He could see her eyes furrow in sympathy. “I’m so sorry. That’s horrible.”

“Lorenzo did it.”

Her eyes flared and he saw smoke rising at her collar. He rushed over and put his hands on her shoulders, rubbing them and willing her to remain calm. “Calm, Brigid. Calm.”

She took a deep breath and the smell of smoke dissipated. “Did they kill him?”

“No. He escaped with the book Stephen—B’s father—had stolen from him. It was related to blood alchemy. Related to what Ioan was looking for, I think.”

He could see a trace of tears in the corner of her eye before she blinked them away. “Well, you need to go, then. Go and help them find Lorenzo and this book. It’s what Ioan would’ve wanted.”

Carwyn couldn’t seem to lift his hands from her shoulders. The edge of his thumb rested against the soft skin of her neck and he could hear the low thump of her heart as her blood churned. He felt as if he would be ripping himself in two to leave her.

“I said I would help you, Brigid.”

She whispered, “I know.”

He stepped even closer and leaned down. Her forehead was a whisper away from his lips. “I said… you could hold on to me.”

A crooked smile lifted the corner of her mouth and she looked up. “I’m a big girl, Carwyn.”

A reluctant smile came to his lips. “No, you’re not. You’re tiny.”

“Careful, I’ll shock ya.” She lifted her hands and placed them over his as they rested on her shoulders.

He gave a rueful laugh. “You always do.”

Carwyn couldn’t look away. Neither, it seemed, could Brigid. Her voice was a whisper when she finally spoke. “I know it’s not on the way, but can you look in on things in Dublin before you leave? Check on the investigation. I’ve talked to Murphy on the phone, but he’ll tell you things he won’t tell me, and—”

“Yes,” he said. “I’ll go by his office.”

“There’s still a local connection we haven’t found. I know—I know they don’t believe me. They think it ended when Lorenzo left Dublin, and I don’t want them to lose the trace of any leads while I’m out here. I just know—”

“Brigid.”

She took a deep breath and he could smell the smoky-sweet scent of her. “Yes?”

I’ll miss you. More than I should. Do you feel this? Is it the same for you? Or am I some great hulking brute of a male who could never—should never…

His thumbs stroked along the skin at her collar. “I’ll look into things in Dublin. Don’t worry.”

She took a breath and held it. “You should go. You can make Glasgow tonight if you leave now.”

“I know.” And yet, he couldn’t seem to step away. She was so small and so strong. It was like tightly coiled steel held up her limbs. Resisting the urge to wrap his arms around her, he leaned down, pressing a kiss to the burning skin on her forehead. He closed his eyes and held his lips there, feeling the burn and the sharp bite of her fingernails as they dug into his hands.

She whispered. “You should go.”

Finally, he drew away and lifted his hands from her. He took one step back. Then another. Then he turned and strode toward the door.

“Carwyn?”

He whirled around. “Yes?”

Brigid gave him a cautious smile. “Take care of yourself.”

He forced a smile, and his heart gave a quiet thump. “I will.”

Chapter Fourteen

Castle Mackenzie

January 2011

Nights in the Scottish highlands were cool and damp. They were also long. Brigid grinned as she turned and twisted her hands, letting the ball of fire roll down one arm and hover over the palm of her hand before she tossed it into the other and let her amnis move it up the other arm. Her energy pulsed and flowed along her skin, shielding and feeding her all at the same time.

Forget drugs, manipulating fire was the most intoxicating high she’d ever experienced.

“Good,” Cathy said. “Now throw it. Far. Push it away from you and over the lake. You’re going to have to channel a lot of energy from other parts of your body to get it that far, but I think you can do it.”

“Okay.” She closed her eyes and felt the tickling amnis flowing up from her legs. She was rooted to the earth and her energy flowed up. Up. Building and rising until she could feel it nudging her arms out from her body. Her fangs grew long as her blood pulsed. Then with one last push of her mind, she imagined the fireball flying out of her hands and over the lake.

And the minute she thought it, it happened. She held the ball, hovering over the water where its red glow illuminated the meadow surrounding them.

“Good! That’s excellent, Brigid. You’re a very fast learner.”

Anne looked up from where she was sitting at the lake’s edge. “It’s so pretty. Your fire has the prettiest colors, Brigid. There’s almost a greenish hue mixed in with all the red and gold. It’s like an opal.”

The water was freezing, but Anne didn’t mind. The water vampire leaned back and pulled her skirt up farther, dipping her legs into the water and lying back in the tall grass as she looked up into the sky.

“Anne,” Brigid called, “you look like a selkie. Are you sure you’re not some magical creature?”

Just then, Anne lifted a delicate hand, and a spear of water shot up from the lake and swirled around the fire that Brigid had thrown. It split into sparkling tendrils and surrounded the glowing ball until Brigid narrowed her eyes and made the fire explode out. It shattered into sparks that she let drift and simmer into the cold, dark water as Anne and Cathy laughed.