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 wear 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
TAVIS 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.