“Ethne!” the boy cried out, immediately cowed by his father’s grip on his shoulder.
“No,” Malcolm ordered. “Ye must allow Aidan to approach her, Finn. She no longer belongs with us.”
Her brother’s voice held no trace of a drunken slur, nor did he waver where he stood. She couldn’t help but wonder if the man she’d known her entire life would willingly allow his own children to be slaughtered. The thought chilled her to her very core because she didn’t know the answer.
“Ah, Thomas, have ye brought me my Ethne?” Aidan asked.
She held her breath and waited.
“Thomas?” Aidan prompted the man, who clearly struggled.
Thomas tensed right before he responded. “She was coming down the trail, trying to catch up with us. No doubt she meant to join us on this special occasion.”
The airwhooshedout of her in relief, and she fell to her knees before Aidan. “I’ve come to beg yer forgiveness.”
“Forgiveness?" Aidan asked. "What is that?”
She closed her eyes and kept her face downcast. Short of a miracle, there would be no reprieve for her. The sound of horses galloping across the sand sounded like thunder, and she jerked up her head.
When Thomas turned a frightened face toward the sound, he quickly glared back at her. “Ye knew they were coming!”
She shook her head as relief flooded her. “I didna.”
The sound of horses echoed in the large cave as Lachlann, Niall, and Aldred entered, flanked on all sides by warriors, both mounted and on foot, with weapons drawn. Aidan was unquestionably outnumbered.
“Well, well, the pilgrims have returned.” Aidan moved closer to her. His pleased facade and syrupy sweet voice made her skin crawl. “Savage pilgrims indeed.”
“If ye do not wish to be slaughtered, back down and we will show ye mercy,” Brian called from where he commanded his men atop a large courser. “But I’ve no qualms about taking ye down right where ye stand.”
Lachlann dismounted, his eyes searching her out.
Aidan never dropped his veil of bravado and countered, “Allow us to leave and return to our homes.”
“Never!” Brian’s cruel laugh brought smiles to some of the other warriors. “Think ye the church takes kindly to those who blaspheme Our Lord and Savior? Neither do we.”
Lachlann stepped closer and reached a hand toward her, but her reaction was too slow.
Aidan yanked her back against him. One hand, shaking with rage, gripped her neck, more than ready to snap it. “Stop right where ye are, or I will kill her.”
The old man held her tight, a hand around her waist and his mouth near her lips. Lachlann halted, his face livid.
“I have missed ye.” Aidan’s breath hot on her skin, she swallowed the bile rising up her throat. “Tell them if they back up, I will release ye.”
“Will ye?” she asked.
He chuckled, dropping a disgusting kiss on her lobe. “Ye’ll have to wait and see.” He tightened the arm he’d wrapped about her neck. “Tell them. Now!”
She grabbed at his arm without thinking. Lachlann’s eyes widened with concern that she wished she could wipe away.
“If ye back up, Aidan will release me.” Unfortunately, her hoarse voice sounded as frightened as she felt.
Chapter 29
Lachlann swallowed against the tightness in his own throat, incensed at having to witness Ethne being used as a weapon against him yet again. He studied Ethne, then shifted his gaze to Aidan. Seeing nothing that revealed the man’s intent, he backed up and spoke in a quiet voice, "I dinna trust him."
“Ye dinna trust me?” Aidan bellowed before squaring his shoulders. “Because I am old and feeble?”
His men chuckled, inching closer to their leader.
