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“No. Stay where you are.”

Looking down, I saw that the invisible fingers anchoring my hand were slowly becoming visible. I could now see that they were attached to a huge hairy hand, which was at the end of a huge hairy wrist, which in turn disappeared into a filthy, blood-stained sleeve.

The bulk of Leith’s body was behind me so I couldn’t see his face but I could smell the moldy wool of an ancient kilt. The stench was revolting but it didn’t bother me as much as the sight of the wicked-looking dirk in Leith’s other hand.

There are two types of ghosts. The first type, misty ghosts, are often very scary but they’re usually harmless. Then there is the second type, who, even after death, are as solid as you and me. Leith was of the second type, which made him very, very dangerous. But only to men. So why was he tightening his grip on my wrist?

As I tried to twist away from him, I called, “Hey, Jenny, I thought you said he needed the heart of a warrior.”

“You’ve got short hair and you’re wearing trousers,” she called back. “He thinks you’re a man.”

Great.

In the most feminine voice I could muster, I said, “Let me go.”

Leith stared down at me in confusion. Grabbing my sweater, he lifted it and took a good look underneath. Then he stepped away from me.

I let out the breath I’d been holding. A prudent woman would have run away but prudence is not one of my virtues. I drew myself up to my full height and faced Leith.

He was neither as tall nor as broad as Casper, but that didn’t make his appearance any less formidable. My first impression was of darkness. Black hair hung to his shoulders. A pair of equally black eyes peered at me above a black beard. I tried not to look at the dark red stain covering much of his shirtfront but I failed. It was like passing a car accident. You know you shouldn’t look, but somehow you can’t help it. Giving my inner voyeur a little leeway, I allowed myself to observe his savagely ripped shirt and the gaping hole where he heart should have been.

I was staring at the hole when he backhanded me. The blow knocked me off my feet. I toppled sideways, hitting the back of my head on the cairn and then sliding onto the soft grass below. Groggily I stared up at Leith. He was standing over me stretching his hand toward the left side of my chest. There were no prizes for guessing what he was after. And it wasn’t copping a feel of my breast.

I twisted away, doubling over to shield my chest. Too late I realized my back was exposed. My heart could just as easily be taken from this position.

I rolled away from him but he came after me, kilt and sporran swinging wildly. I glanced around for something I could use as a weapon, but what could I use against a ghost? There was only one thing that would do any good.

“Casper!” I screamed.

Leith threw himself on top of me. Pinning my shoulders to the ground, he raised his dirk. Time slowed as it moved toward my chest. I had never known Casper to be late before. I hoped he wouldn’t start now.

The tip of Leith’s dirk touched my sweater, slicing through the knitted wool. I tensed, anticipating the pain of having my chest ripped open. But it never came.

Casper arrived in the nick of time. Grabbing the blade of Leith’s dirk with his bare hand, Casper pulled it away from my chest. He grimaced as the blade bit deep. A river of blood cascaded between his fingers but he didn’t let go. Two spectacular moves later, Leith was bleeding from his mouth and nose and Casper had his dirk.

“Allegra, move away from the cairn,” Casper said. “Two hundred yards should be far enough. Take Jenny with you.”

Jenny looked stunned. She stared white faced at the angel and the ghost. Gently I took her hand and led her out of sight of the cairn.

All the time she kept muttering, “I don’t understand why Leith attacked you. He must have realized you were a woman when he lifted your jumper.” Her brow puckered as she wrestled with the problem. “He’s never attacked a woman before. If you’d been injured, I’d never have forgiven myself.” Then, as though realizing