Highlander's Beautiful Liar A Scottish Medieval Highlander Romance Historical Novel - Adamina Young Page 0,19
they were working together to bring Seth down, it would explain why she was in prison and why she was reluctant to give him any information.
Did that mean he was next on her list? Innes no doubt thought he was next to be the MacKay leader. No one would suspect that the wee English woman would be able to bring him down. No one would suspect her treachery.
How would he get the truth out of her? He wanted to shake her until she said something that was honest, but he had a feeling that wouldn’t work. She had to have some weaknesses.
Despite her prickly nature, he recognized the look of lust in her eyes. He couldn’t bully the truth out of her, but maybe he could seduce her.
His body responded to the thought, and he set his jaw. He couldn’t keep thinking of her as a wronged thief.
She could very well be an assassin.
Alec didn’t sleep well that night, and he was up well before the rest of the castle began to wake. Stealing down into the kitchen, he was surprised to find that he wasn’t the only one up before the sun.
“Jamie,” he grunted. “Why aren’t ye sleeping?”
“I find this place unsettling,” Jamie muttered.
Alec eyed his old friend. “Ye want to go back to SInclair land.” It wasn’t a question. He knew things weren’t easy for them here. It wasn’t easy for him either.
“Mebbe eventually,” Jamie said with a shrug. “I don’t mean it’s unsettling because it’s filled with MacKay men. There is something unnatural about these stones.”
Alec snorted. “Ye and yer superstitious nonsense.”
“Ye don’t believe in ghosts?”
“’Tis an old castle, Jamie. I have no doubt that there are plenty of spirits still hanging around. The same can be said about the Sinclair lands as well.”
Jamie shook his head. “There’s just something about this place. I think it’s Seth. His evil nature still haunts the halls.”
“Seth was only laird for six months. Before that, it was Duncan, and while we didn’t get along, he was a good man and a good laird. There’s a good feeling in this place. I have a good feeling about it. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. I wouldn’t ask ye and Shane and Stephen to stick around if I didn’t. I hope ye know that.”
Jamie grinned. “We know that. I’ll get used to the place. Don’t worry about me. Biscuit?”
Alec eyed the biscuit suspiciously. “Who did ye seduce to get biscuits this early?”
“Mary might have her eyes on ye, but she’ll settle for me,” he said with a wink. “I’ll share if yer nice.”
Rolling his eyes, Alec snatched the biscuit out of Jamie’s hand and took a bite out of it. “What do ye think of Claire?”
“So ye aren’t calling her the thief anymore?”
“I saw her talking with Innes Campbell last night. They looked intimate.”
Jamie raised his eyebrows and waited a beat. “Were ye going to ask a question?”
“What am I supposed to think? I find her in the prisons. No one in the clan can vouch for her. She lies about her name. She’s English, and last night she was pressed against Innes and the wall. She’s a spy for him.”
“No.” Jamie shook his head. “Innes is a scoundrel, and he’s seduced his fair share of women, but I doonae get a bad feeling from Claire. I doonae think she’s done anything wrong.”
Normally, Alec trusted Jamie’s instincts. The man had a strange power to read other people, but this time, there were just too many things that didn’t add up. “Why doesn’t she tell me the truth? Why doesn’t she at least lie and try to leave?”
“Maybe something is keeping her here,” Jamie suggested. “Maybe she really is a thief, and she hasn’t gotten her hands on what she wants.”
“Ye just said that ye didn’t think she’d done anything wrong.”
“Maybe she took something that belongs to her. It should not surprise ye that Seth MacKay would take anything he wanted, whether it belonged to him or not. The point is that it does not matter. She is just a lass. She can do no real harm. You can continue to stand here and be consumed by her, or ye can get a few practice rounds in before the rest of the men join us.”
Was Jamie right? Was his obsession for nothing? Whether she was innocent or not, how much damage could she inflict? Even if she were a spy for Innes, he could easily thwart her by ensuring that no real