“I wondered what you wanted from the medical supplies,” Matias commented. “If I had realized it was drugs I could have saved you a trip. Beth will not take those.”

“Aye, she will,” Scotty assured him as he read the labels on the various drug vials. There were few drugs for pain that worked on immortals, and only one that was truly effective. Spotting it, he snatched it off the shelf, and turned to hurry out of the small pharmacy in the outbuilding next to the garage.

“I am telling you she will not agree to taking drugs,” Matias warned, following him out of the building and pausing to lock the door.

“I’m no’ going to ask her,” Scotty responded coldly as he led the way back toward the house.

“Ah . . .” Matias murmured, falling into step behind him. “Well then, this ought to be interesting.”

Scotty frowned at the words, but didn’t slow or stop, even when Matias halted at the kennel to release the Dobermans, who had started barking excitedly at their approach. Scotty’s one thought was to get back to Beth and end her pain. She’d gone through enough in her life, and would not suffer ever again if he could help it.

Apparently he couldn’t help it, because Scotty entered the living room with Matias on his heels to find it empty.

“What—?” Turning sharply, he hurried back past Matias and the dogs and into the hall leading to the bedrooms. It was the only place he could think she might be. Perhaps she had wanted to lie down.

Spotting Donny outside the bathroom door, Scotty hurried to his side.

“Is she in there?” he asked as he reached the younger immortal.

Donny nodded. “She said she had to go to the bathroom.”

Scotty listened to the sound of rushing water coming muffled through the door, and frowned. “That does no’ sound like the toilet flushin’, or the sink tap runnin’.”

“I think it’s the shower,” Donny admitted reluctantly.

“She should no’ be in the shower. She could faint and hit her head and just do herself more damage,” Scotty said with concern, and knocked at the door.

“She is fine,” Matias assured him mildly. “She has had four bags of blood. She will not faint.”

“She’s in pain,” Scotty said grimly.

“She would tell you that life is pain,” the Spaniard said with a shrug. “Let her be. She will come out when she is ready.”

Scotty shook his head and knocked at the door again. “Beth, open up.”

“No! Go away!”

“If ye do no’ open the door, I’ll break it down,” he threatened.

“Try that and I’ll shoot you with my dart gun . . . again!” she threatened right back.

That gave him pause. The damned woman had already shot him once. He wouldn’t put it past her to do it again. Turning to Donny, he asked, “Does she have her dart gun with her?”

Donny shrugged helplessly. “I saw one of her bags in there before she closed the door, but I don’t know if her weapons are in it.”

Scotty peered at the door, debating the issue, and then glanced around with surprise when the doorbell rang.

“That will be the pizza,” Matias said, turning to head back up the hall. “If you are going to break down the door, please do not do it until I return. I should like to see it when she shoots you.”

Scotty stared after him with disbelief and then shook his head and peered at the door once more. He had no doubt that Beth would shoot him if she had her dart gun. Knowing her, she probably did, Scotty decided with displeasure and thought that rather than hunting down painkillers for her, he should have just pulled out his own dart gun and shot her.

“Really?”

Scotty glanced around to see Matias returning up the hall, carrying four medium-size pizza boxes and shaking his head with something between disbelief and amusement. He didn’t understand why until the man said, “Your earlier concern has now turned into wishing you had shot her? Really?”

Scotty scowled. The younger man was obviously reading his thoughts. That was the most annoying part of being an immortal who had found their life mate. He was now easy to read, and had been since meeting Beth over a century ago, which was why he had offered to help Donny control his thoughts. He knew how hard it was.

Rather than tell Matias to shut up, Scotty simply asked, “Is one o’ those fer me?”

The Spaniard raised an eyebrow. “Do you wish to have it here or at the table in the kitchen, or in the living room?”

“Here.”

Shrugging, Matias examined the labels on each box, shifted them to lie on one flat hand and pulled out the second one from the top.

“Thanks.” Scotty took the box and slid down the wall to sit on the hardwood floor.

“You?” Matias asked Donny.

“The living room,” the young man said firmly, and the pair left Scotty alone to wait.

Beth turned off the shower, but didn’t immediately step out of the tub. Instead, she reached back to unzip her sodden dress and then peeled it off her shoulders. She hadn’t been able to manage the feat earlier, so had simply kicked off her shoes and stepped under the water spray. Now the dress dropped to the tub floor with a heavy splat.

