“How’s he doing?” Callen asked, voice low.
“Sleeping. I think.”
“Good. He needs it.” Callen caught my eye in the mirror. “I’ll warn you; he’s a terrible patient.”
“I’ve noticed.”
“No, you’ve seen hints.” He grinned. “Wait until he’s well enough to be genuinely difficult. That’s when the fun starts.”
Oliver snorted. “Looking forward to it.”
“You say that now.” But there was warmth underneath his dry tone. The warmth of someone who’d known Kiernan for thirty years and loved him despite—or because of—every infuriating quality.
We turned off the main road onto the private drive. The trees closed around us, ancient oaks forming a canopy that blocked the gray sky. When they fell away and Greymarch appeared, my shoulders dropped. It felt more like home than anywhere else I’d lived.
Kiernan stirred against my thigh. His eyes opened, and he blinked up at me.
“We’re here,” I said.
He struggled to sit up. I helped him, one hand braced against his good shoulder, and watched his face as he looked at the castle. “Home,” he said.
The front door opened before we’d stopped, and Millie emerged, already halfway down the steps by the time Callen cut the engine.
“Hello, Millie,” Kiernan said when I rolled the window down.
“Don’t you Millie me.” She looked him over with sharp eyes. “You went and got yourself shot. I’ve half a mind to finish the job myself.”
“I missed you too.”
“Let me see you.”
Getting Kiernan out of the car was a process. He couldn’t put weight on his left side without going pale, and his legs were unsteady after hours of lying down. Oliver took one side, Callen took the other, and together they maneuvered him upright while Millie watched with her hands on her hips.
“You’ll be in the rooms near the library,” she said once he was standing. “I’ve made them up fresh. You’ll remain there until you can walk without looking like you’re about to faint.”
“Those are for guests.”
“And right now, you need looking after like one.” She glanced at Oliver and me. “You’ll be with him.”
Heat flooded my face.
“I’ve been keeping this house for thirty years,” she said as if that explained everything. “I’ll be serving dinner at seven. If you’re hungry before then, you know where the kitchen is.”
Once she disappeared inside, Callen laughed. “She likes you,” he said.
“How can you tell?” I asked.
“She doesn’t let just anyone in her domain.”
It made me think of the night when the three of us had prepared dinner there together. It felt like a lifetime ago.
The rooms Millieput us in were beautiful, with high ceilings and tall windows overlooking the loch. In the largest bedroom of the three, Millie had set a table up near the four-poster bed, with medical supplies, a bell for summoning help, and a stack of books that suggested she expected Kiernan to be bedridden for a while.
He grimaced when we led him in.
“It’s temporary,” I said.
“I know.”
