“I’ll be following up with Gio and B, so I may have to leave again. According to them, we have far bigger things to worry about from Lorenzo. He’s acquired a book, a very dangerous one if the stories are true. One that might contain the formula to an elixir that makes vampires stronger and quells bloodlust.”

Brigid’s heart beat faster. “What? An elixir? Like a drug? A vampire drug?”

He paused and took a sip of his beer. “Ioan was right. You were right. Apparently, it is possible. It’s an elixir for humans, but vampires who drink from them are affected as well. We still don’t know exactly how.”

Thoughts tumbled through her head. A drug that affected vampires. It had been a mad kind of ‘what if’ she had spoken aloud. Then Ioan had taken off with the idea…

“Is that why he was killed? Is that why Ioan was murdered? Because he found this?”

Carwyn shook his head. “I don’t know. There’s no way of knowing. It might have been something he discovered after you’d asked him about it, but it might have been some of his earlier research, too. He was well known for his studies into vampire biology. An authority in our world. Or it might have been retaliation at me and had nothing to do with this drug. It might have been a coincidence.”

“And it might not have been.”

“Brigid, I won’t have you feeling guilty for this. The only ones responsible for Ioan’s death are the vampires who killed him and those who funded them.”

Her eyes hardened and rose to meet his. “I know that. It just means that my list of people to kill got a bit longer.”

When Brigid finally made her way up to her bedroom, she was almost stumbling into walls. Carwyn had offered to help her to her room, but Brigid made excuses, knowing that once he was there, the urge to pull him in with her might be too much to resist. She wanted to curl up against him and purr.

She was definitely going to hell.

Madoc trailed after her. He had gone back and forth between the two vampires in the hall like a conflicted child, until Carwyn had shooed the dog in her direction. He nosed open the door to Brigid’s room a moment before she stumbled in. Brigid carefully latched the door, then collapsed in bed. Just before she fell asleep, she pulled the silk scarf from beneath her pillow. She tucked it under her cheek and closed her eyes, but the last image she had was not the colorful blooms of the exotic silk. It was the warmth of a pair of vivid blue eyes the color of the summer sky.

Chapter Nineteen

Scotland

June 2011

“What happened to the pinball machine?” Carwyn scowled at the rectangular box that used to light up. He checked the plug, but it still wouldn’t turn on.

“Brigid got to it,” Tavish said as he lounged in the den in the basement. “Fire vampires. Burn out everything.”

“Hey.” The fire vampire in question walked past Tavish and knocked the back of his head before she grabbed a book from the pile on the coffee table. “Not my fault it had faulty wiring. And Carwyn, consider it payback for you cheating at cards last night.”

Max and Cathy had returned home the night before, happy to see Carwyn. The family had played poker late into the night, Cathy finally throwing up her hands at Max and Carwyn’s obvious tricks.

Tavish grunted. “Cathy says she won’t play cards with you anymore, Father.”

Carwyn only shrugged. “She says that every year.”

“Why do you cheat so badly?” Brigid asked.

“He likes cheating. Makes him and Max feel clever.”

Brigid rolled her eyes, and Carwyn grinned. “I know that, old man. I just meant, why does he cheat so badly? You’d think, after a thousand years, he’d have learned better tricks.”

“Oh…” Carwyn chuckled. “I have plenty of good tricks.” You just haven’t seen them yet.

He had been at Castle Mackenzie for two weeks and had found particular enjoyment flustering the usually very controlled Brigid. He could only hope that he was flustering her as much as she was getting to him. She seemed nervous around him. Joking like normal one moment, silent and squirming the next. And he had yet to hear the girl give him a single real laugh, which irked him to no end.

But she looked… mouthwatering. When he’d emerged from the earth, he saw her rushing toward him, fire blazing, eyes lit with protective fury at whatever appeared to be attacking the dog. Then she’d halted in her tracks and given him a rare smile. She had never looked more beautiful. Carwyn’s heart actually pounded.

The dark cap of velvet brown hair covered her head, highlighting her pixie features and eerily beautiful eyes. Her body was strong and compact in the tight black T-shirt and leggings she wore as she walked along the lake. He thought she’d been practicing her element, because the smell of smoke still hung in the air. He’d thrown himself into the freezing cold water of the lake before his reaction gave him away.

It was useless fighting his attraction to Brigid Connor. And foolish. If God had placed the right woman in his path after a thousand years, then he wasn’t going to argue with providence. Besides, he was having fun ruffling the young woman’s very orderly feathers. Brigid was still cautious around him, and Carwyn had to know whether she felt any real attraction for him before he pressed further. He couldn’t afford to lose the precious friendship they already shared if she wasn’t interested in more.

Carwyn heard Max and Cathy chase each other down the stairs, laughing. They turned the corner and Cathy rushed to Brigid’s side.