palms on his jeans. He was sick of jeans. He wanted to wea
r a damned kilt. “I need some space myself.” He hurried to the door and walked out. His forehead was sweating, and his battle marks were burning. In love. He couldn’t be in love.

He went to his room, stripped off his clothes, and headed for the shower. He passed the mirror and caught sight of his naked body. His battle marks had changed.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

T
AVIS LEANED CLOSER
and studied his chest. His marks started near his collarbone and came down at an angle over his chest. Now there was a line intertwined through one of them. He tried to swallow, but his mouth felt like it was stuffed with straw. He grabbed up his jeans and put them on as he ran to the door. He stepped out and hurried to Faelan’s room. He tapped softly, and a moment later Faelan answered.

“I need to talk to you.”

“All right. Come in. Bree’s in the kitchen.”

When he stepped inside, Tavis opened his shirt. “What’s this?”

Faelan studied Tavis’s battle marks. “I’ve never seen anything like it. When did this happen?”

“I noticed them a while ago. I was about to take a shower.”

“I don’t know what to make of it.”

“It’s his mate mark,” Bree said, stepping into the room.

“How do you know that?” Faelan asked.

She walked over to Tavis and touched his chest.

Faelan frowned at her. “I don’t like you touching his chest.”

She ignored him and ran her fingers over Tavis’s marks.
“
His brother’s keeper will find his heart, and together they will put the past to rest.”

“That’s what his marks say?” Faelan asked.

Tavis touched his chest. “No one can read battle marks.”

“Bree’s not normal.”

“You have a way of making that sound like an insult.”

“Special, you’re very special. And not normal. If you
’d
just stop being so reckless.”

“We’re not here to discuss my recklessness. Tavis needs our help.”

“I don’t want a bloody mate mark.”

“You don’t want Anna?” Faelan asked.

Tavis ran a hand through his hair. “I didn’t say that.”

“You don’t want your child?” Bree asked.

“Aye, I want my child. Damnation. I don’t know what I want.”

“Sleep.” Bree pulled his shirt together and patted his chest. “Everything makes more sense with a good night’s sleep.

He didn’t go to sleep. He walked to Ronan’s door and knocked.

Ronan opened the door, his eyes groggy.

“Anna’s not going to Montana.”

“I know. I never intended for her to go.” Ronan yawned. “Is that all you wanted?”

“Aye.”

“Good night.” Ronan shut the door.

Anna couldn’t sleep. Tavis loved her? He
’d
looked as surprised and sick as she felt after he blurted it out. She wanted to laugh and run away at the same time. She pulled out Angus’s notebook, wishing he was here so she could talk to him. She saw another entry that confused her.

“I’ve decided to tell Anna as soon as I return to Scotland. Other than me, I think Walter the Watcher is the only one who knows the truth. He won’t tell. He only told me because he knows I love her. But I can’t keep something this important from her. Even though it may destroy her.”

Walter the Watcher was the man she and Angus had met with before Angus left for America. Walter had known her mother. What was he talking about? She searched for several more minutes before she found the answer. And when she did, the bottom dropped out of her world.

“Bree!”

She opened her eyes and saw Faelan staring at her. “What’s wrong?”

He looked at her as if she
’d
been levitating on the bed. “I think you were dreaming.”

“So.” She dreamed a lot.

“This was strange.”

“More than usual?”

“You were chanting.”

“That’s new. What was I saying?”

“Darkness inside Anna. You said it over and over.”

“Darkness inside Anna? I think I was dreaming about her.”

“What does that mean, darkness inside Anna?”

“I don’t know. I don’t remember the dream.”

“She’s been through hell. It’s no wonder she feels dark inside.”

“There is something about her. I sensed it when I first met her. Like a shadow inside her. I thought it was because she’s a loner. I hope that’s what it is.”

Faelan leaned up on his elbow. “You
’d
better not be saying she’s the traitor Angus was talking about. My brother’s bloody in love with her, and he’s suffered enough. Losing a son he didn’t know he even had. Captured and tortured by a demon who thought he was me.”

And now he was going to have another child, and the mother was miserable. Poor Tavis. Poor Anna.

Bree touched Faelan’s chest. “I’m sure I’m just sensing all the horrible things she’s been through.”

