“Ye are a rare beauty, worth sparing to fook every night.” He caressed her cheek, and Helen spit in his face.
It earned her a punch in the stomach. She fell to her knees in pain, struggling to inhale, fighting against the dizzying darkness that threatened to overtake her.
Just as she was about to give up, three arrows landed in the snow in front of her. “Jamie!” she screamed, desperate to see him, frantic to be in his strong arms again.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Jamie flew outof the saddle, his warriors beside him. They swarmed Laird Munroe’s men. “MacAoidh,” Jamie cried out, identifying himself as a MacKay. The clan motto followed. “Bi tren…”Be true, be valiant.And he was, cutting down four enemies as he fought to get close to Helen.
He had witnessed Munroe punching her in the stomach and heard his vile words. He swore the man wouldna live another day. But as he reached his wife, Jamie had no choice but to stand down, for the cowardly Munroe had Helen in front of him with a blade held to her neck.
“Take another step,” Baran warned, “and I’ll slit her throat.”
“Is this the kind of man ye want to be? A coward, shielding yerself with a helpless lass?”
“I doona care what any of ye think of me,” Baran hissed. “I intend to leave here with Helen. She is my rightful bride. Spoiled or not, I will have her.”
Fury uncoiled inside Jamie. If he could just get a clear shot, he had a throwing dirk hidden under his sleeve. And he had deadly aim. Everything he loved flashed before his eyes, his wedding night, Ramsey, Alex and Keely and their twins, his home, his people… but it would all end if Helen left him or died. She gave him a reason to live, to strive to be a better man, to love God, to breathe… Helen of the Highlands… his passionate, wild lass. And though he dinna know what she was doing outside in the middle of the night, he could easily guess, for there was fury in her eyes.
She had tried to find him.
“Make peace with yer maker,” Jamie warned the laird. “For tonight, ye die.” He revealed the blade, raised his arm, and nearly let it go, but something blunt and heavy hit him in the back of the head and he fell to his knees.
“Nay. Jamie!” Helen screamed.
He could hear her, but couldna see clearly.
“Ye are the one who is going to die, Jamie MacKay. I’ve heard of ye, red-haired devil,” Laird Munroe said.
Jamie lifted his head and gazed toward Helen. That’s when he saw Kuresh’s scimitar slice through the laird’s worthless neck. His head rolled onto the snow in front of Helen and she fainted.
Mustering all his strength, Jamie crawled to her, reaching for her limp body. He managed to touch the fingertips of her right hand before everything went dark.
*
Jamie had beenunconscious for two days, and Helen had never left his bedside. Miran brought her food and water, but how could she eat or sleep when her husband had suffered such a dangerous blow to the back of his head.
“Please, Lady Helen,” Miran pleaded, “go to the solar and rest. I will sit with him.”
“Nay. Tis my fault he got hurt, and I willna move until I am sure he will live.”
“The healer said he will awaken, and that if he was meant to die, he would have already succumbed to his injury. He is young and strong and deeply in love.”
Guilty tears filled Helen’s eyes. She dinna even recognize herself anymore. Two months ago, she would never have put somebody else’s life in jeopardy, but over the last day, she had endangered her husband, Kuresh, and all the warriors who served the MacKays. She deserved to be punished, banished, possibly even divorced. Jamie deserved a better wife, one who wouldna disobey him.
“None of the women are angry with ye, Lady Helen,” Miran told her. “They admire yer bravery, and so do I. If I had a husband, I would have fought for him, too, whether he liked it or not.”
Helen wiped the tears from her eyes. “Ye are just being kind.”
“Nay. I am no liar. What if Laird Munroe and his men had attacked the house? Killed more people? Gotten their filthy hands on Ramsey or some of the other children? By leaving here, ye protected yer clan.”
“I did?”
“Aye.”
Helen resumed her place in the chair next to the bed, gazing at her husband longingly. “Please wake up, my love.”
Miran brought her a cup of water and she took a couple of sips.
