“Ma!” Nathan sobbed.
Caden gritted his teeth as he pushed to his feet, all while keeping his balance on the ice. Still holding Nathan close to his chest, he lifted his unconscious bride with his other arm and led them both toward the sleigh.
“Nathan, I need ye to be a brave lad and climb into the sleigh, all right?” Caden lowered the boy to his feet and wrapped his now free arm around Ava.
Bravely, Nathan scrambled into the sleigh and scooted to the far side.
Caden then lowered his unconscious wife onto the bench and sat beside her. “Hold her hand,” he instructed.
The frightened boy tentatively wrapped his little fingers around Ava’s.
“That’s it. That’s a good lad.” Caden tried to remain calm for Nathan, who was now holding Ava’s hand in his lap and stroking it softly.
“It’ll be all right, Ma.” not
Pride and sadness curled in Caden’s stomach, for the boy did not stutter this time.
“Hyah!” Caden whipped the reins and drove the horses as fast as he could through the snow to the castle.
Eventually, he shifted the reins to one hand and wrapped his free arm around Ava, letting her rest against his chest.
“Daenae ye leave me,” he murmured as her head lolled with the rocking of the sleigh.
Her eyelids fluttered, and she let out a soft moan.
Please. I cannae lose her, too.
“Stay with me, Ava,” he kept repeating until they arrived at the castle.
The falling snow thickened, and the sky had turned an ominous dark gray. Another storm was approaching.
In the courtyard, next to the yew tree, Finlay was waiting with a piece of paper in his hand. He lifted and waved it in the air.
“Oi! Look! Thalia said she’ll be arriving in a few—what the bloody hell happened?!” he sputtered.
He ran to the sleigh and gasped when he saw the three of them covered in blood.
“Who is hurt?!”
The panic in his voice instantly took Caden back to the night Joanna had died.
“Isnae ours,” Caden assured, lifting Ava out of the sleigh. “I cannae explain now. Take Nathan. He’s a bit shaken. I killed Kilmartin.”
Without another word, he ran into the castle not, trusting his brother to take care of the boy.
Ava’s head lolled against his shoulder, and his chest tightened.
“Ava! Please, hold on…”
CHAPTER 22
Ava wokein a large bed that was not her own. She had never been in this room. It took her a moment to register her surroundings. Pillows propped her body up.
She made to turn her head, and white-hot pain flared in her shoulder. “Owww!” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a large stick. She faced it and panicked when she saw that the stick was an arrow jutting out of her arm.
Warm hands immediately cupped her face, and a soft voice murmured soothing words. She looked up to find Caden staring down at her.
“Ye need to relax, Ava,” he instructed calmly. “Moving will only make the arrow sink deeper.”
