Free Highland Vampire by Hannah Howell, Deborah Raleigh, Adrienne Basso Page A

about for too long."
    "I thought he might already be dead," murmured Jankyn.
    "Nay, there is yet life in him, but 'tis fading fast. I will wait for ye in your chambers."
    She hurried the few feet to his door and entered his room. As she shut the door behind her, she caught a fleeting glimpse of David nearly dragging his father toward the dying man. For a moment she feared she had done or said something to make Jankyn so reluctant to do what he needed to save his own life, but quickly shook off that guilt. She was certain she had not, but Jankyn was probably well aware of how unsettling Outsiders found such needs. She hoped he would soon realize she was not one of those. It was now very important to her that Jankyn knew she accepted him for all that he was.

Chapter Eight
    Jankyn grimaced with distaste as he and David quietly let the last mercenary's body slip into the water. It had not been easy to get all four bodies out of the castle, but luck had been on their side. Not only had no one seen them within the castle, but the foul night weather had hidden the moon, giving them all the shadows they needed to hide in as they took the bodies to the burn not far from the castle walls. The bodies would be quickly discovered as the burn was not deep, but only the one who had hired the men would be able to guess what had happened to them.
    "I cannae believe ye were just going to let yourself die," muttered David as they hurried back to the castle.
    "Weel, I dinnae think I would have died," Jankyn said. "We could have tended the wounds to slow the bleeding, and with a lot of my wine, I—"
    "Would have died. E'en now ye arenae at your full strength. If ye were, toting two bodies to the burn wouldnae have made ye sweat. Why? Because Effie was there?"
    Jankyn sighed. "Aye and nay. Think, David. Think on how the rumors would fly if four men were found with their throats savaged. Such things stir up fear and superstition. Once the whispers begin, so does the search for anyone who is different. This time that could weel include Efrica and her cousin. There are two men at court who have seen up close how a Callan can behave when attacked. Aye, and the same two men might begin to wonder how I could toss them about with such ease. S'truth, according to Malcolm, there are already whispers seeping through the court."
    David cursed, then frowned. "So, it wasnae because Efrica might have seen ye feed?"
    For a moment, Jankyn considered lying to his son, then inwardly shook his head. "'Tis a difficult thing for Outsiders to watch. It marks us too strongly as predators, and marks them as prey. Trust me in this, there is naught that frightens a person more than the thought that they are the meal. E'en I have felt that fear chill my blood when a wolf howls in the night. 'Tis one that is bred in the bone, one that probably goes back into the dark mists of time when people were undoubtedly more the prey than the predator. I suppose I didnae want to see that fear in Efrica's eyes or have her look at me as if I were more beast than mon. Howbeit, as that chill began to seep into my emptying veins, the one that too often foreshadows death, I was beginning to think myself a great fool for hesitating."
    "And then she told ye to get on with it."
    As they stepped inside the castle, out of the rain, Jankyn paused to squeeze some of the water from his clothes and hair while David did the same. "Aye, she did. Yet she left, didnae stay with me."
    "I think she did that for your sake. She is a clever lass and she kens a lot about us. I suspicion she quickly guessed what ye needed and then why ye were nay taking it She let ye ken she was aware of what ye needed to do to heal yourself, then gave ye the privacy ye seemed to want."
    "Weel, aye, I suppose she did. That was kind of her." He looked at his son in surprise when David cursed.
    "The two of ye are enough to make a person daft. She is your mate, isnae she."
    "David—"
    "Aye, she is. So why do ye nay woo her and