Grimacing, she stepped out of the circle of wet cloth and toed it aside, then stripped off her panties and bra as well before tugging the shower curtain aside and grabbing a towel off the rack. Beth quickly dried her hair first, and then wrapped the towel around herself sarong-style before stepping out onto the floor mat. She didn’t know how much time had passed, but the worst of the healing was over, the throbbing reduced to a mild ache, so she’d guess a couple of hours.

Usually Beth would have lain down and tried to rest while she healed, but there were no locks on the bedroom doors and she hadn’t trusted Scotty not to come in and try to force a shot of painkiller on her. So she’d stayed in the shower, and actually, the water had helped somewhat, distracting her from the pain enough to make it more bearable. Especially when the hot water had run out and she’d been left with cold water pouring down over her. That had been extremely distracting.

A check of the bag she’d left in the room earlier proved what Beth had already known—there were a pair of clean jeans, a couple of T-shirts, but no bras or panties. One of the T-shirts was an overlarge one she wore to sleep in, so she tugged it on over her head. The hem fell to midthigh, covering the important bits.

“Good enough,” Beth muttered and turned to scoop up her wet clothes. She quickly squeezed as much water out of them as she could and then hung them over the shower rod. Leaving her bag there for now, she told herself she’d collect it on the way to bed and finally unlocked the bathroom door. She pulled it open to find Scotty outside, sitting on the hall floor. He was leaning against the wall opposite the bathroom door with his legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. His arms were folded over his chest, his head down, eyes closed and an open, empty pizza box rested on the floor next to him.

After a hesitation, Beth started to ease past him in the direction of the kitchen. The sight of the pizza box was enough to make her search out food. She didn’t think she made any noise, but with the first step Scotty lifted his head and his eyes opened, making her freeze like a guilty burglar caught in the act. The two of them stared at each other for a moment, and then Scotty got quickly to his feet.

“How’re ye feeling?” he asked, his voice rough with sleep as his eyes slid to her arm.

“Better,” Beth murmured, and then, shifting self-consciously, added, “You didn’t have to wait out here.”

“I wanted to be sure I talked to ye ere ye went to bed,” he muttered, bending to pick up the pizza box.

Beth peered at it as he straightened and asked, “Donny?”

“He went to bed nearly three hours ago. Matias let him use his bathroom to brush his teeth and such.”

“Three hours?” Beth asked, her eyes widening. If Donny had gone to bed that long ago, after eating and whatnot, she’d obviously been in the shower longer than the couple of hours she’d thought.

“Aye,” Scotty said. “I’m to wake him up in an hour so that he can keep an eye out for trouble while I rest.”

Beth frowned and turned to walk up the hall toward the kitchen. “Surely that’s not necessary?”

“There have been two attacks on ye in twenty-four hours, lass,” he pointed out, trailing behind her.

Beth didn’t comment. She had thought about what had happened while she was in the shower. It had helped to distract her from the pain as her body healed. And she would admit that it did seem like someone was out to get her, but it wasn’t the first time and probably wouldn’t be the last. Still, now that she was aware of it, she would be more careful and keep her eyes open. She didn’t think they really needed to have someone missing sleep to act as a guard.

“Isn’t there an alarm system here?” she asked. “There is at the Enforcer house in Toronto. Not that they use it much, what with someone at the gates and the dogs walking the property. Speaking of which, Matias has the dogs here. They’d start barking if they heard or saw anything.”

“Aye, Matias brought them in. They’re in his room with him,” Scotty murmured. “And there is an alarm. Matias put it on ere going to bed, so do no’ open any doors or windows or ye’ll set it off.”

“Good, then there’s no need for either you or Donny to be standing guard,” she pointed out. “Besides, so far they’ve only attacked me when I was on my own. I doubt they’ll attack me here when they probably know there are other immortal hunters around.” Glancing over her shoulder, she added, “And I’m not even sure the accident and the attack are connected.”

“Beth,” Scotty began with exasperation.

“Just listen,” she said, pausing in the kitchen and turning to face him. “If the two were connected, that would mean whoever was behind the accident had to have followed us here to Vancouver.”

“Aye,” he agreed with a nod.

“But they couldn’t have,” she assured him and pointed out, “It’s not like we drove here in a car they could have followed. We didn’t even fly out of an airport where they could have checked the flight we were on. We flew straight from the Enforcer house on a private plane to that landing strip twenty minutes from here. So how did they know we were coming to the Enforcer house here in Vancouver?”

Scotty frowned as he considered that and then suggested, “Mayhap they read that ye were going to Vancouver from yer mind.”

