The servants clamored to get out of the keep, and he ran towards his study, coughing as he made his way through the gusts of smoke.
He burst through the door, hoping to find Lily there, but it was empty. The heat from inside his study nearly scalded his skin, and he staggered out of the study again.
He made it back to the stairway and stopped the first guard he saw. “Have ye seen the lady? Lily? Have ye—”
The guard shook his head and hurried away from Killian before he could say anything else.
Killian let out a frustrated sigh before he saw Niamh running towards the exit, her breaths puffing out of her mouth.
“Niamh?” Killian stopped her before she could make it out of the keep. “Lily… Where is Lily?”
“In the dungeons,” Niamh revealed while panting. Her eyes were puffy from her tears, and her cheeks were blotchy. “She’s… Fletcher, he… she is in the dungeons.”
“Get out of here now,” Killian ordered her before he took off and headed towards the keep’s undergrounds where the dungeons were.
Once the fire consumed the entire keep, the dungeons would be buried beneath the debris. Killian had to get Lily out of there before that happened.
His heart pounding faster than it ever had, he ignored the smoke and found his way down there.
I must save her. I must tell her how I feel.
He would never forgive himself if she died without her knowing how much he loved her.
“Lily! Lily!” Killian yelled when he reached the cells.
His other prisoners had escaped, except her. Killian spotted her frame lying on the ground, and he took his sword, broke the chains locking the bars together, and then hurried inside.
She groaned when he lifted her off the ground. “It is all right, Lily. I am here now. I am here…”
“Killian,” she murmured, but he hushed her and lifted her into his arms.
Lily’s hands snaked around his neck, and he felt his heart ache with tremendous grief.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I should have protected ye.”
He made it to the keep’s exit in no time, and as he ran outside, he saw Fletcher and another group of men approach.
Relief flooded Killian once he spotted his man-at-arms.
“Quick, Fletcher, bring us the healer while the men put out the fire,” he ordered as he found a corner to lay Lily on the ground. “Find me the healer!”
Laird McLennan’s men drew closer to the scene, and Killian expected Fletcher to hurry away at his command, but Fletcher stood in the same spot.
Lily suddenly grabbed Killian’s arm and coughed. “Fletcher,” she whispered in a strained voice. “It is him.”
Killian slowly rose to his feet and turned to see Fletcher’s smirk tilting up the corners of his lips.
“I am truly sorry,” Fletcher said in a stiff tone. “I did enjoy servin’ ye, but it is finally time to take what I want.”
Killian drew his sword at the same time Fletcher did, and he saw Laird McLennan do the same.
“Ye’re outnumbered, Fletcher. It is time to drop your sword and give up.”
Fletcher’s laugh thundered hard around them, and Killian’s insides coiled with his anger. All this time he had spent plotting against Laird McLennan, but his enemy had been right in front of him.
But why? Why would Fletcher betray me this way?
“Yer brother would still be alive if he listened to me. All I wanted was my own gold mine here in the Highlands. All I wanted was to be independent. He didnae want that. He wanted me to serve him forever. He preferred to have me obey his every command… just like ye.”
