He nodded, starting for the cottage. “More than ye know. But ye still shouldn’t have put yourself in so much danger. These men are not the sort I want my sister around.”
“I know,” Gwen said, frowning slightly.
“Give me yer arrows. I may need them.”
She shrugged off her gear and handed them to him. Accompanied with two of his men, he ran for the cottage, the sound of a scream and swearing echoing over the ridge.
If they’d touched one hair on her body… Aedan crawled up the last of the rise and looked over a small ridge of stone and saw Abigail run from the cottage, a haggard, nasty-looking man close on her heels, before he pushed her over, sending her spiralling forward.
“Stay here. I’m going to move around and see if I can get closer without being seen.”
His men and Gwen agreed and he left, never taking his eyes off the woman he loved.
Abigail gasped, her eyes wide with fear as he released the arrow, watching with satisfaction as it thumped into the bastard’s back and popped out where his heart would sit. The man cried out, before falling over.
His lass rolled away from the dead man, scurrying farther still as blood pumped onto the soil and toward her foot.
“It’s alright, lass. I’ve got ye. You’re safe now.”
And thank God he did…
Aedan scooped Abigail into his arms and cradled her against him. Her body shook. He pushed a lock of hair away from her face, hoping she’d say something. Look at him, anything, but only blankness stared back at him from her normally beautiful, vibrant eyes.
She was as pale as a new moon, and as cold as the loch in winter. He felt her skull and noted the large bump protruding from the back. No doubt how Rory Kirk had removed her from his keep with little fuss. He swore, glad the bastard who’d done this was dead.
She sniffed, seemingly trying to pull herself back together. Relief poured through him that she’d not been silenced mute by her suffering.
“How did you find me? Rory said you’d headed in the opposite direction to where he was taking me.”
“We let him think we were headed away from his direction, but we weren’t. Or, at least, I wasn’t. My men informed me he’d headed for our enemy’s land. ’Tis closer than his own.” He cut the ties free from her wrists and cringed at the bloody rub marks. Picking her up, he walked over to his horse. “I need to get you and Gwen out of here. Do ye think ye can ride?”
“I think so.”
“I’m so relieved Aedan got to ye in time.” Gwen gave her a quick hug before Aedan ushered her toward a horse.
He helped her mount and pointed toward the gully to the south of them. “Ye need to ride hard in that direction, Gwen will show ye the way. You’ll come to where the river splits in two. Turn right and cross there. It isn’t deep. Ride for a few miles and then stop when you come to a clearing in the woods. We’ll catch up to ye before nightfall, I promise.”
“I’m scared, Aedan. What if something happens to you?”
He wiped a tear away from her cheek, smiling a little. “I promise ye I’ll be there. We have to end this skirmish, bury our dead.”
“Okay, I’ll see you tonight, then.”
“Aye. Nightfall,” he said, slapping her horse’s rump while watching her ride off with his sister.
Chapter 16
Abby cringed and opened her eyes, shutting them just as quickly. Her brain pounded with a migraine unlike any she’d ever had before. And damn it, there was no Tylenol.
Memories of the ordeal bombarded her in quick succession. Of Rory Kirk, her chamber servant, of being hit over the head with something like a hammer. A cottage, a filthy Kirk clansman looking at her with degrading, horrifying intentions, of the man’s putrid breath, rotting teeth, and a mouth salivating with lust.
Panic rose and she took a calming breath, relaxing a little when she recognized the room she occupied was the one back at Druiminn. She was home. Back within the safety of Aedan’s keep. Back with Aedan.
A cool cloth pressed against her forehead, and she welcomed its calming effect. The bed dipped and a finger glided over her cheek, a soft caress from a person she recognized without even looking.
“Should you be in my room, Aedan MacLeod?” She smiled as she heard him chuckle, his lips pressing gently against her temple.