Bound by Wish and Mistletoe (Highland Legends #1.5)(16)
Robert snapped his attention back toward Dougal at the instant the injured man was being hoisted onto a horse by one of Dougal’s soldiers. Once Dougal was seated behind the man, the horse galloped off into the forest, vanishing from sight.
Instinct bunched his muscles, readying him to chase the enemy down; however, he forced a grounding breath into his lungs, nostrils flaring. Vengeance would have to wait a little longer. When he granted Dougal the bloody death he deserved, it would be far easier on Susanna if she didn’t witness the gruesome event.
With the need to protect Susanna pumping hard through his veins, he turned around to find her shaking from head to toe. Her face was red, tightened into an enraged scowl. Her chest heaved as she stared off into the darkened forest where Dougal had fled.
“Susanna?”
Her gaze remained unfocused beyond his shoulder. She’d gone far away, somewhere else entirely.
He cupped a hand over her cheek. “Susanna. Lass, come back.”
She blinked a few times and shifted her gaze up to his. Those striking blue eyes sparked with fury. Her mouth opened, but no words came out. She closed it on a hard swallow.
“Thank you, lass. You’ve a fierce protectiveness in you that I admire. You’ve great aim, as well, as good as any of my men.” He winked at her, attempting to pull her from her dark shock.
She took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I want him to suffer. To remember. To know what it’s like to be deeply scarred.”
He chuckled. “Aye. I’ll wager he’ll never forget.” In fact, he soon planned to remind Dougal in painstaking detail before delivering the ultimate parting message on Susanna’s behalf.
“He has my dagger,” she grumbled.
“Did it serve the purpose you’d intended?”
The corners of her mouth twitched, a glint flashing in her eye. “Aye.”
“The dagger can be replaced. ’Tis a lesson to him that a human is not to be taken against their will. In any manner.”
“Aye, I’m glad he has the dagger. ’Twill be the only piece of me he’ll ever have.”
He smiled down at her, both in pride of what she’d done and in admiration of the strength she’d found inside herself. She’d need that fortitude until he dealt properly with Dougal, for until her tormenter was forcefully removed from this world, she would feel hunted.
Another frisson of energy sizzled into Robert’s awareness, and he finally glanced up at the impressive force that had come out to greet them. Clan Brodie and her castle had finally arrived. They waited no longer.
“Susanna, turn around. ’Tis time to go home.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Susanna turned around, and her jaw dropped as she registered an imposing army of men standing just beyond the tree line. She blinked hard, twice, for she swore one of the men—a good head taller than the rest—had enormous black...wings? Beyond the men, further up the rise, rose a formidable stone wall and the turrets of a castle that disappeared into a dark-clouded sky—a castle which hadn’t been there before.
Fragile snowflakes continued to drift down while she stared in silent wonder at the unbelievable sight. Had the snowfall been so heavy she hadn’t noticed a castle through the trees? She shook her head. From the time she was knee-high, she’d always thoroughly scanned her surroundings, everywhere she went. Doing so helped identify danger and had protected her on many occasions.
“That is your clan’s castle?” she asked, unable to clarify her confusion.
“Aye, lass. She’s remarkable, is she not?”
“Aye. I seem to be in dire need of food, however. My hunger has affected my senses.” She raised her hand to her forehead, covering her right eye and peered at the extraordinary sight, including the winged man, with her uncovered left.
Robert laughed. “Of course, lass. Are you ill?”
“Perhaps,” she replied, lifting the fingers of both hands to her temples. “I doona know if I hit my head yesterday, or if I’ve gone too long without eatin’ today, but I’m seein’ things that are not there and failin’ to notice things that are.”
From behind, Robert wrapped his arms around her. They were solid, comforting. In her internal distress, she welcomed an embrace that she would’ve shunned a few short hours ago.
The one with wings—massive, glistening black wings that arched two feet higher than his shoulders—vanished before her eyes. Amazed, and certain she hadn’t blinked, she closed her eyelids heavily and reopened them to find the creature still missing.
Robert dropped his mouth to her ear, sending a shiver down her spine. “Lass, you shall enjoy a sumptuous feast. Then we’ll talk of all the things you saw and failed to see.”
She nodded absently. An army whose collective gaze had rested on her disbursed upon seeing Robert’s arms wrapped around her in evident claim. With her hands gripping the muscular forearms that bound her waist, she welcomed his protection...for the moment.
On foot, Duncan and Seamus led their horses, including the one carrying the stag they’d killed and another towing the pine tree they’d harvested. Robert ushered her behind them, over a wooden drawbridge spanning an icy moat, his right arm wrapped around her shoulders.
She caught sight of him pressing his left hand to his side, his fingers covered in fresh blood. “Robert! You’re hurt!” She tried to turn to better assess his injury.