A Very Highland Holiday - Kathryn Le Veque Page 0,142

to guess.

The door adjoining her room with Aunt Leah’s opened. Another man steered Aunt Leah into Elspeth’s room. Aunt Leah, sobbing, ran to embrace her.

Elspeth held her tightly. “It’s going to be all right,” she whispered.

“Let’s get downstairs,” the other man, who was shorter, with a scar across his cheek and nose and also an Englishman, said.

“Surely you can let me dress,” Elspeth demanded.

The thin-faced man came toward her, his gaze menacing. “Move!” He narrowed his eyes. “Is the window open?” He checked the sash, then touched the curtain. “The fabric is cool.” He looked around at Elspeth’s clothing strewn about. “Was there someone in here with you?”

“No.” Elspeth lifted her chin and prayed he believed her.

He squeezed her arm, his strong fingers digging mercilessly into her flesh. “Don’t lie to me. Who was here?”

“No one.”

He pulled her from Aunt Leah’s arms and brought her face close to his so that she could smell his stale, whisky-laden breath. “I’m not supposed to touch you, but I will.” He let his gaze drift over her barely clad body.

Elspeth twitched with revulsion.

“Stop it, Marley,” the other man said.

Aunt Leah grabbed Elspeth’s hand and pulled her away from Marley.

“Downstairs, then,” the scar-faced man said.

“You let me put on a banyan,” Aunt Leah said. “Let my niece do the same.”

Marley took a pistol from his waistband and waved it at them. “Go!”

Elspeth put her arm around Aunt Leah and started toward the door. “It will be all right.” She was at least grateful she was still wearing her stockings so that her feet weren’t bare.

When they arrived in the common room, their situation became wholly and horribly apparent. Several villains stood around the perimeter of the room while the inn’s guests, Balthazar, and Carrie sat in the middle.

Balthazar sat at a table with Carrie, his brow furrowed and his eyes spitting fury. Carrie sat stiff and straight beside him. Elspeth decided she and Leah should sit with them. She wanted to somehow communicate to them that Tavish was going to save them.

Weaving through the tables, Elspeth led her aunt to the innkeeper and his daughter and helped her to sit. “I promise—everything will be fine,” she whispered before kissing Aunt Leah’s soft cheek. It was damp from her tears, and Elspeth wanted to lash out at the men who’d caused her distress. She settled for glowering at them before sitting down herself.

The men who’d brought them downstairs went to the fireplace, where a handsome man with loose, shoulder-length dark hair and a close-cropped beard stood. While they spoke quietly to one another, Elspeth leaned over to talk to Carrie and Balthazar.

“Mr. MacLean is outside,” she whispered. “He will save us.”

Balthazar grunted as he tossed a hate-filled stare toward the fireplace. “They said they have the stables, and the grooms have been dealt with.” He sniffed. “It’s likely MacLean has already suffered the same fate. They won’t tell me what they did with my dogs.” He blinked and sniffed again, then wiped the back of his hand over his nose.

Elspeth’s insides twisted, and her breath stuck in her lungs. She tried to breathe but couldn’t.

Aunt Leah reached over and took her hand but said nothing. While Elspeth appreciated the attempt at comfort, it didn’t stop the terrible cold spreading through her.

“We shouldn’t tell them about MacLean,” Carrie said quietly from Elspeth’s right.

Elspeth looked to the other woman and nodded. Carrie clasped her hands on the table, and it seemed to Elspeth that she was perhaps shaking.

Elspeth glanced around, taking stock of who was in the room. “What about Dougal?” she whispered.

Carrie gripped her hands tighter so that her fingers started to turn white. “They tied him to the bed in my chamber.”

They were interrupted from further conversation by the voice of the handsome man at the fireplace. “Good evening, friends.” He spoke in a crisp, slightly foreign accent, perhaps Dutch, but Elspeth couldn’t be sure.

“We aren’t your friends,” Elspeth spat.

He looked pointedly at Elspeth. His mouth curved into a beguiling smile. “Perhaps it’s too soon to expect that, but I hope that will change.” He lifted his gaze to survey everyone. “We are here to find something. Help us do that, and we will leave immediately.”

Lann Dhearg. Elspeth exchanged a look with Carrie, then was careful to turn her attention toward the man at the fireplace.

“I think one or more of you probably already know what we seek.” He slowly perused the room, his gaze boring into each person in turn. “Come forward now, and