She had expected Ryder to go and sit behind the desk, but instead, he leaned in front of it, arms crossed over his chest.
“The thing is, Megan Blackwood,” he said shortly, “I need ye to do somethin’ for me.”
Megan eyed him for a moment, loosening her quiver from around her shoulder and lowering it to the ground. She gave a short laugh.
“Oh, aye? So, ye staged all of this because ye were too shy to ask for help?”
His eyes flashed, and that was all the warning she had before he lunged forward, long, cool fingers wrapping around her chin.
Megan gave a squawk of surprise. She tried to duck away, but his fingers were too tight around her chin, holding her firmly.
“Steady on, lassie,” he murmured, his voice low and menacing, his long nose inches away from hers. “Ye are in me study, me Keep, now. Best to remember that, eh?”
“Let go of me!”
He tightened his grip. It did not hurt, exactly—he wasn’t digging in his nails or squeezing tight enough to mark her skin, but she could not manage to jerk her chin away. Reflexively, she grabbed his wrist.
She couldn’t get her hand around his wrist; it was so thickly corded with muscle. She felt them shift under her fingers as he adjusted his grip.
“Best to mind yer manners in another man’s Keep, lassie,” he said gently, but there was a dangerous undertone to his voice. “It’s yerhelpthat I need. I’m nae askin’ a favor. I need yer services.”
At last, Megan managed to wrench her chin away. She retreated to a safe distance, glowering at him. When he made no move to lunge forward, she lifted her hand to rub at her chin. There were no painful spots, no marks left, but somehow she could still feel his fingertips on her skin. It was a curious sensation, and one she was not sure she liked.
“I’m listenin’,” she snapped at last. She thought—briefly and guiltily—of Lily and Alasdair back at the house. She’d left a note saying that she had gone hunting so that they wouldn’t expect her back until nightfall. If a full night came and went, however, Lily would panic. She needed to get home, or else send them an update on all of this.
Ryder returned to his desk, perching right on the edge. He folded his arms tight across his chest, muscles bulging. That odd sensation plunged into Megan’s stomach once more, and she cleared her throat to distract herself.
“Me faither left a good many enemies behind him,” Ryder stated at last. “He was nae a popular man. I tried to make peace with most of them and dealt with those who wouldnae make peace.Ye ken, the ones who’d make war on a man for the sins of his faither. I thought I’d dealt with them all, but it seems that I was wrong. Apparently, somebody wants war.”
“That’s nae good,” Megan murmured. This was not her business, of course, but war in one clan generally meant difficulties for the other clans. It sent ripples of danger throughout the Highlands. “Although I am nae sure what this has to do with me.”
Ryder flashed a grim smile. “Somebody tried to abduct me sister.”
Megan blinked. She vaguely remembered catching a glimpse of three women sitting on the platform beside Ryder. There’d been an older woman of about twenty-eight, clearly a nurse or a maid, then there’d been a teenage girl. A little girl had sat on the floor and played with her toys.
“What?” she managed.
He nodded. “Aye, about two weeks ago. It was the oldest of me two sisters, Alaina. She is sixteen, and if she were kidnapped…” He paused, swallowing. “I am nae sure what dangers might befall her. Even if I paid a ransom, or did whatever her kidnappers wanted.”
Megan shivered at that. She remembered being sixteen years old. Why, she and her sisters had been around that age when Ma died, and it had been the most devastating thing they had ever experienced. They were left vulnerable, and if they hadn’t hadeach other, Megan couldn’t say what might have happened. She glanced at Ryder again, taking in his taut, angry expression.
At least his sister has him to look out for her,she thought.
“Did ye catch the men who tried to take her?” she asked.
He gave a curt nod.
Megan brightened. “Well, that’s great news! Question them, and they’ll tell ye who gave them the orders.”
Ryder shrugged carelessly. “They didnae tell me.”
“Well, did ye torture them enough? Me faither always said…”
“I killed them.”
There was a brief silence after that. Megan gulped.
“Oh,” she managed at last. “Well, that’s not the greatest thing, is it? Ye could have questioned them.”
