The Hunter (Highland Guard #7)(108)

And maybe …

Her heart squeezed, and it wasn’t from the lack of air in her lungs. She had no reason to think he would be there, but if Ewen had come after her, Rutherford would be her best chance at finding him. “I will find you.” His words from when they were being hunted came back to her. “She’s heading for the forest!”

Her stomach dropped, hearing the horse and rider close behind her.

But she was almost there. A moment later she plunged into the heavy darkness. It swallowed her like a tomb. A figurative one, she hoped.

She experienced a fresh burst of energy with the knowledge that the trees would slow the horses down and raced through the brush and bracken, pushing limbs out of the way when she could see them, not noticing the scratches that tore through her skin when she could not.

The sounds behind her started to fade. She kept heading in the same direction, praying that it was the right one, but the darkness and trees had taken away her sense of direction.

After another handful of minutes, she had to stop. Bending over, she gulped in air like a starving person. She might be able to walk for days, but running at full speed for twenty minutes had sapped her of every bit of her energy.

Yet she had to keep going.

Slower now, but still running, she threaded her way through the trees. Please let it be the right direction.

For so many reasons, she wished she had Ewen with her. He wouldn’t get lost, which was more than she could say for herself. With the clouds, there weren’t even stars to guide her. She was going on instinct now, looking for any sign of something familiar. It was less than five miles between Roxburgh and Rutherford, with forest between them most of the way. The road was to the north of where she hoped she was.

The sounds were gone now. But she didn’t let herself relax, knowing the forest could absorb sound as efficiently as it did light.

That was why she didn’t hear him until it was too late.

A man grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms to her side with his big, steel-clad arm. A leather gauntlet slammed over her mouth before she could scream. Her feet kicked wildly but uselessly in the air. “I have ’er!” he yelled.

Something wasn’t right. Ewen’s unease had begun to grow about an hour ago. The lad was late.

“He should be here by now,” he said.

“Perhaps he was delayed by the feasts?” Sutherland suggested. “It seems to be quite a celebration, if those fires are any indication.”

From their vantage on the hill, they could see the main gate and into the castle courtyard. Roxburgh Castle sat on the tip of a small peninsula of land at the juncture of the rivers Tweed and Teviot. The village lay behind and was mostly blocked from view, but they could see the roar of the fires.

By this time of night, the gate to the castle would normally be closed, but due to the feast, people were still flowing freely in and out.

“I’m going in there,” Ewen said.

“Are you mad? Roxburgh Castle is one of the most heavily defended castles on the Borders. There are at least five hundred English soldiers garrisoned there right now, waiting to resume the war, where one of their greatest objectives is to kill the members of Bruce’s famed secret army. And you are just going to walk right in there without a plan and hope they don’t notice you?”

Ewen gritted his teeth. “Aye. I’m sure as hell not just going to keep standing here. With the feast, this might be my best chance to get in there. And I do have a plan. I’ll relieve one of the men-at-arms celebrating in the village of his attire.”

“That’s a plan? It’s bloody suicide, that’s what it is.”

“If her contact is at the castle, Janet could be there right now. The feast would be a perfect opportunity.”

“That’s a hell of a lot of risk for a possibility.”

“Possibilities are all I have right now. Unless you have a better idea,” he challenged angrily.

Sutherland’s jaw set in a hard line. He stared at him for a long moment. “I’ll go with you.”

Ewen shook his head. “I need you out here. If something goes wrong, I may need you to use that powder of yours for a distraction.”

Sutherland swore. “I sure as hell wish Viper were here.”

Ewen couldn’t disagree. Lachlan MacRuairi had a unique ability to get in and out of almost anywhere. But right now, Ewen would be grateful for any of his brethren—or former brethren. If something happened, two swords against five hundred wasn’t exactly encouraging odds.

Damn, it was hard to believe that he wasn’t going to be a part of this anymore. Fighting in this team had been the greatest thing he’d ever done. And these men …

They were the closest friends he’d ever had. They were like brothers to him. Leaving this all behind was going to be harder than he wanted to think about.

He and Sutherland had just finished working out the details—there weren’t many—of his plan when Sutherland caught a movement coming up the side of the hill. “So much for circumspect,” Sutherland said wryly. “The lad isn’t exactly trying to hide his eagerness to get here.”

Ewen’s pulse spiked as the lad drew near enough for him to make out his expression. “It isn’t just eagerness—something is wrong.”

The lad’s eyes were wide as he scrambled over edge of the hill. “Sorry … late … lady …” he gasped, heaved over, between big gulps of air.