“This time you have my blessing to play matchmaker. We can’t let that bairn come into this world without a proper mother and father.”

“We won’t.”

“If that doesn’t work, I’ll shake some sense into both of them.”

“I’m glad Tavis is here.”

“Me too. It’s like he never left.”

“And he’s going to be a father too. Both of you, fathers. And Cody and Shay are getting married tomorrow. All this talk makes me want to have sex.”

Faelan groaned. “Did you have to go and say it? I’m trying not to think about it.”

“I don’t see the harm. I’m not under doctor’s orders to rest.”

“You’re under my orders to rest. I’m trying to take care of you. You’ve had a lot of stress and the shock of finding Tavis’s grave. We should wait a couple more days. At least one.”

“You
’d
make a lousy doctor,” Bree said, and pulled off her gown.

With the moon shining in through the open window, Shay could see Cody standing with his hands deep in the pockets of his jeans, and for a moment, she was seventeen again, secretly in love with her best friend. Terrified that someone would find out, never dreaming he
’d
felt the same way. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“I saw something outside. Ah, it’s just Anna.”

“I feel so bad for both of them.”

“Yeah, me too. They should just get married and get it over with.” Cody turned and smiled at her. “Speaking of marriage, are you ready to become Mrs. Cody MacBain?”

The wedding would take place in a little chapel on the grounds of the Albany castle. “I already am. Remember our secret handfasting?”

“Aye. And I remember the way we celebrated in the hayloft. But this is for the world to see. Are you sure you don’t want to back out? I betrayed you with all those secrets and lies.”

“You were trying to protect me.” Shay climbed out of bed and walked over to Cody. She wrapped her arms around his waist, brushing her fingers along the top of his hips. “Just try to get away from me now.” She spent a few minutes proving that she had no intention of letting him go.

“I’m sorry it’s rushed, but I’ll be damned if I let the Council drag you away. Maybe we should have a baby, if that’ll get them off our backs.”

As always, the mention of a baby made her heart ache. Cody touched her stomach and leaned his forehead against hers. She knew he was thinking of the tiny grave they
’d
visited on the way here. They
’d
stood side by side gazing down on the gravestone, and both of them had cried.

“We’ll wait,” Cody said, his voice thick. “Give it more time.” He kissed her and stepped back. “I have something for you. We all—Nina, my parents and brothers—we thought you should have these.” He walked to the mantle and brought back a box. He opened it. Inside were two thin gold wedding bands. “We think they belonged to your parents.”

“Did you find their bodies?” Malek had dug up her parents’ graves searching for proof that Shay was alive, when the whole world had thought she was dead.

Cody shook his head. “No. Marcas is still looking. But he found these in Malek’s things.”

“Why do you think they belonged to my parents?”

“There’s something engraved inside,” Cody said. “I don’t know what it means. It’s in a language I don’t recognize, but my father recognized the markings.”

Shay rubbed her fingers over the worn gold and strange writings, and she felt something warm inside her. Another piece of the parents she hadn’t known.

“You’re the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen.” Nina stood beside Shay in front of the floor-length mirror, her eyes bright with unshed tears. “My little tomboy all grown up and getting married.” She and Matilda, along with Bree and Sorcha and Cody’s mother, Laura, were helping her get ready. Mostly they were reminiscing and trying not to cry.

“Thank you, Nina. I think it’s just the dress,” Shay said, turning to look at the side. The dress was simple but stunning. A sleeveless creation in white satin that flowed gracefully to the floor. She and Bree had found it in a little shop in Albany. Shay wished she could have worn her mother’s, but everything from her parents’ lives had been destroyed to protect her.

“It’s not just the dress,” Matilda said. “You are such a lovely girl. If I could have had a daughter, I would have wanted her to be like you. But I couldn’t have kids.”

“I didn’t know that, Matilda. I’m sorry. You would have been a…fascinating mother.”

“Thank you, dear. You’re sweet to put up with all my untapped maternal instincts. I know I frustrated you and the boys sometimes.”

“Matilda, I adore you.” Even when she was driving her crazy. “Cody and his brothers adore you too.”

“Maybe you could put in a good word for me with Jamie. I know he still has feelings for you even though you’re marrying Cody.”