Beth shook her head. “I didn’t even know I was coming here until I got back to the house after the accident,” she reminded him. “Mortimer told me what the assignment was and where just before we got on the plane. The only people around were you, Donny, Mortimer, and me. And we took off from the house. We didn’t go anywhere someone could read me after I learned.”

Giving him a moment to think about that, Beth turned and opened the refrigerator to check the contents. Spotting the pizza box inside, she grabbed that as well as a bag of blood.

“As far as I can tell,” Beth continued as she carried the pizza box and bag of blood to the counter and set them down, “nobody could have followed us.”

“Except perhaps someone connected to the North American Rogue Hunters,” he countered. “Anyone working for Mortimer could have found out about this trip easily enough.”

Beth opened the pizza box and verified that it was her favorite—pepperoni, mushroom, onion, and tomato—and then turned to retrieve a plate from the cupboard as she agreed, “True. I don’t think I’ve pissed off any of my coworkers yet, but it’s possible. Except that doesn’t seem likely.”

“Why?” he asked at once as he watched her transfer a couple of slices from the box to the plate.

“They wouldn’t have the time,” she said dryly. “As shorthanded as he is, Mortimer’s had us all working overtime and running here, there, and the other place,” Beth assured him. Seeing the uncertainty on his face, she added, “But it would only take a phone call to Mortimer to see if one of the other hunters is in the area . . . and trust me, he’ll know,” she added dryly, moving to set the plate of pizza in the microwave. “He knows exactly where every one of us is at any given moment.”

“He can’t possibly ken where each o’ ye are at all times,” Scotty said with disbelief as she closed the microwave door and pushed the button labeled Reheat. “Mayhap he can find and follow yer vehicles with the GPS trackers in them, but if ye’re no’ using the SUV—”

“The Council supplies us with cell phones,” Beth interrupted. “We’re to carry them at all times whether working or not. That way they can reach us at all hours and everywhere if there’s an emergency. They can also track us with some kind of app . . .” Beth shrugged and explained, “I didn’t care if they tracked me so didn’t pay close attention to exactly how they do it. But one call to Mortimer and he can tell you who, if any, of our hunters are out here in BC right now.”

“They can track yer phones?” Scotty asked with interest.

Nodding, Beth picked up the bag of blood and leaned back against the counter as she added, “There’s also a program they put on each phone that allows them to see whatever your phone’s camera sees, and even hear what’s said near it. I think it can get copies of your text messages, and allows them to listen in on phone calls too. But Mortimer says they don’t activate it unless a hunter goes missing. I’m not sure that’s true,” she added dryly. “But I’d like to think so.”

“Really?” Scotty murmured, and she could see his mind ticking that one over. From his perspective, as the head of the UK hunters, it would probably seem like a handy little program to have installed in hunters’ phones.

Beth wasn’t sure how she felt about it all herself. In situations like this, it was certainly handy to be able to immediately discount the hunters she worked with from being here in BC and possibly behind the attacks on her. But privacy was something in short supply today. The advent of bugs and cameras and even computers had played havoc with that particular commodity, and she had to wonder how much knowledge was too much, and if they all wouldn’t be happier with a little less of it. It was the fruit of knowledge of good and evil that got Adam and Eve kicked out of paradise, after all. Maybe knowing everything both good and evil that went on in the world wasn’t that grand a thing.

“I’ll call Mortimer.”

Beth merely nodded and popped the blood bag to her fangs. She was pretty sure her attacker wasn’t anyone she worked with. But she wasn’t positive.

Scotty got through to Mortimer right away, but was still on the phone with him when the bag at her mouth finished emptying. The microwave began to beep, announcing it was done, as she tore the bag away and tossed it out, so she retrieved the pizza and moved to sit at the kitchen table to eat.

“Mortimer checked and said we’re the only hunters in the whole province of British Columbia right now. There isn’t even anyone in Alberta at the moment,” Scotty said with a frown as he slipped his phone back into his pocket.

Beth merely nodded as she chewed the bite of pizza she’d just taken.

“He also says we’re the only ones who knew he was sending us out here.”

Swallowing, she added, “And Matias.”

“Aye, but he was here in Vancouver so couldn’t have caused the accident with the truck, or had the knowledge read from his mind at the accident site.” He frowned and then added, “I’ll have to ask Donny if Matias was inside during your attack or—”

“Matias would never hurt me,” Beth interrupted at once.

“Oh, aye, because he wants ye in his bed,” Scotty muttered.

