“I knew it couldn’t have been Lorelei, because I was with her.” A loud moan interrupted this thought. I could tell him what had happened to me later. “Should I take you to the hospital?”

“They wouldn’t be able … to treat this,” he whispered, turning slightly to the side. I gasped at the sight of his back. It was scored with slash marks.

“I’ll get Diana,” I said. “She’ll know what to do … or Liz … ”

“No,” he said, grabbing my wrist. His grip was surprisingly strong for a wounded man. “You can do it … you have the power of the Aelvesgold in you. Just …” He looked anxiously toward the edge of the woods. “Just … help me inside.”

I put his arm around his shoulders and got him to his feet, then realized I should have opened the door first. But Duncan held out his hand and the door flew open. “You still have so much power,” I said, ushering him through the door, “even though you’re hurt.”

He stumbled over the threshold and we nearly both crashed to the kitchen floor. “Not so … much,” he croaked with a strangled laugh. “But you … you have all the power I need.”

I tightened my grip on his waist, noticing in spite of myself how firm his muscles were and how warm his bare skin. In the library I settled him onto the couch, pulling an afghan over him to spare his modesty … or mine, I supposed. He was probably in too much pain to think about being naked in front of me, but I was going to have to concentrate, and Duncan Laird’s naked body was … distracting, to say the least. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who was distracted. When I knelt beside him on the couch I caught him staring down the opening of my flannel shirt where a button had come loose. “Where did you get this?” he asked, fingering the worn fabric.

“From a fisherman named Mac,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Long story. I’ll tell you all about it after … What am I supposed to do, Duncan? Tell me! You’re losing blood!”

He smiled weakly and took my hand. A heat flash moved straight from my hand into the core of my body as if he’d touched me … somewhere intimate.

“The Aelvesgold in your body is reacting to mine,” he said. “You can use it to perform a binding spell on my wounds.” He guided my hand over the deepest gash on his chest, holding it barely an inch above his flesh. “Concentrate on the heat between us.”