“Ye must have gotten in here somehow! Speak, woman! Or was I right the first time and ye are a witch who can vanish in a puff of smoke?”
This wasn’t funny. Not funny at all. Why was he acting like this? Hadn’t she already explained that she wasn’t part of this escape-room/re-enactment/team-building game or whatever the hell these men were taking part in? So why was he still keeping in character? Why was he acting all threatening?
She dug into her pocket and pulled out a photograph. “I’m looking for my friend. See? I stopped here because I got a flat tire. Now let me out, damn it, or I’ll call the police!”
The man opened his mouth to speak, but at that moment there came a muffled shout from somewhere followed by the sonorous clanging of a bell.
“Fire! Fire!”
Pandemonium erupted. The men rushed over to the door, all talking at once. In the clamor, Abi was knocked to her knees. The photograph of herself and Layla fluttered to the floor and in the gloom, she couldn’t find it again.
“Quiet!” yelled the man with the torch. As silence fell, he pressed his ear to the door. Somewhere deep inside the castle, there was the sound of many booted footsteps as the clanging of the bell continued.
Suddenly something thudded into the door.
“Stand back!” shouted a voice. “Stand clear!”
The men scuttled backwards just as the door burst open, flooding the room with light. It revealed a man standing in the doorway, a tall man with broad shoulders and white-blond hair. In one hand, he clasped a sword.
“Afternoon, boys,” he said.
Chapter 4
“Captain!” cried Malcolm.
Reid’s second-in-command was holding up a burning torch and in the torchlight he looked gaunt and haggard. But he was alive, and right now that was all Reid could hope for.
“Malcolm,” he said with a nod. “Is everyone here?” His eyes roved over the relieved faces of his men, mentally taking a tally of who was present. He frowned as he realized there was a woman in the room. She was sitting in the middle of the floor looking dazed. Where had she come from? Had the Muirs started taking women prisoner as well now?
“Aye, captain,” Malcolm replied. “Everyone that survived. We lost six when the Muirs retook the keep and Alan and Michael since of the fever.”
Reid’s jaw clenched. They were losses he could ill afford. So far, his plan had worked and he’d managed to draw out the Muir forces with minimal loss of life, but that wouldn’t last long. When they realized they’d been duped, they’d be quick to respond.
“Get out, all of you. It willnae take long before the Muirs regroup.”
He stood aside and the men hurried past him, eager for their freedom, but the woman didn’t move. Reid strode into the cell and yanked her roughly to her feet.
