Page 55 of Only a Highlander Will Do

The four of them hurried through the empty great hall and down the north corridor. When they came to the end of the hallway, the man and woman stopped. “She’s down there.” He held out a set of keys. “My wife and I will wait here to make certain no one follows you down.”

Tormod accepted the keys and guided Fiona towards the stairs. Halfway down, he grabbed a torch from an iron holder before proceeding. At the bottom, instead of a locked door, the dungeon was open and a howl of pain erupted from inside.

Grasping his sword, Tormod handed Fiona the torch then waved her behind him as he stepped into the chamber. His heart plunged. Rowena was gagged and hanging by her bound hands from a hook in the ceiling. An older man hung from a twin hook beside her. His body dangled limply, his head lolled against his chest. He gasped for breath, still alive, but just barely.

A satisfied grin pulled up the corners of Alex MacDonald’s lips as he pulled a bloody sword free from the man’s side.

“Father?” Fiona cried, moving from behind Tormod. “Nay!”

Chapter Twenty-One

Fiona rushed towards her father’s abused body, her heart in her throat, only to pause as Alex MacDonald’s sword turned to her.

“Want to join him?” Alex taunted, his lips pulling back in a feral grin.

Her father’s eyes drifted open. Their gazes connected. “Fiona. My daughter.”

“Father.” The word was a raw, agonised sound. Fiona nearly doubled over in pain at the sight of her father’s blood on the floor at his feet. “We must help him.”

Tormod started forward, his sword drawn, but as Alex’s sword levelled on his chest, Tormod stopped. “What purpose does Laird Fraser’s death serve?”

Alex laughed. The sound echoed in the dank and desolate chamber. “It will hurt you—” his gaze shifted to Fiona “—and it will hurt the girl who spurned me. Is there any other reason necessary?”

While Tormod and Alex faced each other, Fiona reached down and drew the dagger Tormod had placed in his boot. If only Tormod could keep Alex distracted, she might be able to get close enough to cut the bindings at Rowena and her father’s wrists. And if Alex turned on her, she prayed the garments she wore would keep her safe.

Tormod’s empty hand fisted as though signalling her to move. “If you kill him, you will make an enemy of every member of the Fraser clan.”

Alex scoffed. “He is no longer connected to his clan. They will not even notice if he is gone.”

“They will, because his daughter is now a MacLeod,” Tormod said with a hard gaze. “They have been a neutral clan when it comes to the affairs of the MacDonald and the MacLeods. Now they have a reason to engage. And I will see that they do.”

Alex’s bravado fading, the sword in his hand sagged.

“Besides . . .” Tormod moved closer, no doubt trying to obscure Fiona’s progress forward. “We have you trapped.”

Alex’s gaze shifted to the door. His sword tipped up. “Come any closer and I’ll kill the Fraser, your sister, and your wife.”

Fiona froze inches from Rowena’s side. So the man had noticed her progress all along.

“You might be able to strike one of them before I can get to you, but not all three.” Tormod’s voice was hard, his gaze focused.

A shiver went up Fiona’s spine at the fierce set of his mouth. He wore the promise of death on his face like a mask. Her heart thumped. He was fearsome indeed, but she was closer to the man who threatened her family. All she had to do was lunge and she could reach him. She might be the one to take a blow instead, as Alex angled his sword at her.

An hour of instruction did not make her anywhere near Alex’s equal. She would only be a distraction for a short moment. Yet it was a risk she was willing to take if it gave Tormod time to save her father and Rowena. The decision made, she lunged.

Alex thrust his sword at her midriff. Fiona gasped at the pressure against her body, but the garments she wore held, deflecting the blow. Her fingers shaking, she followed through on her thrust and pierced Alex’s chest, below his ribcage. He dropped his sword and jerked backwards, taking the dagger she’d plunged into his chest with him.

With a howl of pain, he freed the blade from his body. His hand pressed against his wound. Blood seeped from between his fingers. In the next instant, he shot forward. “You can’t kill me!”

Fiona bent to retrieve his fallen sword, but Alex was faster. He knocked the weapon from her grasp. It tumbled to the dungeon floor with a thump. She shrieked as his hand clamped tight around her throat. She kicked out, trying to break his grasp, struggling for air as she had not so long before.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Tormod slice the bonds at Rowena’s wrists, then her father’s, before he charged Alex. Tormod grasped Fiona’s shoulders, effectively knocking Alex aside without sending Fiona to the ground as well.

Fiona caught her balance.

“Are you well?” Tormod asked.

At her nod, Tormod turned back to Alex. “It’s time to end this.”