Page 88 of Laird of Wrath

“They’re fine,” Hudson assured him. “They are in Sienna’s chambers. They’re safe. Rhea?”

“She’s… she’s safe.” Callum forced the words out past the lump in his throat. “She’s safe.”

He didn’t know if he was trying to reassure Hudson or himself.

“Good,” Hudson said. “Where is she?”

“I sent her to the healer,” Callum replied.

It wasn’t exactly a lie, not when he had told Rhea to go see the healer. But he hadn’t gone with her. He hadn’t even taken her there. He hadn’t even made sure she would be seen for her injuries.

“Could ye go and find her?” he asked. “Make sure she’s all right. I need… I need to deal with all this.” He vaguely waved his hand around, gesturing at the chaos around them.

“Of course.” Hudson nodded. “Anythin’ ye need.”

“And then come back here and gather the council,” Callum added, a little more firmly. There was no time to waste. There was much to be done. “Let us make sure this doesnae happen again.”

“Do ye fear retaliation?”

“It is prudent to be prepared,” Callum replied. “Find Rhea. I’ll meet ye in the solar.”

With one final nod, Hudson turned around and rushed out into the courtyard, leaving him alone once again in the middle of the chaos.

With a deep breath, Callum steeled himself and smoothed his jacket, donning once more the mantle of the Laird. The first thing out of his mouth was an order.

What a fool I was. To think I believed that… that he could love me.

That was Rhea’s biggest mistake. The signs had all been there after all, right in front of her eyes. How much clearer did Callum have to make it to her before she got it through her skull? He couldn’t love her, not like she loved him. He wouldn’t.

The bruise on her jaw ached, her skin throbbing along with her heartbeat. The nick on her neck was hardly more than a scratch, and she barely felt it, but her fingers kept drifting to it again and again, picking at it.

Around her, people were still reeling from the attack. Many men had been wounded, and many others had died, their bodies now slowly being cleared from the courtyard. It had been fast and brutal, a battle that had lasted minutes, and yet to her, it seemed as if a lifetime had passed.

Was it the same for Callum, she wondered? Did every battle leave him holding the weight of years on his shoulders, many more than had truly passed? Did each dead man’s life measure out in time that was then felt by the one who killed him?

Rhea didn’t know. All she knew was that she had never taken a life before, and now that her hands were stained in blood, they would never be clean again.

But what was she supposed to do? She couldn’t have left Callum to die. Laird Barclay had been a coward, calling his men to his rescue, and even Callum couldn’t have taken on so many of them at once.

“Rhea!”

The sound of her name startled her out of her thoughts, and she saw Hudson running toward her, pushing through the crowd in the courtyard. She closed the distance between them, reaching him in only a few strides, her expression filled with concern.

“Hudson… Mabel… Is she all right? Is me sister all right?”

“Aye, everyone is fine,” he assured her. “But ye’re nae. What happened to ye?”

“Laird Barclay caught me,” Rhea replied, her breath catching in her throat at the memory of that vile man holding her, of that cold blade pressed against her throat. “But I’m fine, I promise. I only wish to see me sister.”

“Callum told me to get ye to the healer,” Hudson said.

Rhea was quick to shake her head. She had told Callum she would go just so that he wouldn’t make a fuss, but she didn’t see the point. There were so many others who needed the healer’s attention more than she did. When she looked around, she saw nothing but suffering, nothing but men in pain—and a fewwomen who had been caught in the middle of the battle, who hadn’t managed to get themselves inside fast enough to avoid it.

“I’m fine,” she insisted. “It is only a bruise. I’ve had much worse.”

Hudson didn’t seem entirely convinced. “But Callum?—”

“If Callum wants me to see the healer, he could take me there himself,” Rhea cut him off, her voice dripping with venom. When she realized what she had said, when she saw the shocked look on his face, she snapped her mouth shut, feeling her cheeks heat in the breeze of the night. “Hudson, I… thank ye for this, but I daenae need to see the healer. I need to see me sister. Take me to her, please.”