His teeth clenched as if he were fighting for patience—and losing. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Heat burned her cheeks. “I thought I’d imagined it.”
His face darkened. “Damn it, Helen. I told you not to run off. It’s dangerous. You need to be careful.”
He was furious, but she didn’t understand why. “What is out there? What are you not telling me? Why would someone be watching us?”
His jaw clenched until his mouth turned white. He held her gaze, seeming to be warring with himself about something. Not telling her must have won. “Come on,” he said, taking her by the arm. “I need to get you back to camp. I should never have brought you here. This was a mistake.”
“What do you mean ‘a mistake’? Magnus, what’s wrong?” He wasn’t regretting what had happened between them, was he?
It was clear he wasn’t going to share his thoughts right now. He raced them back to camp as if the devil were nipping at their heels. Realizing the pace was due to his concern for her, she waited until she could see the torches and firelight of camp before forcing him to stop. “I want to know what this is all about.”
“I intend to find out, once I get you back to camp.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re going after them?” She put her hand on his arm. “Are you sure that’s wise? I thought you said it might be dangerous.”
A flicker of a amusement crossed his face. “I can take care of myself, Helen. It’s your safety that worries me.”
“Mine? But why would I be—?”
“Helen!”
She groaned, hearing the sound of her brother’s voice, coming not from the camp ahead of them but out of the darkness to the right. Good gracious, not now!
“Where have you been?” Kenneth demanded.
“Perhaps we should ask you the same thing,” Magnus interjected. “Why are you alone and away from camp?”
It was clear what he was thinking, and Helen didn’t like it. Her brother hadn’t been following them…had he?
No. If he’d been spying on them, he wouldn’t have stayed quiet. She cringed at the thought.
“Looking for my sister. When I returned from scouting and couldn’t find you, I became worried. I should have guessed MacKay would take advantage of my absence.” His eyes pinned hers. “Where were you? And why do I find you with him alone? What were you doing?”
“I asked Magnus to go with me to pick some averins for the king.”
Her brother looked down at her empty hands, and she chewed on her lower lip, dismayed to realize she’d left the berries in the cave.
But it wasn’t the missing berries that had caught his attention. He took in her hair, her face, her mouth, and then her rumpled clothing.
Helen looked down.Oh no!The guilty flush drained from her face in horror. The ties of her chemise were hanging outside her gown.
Kenneth’s eyes flashed wildly toward Magnus. “You bastard! By God, I’ll kill you.”
He reached for his sword.
Helen didn’t think. She recognized that look on her brother’s face—the fierce temper that would see no reason—and knew what he was going to do. She heard the whoosh of steel sliding from its scabbard and reacted.
“Don’t!” she cried, lunging in front of Magnus, trying to cut off her brother. But she misjudged Kenneth’s speed; he was much quicker than she remembered.
Magnus shouted a warning in a voice she’d never heard before. “God, Helen, no!”
It happened so fast, yet it seemed to pass in slow motion. She could see the razor-sharp edge of steel coming toward her. See her brother’s tortured expression as he realized what was about to happen and tried to stop the arc of the sword already on it’s downward path. She heard Magnus’s cry of fury as he fought to get his sword, and then his body around in time to protect her. Her eyes widened in horror, as she realized none of it would be in time.
She waited for the pain that she hoped wouldn’t last too long.
But at the last second, Magnus wrapped his ankle around hers, tripping her, and twisted her underneath him as they hit the ground, protecting her with the shield of his body.
