Page 63 of Hunted By the Hard Highlander

“Please protect me sister,” Adair said, his small voice close to breaking. “I daenae ken what I would do without her.”

“I will find her and I will bring her back to ye,” Hendry said, giving the boy one final squeeze before releasing him. “I can promise ye that.”

Adair stepped back, all traces of the emotion Hendry had heard gone from his demeanor. He looked at Sebastian, then back to Hendry. After giving him a single nod of approval, Adair walked over to the other man with all the composure of a seasoned warrior.

He will be a force to be feared one day.

“Men,” Hendry announced, looking over the allies that he would trust with his life. “Ye will carry out your tasks as I have dictated them. And ye should ken that Laird MacGonagal belongs to me and me alone.”

* * *

Aurora nearly fell to her knees when her uncle released her. She tried scrambling away, her palms scraping against the cool stone floor as she stared up at him with wide eyes. He did not look anything like the man that she had once known.

“Ye…” she began, nearly getting to her feet before the heel of his boot caught the hem of her skirt.

She fell back on her bottom, wincing at the pain that shot from her tailbone all the way up to her teeth. Before she could attempt to escape once more, he stopped her. His hand tightened around her wrist, hard enough to leave bruises.

“Did ye really think ye could hide from me, Aurora?” Laird MacGonagal asked, his lips curling into a sinister grin. His teeth had yellowed in the time that they had been apart, and there was a new scar across his cheek.

She wondered if he had always looked so evil, if she had simply been too blinded by family loyalty to see it.

Instead of speaking, Aurora jerked her hand away once more. His grip did not loosen, but she refused to sit here and let herself be taken. Her feet flailed out, catching her gown and ripping the fabric along the bottom. It gave her just enough leverage to pull herself to her feet.

“Ye have made a mistake comin’ here,” she said, pulling from the deepest reserves of her bravery. “Ye willnae get what ye want.”

“I daenae if ye can be so sure about that, Niece,” he said, stepping in even closer. She could smell the sweat, the sourness on his breath. “Did ye ken that I have spent weeks watchin’ Castle Anderson? I have seen every move that ye have made, kent the list of guests that would arrive for this day. Hour after hour I sat, waitin’ patiently for the perfect moment to strike. And ye never even kent I was here.”

Aurora gritted her teeth, trying to remember any uneasy feeling she had experienced since arriving at the castle. She wondered if they could all be attributed to his presence. If the nights she could not sleep were all because of her body alerting her to danger lurking much closer than she ever could have imagined.

“I have eyes everywhere,” her uncle continued, seemingly pleased with the way she’d frozen in front of him. He pulled her even closer, not giving her a single inch to move. “And I ken that weddin’s make people careless.”

Her breath seemed to stick in her chest. Trying to fill her lungs with air, she jerked back again. His hold on her did not allow for any movement, and her attempt to get away only sent another jolt of pain through her. She refused to show it, though, continuing to glare up at him despite how icy the blood in her veins felt.

“Ye willnae win,” Aurora said, though her heart was pounding violently. She could hear the way blood rushed through her body, making her eardrums pound. “Hendry willnae allow it.”

“Aye, Hendry. Laird Anderson,” Laird MacGonagal said, the words sounding like poison on his tongue. “I should congratulate ye on choosin’ such a strong man as yer husband.”

She sneered at him, hating the sound of his voice. He had not earned the right to compliment Hendry. His admiration was false; it was said to get under her skin, to garner a reaction and give him an opening to exploit her further.

“But ye daenae belong to him any longer,” her uncle said, grabbing onto her with his other hand. He turned her around harshly, making her trip over her own feet. As he dragged her forward, he said, “If Laird Anderson truly wishes to see his bride again, he will surrender yer brother before sunset.”

Suddenly, she was no longer worried about herself. Everything she had done up until this point had been for Adair. All of the running, the arrangement with Hendry, each sacrifice that she had made was to avoid a violent confrontation. Now, there was no way that there would not be a fight.

I dinnae think that me weddin’ day would turn into a battlefield.

Chapter Thirty

“Keep walkin’, Aurora. Daenae look around. It is only us in these tunnels.”

Laird MacGonagal pushed Aurora forward, stepping over a raised stone. He seemed to expertly avoid each ancient trap that was set. Aurora had grown more and more worried as they went deeper, leaving the grounds and likely finding themselves under the mountains at the edge of Anderson territory. Yet, each switch that she had seen was expertly avoided by her uncle as though he had mapped the entire place.

“Where are ye takin’ me?” she demanded, digging her heels in as they approached another raised step. “Ye are goin’ to get the both of us killed!”

A condescending laugh spilled from her uncle’s mouth as he maneuvered them around the switch. “I believe that the Andersons have been hidin’ in these tunnels under the mountains for years. I have spent weeks learning each and every twist and turn. Each hidden trap.” He yanked her harshly to the side, using much more force than necessary to move her out of the way of a stone jutting from the wall. “I have been watchin’ ye, and I have been plannin’ exactly how I will get ye to somewhere that ye willnae be found.”

Aurora did not speak again, swallowing down the anger, frustration, and fear that she felt. Instead, she focused on each step they took, memorizing the tunnels and the path they took. She was not sure how she would escape his hold, but she would not allow him to lock her away.

I cannae sit around and wait for someone to come and save me.