***
“I’d bet my hair on it,” Matilda said, whispering so loud in Nina’s ear that her voice carried all the way up the ladder. “Look at them.” The two old women stared at Niall and Duncan working on the balcony. “And that Ronan… Lordy, what else can they be?”
“Think they have any idea we can hear them?” Duncan asked.
“Doubt it. Cody says their hearing’s shot. That’s why they talk so loud,” Niall replied, handing Duncan a trowel. “What is it they think this place is?”
“Beats me.”
“You’re insane,” Nina said. “If you keep this up, I’m going to stick you in that retirement village Frieda Simms is in.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me.” Nina huffed off, and Matilda turned to the men.
“Hello,” she said, waving.
“Hello,” Niall called, and then whispered from the corner of his mouth. “She scares me more than that two-headed demon I had to destroy last year.”
“I don’t know how the MacBains do it. Guess they’re used to her,” Duncan said.
“Oh yeah,” Niall said. “How many times have you seen Lachlan since Matilda got here? He’s been staying in a cottage near the back perimeter. I don’t blame him. You know what really jolts me?”
“Besides her hair?”
“Forget the hair. Everywhere you turn, she’s there. It’s like there are ten of her. Did you hear she got locked in the tower this morning? It took them an hour to find her.”
“What scares me is I saw her talking to Brodie earlier,” Duncan said. “They looked like they were scheming.”
Niall took a swig of water. “Brodie and Matilda. I think I’ll see if I can stay with Lachlan.”
“I’ll fight you for it.”
“My sword arm’s so stiff, you’d probably take me.”
“Mine too, but we can’t practice until they leave,” Duncan said.
Matilda headed back inside, almost running into Conall in the doorway. “Oh, hello there, Conrad?”
“Conall, ma’am.”
“Hm. Nice outfit.” She tilted her head, eyeing him up and down. “Don’t see many men in kilts. Hmmm. What is it you do here, again, Conrad?”
“I… security. I’m with security, ma’am.”
“Security, huh?” she said, eyes lingering on his legs. “And them?” she whispered loudly, nodding toward Duncan and Niall.
“They’re security too… ma’am. It’s a big place.”
“Security?” Matilda said, drawing the word out like taffy. “Hmm. Oh, there’s Shane. Shane, wait up.” Through the window, they saw Shane take off like a bullet.
Duncan grinned. “The only exercise we get around here lately is running from Matilda.”
“I swear. Can’t we put ’em in a hotel or something?” Conall asked.
Niall chuckled. “What’s the matter, Conrad? You don’t like her looking at your legs?”
“She’s looking at everybody’s legs,” Conall said. “You’d think she’d never seen a kilt.”
***
Shay dressed and slipped quietly down the hall. Cody had come to bed well after midnight, another meeting about demons and vampires. Sam’s image flashed through Shay’s head, but she squashed it. Cody couldn’t possibly use as much energy as he did loving her and still have leftovers for someone else. Nina and Matilda’s door was closed. They were sharing a room so Nina could keep an eye on Matilda. Each had taken one of Matilda’s sleeping pills, so they should still be sleeping. In spite of their sense of adventure, the two were getting on in years. Shay had no appetite that morning, so she went in search of the secret passage. She knew there was an entrance in the library. A table was piled with books that Bree had been studying. A thump came from near the fireplace. A dislodged book? Nothing was on the floor. She heard it again, a knocking sound. Was someone already inside the passage? Don’t let it be Matilda. Shay had brought the warriors enough trouble without Matilda’s antics.
“Hello,” she called to the wall. No answer. She found the catch, and a section of wall beside the fireplace swung inward. She stuck her head inside, wrinkling her nose at the mustiness. She found a flashlight on a table and set off to explore. Some of the passages were wide enough to accommodate several people, others much narrower. The passage she was in came to a dead end. She turned and went back the other way. She heard a whisper, a tiny sound. She aimed the light at her feet to be sure it wasn’t a mouse. The whisper came again, reminding her of the sound she heard at the lake. Cody? Was he in here, or was she hearing something from the other side of the wall? “Cody?”
There was no answer. She followed the passage to where it forked. A shadow moved, and her heart leapt into her throat. “Hello? Anyone here?” Just her echo, then a hiss. Her hair stood on end. She ran the opposite way, bumping into walls, stumbling. Rounding a corner, she hit a dead end. She ran her hands over the wall, searching for a catch. A section of the wall moved. She yelped and aimed her flashlight.
“Damn, that’s bright.”
“Ronan. Oh, thank God. I got lost in there.” It must have been him she heard.
“You’re found now.” He smiled. “But I’m not Ronan. I’m Declan.”
“You could be Hitler right now, for all I care. Just get me out of here.”
“Where do you want to go? The library, the dungeon? Outside?”
“Outside.” Sunshine seemed like a good thing.
“Outside it is. This way.”
She stepped into a tunnel, dank and musty. “Do warriors have a thing for tunnels?” She had always liked them herself, but she’d had enough of this one.
“Aye. Got to have a way to escape.”
“How long have you been in here? I heard something earlier.”
“A while. I was checking the tunnel for loose stones. The part closest to the entrance is old. It’s getting dangerous.”
“Where does it lead?”
“Outside the castle grounds.”
“A bolt hole.”
“Aye.”
She aimed the beam and saw that the tunnel widened ahead, but Declan opened a door in the wall, and they stepped into the sunlight. “That’s better.” She wasn’t usually afraid of dark places. She explored plenty of caves with the MacBains, but this time she welcomed the sunshine. In the bright light, she could see Declan’s hair was shorter than Ronan’s, but the brothers were startlingly alike, and equally handsome. “Where are you headed?” Declan asked, surveying the place.
“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.