Page 104 of Hold Fast

A sob ripped from Una’s throat as she turned toward the voice.

It couldn’t be.

CHAPTER48

In an instant, Ewan had Una in his arms, crushing her to his chest as he pressed his lips against the top of her head. Hot tears streamed from his eyes and fell into her hair. Una sobbed, gripping his leine in her fists. His shaky hands cupped her cheeks reverently before roaming over her body, checking for injury. Her clothes were sticky and wet, and when he drew his hands away, he saw that they were stained red.

“My God, Una. You’re covered in blood.”

She sobbed harder, pressing her face against his chest, but Ewan forced her to look at him. His voice was frantic. “Una, whose blood is this?”

“Cameron’s,” she whispered. “I stabbed him. Three times in the back before sticking him in his throat.”

“Is he…”

“Dead, Ewan. I killed him.”

With that, she began to tremble violently, clinging to his shirt. Ewan was awestruck. He’d come here, expecting to tear the keep down to save her when she’d been saving herself. He’d never even considered that possibility, which shamed him. How had he ever doubted her?

Why hadn’t he trusted her to handle the truth about Malcolm Cameron? Why hadn’t he confided in her and asked for her thoughts on what would be the best course of action to protect her safety? She’d lived with the bastard for a year and survived. She knew him far better than Ewan. Another failure of intentions. He remembered what his mother had told him once.“Ewan, mo cridhe. Well meant doesnae mean well done.”

The shame choked him almost as tightly as his relief. He didn’t deserve to hold her so easily like this. He should have crawled to her on his knees over the rocks and begged her for the privilege.

Ewan brought one hand to the back of her head, holding her close. “You’re so brave, mo ghraidh.”

“I had to kill him, Ewan. Ihadto. He was going to claim the babe as his own and force me to marry him. He was—” She choked on a sob, and her eyes went wide. “We must leave. They’ll hang me for this if they find me!”

She pulled away from him, grabbed his hand, and tried to drag him towards the forest. She was strong, but her belly threw her off balance, and when Ewan didn’t move, she tipped backwards into him.

He wrapped his arms around her again. “Una, if you think I would let them take you now, you’ve lost your mind.”

“Someone will pay, Ewan. Someone will have to pay,” Una whispered, her eyes wide with fright.

“Aye. They will,” boomed a deep voice from the darkness.

Una whipped around and, over her shoulder, Ewan saw Blair Cameron striding from the tunnel with a woman’s arm in his grip. The relative quiet was broken by the sound of swords being unsheathed, the creaking of leather against staffs, bowstrings being drawn.

“Maddie!” Una cried. “Maddie, nay!”

“I tried to go back, but he was already in the tunnel, Una,” the woman, Maddie, replied with tears in her eyes.

“Let her go, Blair!” Una shouted at him.

Ewan had seen Blair before. Cameron often sent his brother to deliver messages, a fact that had always confused Ewan. Tonight, there was a spark in Blair Cameron that had been missing every other time Ewan had seen him, as if he’d been animated and brought to life with the death of his brother. He still had that weary, long-suffering look about him, but his gaze was sharp, his shoulders back.

“You willnae take Una, Cameron. As long as I breathe, I willnae let you take her,” Ewan said through clenched teeth. His blood ran cold as the big man sauntered toward them, seeming utterly unconcerned by the MacDonald arrows trained on him.

“Blair,” Una whispered. “You ken what he would have done. You ken what hedid.”

Blair nodded. The gesture was so small that it would have been imperceptible from a distance. But Ewan saw, and he knew Una did too.

“Come with us,” she said. “Run away. It was always the plan.”

Ewan stared at her. The friend that she wanted him to shelter had beenBlair Cameron?Why hadn’t she said so? Probably because she hadn’t trusted him enough to agree to help. More shame roiled through him.

“You could come with us, Blair,” Ewan said, and Una smiled at him, her bottom lip trembling.

“I cannae do that,” he said, sounding heavy. “I am the laird now.”