Marguerite sent Callum a worried look, but she returned to the woods, hurrying with the rest of the MacKinlochs.
Bram helped Callum out of the water while Nairna turned to Dougal. The young man kept an arrow poised in his bowstring, but he looked terrified at the idea of facing more soldiers. “Go behind the women and take your bow,” Nairna ordered. “We’ll follow you in a moment.”
But just as Dougal disappeared, the soldiers came pouring around the corner from both sides. One archer fired several arrows toward the forest before Callum killed him.
Nairna cried out a warning to Bram and Alex, who split off to meet the men, their shields and weapons ready. She picked up her crossbow, her heart stopping when she saw a soldier swing his sword at Bram’s head. A sound tore from her throat as she ran to her husband. Though she couldn’t do anything to stop it, she released the bolt and it struck a different man.
Bram dived to the ground, skewering his attacker with his claymore. They were completely outnumbered and Nairna understood that she was not going to survive this attack. These men would show no mercy, not after all that had happened.
She reached Bram and helped him up. He kept his claymore steady, but the soldiers simply closed in on them, waiting for the command to kill. Nairna wrapped her arms around his waist, as if she could hold on to these last moments with him.
Callum held his bow steady, his eyes glazed as if he weren’t really seeing the soldiers. He didn’t move, nor did he speak.
Lord Harkirk entered on horseback from the right, while Lord Cairnross joined in from the left. Bram’s arm tightened around her and he moved down to whisper in her ear.
“When I tell you to, I want you to run hard toward the others. I’ll fend them off as long as I can to give you an escape.”
In other words, he would sacrifice his life for hers. Nairna’s eyes welled up with tears and she buried her face in his tunic. “Bram, if I leave, it will lead the soldiers to the other women. Their only chance at living is if I stay here.”
He made no reply, holding her tight against him for a long moment. She let the tears fall and whispered, “I’d rather die at your side than live without you again.”
Bram released her, his tone rigid. “I’m not going to let you die, Nairna.”
He took a step away, raising his hands in surrender. Eyeing first Harkirk, then Cairnross, he said, “If word gets out of what you’ve done here this day, the clans will unite. The war will continue and you’ll have given them a reason for vengeance.”
He paused, choosing his words carefully as he stared at Lord Cairnross. “I’ll return willingly, as your prisoner, if you let them go.”
He’d once said that he would die before becoming a prisoner again. But it wasn’t at all true. He’d surrender his freedom, even his life, if it meant saving Nairna.
He drank in the sight of his wife, afraid it would be the last time he saw her. Her brown hair was tangled, her green eyes filled up with tears. Even now, she was a balm to his broken soul. She was everything to him and they’d had so little time.
The memories flashed before his mind, quiet pieces of the past that he tried to hold on to. And he realized then that leaving her was the hardest thing he’d ever have to do. He wasn’t worthy of her love or being her husband. He’d made so many mistakes, born of his hot-headed ignorance and now, his carelessness.
But he loved her. He hadn’t believed himself capable of it, but the emotions swelled up inside, his need for her overriding everything else.
Cairnross gave a signal and two soldiers seized him. Bram went with them, hoping that they would agree to this. He didn’t care what happened to him, as long as Nairna and those he loved were safe.
But once he’d given himself up, two other soldiers seized his wife. Cairnross rode forward, his expression ruthless and coldhearted. “You took my betrothed wife from me. It only seems fair that I take yours in return.”
“Don’t touch her,” Bram ordered, the rage rising up inside. He could feel the anger clouding his judgment, transforming it into hatred.
“Perhaps I’ll let you watch,” Cairnross mused. “And when I’m finished with her, you can watch her die.”
The last hold he had upon his sanity snapped at the sight of Nairna’s terror.
Bram unleashed the full force of his temper, smashing his head against the nose of the soldier holding him captive. Reality blurred, and somehow he had both a dirk and a sword in his hands. The first blade sank into flesh, and he fought with every last breath he had to give. He struck again and again, until he no longer knew what was happening.
He heard the sounds of battle, felt the slash of the enemy’s sword, but still he fought.
For her, the woman he loved. The bloodlust roared through him, and he let go of all control, no longer caring what he did. He would die before letting any man touch her, especially Cairnross.
And when he felt the hands dragging him away, the last sight he saw was Nairna’s stricken face.
Chapter Twenty-One
Her husband had fallen into such madness, Nairna feared she’d lost him. Sweat dripped down his face and his eyes were wild. Blood covered his hands and the body of Lord Cairnross lay fallen on the ground.
Nairna had never seen anything like it. The rage had broken free and Bram had moved so fast. He’d torn her free of the soldiers’ grip, slaughtering them like a legendary berserker.
