The only way she could think of was to escape him and run as far as she could back to her home in McLennan.
Lily didn’t want to feel them, but somehow, she didn’t think she could get rid of them anyway. There was something about the way he looked at her… The deep, intense effect his eyes had on her was more than just shivers. It was like a magnetic pull that made her want to keep staring into his eyes.
He looked like a gentleman, yes, but she could not let his charming looks and spellbinding eyes trick her into thinking he was a decent one. He was dangerous. And far more dangerous when he made her forget to breathe.
Lily managed to doze off on the chair while she sat alone in the chamber. By the time she awoke again, the storm had subsided, and the skies were clearer. But it was mid-day. She walked to the window, ignoring him as he kept cleaning his sword’s blade while humming a tune to himself.
Lily spotted three men dismounting horses in front of the inn, and her pulse instantly jumped when she noticed the colors of their kilts.
Pied yellow and a streaked gray. Duncan’s men have come for me.
Her heart raced. She had to act now and make sure they realized where she was. Hope bubbled inside her chest, and she quickly turned away from the window, hiding her smile as she faced the laird. She suppressed an excited shiver.
“The storm has subsided. We should head on to wherever it is you are taking me.”
If I can just convince him to get on the move, once we step outside the inn, Duncan’s men will see me.“Now ye are eager to continue our travels?” he questioned, looking up at her with penetrating green eyes that could cut into one’s soul.
“What other choice do I have? The sooner we arrive, the better. That way, I shall be locked away as your prisoner, and I will not have to keep looking at your smug face.”
He smirked at her insult. “Ye flatter me, me lady,” he said and rose to his feet. “But since ye’re so eager, then we shall continue our travels. We still have to cover ground, anyway. Remember the rules… Not a sound from ye while we ride, else I will gag ye again to keep ye quiet. Understood?”
Lily nodded obediently.
“Good,” he said.
Perfect.
She suppressed a triumphant grin as he sheathed his sword by his side and led the way.
Once they made it out of the chamber, she spotted the two McLennan men and instantly shouted at the top of her lungs. “Help me! He won’t let me go!”
Lily bolted after she screamed, leaving her captor to fight with the men who lurched towards him with their swords drawn. She didn’t look back as she dashed down the tiny hallway, ran around so she got back to the stairs again, and then headed down.
When she stepped out of the inn, she heard the heavy thud of footsteps surrounding her, and she looked around to see there were more men than just the two she had glimpsed from the window.
Relief flooded Lily as she broke out into a deep sigh. “Quickly… My captor is still in there, and he will kill those men. Go, go fight him.”
None of the men responded to her as she gave the order. Instead, they circled her, closing in so she had no chance to escape.
“What are you doing? Do you not hear me? He will kill your men!”
Her stomach began to churn as if it were filled with ice, and fear suddenly skittered up her spine as she counted over twenty men surrounding her with menacing glares.
Lily suddenly realized what was happening as the soldiers began to draw their swords and aim at her one after the other. This was not the rescue she had hoped it was. Her heart sank in her chest, and the heaviness that set in snagged her breath.
These men were not here to save her or take her home. They were here to kill her.
6
Killian overpowered both men with ease, then he went after Lily. The woman was driving him insane with her constant escape tricks. He ought to just let her go and plot another means for his revenge.
But I have come this far.
Besides, Laird McLennan would have tightened security around his castle after their first break-in. That meant it was practically impossible for him to get into the castle again. Even if he managed to get in, there might be no escape.
I am stuck with her.
Killian hoped Lily’s life was worth enough to the vile Laird McLennan.
