“I dinna give a damn what that note said. She plans to kill ye both, then flaunt it in my face before I kill her.” He took hold of her shoulders again and pulled her closer. “She has no honor but knows that we do. That is what she is counting on. I have hunted this type of evil before. Ye must not follow the limits they set. To win, ye must make yer own rules.”
What he said made sense. She rested a hand on his chest, feeling his heart pound as hard as hers. “Do ye have any thoughts on where she might have made her nest?”
His expression turned calculating. “Even with the thick outer wall, the passages will still be colder than the Earl of Hell’s heart. But three of the false tunnels end against hearths. The chimney wall would give off some warmth. If she has found one of those, I would lay odds that is where she stays, unless she plans to slip into empty rooms long enough to warm herself.”
“That would be hard for her to do unless she bound and gagged Bella and left her somewhere.”
Jasper stormed back into the hall. Lorna held out her hand for the map. He handed it over without a word. She unrolled it, and her heart lurched. Gunn hadn’t lied. Passages, priest holes, and cunningly placed traps in the form of sudden drop-offs honeycombed the walls of Thursa Castle. “There is no way she could learn all this in three weeks’ time.”
“That is what I am counting on.” Gunn tapped on three areas on the map. “These will be the warmest.” Then he tapped on a fourth. “This is the entrance where she more than likely snatched Bella.”
“Let me go with her,” Jasper said. “I know the tunnels as well as Bella does.” His fists went so tight that his knuckles popped. “And it is my fault the woman is even here. I shouldha been more cautious.”
Gunn clapped a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Ye had no way of knowing things would come to this. I need ye on this side of the walls. Place a man at every escape from the passages, but they are not to kill her if she emerges. That pleasure is mine alone, ye ken?”
“I understand.” Jasper gave a respectful nod, then turned and charged away.
Mrs. Thistlewick and Ebby returned bearing the items Lorna had requested, except for the candlestick. Instead, Ebby held up a metal cylinder by its bale. An elongated window of sorts was cut out of the front and the metal bent outward, like small reflective shutters that successfully aimed the light outward.
“’Tis wicked hot,” the maid warned as she handed it over. “Oil feeds the flame from the crock in the bottom, so be sure and dinna tip it much. With the shields the way they are, it will be hard for that wretch to see ye with the light blinding her.”
“Aye,” Mrs. Thistlewick agreed. “It will last longer than candles as well. We put a fresh jar of fat in the bag with yer bread and tinderbox so ye can refill it.”
“Perfect.” Lorna tied the laces of the cloth bag to her belt, then accepted the lantern. She lifted it, peering closely at the workmanship. “A grand design to be sure.”
“Our smithy is verra talented.” Gunn turned her toward the hallway that ran beside the kitchens. “We will enter at the one in the outer hallway.”
“Chieftain, wait!” Ebby called out, rushing after them with a dark garment held high. “The blackness of yer overcoat will help hide yer léine should the light happen to fall upon it.”
“Ye are a true gem, Ebby,” Lorna told her. The dark leather would indeed help camouflage him.
“That ye are, lass,” Gunn said as he hurriedly donned the coat. As Ebby had foreseen, it hid the parts of his tunic that his waistcoat didn’t cover.
The maid blushed at the praise, then caught her fist to her mouth and looked ready to cry. “God watch over ye both,” she whispered, then hurried away. “And God watch over our sweet Miss Bella!”
Mrs. Thistlewick crossed herself three times as they passed her. Eyes closed, she moved her thin lips in silent prayers.
“Ye would think we are off to war against an army,” Gunn said for Lorna’s ears alone.
“Never underestimate a woman scorned.” She switched the lantern to her nondominant hand and pulled thesgian-dubhfrom between her breasts. “Wait a bit before ye come in after me, aye? In case she lurks near the opening.”
“I have hunted evil before, my dearest mouse.”
“Dinna be snippy,” she said as he brought them to a halt. “What are we stopping here for?”
“How do ye intend to use the map with it stuffed in yer belt and yer hands full?”
She stared down at the lantern in one hand and the dagger in the other. “Fair point.” She shoved the knife back in place between her breasts and pulled the map free.
As she turned toward the kitchen, he stopped her again. “Nay, love. We will enter through the door just past this archway. That way, if she waits as ye suggest, we will cut her off and force her to exit at the garderobe.”
“Cook has her meat cleaver ready. If Lady Murdina comes out through the kitchens, there willna be enough left of her to feed to the dogs.”
“While I would hate to be robbed of my vengeance, such an end would be appropriate.” He nodded at a stone block at about eye level that was noticeably smaller than the rest. “When ye push hard upon that stone, the lever system will cause this door as well as its frame to swing open.”
“A fake door? Are all the entrances hidden this way?”
Gunn shook his head. “Nay. Some openings are hidden behind tapestries or paintings. Others behind furniture. The largest of all is in the library. An entire wall of stone swings out and requires a great deal of strength to activate the pulleys that set it back in place. Press the stone, and when the passage opens, ye will see it reinforced to prevent the enemy from breaking through the wood of the door itself.”
