The Earl of Morrey (The League of Rogues #13) - Lauren Smith Page 0,65
pain finally overtook him, only to hear the sound of an ancient Highland war cry, far enough away that it was perhaps more wind and imagination than reality.
She found him. Tyburn.Adam let go, knowing that Letty must be safe. She had a fire that burned in her, and if he believed in nothing else, he believed in that, believed in her.
Letty followed the three Highlanders, who wore hooded cloaks as brown as the trees around them. Tyburn had shoved one of the cloaks in her arms when she’d dismounted.
“Use this as a shield. Curl up and cover yer body with it if someone comes. The men will not see ye. It is one of our Highland tricks, ye ken.”
She had thrown the cloak about her shoulders and slunk behind them as they headed toward the barn. Angus held her back as the barn door opened. The four of them remained hidden at the edge of the woods to watch. Two men dragged a limp body between them into the forest.
She gasped and covered her mouth as she realized it was Adam.
Tyburn growled softly, the sound covered by the breeze.
“Dinna worry, lass,” Baird said. “We will slay them to the last.”
She didn’t care about that. She cared only about her husband.
“Lass, doona be hasty now. Wait for my signal.” Tyburn slunk off into the woods away from them.
“Stay here, milady. No matter what,” Angus said as he vanished in the opposite direction.
Letty held her breath as she watched the two men drop Adam onto the ground. He did not move until one man put his foot on his back, and then her husband howled. She jerked, instincts demanding she run to him, that she attack the men who were hurting him, but she couldn’t. Tyburn knew this land, and she had to trust him.
One of the men near Adam, the one who held him pinned to the ground, lifted his head, a knife laid against his throat. The sparse moonlight glimmered off the blade.
A sharp cry echoed across the forest, an eerie sound, like an ancient, angry wood spirit who’d been summoned into a flesh-and-blood creature. The cry came now from all around, and the sound turned darker and deeper, into a warlike bellow. That was when the three Highlanders attacked.
She would never forget that sight, their tall, ghostlike forms flying out of the shadows, converging on the two men. Swords sang and blades flashed in the moonlight as they cut through flesh and bone. It was over as quickly as it had begun.
Letty ran to Adam, gasping as she saw the deep marks on his back, the flayed flesh. She feared even touching him, lest she add to his pain.
“I can,” Adam said, but even Letty knew that was a lie.
“Angus, Baird, find those bastards in the barn.”
The two brothers vanished into the night. A minute later there were screams, but theywere soon silenced before Angus and Baird returned.
“Go tell Aberforth at the inn that we need a wagon and hay.”
Baird nodded and rushed off toward the Crown and Thistle.
“Who is Aberforth?” Letty asked Tyburn.
“The innkeeper is a friend. He owes me, given what happened to Adam under his roof.” Tyburn looked toward Angus. “Help me with him.”
Adam cried out as he was lifted up, and Letty couldn’t help but cry as she followed. She felt helpless, useless . . . and Adam was in pain, possibly dying. She couldn’t let herself think that.
Baird met them outside the barn, a wagon waiting for them. Tyburn and Angus laid Adam facedown in the straw to spare his flayed back. Letty climbed in beside him and clasped one of his hands.
“Adam.Oh, Adam.” She placed her hand upon his hair, careful not to touch him anyplace that might hurt. He was unconscious again, but he let out a small sigh.
“Ye ready, lass?” Tyburn asked.
“Yes.”
“Good. Hold on. We stop for nothing.”
Tyburn mounted the front of the wagon and slapped the reins over the backs of the two cart horses. Letty lay down in the hay alongside Adam, holding his hand and praying to any god who might listen to save him.
14
It was close to dawn by the time Adam was carried into Tyburn’s home. Letty’s entire body ached as she stayed crouched in the hay next to her husband. Baird rode for the doctor, leaving Tyburn and Angus to take Adam to a bedchamber on