‘Don’t say it, Cullen. She has gone to find Butcher.’
‘Evil begets evil. Does not the Bible say that?’
‘I didn’t have you as a godly man,’ she said, smiling.
‘I am not. I only feel God when I am inside you.’
Lowri rushed to him and put a finger to his lips. ‘Hush. Do not say such blasphemous things, or something bad will happen.’
‘It already has. To think I risked my life to save that lying, conniving little snake.’
‘The lass had a hard time of it. She grew up poor and without protection and went astray.’
‘Don’t defend that lass.’
‘Briony yearned for a better life, that’s all.’
‘She kissed me once, when you weren’t around.’
‘Oh,’ was all she could say, such was Lowri’s shock.
‘I didn’t kiss her back,’ said Cullen.
‘Why not?’
‘She didn’t taste of anything. Not like you. You taste sweet and hot, like summer fruit warmed by the sun.’
Lowri rolled her eyes at him.
‘Still want to champion her cause?’ he said.
Lowri most certainly did not ‘Get the horses, Cullen. We are leaving all this poison behind.’
Chapter Twenty-Eight
They rode down to the dock and watched Drummond’s ship pulling out on the evening tide. It seemed the man did not want to spend one more minute in Larne, nor have one more glimpse of the woman he now despised. Despite her lying heart, Cullen could not help but think that Briony had made a lucky escape from Drummond – a cold, loathsome bastard, to be sure, though what lay ahead of her might be worse.
An ominous bulk made its way towards them in the gathering gloom. Heap nodded a greeting. ‘Macaulay.’ He grabbed the bridle of Cullen’s horse.
‘What do you want?’
‘Nothing much. So, the groom has departed as quickly as he came, eh,’ he said, nodding in the direction of the ship casting off.
‘Your master must be pleased. He has yet again won the day and his prize.’
‘That lass was not much of a prize, as I hear it.’
‘What do you mean?’ said Lowri.
‘My master does not like soiled goods, and he does not suffer to be misled, especially by a scrap of a lass. Nothing is a secret in Larne. You should know that, Macaulay. And word has got about that you had a cuckoo in the nest. Seems you clutched a foul, lying whore to your bosom.’ Heap shrugged. ‘Can’t blameyou. She was easy on the eye, though my taste lies in a darker direction.’ He shot a covetous look at Lowri.
‘If Butcher is stuck with a lying whore it is his own fault. He didn’t have to come and steal her, did he?’ said Cullen.
‘No. And now it seems she wasn’t worth the stealing.’ He put his hands in his pockets and stared down the beach to the south, where the waves pounded. ‘No place for cuckoos here.’
‘Heap, where is Briony?’ said Lowri.
‘Butcher took her for a walk into the sunset.’ Heap pointed down the beach towards the rocky headland at its far end then lumbered away.
