Page 49 of Laird of Wrath

“It must be a village,” Callum said. “Take yer horse and head back to the castle. I’ll go and see what this is.”

“I’ll come with ye,” Rhea offered.

Callum was quick to shake his head. “Absolutely nae. It could be dangerous.”

“Ye have nay saddle,” she reminded him.

“I can ride without it.”

“I daenae want to leave ye alone.”

“I’ll be fine, lass. Of all the people ye have to worry about, I am the last of them.”

“Callum, I willnae hear it,” she insisted. “We’re wasting precious time here. Just let me come with ye.”

“Why?” he asked.

“Because I worry about ye, whether ye like it or nae!” she cried, unable to hold back the words. Only moments ago, she had been so happy, so content with how close they had become, and now he was shutting her out once again. “And I worry about the villagers. I wish to help. Icanhelp.”

“How can ye help?” he demanded. “Ye’ll be in danger, Rhea. If this is an attack?—”

“If this is an attack, the villagers will need me help, Callum,” she cut in. “They will need me.Me peoplewill need me.”

Her last words seemed to shift something inside him. There was irritation in his eyes still, that much was certain, but there was also pride and a strange fire that she had never seen in him before. It had nothing to do with passion, though. It had nothing to do with him seeing her as a woman, as his wife. Rather, it had everything to do with him seeing her as an equal, as a fighter, as someone willing to go far for her people.

“Fine,” he relented through gritted teeth, perhaps thinking that she hadn’t noticed the change in him and trying to conceal it as much as he could.

Rhea couldn’t blame him. Now that she knew he was more proud than annoyed, she was bound to insist on helping regardless of the danger she would be facing.

“But ye’ll stay by me side, and ye’ll do as I say. Do ye understand?”

“As ye command, me Laird,” she said teasingly.

Callum rolled her eyes at her, as if annoyed, but she could have sworn she saw another smirk on his lips.

“Let us go, then,” he uttered, and the two of them climbed back on her mare, pulling Slàinte along with them.

Callum kicked his heels into the mare’s flanks, urging her to run as fast as she could, and Rhea held onto the cantle of the saddle, the wind stinging her eyes.

But it didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting to their people in time.

16

Everything was burning.

Flames reached to the sky like lithe, dancing fingers eager to grab anything in their path and bring it to destruction.

The village had darkened. Ash and soot swallowed the sunlight, and the heat in the air was unbearable. Callum felt as if he had stepped straight into the blacksmith’s kiln.

For a moment, he froze, memories of that terrible nightmare flooding through him, cutting his breath short and bringing his thoughts to a sudden halt.

Next to him, Rhea rushed into the village, her cloak billowing behind her as she reached to unclasp it, uncaring of where it would fall—if it would burn, if she would ever find it again.

Around him, the screams of the villagers cut through the air like blades, piercing his ears. Their stomping echoed in the streets,mixing with the roar of the fire to create a blood-curdling, chilling sound.

This is just like… There is nay time for panic.

He had already wasted enough time standing there. Rhea had already thrown herself into the thick of it without hesitation, while he had allowed his mind to transport him back to that nightmare where he had lost her. He snapped himself out of it. He was the Laird. He was the man these people relied on for help in times like this, and he would not let them down.