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Larson.”
    â€œDo you have a relationship with this woman?”
    â€œHell, no! I mean, I hardly know her. She’s a waitress at the diner out on Route 322.”
    â€œLet me see if I understand. There’s a woman you ran into in a diner who was being abused in some way in a public place. So, instead of calling the police, you brought her here.”
    â€œNo!” He combed his hands in frustration through the short bristles of his hair. “I went to her trailer. Leroy wasn’t there until we were leaving.”
    â€œLeroy?”
    â€œLeroy Brown, the douche-­bag boyfriend. And, yes, Leroy Brown, like the junkyard-­dog song.”
    A sudden thought seemed to occur to Alex. “Is he a Lucie?”
    â€œNo, but he could be. He reeked of lemony evil.” To vangels, humans who were evil or about to commit some great evil exuded the citrusy scent of lemons.
    â€œDid you kill him? You know how Vikar feels about calling attention to us here at the castle.”
    â€œNo, but I temporarily incapacitated him.”
    â€œHow did—­”
    â€œNever mind all that. I’ll explain later.” They continued up the next flight of stairs. “One more thing, Alex, please don’t tell Vikar about Faith’s being here.”
    She didn’t like that idea, at all, he could tell.
    â€œMaybe you could just not mention that I brought an outsider here unless he asks.”
    â€œI don’t know—­”
    â€œShe’ll be gone before he even realizes she’s been here.”
    â€œI don’t like secrets.” Worry creased her brow, but she didn’t chastise him any longer or plague him with more questions as they walked down the long hall.
    All bets were off, though, when they entered the bedroom.
    Whether she slept soundly or was unconscious, Faith never awakened. Not even when Karl uncovered her again.
    Alex gasped as she viewed Faith’s injuries, as well as the carved initials on her thigh, but she made a sound of real distress when she put a hand to the young woman’s forehead and proclaimed, “Fever! Get cold washcloths right away, then we need to get her to a hospital.”
    â€œNo! I promised her there would be no hospital.” When he returned with several cold cloths and watched as she placed a folded one over Faith’s forehead, he asked, “Can’t we take care of her ourselves?”
    â€œI don’t see how.” She paused, and said, “Get a glass of water and a ­couple of Tylenol. Then, you better go tell Vikar to call Sigurd.”
    Tell Vikar? Karl groaned, but he knew that Alex was right. This situation had escalated beyond his control. Still, he muttered, “Vikar is going to kill me. Or worse yet, he’ll tell Mike.”
    â€œNo, he’s not, Karl. You probably saved this woman’s life by taking her away from that evil man.”
    Karl felt a little better.
    But not much.
    â€œYou can also tell Vikar I said that he’s not allowed to yell at you,” she added.
    â€œOh, that’ll help. He’ll just give me one of those black looks that are even worse than his roar.”
    â€œHis roars are just loud meows. He’s a pussycat, at heart.”
    â€œWho’s a pussycat?” a loud male voice said with mock chagrin from the open doorway, immediately followed by, “What the hell?” as new eyes took in the scene in the bedroom.
    And, yes, it was a roar.

 
    Chapter Four
    And then the other shoe dropped . . .
    S IG URD ARRIVED WITH his leather doctor’s bag at about seven and went immediately upstairs to examine Faith. By then, via the vangel grapevine, which was more effective than a bullhorn, everyone in the castle knew what Karl had done.
    Not long after, Karl got himself booted out of his own bedroom by making a nuisance of himself with all his questions and second-­guessing and the occasional cussword. Instead, Alex offered to stay and