Coira planted her hands on her hips. “Cody MacBain, what kind of foolishness are you putting in this boy’s head? He needs to rest a couple more days.”
Jamie patted Coira’s shoulder. “I’ll be fine, Coira. You know I’m a fast healer.”
“I know you’re hardheaded; that’s what I know.”
He glanced from Shay to the mark on Cody’s neck. “You’ll take care of her?” he asked Cody, and something passed between them, like a final changing of the guards.
“I will,” Cody said. “You have my word.”
Jamie nodded.
“I’ll take it easy on Jamie,” Sam told Coira, and this time Jamie blushed.
“I’m holding you and Cody responsible for him,” Coira said.
He gave one final look over his shoulder at Shay, his expression torn. “Lead the way,” he said, following Sam.
“When we’re in the car,” Sam said, “you can explain why you were really talking about vampires. It wouldn’t surprise me to find out Cody’s a creature of the night.” After they left, Shay coughed. Coira and Cody rushed to her side. She struggled to rise.
“Relax now,” Coira said.
Cody grabbed Shay’s hand. “How do you feel?”
“Betrayed.”
“What have I done now?” Cody asked.
“You lied to me,” Shay said, after the others fled the room.
“How did I lie?”
“I’m a warrior? Ronan had to tell me.”
Damn.
“You said you’d stop.”
“We weren’t sure you were a warrior.”
“But I might be?”
“It’s possible.” He sighed. “I think you probably are. The Watchers thought so at one time, and they’re usually right. I wasn’t hiding it from you; there’s just been so much going on.”
“So I’ve found out I’m a warrior a year before I have to retire?” She sat down on the bed.
“You can always choose to remain active. That’s what Anna plans to do. So does Ronan.” That distressing thought had him so troubled he almost missed what she said next.
“What you said about the demons using the book to kill warriors when they’re born, do you think that’s what happened to me? I was left for dead as a baby, and someone is obviously worried enough about whether I’m alive to dig up my fake grave. And Bree thinks it’s an ancient demon.”
Cody sat down next to her. “God forbid. It’s possible that Malek believed your father had the book and left it to you. It’s all speculation. We don’t know anything for sure except that someone is after you, and someone stole our Book of Battles.” He reached for her hand. “Are you mad at me again?”
“A little.”
“I should have told you. I would have, but there’s been so much happening. And subconsciously, I probably didn’t want to put another burden on you. I love you. I want you safe.”
“I know. I kept secrets too, but we have to stop,” she said, leaning her head on shoulder.
“Shay, I have some bad news. There’s no good way to say it. Lucy is dead.”
Shay’s mouth tightened, and her eyes teared up. “The bones?”
“Aye. I’m sorry.”
“How?”
“She didn’t die in the fire. She was already dead.”
“Was it Ellis?”
“The police suspect him, but they may need to ask you some more questions.”
“Everyone around me is dying. If we don’t stop this thing, everyone I care about will be gone.” She gripped his hand and linked their fingers.
“I’ll fix it,” he said. “I promise.”
***
“Coira wants to know how Jamie’s doing,” Cody said into the phone. Sam and Jamie had been gone only for a few hours, but Coira was like a mother hen with the warriors.
“He’s good,” Sam said. She sounded breathless, making Cody wonder exactly what kind of good Sam meant.
“She said to make sure he changes the bandage and gets plenty of rest.”
“I will. We’re going to check out another lead I have on Anson Masters. Shouldn’t be so hard to find him with that streak of silver in his hair, but he seems to have vanished from the face of the earth.”
“Silver streak?”
“Yes. It’s quite startling, according to the guy at the police station. Why?”
Cody cursed and smacked his fist against the wall. Anson Masters was Malek. “Don’t try to find him. Do you hear me? Don’t. He’s too dangerous.”
“How do you know?”
“I know. Tell Jamie. Tell him that Anson is Malek.”
“Who’s Malek?”
“Jamie will know. Don’t touch Anson. Swear to me.” After she promised, Cody hung up, pissed that he hadn’t thought to get a description of Ellis’s boss. He thought his appearance with the letter providing evidence against Ellis had been a little too good to be true. Malek had posed as Renee’s client while his minion, Ellis, had posed as Shay’s, probably trying to discover her identity. Malek must have gotten the book from Bree’s ex-boyfriend, and Renee probably stumbled onto Malek’s plot and hid the book. Malek must have assumed Renee put the book in one of the tables and shipped it to Shay. How the vampires found out was a mystery, but it put Shay in the middle of a war between vampires and demons.
Why hadn’t Michael assigned Malek to a warrior? Was he going to let the demon slaughter them all?
***
“Ronan, are you all right?” Coira asked. “You hardly touched your dinner.” They were having an early meal so the warriors could start hunting. “You need your strength after giving so much blood.”
“Yeah, you look rotten,” Bree agreed.
He looked like a man tormented, Cody thought. Declan was pissed at Ronan for not telling him about Cam, and Ronan was eaten up with guilt for not warning the clan about the vampires two years ago, even though he hadn’t believed it himself until recently.
“I’m fine.” Ronan glanced at Shay—he’d been doing a lot of that since the transfusion— frowned, and pushed his chair from the table.
“Vampires, demons, both wanting our book. What a mess,” Sean said. He’d just returned from taking the warrior’s body home.
“At least Shay is looking stronger. You’re the picture of health,” Coira said, patting Shay’s cheek as she put down a plate for her. Shay had surprised them all by joining them.
“I actually feel wonderful,” Shay said, sipping her iced tea, “but I had the weirdest dream while I was unconscious.”
“Tell us about it,” Bree said. “We could use some make-believe after this real nightmare we’ve been living in.”
Shay looked almost nervous, first glancing at Bree, then at the others around the table, and finally Cody. “I’ve had similar dreams before. There was a man. He was tall, really tall, and beautiful. He was so bright, it hurt to look at him.” Everyone froze, staring at Shay. “He told me to destroy the demon.”
A loud ding sounded as Cody’s fork chipped his plate. He saw Ronan’s knuckles go white on the door casing, his face pale. “What demon?” Cody whispered.
Shay swallowed. “Malek.”
Chapter 19
“She can’t,” Cody raged. “She’s had no formal training.” They were in the library, where he insisted on talking to the warriors in private after Shay’s announcement, which created pandemonium. As if they didn’t have enough to worry about.
“How can she fight an ancient demon?” Duncan asked.
“For once, I agree, Duncan,” Sorcha said, looking a bit wan herself. Cody didn’t know if it was because of the prospect of battling an ancient demon or that she hadn’t recovered from Duncan’s kiss. “A woman who just learned she’s a warrior, going up against an ancient demon?”
“Out of all of us experienced warriors, only two have been assigned an ancient demon,” Brodie said. “What’s Michael thinking?”
“Watch it,” Duncan warned.
The warriors didn’t always understand their orders, but they never questioned them. This was different. Shay would die. Was Michael going to sacrifice Shay to get rid of Malek? It made sense now why Malek had tried to kill Shay twenty-five years ago, but how had Malek known she was the one who was supposed to kill him?