Page 8 of Highland Ruse

Kaid’s footing was sure against the wet forest floor, and for that, he was grateful. The weakness had passed.

He let the heavy coach jostle past them before he leapt from the bush and caught the rear soldier by the throat while Donnan tackled the one on the left. Both were knocked unconscious before they hit the ground. The two guards heading the front of the coach wheeled around to face them and charged.

The powerful chest of the guard’s brown horse blocked Kaid’s view, but he did not move from his position. Not until Donnan had taken on one man, leaving only one remaining.

Kaid waited until the last possible second before he swung to the side and propelled his weight from a tree root. The guard tried to twist around, but Kaid was faster. He locked his arm around the man’s neck and pulled. His body tensed with resistance, but it did not last under the pressure Kaid applied to his throat.

The man’s horse continued into the depths of the forest. With any luck, villagers would stumble upon the treasure and put the beast to good use.

Kaid eased the man to the muddy floor and pulled the length of rope from his waist to bind their captives by their ankles and wrists. A quick glance over Kaid’s shoulder confirmed Donnan did likewise.

Not that Kaid was against killing, but the guards were merely doing a job. Unlike the thieves they usually hunted.

He left Donnan to complete the task of binding the guards together and approached the stationary coach. The coachman sat in the hard, wood seat and stared wide-eyed. A man not even worth the fight.

Kaid nodded toward Donnan. “Have him tie ye up and ye’ll stay safe. Try to run and we’ll kill ye.”

The man nodded and slid from the coach, obediently making his way toward Donnan.

A woman’s high-pitched whisper sounded from inside the coach. “Are they going to kill us?”

Kaid’s gut gave an uneasy wrench. He didn’t like this business of kidnapping women either, but he had little choice. MacKenzie needed to be stopped, and if this were the only way, so be it. Besides, he had no intention of injuring anyone.

Kaid stalked toward the coach, hand on his blade in case a guard had been stationed within. A sob sounded from the coach, and Donnan frowned where he knelt beside the man he was tying up.

Donnan had been instructed to knot the rope loose enough for the men to eventually wriggle free. The location Kaid had chosen was at least two days’ walk on foot to the next village. Plenty of time for them to disappear and have no one on their tail.

He grasped the flimsy handle of the coach door and pulled. It opened at the slightest pressure, and a scream pierced the cramped space, pulling his attention to the brunette who stared at him in horror. She glanced at the woman who sat opposite her before turning to him once more. Her mouth fell open so wide, her back teeth were visible, and she let loose another shriek.

The other woman, the one dressed in fine velvet and jewels, gaped at him. While her face remained smooth, her body was pressed hard against the noble, velvet cushion she sat upon. The lass looked as had been described: light brown hair and brown eyes.

A red and gold crest stood out proudly above the window emblazoned with a set of gilded wings. The unmistakable Seymour crest.

This…this was the woman he sought. The one who would be his leverage over MacKenzie.

The key to his clan’s freedom.

Chapter Two

It had finally happened—they were under attack. After almost a month and a half in the coach, and all that time spent looking over her shoulder. After Delilah had finally assumed there was a strong likelihood they would arrive safely and without incident.

Her heart pounded hard and steady, thrumming in her ears like the smooth beat of a drum.

She wasn’t scared. Not of this Highlander with his long, black hair and grizzled jaw. Though she did wish for nothing more than her hand wrapped around the hilt of a sword. But then, ladies did not carry swords.

Already she assumed the guards were dead. She’d heard the scuffle outside, the low groans as men went down.

Nausea churned in her stomach.

There’d been nothing she could do to save them, those men she’d come to know these past weeks. Their humor and dreams, the families waiting for them back in Cumbria.

Their attacker stared at her with a blue gaze so brilliant, his eyes nearly glowed. He never turned from her, not even as Leasa continued her skull-piercing cries of panic.

If Delilah hadn’t received her training, would she have screamed thus?

“Sit beside yer maid,” he said. His voice was surprisingly kind for a man who had just murdered several innocent men.

Delilah lifted her chin to incline her head a haughty inch, the way her noble breeding dictated. Not that it was worth the dirt on a pauper’s feet.