The enormity of his responsibilities hit him hard. He'd been running his whole life, focused on surviving, but now he was responsible for the survival of his entire clan. His duty was clear. His clan would demand vengeance, and he would give it to them—gladly.
Ironic, he supposed, that at the moment he realized he could never have her, he understood Lizzie better. Understood her sense of duty and the struggle she must have gone through to decide to marry him.
He'd been a fool to think he could ever find happiness with a Campbell. With anyone. He should have known better.
“Where is Auchinbreck now?” he asked.
“I don't know,” Gregor replied. “But we have everything we need to find him.”
Lizzie. Patrick fought the urge to thrash his brother even for the suggestion.
I will kill anyone who harms you.He recalled his vow but had never anticipated that that someone might be his brother. “I won't let you hurt another innocent woman,” he warned. “It's Auchinbreck who deserves our vengeance, not his sister.”
But Gregor was beyond rationality, and Patrick's words of caution fell on deaf ears. Eyes wild, Gregor gave him a look teeming with scorn. “You've grown soft, brother. The lass has blinded you to what needs to be done. You have a duty to the clan—”
“I don't need you to tell me what my duty is.” Patrick's voice held the edge of a razor. “I know exactly what needs to be done.” And it didn't include harming Lizzie.
Gregor studied his face. “You'd put this Campbell slut above your own kin? She'll die, but first she'll suffer like our sister. If you aren't man enough to do what needs to be done, I will.”
Every muscle in Patrick's body flexed, but he kept his voice deadly calm. “Raping a woman does not make you a man. Touch her and I'll kill you. I said to leave the lass be. I'm chief, I make the decisions.”
“For now.”
Patrick's gaze hardened. “Is that a challenge,brother?”
Gregor looked uncomfortable, proving that he was not completely without loyalty. “Not if you do what needs to be done.”
“And by that you mean taking revenge on Elizabeth Campbell?” Patrick held his anger in check, though his first instinct was to take his dirk to his brother's neck and impress upon him the seriousness of what he was about to say. But one of them had to be rational. “Revenge on innocents isn't going to help our cause.”
“Cause?” Gregor scoffed. “What cause? The Campbells won't rest until every one of us is dead. I for one intend to take as many of them as I can with me.”
Patrick heard the murmurs of agreement from the other men and knew he had to make them see beyond the thirst for revenge. It was a thirst he shared, but one he had to hold in check for the future of the clan. “So your answer is to give up? Go down in a blaze of glory? Don't you see that every day we survive is a victory? The Campbells have tried for years to get rid of us, but the fact that you and I are standing here shows that they've failed.” He looked into the faces of the other men. Men with wives and families. “What about our women and children? Would you leave them unprotected, at the mercy of men like Auchinbreck? Would you see the name MacGregor die, never to be reborn?”
Gregor had a mulish look on his face. “The clan wants revenge.”
“And they shall have it. Our murdered kinsmen and our sister will not be forgotten. But if you make war on Elizabeth Campbell, there will be no place for us to hide. Every Campbell will be hunting us, and the other clans will turn against us. Don't you see?”
His brother's eyes had lost a bit of their rabid glaze. Patrick's words appeared to have finally penetrated. He nodded. “Aye.”
“Good. Then ride north and send out thecrann tara,the fiery cross. I want every MacGregor from here to Rannoch Moor to gather at the kirk in Balquhidder a week hence.”
Gregor frowned. “What about you? Aren't you coming with us?”
“Aye, but first I want to see what I can discover of the Campbell plans and Auchinbreck's movements. I'll follow in a few days.”
“And the Campbell chit, you intend to just leave her?”
“Aye.” The tightness in his chest nearly cut off his breath. Every instinct rejected what had to be done. His course had been laid out for him. To join his men. To fight. To punish those who'd murdered his kinsmen and raped his sister.
Only one thing stood in his way.
Lizzie. He was torn between his duty to his clan and his need to see her safe.
His brother's accusation rang in his ears. He wasn't putting her before his clan, but he couldn't leave her unprotected. He thought he'd gotten through to his brother, but with Lizzie's safety Patrick wouldn't take any risk. If anything happened to him …
There would be no one to keep a rein on Gregor.
Lizzie would be as good as dead.
