A Hellion at the Highland Court (The Highland Ladies #9) - Celeste Barclay Page 0,82

out. The Campbell men rode north, remaining on the northeastern side of Loch Tay. He suspected the MacDougalls would attempt to hire birlinns to get them up the loch, but he and his men could still make better time. He had a day’s ride ahead of him. He prayed that he would have Laurel in his arms by nightfall.

Laurel was going to be ill. She felt the bile rising in her throat, and the horse’s gait beneath her was only making it worse. She struggled to open her eyes, but she was still so sleepy. She thought it would be fitting punishment if she vomited all over Nelson’s leg and boot. Despite her foggy mind, she could no longer hold back the need to cast up her accounts. She pitched to the side and heaved over and over.

“Laurel?”

Laurel’s brow furrowed. She recognized the voice, but she couldn’t understand how her brother sat behind her on the horse. She’d been riding with Nelson the last she recalled. She squeezed her eyes closed against the sunlight, fearing she would be sick all over again. Her arms felt too leaden to wipe her mouth, and her hair was plastered to her neck and forehead as she continued to sweat.

“Mayhap she needs another dose if she’s coming around.”

Laurel was certain she heard Donnan. But what could they be talking about? A dose of what? With horrifying certainty, she recalled drinking the water Matthew gave her. She’d grown too hot and then too sleepy. She didn’t remember meeting her brother, but if Donnan intended to drug her, then Monty was in league with Nelson. Laurel wanted to cry out, thrash against Monty. Anything to break free if her brother colluded to keep her from Brodie. But her body still felt sluggish and out of her control.

The horse drew to a stop, and Laurel fought once more to open her eyes, but it was too hard. Her mind was slowly clearing enough to be aware of what she heard. But it wasn’t sharp enough to understand what it meant. She tried to break free when someone tilted her head back and pressed a waterskin to her mouth. Her instinct to swallow allowed some liquid down her throat, but she recognized the taste. She fought against her captor.

“It’s working. Give her more,” Donnan encouraged.

Working? I’m struggling to wake. I’m not falling back to sleep. At least not yet. If they want me asleep, then why would he think it’s working? I need to tell them. Tell them what? What was I just thinking aboot? Brodie. Tell them.

“Want Brodie,” Laurel mumbled. “Want Brodie.”

“What did she say?” Monty asked. “It sounded like she wants Brodie.”

“Ye—” Laurel was battling the need to sleep as she forced each sound from between her lips. “Bro—”

“It sounds like she’s asking for him not trying to get away,” Monty said, skepticism lacing his tone.

“Stay Bro—” Laurel’s mind went blank as she sagged back into unconsciousness.

“She wants to be with Brodie. That doesn’t fit with what Nelson told us,” Donnan said.

“It doesn’t. I knew it was too much of a coincidence that they’d found Laurel. But I was more relieved to get her away from them.”

“Aye. Whatever we gave her made her worse.”

“I was desperate to rouse her. I took the chance because I feared how deeply she slept. I think the last dose only pushed her mind deeper into blackness.” Monty gazed down at his slumbering sister. He’d been hesitant to trust that the herbs they gave him would help Laurel, but he’d grown desperate. “If she wishes to rejoin Brodie, then we ride in the wrong direction. We double back. It’s two days’ ride to Kilchurn.”

“Hopefully, she rouses if we don’t give her anymore of the water. Then she can tell us what happened.” Donnan frowned as he looked at the woman he’d considered a sister rather than a friend. He hadn’t agreed with Monty many times about how he treated Laurel, and they’d argued in private each time. But he recognized the genuine discomfort Monty experienced. He recognized the guilt. “Make it up to her by getting her back to her husband.”

“That won’t be nearly enough, but it’s a place to start from.”

Laurel shivered, finally feeling cold rather than overheated. Someone pulled her arisaid tighter around her and held her against a broad chest. For a moment, she thought it was Brodie. But the man’s scent wasn’t right. She recognized it, though. Her eyes didn’t want to open, but her mind was