Clucking her tongue with irritation, Beth shook her head. “No, he doesn’t. He is just teasing about that. It’s his way of trying to make me see him as a man and not the boy whose diapers I changed and whose snotty nose I wiped,” she explained with a faint smile. “Everyone treats him like a child still and he’s struggling to be seen as a man . . . with everyone.”

Scotty’s eyes widened slightly as if that possibility hadn’t occurred to him, and then he relaxed and murmured, “Oh.”

Beth took another bite of pizza, shifting her mind back to the “accident” and the attack. After swallowing, she heaved a sigh and pointed out, “It seems obvious that the crash and the attack tonight can’t be connected.”

“Aye, it would seem unlikely that they are,” Scotty admitted, not sounding pleased.

She understood that. It certainly would have been easier if they were connected. Then there would be only one person out to get her and not two. But . . . maybe there still was only one, she thought suddenly.

“Since no one knows I’m out here,” Beth said slowly, considering a brief thought she’d had earlier, “maybe the attack tonight wasn’t directed personally at me.”

“What?” Scotty stared at her with bewilderment. “Who was it directed at, then? The mortal? It wasn’t her head he was trying to cut off.”

“No, but I was thinking, maybe it could be an immortal who’s newly gone rogue and was looking to kill just an immortal female, or even just a hunter, and I happened to be there tonight,” she pointed out. “The only other option seems to be that it was someone with a beef against me who just happened to spot me at the club and decided it was a perfect opportunity for some revenge.”

Scotty scowled, and Beth got the feeling he didn’t deal well with not knowing what a situation was.

Shrugging, she finished off her pizza while he mulled over matters, and then stood and rinsed her plate. Beth set it in the dishwasher with the other dishes, and then dried her hands on a dish towel and turned to head for the kitchen door. “I’m going to bed.”

“I’ll come with ye.”

That brought her to an abrupt halt. Turning, she peered at him blankly. “What?”

Scotty eyed her determinedly as he crossed the room. “Ye’ve been attacked twice now, lass. Whether it’s by two different people, or one somehow managing to track ye here, ’tis clear ye’re no’ safe. Someone should be with ye at all times until we sort this out.”

Beth frowned. “So . . . what? You plan to sit in the hall outside my door until Donny gets up to replace you?”

“Nay,” he said, and Beth was just relaxing, thinking he meant only to escort her to her door, when he added, “I plan to stay in yer room.”

“Oh, hell no!” she said at once. Dear Lord, she had sexual fantasies and wet dreams about this man all the time. Every night. There was no way she was having him actually in her room with her while she moaned and panted his name. Not that Beth knew if she did that, but if she did, she sure as spit didn’t want him there to witness it.

“Beth, ye’ve narrowly escaped death twice now, and were badly injured the last time. I’m trying to keep ye safe,” he said reasonably.

“Well, I have news for you, my friend, you’re not—” She paused abruptly and then asked with sudden frustration, “What do you care?”

Scotty blinked in surprise. “What?”

Beth scowled at him as various emotions rolled through her. Mostly confusion, with a side order of bewilderment and a touch of hurt. The handful of times she’d encountered him before this, Scotty had treated her with cold disdain. Now, this trip, he was suddenly deigning to smile at her, and talking to her like she was a real human being rather than the scum of the earth he’d seemed to see her as for the better part of one hundred twenty-five years. And he was worried enough about her that he was willing to give up a night’s sleep to guard her?

Beth had no idea what had brought on this sudden about-face in him, but she wasn’t sure she liked it. The truth was, she was finding it somewhat alarming. It was one thing to lust after a man when you knew he didn’t like you. It had ensured she couldn’t like him either, so that her passion for him had remained firmly housed in the “he’s a hot hunk you can fantasize about, but don’t think it will go further” category.

However, now he was here, treating her like a human being and acting all nice and seemingly concerned about her well-being and—frankly—it was scaring her silly. She could like this guy who was nice to her, and that wasn’t a good thing, especially when he had a life mate somewhere he was just waiting to claim.

“What do you care?” Beth repeated now. “You barely know me.”

“That’s not true,” he said with surprise. “I’ve known ye fer nearly a hundred and twenty-five years.”

Beth snorted at the claim. “You’ve popped up in the same area as me a handful of times over one hundred and twenty-five years and looked down your nose and been a thorn in my butt every single time before this. So, what’s changed?”

“You have,” Scotty responded at once, and then looked as if he’d quite happily snatch the words back.

