“And risk a rebellion? A split in the clan?” Adam questioned his sire. “Loyalties toward ye are not what they used to be, and ye know it.”
His father reached for a stone he kept on his desk to hold papers down. Adam’s reflexes were faster, and he covered his father’s hand with his own, refusing to let go. “Ye would bash me brains in with a rock rather than discuss our differences as civilized men?”
“Civilized?” His father scoffed. “Ye are a barbarian. Challenging me right to rule the MacKays. Let go of me hand.”
“Not until ye promise to listen first.”
“I will do no such thing.”
Adam tightened his grip on his father’s fingers, demonstrating his superior strength. “Ye have indulged in food and drink for too long. You’ve let the ideas of outsiders weaken yer mind. Is it any surprise our clan would look to me for guidance and hope of a peaceful future?”
“Ye want the witch for yerself!” his sire threw at him bitterly.
The accusation pierced his heart like an arrow. If he divulged the truth, Kali’s life would be in greater danger. If he denied it, he would be a liar. Which was the lesser of the two evils? “What man wouldna wanna possess her?”
His father smiled darkly. “No man can resist the spell of a witch. She is the cause of this rift between us!”
Adam growled. “Ye are the cause. Nothing else.”
Laird MacKay stood, still straining under the weight of Adam’s tight hold. “Let go.”
“Not until ye admit ye wish to bed Kali Bane.” Adam didn’t know where that black accusation came from. Something about the way his sire described her, similar to how he’d discussed Kali’s mother, another woman he had been denied.
A caustic laugh escaped his father’s lips. “Did ye not say yerself what man wouldna want her? Am I dead yet, lad? Too old to plow a woman’s field? I have eyes in me head. I can see how beautiful she is.”
“Then ye admit it?” His hold tightened even more on his sire’s fingers, causing the old man to wince in pain. Adam released him immediately. As cruel as his father was, Adam did not wish to hurt him. “The lady wasna with me.”
“Nay?”
Adam despised lying but would do anything to protect Kali. “Nay.”
Laird MacKay cradled his hand in the other, rubbing his fingers. “Then where is the bitch? In the bed of another?”
“Ye are quick to accuse her of being unchaste. Perhaps she is with the orphans.”
“The thieving children I forbade her from seeing again!”
“Better she keep company with innocent children than tempt yer men to sin.”
The old man reclaimed his chair, clearly thinking about Adam’s words. “If she is with the children, she has disobeyed a direct order from me. The lass must be punished, publicly.”
Adam’s ire rose once again. “Ye have hidden her away like a dirty secret! Now ye wish to expose her to the clan. Ye canna have it both ways, Father.”
“Her presence is known to everyone already. The men fall over themselves just thinking about her. And the women—they would scratch her eyes out if given a chance.”
“Only because ye have marked her a witch. Or a harlot. Or both.”
His father nodded. “Gossip is a powerful weapon when used properly.”
Adam turned his back on his sire and walked to a side table where wine, ale, and whisky were kept for ready use. He poured himself a tall glass of whisky and drank it quickly to drown some of his rage. “Ye damned her from the moment she set foot on our land.”
“Before that,” his father admitted. “From the moment I read the missive from her father, I knew my chance to seek revenge on Bane was complete. I resent the man more than I do English kings! He took advantage of my vulnerabilities long ago. Why should I help him bring his daughter to heel so she can marry a rich English lord? I would rather destroy her reputation and kill any chance of Bane gaining the favor of King James. If I can get my hands on the old Bane estate, think how much we will gain.”
The thought of hurting Kali made Adam sick. “She is innocent.”
“I willna disagree. She seems an intelligent and kind sort of lass. But I must consider her only a casualty of war.”
“Ye doona wage personal wars on innocent people’s lives, Father. I willna allow it.”
