Page 91 of Highland Ruse

But why?

The woman stepped toward the fence where several slats were missing. After another cursory glance at the garden behind her, she spoke in a low voice: “I know Delilah.”

Hearing Delilah’s name was all the confirmation Kaid needed. He and Donnan rushed to the edge of the fence and crouched at the perimeter, hiding as best they could.

“Where is Delilah? How is she?” Kaid couldn’t stop the questions from tumbling from his mouth.

The woman knelt on the ground before several flowers and pulled a pair of large shears from a basket at her side. Her gray gaze settled on him, her expression shrewd. “There was supposed to be only one of you.”

“I’m Donnan,” Donnan offered in introduction. “This is Laird MacLeod. He came out of worry for the lasses.”

The woman looked between the two of them before finally nodding. “Very well. I’m Liv and have been working with Delilah for years.” She glanced over her shoulder once more. “She’s been found out. They don’t know she was working with Elizabeth’s father and assume she was working with you.” She pinched the delicate stem of a large yellow flower and snipped its base. “Not that she should be working with you in the first place.”

Kaid ignored the comment. “Where is she now?”

“In the dungeon.” She snipped another flower. “With Torra.”

Kaid’s heartbeat pounded harder in his chest.

Torra was still alive, and Delilah had found her.

“We have to use any means necessary to get them free,” Kaid said.

Liv selected another flower and nodded without looking at him. “I’m already coordinating with Delilah to get them out. When that happens, she will need to see a woman in Killearnan.”

“What can I do to help ye get them out?” Kaid asked.

She slid him an icy glare. “I think you’ve done enough already. She wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.”

Her words hit him like a slap.

“You’ve put every one of us in danger.” She snatched up the basket and rose so abruptly one of the flowers fell to the ground. “Tonight. Wait for them to be freed a little past midnight.”

Without another word, she turned and left. The abandoned yellow bloom lay on its side, the fragile petals cradled in the long grass.

She was right, of course. He had put everyone in danger. But he’d also seen no other way.

“Well, she seems nice.” Donnan gave a wide smile.

The familiar gesture couldn’t even draw a smirk from Kaid’s lips.

“I’ll make this right.” Kaid spoke with vehemence.

Donnan’s expression didn’t fade. “Ye’ve no’ done anything wrong. The lasses made their own decision, and we’ll get them to safety tonight.”

The most treacherous part would be getting them from the dungeon to the forest. Then again, getting them through the forest wouldn’t be easy either. While there weren’t as many guards at night as Kaid had initially assumed there might be, it only took one seeing them to ruin everything.

Kaid’s palms prickled with sweat, and he had to focus on his breathing to keep it steady.

This was not Ardvreck.

This was not that day in the village where everyone had been slaughtered.

There would not be so much blood.

The forest seemed to blur in front of him.

Kaid closed his eyes, and when he reopened them, the world had stopped whirling.