Tilting her head, Beth eyed him solemnly. “Explain.”

Scotty stared at her for a moment, several expressions flashing across his face, but then his mouth tightened and he shook his head. “Never mind. That’s a conversation for another day. One when ye’re no’ swaying on yer feet from exhaustion. Go on to yer bed and get some rest. Ye’ve had a tough day.”

Beth remained where she was, her mind turning everything over. In truth, she knew what he said was true. She had changed a great deal over the last ten years. Before that she’d been a “hurting unit”—angry, bitter, resentful . . . She’d felt like life had kicked her in the teeth, repeatedly . . . and it had. But she’d continued to do that kicking herself afterward. And then, ten years ago, they’d been clearing out a rogue nest and come upon a terribly abused dog. Half starved, burned, beaten, and tortured in ways she couldn’t even guess by the rogues in the house, the poor beast had been at death’s door. It had also been terrified, growling and snarling viciously, not letting any of them near him.

Deciding it was beyond helping, one of the other hunters had intended to shoot him, but Beth had intervened. To this day she couldn’t say why exactly, but she’d looked into his eyes and something had called out to her. Perhaps she’d recognized herself looking back—the young terrified her who had been peering out at the world through her own eyes since she was a child. Whatever the case, she’d offered him part of her lunch, talking to him softly the whole time. It had taken a lot of patience and coaxing, but eventually she’d got the dog to eat. Beth hadn’t tried to touch him or get too close—he’d been too skittish for that, and she’d understood. There had been times in her life when she hadn’t trusted anyone to get too close or to touch her either. So she’d left him to eat and had gone back to work, helping with cleanup now that the rogues in the nest had been apprehended.

At first the dog had stayed where he was and followed her with his eyes. But when she’d walked around the side of the building, he’d followed, creeping just far enough around the corner that he could see her again. She’d noticed, but ignored it, and just gone about her business. But when he followed her again the next time she moved out of sight, she’d started to talk to him as she worked.

In truth, Beth couldn’t recall what she’d said to him, really, except that she’d told him she was going to call him Ruff because he barked and growled anytime anyone got too near, and because he was in such rough shape. By the time cleanup was done and she and Dree had headed to their vehicle, Ruff had reduced the distance he kept between them to two or three feet. He followed them to the SUV and when she opened the back door, he’d hesitated only a moment before hopping inside.

Beth had taken him home, and fed him again, but allowed him the distance he wanted. She’d then gone to bed and had been just dozing off when she’d felt him hop up on the foot of the bed. She’d almost told him to get down. The poor beast was crusted with filth and blood. But in the end she’d let him be. When she woke up it was to find him cuddled up against her in bed. He’d let her pet him, and bathe him, and after eating again had gone docilely with her to the vet.

Within a very short time, Ruff had been a different dog altogether. A beautiful American boxer, he’d grown strong and healthy and had become an affectionate, cheerful, and loyal companion. He’d grown in confidence and lost any hint of skittishness. It was as if the abuse had never happened. He’d let it go and moved on, enjoying his life with her. Beth had been amazed. The vet hadn’t. He’d said animals were the smarter creatures, living in the now and not dragging past baggage along with them through life. Ruff had it good now and was enjoying it.

Beth had learned from Ruff. She was nearly a hundred and sixty-five years old by that point, and had dragged the misery of her mortal life around with her for the last hundred and fifteen years since being turned. But she’d determined to be like Ruff, set that past down and travel on without it. It had taken her a little more time and effort than Ruff. Beth had slipped a couple times, and again picked up that baggage she was so used to carrying, but eventually she’d managed to set it down and leave it down so that it became just a part of her past and remained there where it belonged. Doing so had changed Beth’s life tremendously. Her anger and bitterness had evaporated, she’d started to enjoy life more, and she’d become the person she suspected she was always meant to be.

So yes, Beth had changed. Apparently it had not gone unnoticed by Scotty, and that in turn had changed his behavior toward her. Interesting.

Breathing out slowly, Beth finally nodded and simply said, “Fine. I’ll go to bed. Alone and without a guard,” she added firmly, and when he opened his mouth on what she suspected was going to be a protest, she reminded him, “I’m the one in charge of this mission. You and Donny are my backup, so I know you’ll listen to me when I say you’re not spending the night in my room guarding me like some defenseless child. Understood?”

Scotty’s mouth snapped closed, but he nodded stiffly.

“Good.” Turning, she walked out of the kitchen with a quiet, “Good sleep.”