They had reached the end of the earth, it seemed. White, rocky stone broke out from under the turf, and beyond it was justnothing. Melody had a vague idea that this place was somewhere in the high hills surrounding a deep valley below.
It seemed like a terrible place to die.
Angus turned toward her, a silver blade glinting in his hand. She barely had time for a squeak of fear before he cut the ropes binding her to the saddle and the ropes around her ankles. He hauled her unceremoniously down.
Now, of course, would have been a good time to consider struggling, but Melody’s limbs had turned to wood and did not respond to her panicked urging. She could do nothing but wriggle limply as Angus dragged her toward the edge.
The view was indeed spectacular. The cliff overlooked the valley, as she’d imagined, but the vast expanse of space, the sky above, and the gouged-out ground below, was simply nothing as she had envisioned.
When they were only a few feet from the edge, Angus hauled her upright, placing her on her feet.
“Can ye stand?” he asked, with all the solicitousness of a father helping his daughter out of a carriage. “I willnae hurt ye with the knife. Nay, ye must fall, I’m afraid. Fall or jump, the choice is yers. It’s a quick death. When Lady MacDean fell, she was killed instantly. The fall lasts only a few seconds. Nay, only one second, I’d imagine. Over in an eyeblink. I ken many men and women who were nae blessed with such a quick and easy death.”
Melody swallowed thickly, turning her back to the drop—terrifying as it was—and facing him.
“Did you push Lady MacDean?” she demanded.
He sighed. “Nay, lass, I did nae. The poor lady was done with life. It’s a tragedy, and I am sick and tired of those.”
“And yet here you are, about to murder an innocent woman.”
“I cannae imagine that ye, bein’ a fine lady, ken much about cookin’. Do ye, lass?”
Melody blinked, frowning. “What are you talking about?”
Angus smiled tiredly. Leaning forward, he seized her bound hands before she could pull away. With one neat movement of the knife, he sliced through the ropes around her wrists. That freed her, but he kept a firm grip on her hands, even so. She did not dare wriggle or pull away. The edge was just there, only a few steps behind her.
“If ye wish to make fried eggs, ye are goin’ to have to break them first,” he explained. “Sittin’ around worryin’ about crackin’ the shells will get ye nowhere. There are men in this world who are willin’ to crack eggs, and those who arenae. I am a man who makes things happen, Lady Melody. I’m sorry that ye got mixed up in all this.”
“So am I,” she muttered, glancing fearfully over her shoulder. If she tried to dart past Angus on either side, he would simply shove her back over the cliff. It would look exactly as if she had fallen.
He wants me to jump of my own accord, she realized in a sickening rush.That way, he can feel as though he is not really responsible.
She encircled her wrists with her opposite hands, thinking. The ropes had not been tight enough to leave marks, and she had not worn them for long enough anyway. When her body was found, there would be no sign that she had been tied up at all. There would be no implication of any foul play. However, people would look suspiciously at Callum, even so. A wife and a betrothed, both ending their lives at the same location? He must be cursed.
It isn’t fair.
“Come, lass, enough dallyin’,” Angus sighed, taking a step forward. He held the blade out in front of himself, and Melody stepped back to avoid it. Cold wind buffeted her back. A quick glance over her shoulder revealed that she was half a step away from the most sickening fall. Far, far,farbelow was a carpet of rocks, with a hollow in the middle, where some rainwater had collected.
Is this how I’ll die? Broken and twisted on a bed of stone, raked by an unfeeling Highland wind, with cold rainwater soaking into my back?
No, that wasn’t it. That couldn’t be it. Melody turned back to face Angus, her face set.
“I’m not a wallflower,” she said aloud. His face crumpled in confusion.
“What?”
“I’m not dull,” she added, raising her voice. “I do not want to die. If you want me dead, Angus, you’ll have to push me over the edge yourself.”
Angus scowled. After a moment, he switched the knife from one hand to the other and advanced.
“If ye think I do not have the stomach for this, ye have got another thing comin’, I’m afraid,” he stated.
Melody braced herself for the expected tussle. There was only one way it could end, of course. She had no illusions about being able to overpower Angus. There might be signs, though. Odd scrapes and bruises. Defensive marks. Perhaps he’d cut her with the knife, which would be noticed when her body was found. Perhaps…
Movement caught her eye. A figure stepped out of the woods.
“So it is ye, Angus.”
