Page 33 of Dark Victory

She would call Sam while he was in the shower. It was time to populate the loft, and Sam could bring him clothes; agents kept extras in their lockers. Sam would keep her big medieval secret. Maybe she’d help get him to a hotel. Or maybe they’d call Nick and let him in on the action. Nick could actually solve her dilemma, she thought. But her heart seemed to sink.

“I willna leave.”

“Stop reading my mind!” she cried. “I am not referring to sending you back to 1298. I am referring to you walking out my door and spending the night elsewhere—alone.”

He folded his massive arms across his chest.

Her heart lurched, but this time with a frisson of alarm. “You are not spending the night here.”

“Ye dinna trust Nick.”

Tabby almost cursed. “Obviously you’re not reading my mind very carefully. Nick is a warrior and he’s on our side. He fights demons and wins.”

“Ye think he’ll interfere in the Destiny we share.”

“We do not share any Destiny!”

“Ye believe ye’re meant to help me. ’Tis why ye’ve haunted me fer ninety-seven years, offering to help me.”

Damn it, he might be right. “I’m not calling Nick. You can stay at a hotel—an inn.”

“An’ what about the dark soldiers?” He was smug, as if he knew he’d won.

In that moment, she knew he had won, too.

“Do ye wish to ken why I willna leave ye alone?”

Tabby stared at him, dismayed. “Not really.”

He ignored her. “Ye need my protection.”

She was instantly bewildered. “I don’t need protection.” Then she realized he didn’t understand. “Macleod, this loft is fortified with my grandmother’s spells. She was a very powerful witch. Evil has never been able to get in here. It’s like holy ground. What happened earlier today won’t happen again.”

He shook his head, his face set now. “Evil hunts ye.”

A chill swept down her spine. “Evil hunts everyone. Evil destroys whatever it can.”

“No. Evil hunts ye, Tabitha Rose.”

Tabby met his gaze and he stared back. He was so serious that her alarm became dread. “Why do you think that?” she asked slowly. But she was becoming uncertain. “It was a witch burning. It happens all the time, here in this city and in major cities around the country and across the world.”

“The boys wanted ye. I heard them.”

The chill churned in her gut. He could not be right. Why would evil hunt her?

Those boys had known her name—but that was on the classroom door. But the Rampage had been premeditated, because the fire alarms had been dismantled. Rampages were usually spontaneous and random acts. There had only been two subs intent on a witch burning, when they usually worked in large gangs. Except for the crime last week, when three subs had been involved. Maybe the attempted burning in her school was a part of a new trend…or maybe not.

But why would evil target her?

He was wrong, she managed to think. Evil hadn’t targeted her. And damn it, now he meant to stay the night.

“Show me where to bathe.”

They could argue about the intention of the subs all day and all night, and never figure it out, she thought. He was clearly determined to stay and protect her. “All right. You win. But I’ll bet you always win, don’t you?”

His expression never changed.

Tabby clenched her fists. “You can stay, but only for one night, and you sleep there, on the sofa.” She pointed, her hand trembling. “And you will sleep there alone.”