Both Angus and Melody froze, standing as still as if their feet had grown roots.
“Callum,” Melody breathed, her voice ragged with relief.
Angus turned slowly, angling himself to keep an eye on both Melody and Callum.
“Stay back, me Laird,” he warned. “I’m concerned about Lady Melody. She’s actin’ strange and speaks of throwin’ herself off the edge of the cliff. I’m tryin’ to talk her down, but she’s determined.”
Melody gave a furious gasp. “That is not true!”
“Give it up, Angus,” Callum snapped. “I have seen and heard enough. There’ll be nay wrigglin’ out of this for ye. Step away from her.”
Angus stared at Callum for a long, taut moment. His face shifted, the expression changing from minute to minute. Melody watched him carefully. She longed to stare at Callum, to smile at him in relief. But if she took her eyes from Angus, that could be… well, it could be fatal.
“Ye are killin’ this clan,” Angus whispered. “If yer brother had been Laird?—”
“He would have done nay better than me,” Callum interrupted. His expression was taut and angry. “It’s over, Angus. Tell me, didye plan to unseat me from the moment Fletcher put the idea into yer head? Or did ye put it into his head?”
Angus clenched his jaw, lifting his chin. “I thought of it years ago, aye. But with Fletcher gone and the babe dead, it was clear that our hopes of replacin’ ye were over. I never told him to kill Alexander, ye ken.”
“Shut up. Daenae say his name.”
“I was resigned,” Angus continued angrily. “But then ye refused to wed, refused to get an heir. It could nae have been clearer that ye did nae care what happened to the clan after yer death. Then Lady Melody appeared, and I learned that ye were only mockin’ us. A pretend betrothal? To anEnglishwoman? For shame, me Laird, for shame!”
Callum flinched, jaw tightening. “Perhaps I have been a fool. But do ye think it justifiesthis?”
“I think that the ends justify the means,” Angus retorted. “I always have.”
Then he turned, planted a hand squarely on Melody’s shoulder, and pushed.
The movement was so sudden that she only had an instant to brace herself. She staggered, the world spun around her, and the ground dropped out from under her feet.
To her own amazement, she did not scream. Perhaps it was simply because the shock of falling knocked the air out of her lungs. Angus’ shove was quick and clumsy, and had only enough force to put her off balance. Melody slammed into the ground, her upper body on the stone edge and her legs windmilling in empty space.
She screamedthen, clawing at the ground to keep her balance. Dragged down by her own weight, she slid backward until the edge was under her armpits. There was nothing to hold onto. No branches, no lumps of stone, no roots or plants, only smooth rock and a few crevices.
Callum and Angus wrestled, dangerously close to the edge. Callum had strength and youth on his side, but Angus ducked and dodged like a desperate man, one with years of experience on his side. Callum swept his leg sideways, knocking the back of Angus’ knees. The man went down like a sack of potatoes, landing heavily on the stone.
“I could have let ye live, fool,” Callum breathed, his face contorted. “I could have let ye live if ye had nae threatened her.”
Angus snarled. He drove a fist into Callum’s side, but it wasn’t enough to move him. Callum drew his sword.
“It’s over,” he promised as he drove his blade into the older man’s heart, and gravity took over the rest.
Confusion crossed Angus’ face when the ground disappeared from under his feet. Realization followed quickly, then horror. He flailed, grabbing at thin air.
Angus screamed as he fell. It was a thin, panicked yell of terror, and ended as quickly as it had come. Melody hastily turned away as he fell. She had her own troubles, anyway.
Her tentative grip on the stone ground slid away, her numbed fingertips releasing her. She gave a startled cry, sliding backward.
No, no, no!
This couldn’t be how the story ended. It couldn’t be howherstory ended, like Angus, spreadeagled at the bottom of the Bloody Cliffs.
Then a hand clamped around her wrist. Melody was all but gone, the sharp cliff-edge digging into her forearm. She stared breathlessly up at Callum, his arm shaking with effort.
“I’ve got ye, lass,” he said thickly, and began to slowly haul her up from the edge and back to safety.
The sensation of solid ground beneath her seemed to drain the last of Melody’s energy. She collapsed to her knees, gasping raggedly. Callum knelt beside her, wrapping one heavy arm around her shoulders.
