Cecily put her knuckle to her mouth and dry retched. ‘I watched him load it last night while your head was lolling. I was crouched behind that wall over there.’
Lowri blanched. ‘So you heard…’
‘Everything. I stayed close, waiting for a chance to help you.’
Lowri stared at the corpse at her feet. ‘God, Cecily, I didn’t think you had it in you.’
‘Well, it seems I do. Oh, Lowri, it was awful.’
‘It was well done, Cecily, and you saved my life, but we cannot tarry. We have to get back to Fellscarp. Peyton is in danger. Get the horses.’
‘You get them,’ said Cecily, rummaging in the dead man’s belt and braies.
‘What are you doing, picking his pockets?’
‘I know how to fire a musket, and I know how to load one, too. That shot could have been heard for miles around, and men could come running. So you’d better hurry with those bloody horses while I find shot and powder.’
Chapter Thirty-Three
Peyton’s hands fisted as Eaden brought his world crashing down.
‘I have Lowri. She is safe, for now, with my men. But if I don’t return by nightfall, they have orders to slit her throat.’
His head pounded as if it was too full of blood. He could not get enough air in his lungs. Peyton sprang, taking hold of Eaden’s throat. He squeezed hard, driven by an impotent fury.
Eaden tore free his hands. ‘Would you sacrifice your sister for your pride?’ he croaked. ‘Hear my terms.’
‘Whatever the terms, I will kill you for this,’ snarled Peyton.
Eaden pointed to the crowd some distance off. ‘See your clansmen. They do not want you, Peyton. We will fight this day. It will be bloody, and we will put on a good show.’
‘I will beat you to a pulp,’ snarled Peyton.
‘No. At my signal, you will begin to fail. You will weaken, and your knees will buckle. Aye, that would be good. Fall down and do not get up again as I pummel you into the dirt, where you belong. If you do not, Lowri will die horribly.’ Every word Eaden spoke was a nail through the heart. He put a hand on Peyton’s shoulder. ‘I want to crush your pride before you die so that everyone can see I am a better leader of Clan Strachan. Did I not tell you that when I kill you, you will see it coming?’
‘You cannot hurt Lowri.’
‘Trust me. I will.’
‘You will not touch her,’ snarled Peyton.
‘Once you accept your fate and die, I will touch her all I like, wherever I like. If you do not concede, Lowri will die this day, and her blood will be on your hands.’ Eaden slid a finger across his throat, grinning.
‘You cannot do it. You’ve always cared for her. I’ve seen it underneath the lechery.’
‘Tis true, I’ve wanted the lass, but not as much as I want Clan Strachan.’
‘Who set you to this villainy?’
Eaden’s grin broadened. ‘You know who.’
Peyton’s eyes scanned the crowd, the hilltop, and the shoreline, but Elene was not there. Yet he felt her presence like a shadow lying over his soul.
‘I always coveted Elene Strachan – the great beauty,’ said Eaden. ‘She let me have her, you know. But I never let my guard down, for if I’d shared her bed and not pleased her, she might have put a pillow over my face when I slept.’ He gave a bitter laugh. ‘Can’t say as I enjoyed it much. Lying with her was like putting my cock in a vice. I never knew when she was going to snap it off. When I am done with you, she’ll take yours as a trophy.’
‘And she’ll give you nothing but death,’ said Peyton.
‘Elene thinks I am infatuated with her charms, but she is wrong. She says I can have Clan Strachan and Lowri as long as she gets her revenge on you.’
