“Kai!” she screamed the first word she could think of. “Hel – hmm!” Peters rolled her over and grabbed the back of her head, pushing her face into the pillow so that the sound was silenced.
“Here, gag her.”
“I have a better idea.”
They were the last sounds Ava heard before there was a crack across the base of her skull.
Kai’s head shot around. He stood in the corridor not two passages away from Ava’s chamber. He hadn’t been able to sleep and had been pacing these corridors for hours, acting much like any other guard in this castle.
That was Ava. I’m sure of it.
He spun on his heel and sprinted in the direction of her chamber, running so fast that his lungs burned. When he reached the end of her corridor, he came to a halt, skidding to hide himself in the shadows.
Two great figures were carrying something out of Ava’s chamber. It took one horrifying moment for Kai to realize what it was…Ava.
He quickly analyzed the situation. It was Laird Grant and Peters, their faces barely distinguishable in the darkness. They were muttering between them, perhaps amending their plan. Kai could see Ava’s wrists had been bound and she looked unconscious.
Kai swallowed the rising bile back down his throat and reached for the sword in his belt.
He waited until they disappeared down the other end of the passage, then crept out. With two of them, he would have to be very careful. They could overpower him within minutes if he didn’t plan this with caution. He tiptoed, following them through the castle with his sword raised. They had clearly planned their route with care, perhaps scouted out that option when they were staying in the castle, for they never once passed a guard.
They ended in the underbelly of the castle, creeping toward a door that led out of the servants’ quarters and into the grounds.
“Ye get the door,” Laird Grant ordered his advisor, shifting Ava to fling her over his shoulder. When Peters turned to reach for the door, both turned their backs to Kai, and he took the opportunity.
Stepping out, he knew he couldn’t run Laird Grant through, or Ava would fall. He couldn’t risk injuring her like that. Instead, he went to injure Laird Grant, rather than death… Stepping behind Laird Grant, he drew the sword up through the air, cutting across his back.
“Argh!” Laird Grant cried out, staggering to the side with Ava still in his grasp.
Peters whirled around, bearing his own sword. Kai lunged toward him. He knocked the blade quickly out of Peters grasp and made him back further up into the kitchen.
“Move, and ye’re dead,” he warned Peters, then raised his voice. “Release Ava, or yer advisor loses his life.”
“Ye dinnae have the stomach fer murder. Ye could have just killed me now and ye didnae.” Laird Grant called between gritted teeth of pain. “Give it up, Kai.”
“Dinnae think I dinnae have the stomach.” He struck Peters across the chest with the blade and a second almighty cry of pain erupted. “Now, release her!”
There was another sound of footsteps. Kai’s stomach knotted tight. He’d only seen two men wandering the castle, but that back door was now open. Was it possible there was a third man waiting? One of Grant’s guards?
A floorboard creaked behind him and Kai whipped around. He barely glimpsed the man in the Grant soldier uniform before he was struck across the head.
Kai went down hard, knocking the other side of his temple on the stone floor. Feeling sick, Kai tried to push himself back up, but he couldn’t. There was blood seeping into his left eye, mixing with the darkness encroaching on his vision.
“What dae we dae now?” Peters called, his voice wheezing with the pain of his wound.
Once more, Kai tried to push himself up, but his head felt heavy, and he dropped back down to the floor.
“We take them both.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
Ava lifted her head. It felt heavy, as if it was no longer attached to her body, but some great heavy iron ball she had to drag around with her. Placing her hands to the back of her head, slowly, she raised it from the floor, sitting up and looking around her.
There was something around her ankle. It cut in deep, making her wince in pain. She looked down, seeing it was a rope. She was tied to a bed.
Horrid thoughts entered her mind. She ran her hands over her body, but she was still fully clothed in the nightgown she had worn the night before. A robe had been fastened around her body too. She was not sore, leading her to believe no one had forced themselves on her in the middle of the night.
She reached for the rope, pulling at it frantically and trying to untie the knots. As quickly as she worked her fingers around one knot, she found another. Whoever had tied these binds had made certain she would not be getting out.
