It was night when they reached his keep. Lily galloped in on her horse after getting lost in his village twice. When she finally got into the keep, Killian and his men stood there, speaking in Gaelic.
He looked right at her once she stopped in her tracks. Her hands stayed limp at her sides, and she held her breath for a moment, hoping the shiver that rocked through her would pass. Killian did not stop looking at her.
Something about this man made her trust him easily. She wanted to help him… fight for him. Her insides tingled when she thought of the other insane things she also wanted to do with him.
His touch… His kisses.
Lily knew she wanted to kiss and touch him again.
“Ye came,” he interrupted her thoughts and strode towards her, stopping only a distance away.
He hadn’t come close, and she could already inhale his musky scent.
“I could not leave,” Lily murmured. “Not when I know that someone is after your life, and mine too, and trying to cast the blame on Laird McLennan. He has been a good man to me since I met him, and I shall prove his innocence by helping you find the real culprit.”
Killian’s eyes narrowed into tiny slits. “I dinnae need yer help. I ken who tried to kill us, and I will make him pay.”
“Maybe you do not need my help now, but you’ll have it, anyway. They also tried to kill me, and your guard, Fletcher, is wounded because of them. I will fight to help you find out who was behind this, and in return, you must apologize to Laird McLennan for the trouble you have caused.”
“Laird McLennan is behind this!” Killian’s chin trembled, and the hot, red fury slashing through his eyes burned her. “Ye trust him blindly because he is yer friend, but ye dinnae ken what he did… Ye dinnae ken what he took from me!”
“Then tell me,” Lily yelled right back, meeting his gaze and raising her chin in defiance. “Tell me what he has done so wrong that you wish to see him suffer for it. Tell me why you plotted to kidnap his sister. Is it for revenge? I am here as a tool to help you get that? Or are you doing all of this for your own selfish reasons? What did he do so wrong that—”
“He killed my brother!” Killian’s words echoed around them.
Lily saw his eyes darken after he yelled the words. Then, he groaned, and his eyes moistened with tears. The implication shocked her to the core and made her stiffen.
“Yer beloved laird killed one of the few people that mattered to me. He killed my brother and left my people to suffer with his raids. He caused my people pain and destroyed all they have worked so hard to build. He has to pay!”
Lily’s lips parted in shock as she stared at him, taking in the range of emotions that rocked through him. She saw pain in his eyes when he looked at her, and fury too.
“Fight for me if ye want, but make no mistake, ye cannae trick me into believin’ yer friend’s innocence, no matter how hard ye try. If yer aim is to do that, then I suggest ye leave me castle now and dinnae look back, because when the time for my revenge comes, I shall show no mercy… Nae even to ye.”
He stormed away after that, and Lily heard the reverberating thud of a door closing a second later. The guards standing around there stared at her for a long time.
I am free to go.
But she stood there, shaking inside. Why could she not take the chance and leave?
Lily ended up returning to the bedchamber Killian had assigned to her, and she spent the night staring out the window, thinking of the words he had said to her.
He killed my brother.
Lily could understand his pain. She had lost her only family when she had been little, and growing up without them before Amelia’s father had taken her in had been challenging. She did not know Killian’s story, but she knew what the grief of losing a loved one felt like.
As she stared into the night sky and listened to the hoots of night owls celebrating, she found herself thinking of Killian only. She thought of sending word to Laird McLennan.
But what if he really is not innocent?
The tiny shred of doubt settled in her mind. She did not know what to think at the moment, but she knew she had to act soon because whoever had tried to kill them twice now would try again.
12
Killian was shocked to see Lily training in his courtyard very early the next morning when he came out to train himself. His eyes hurt a little because he had spent the entire night watching Fletcher and contemplating his next line of action.
Now that Laird McLennan had attacked without bothering to hide his intent, Killian was justified to make his own move. He had a plan, and it had been clear to him until Lily had arrived at his keep.
She believes he is innocent.
