Little does he ken,she thought glumly.
Perhaps Dallas sensed her thoughts, because he paused, narrowing his eyes.
“Ye arenaewith child, are ye?”
“Nay,” she answered at once, and then cursed herself.
Why didnae I lie?
“And there’s nay possibility that ye could be?”
“This has gone far enough,” Creighton interrupted, voice tight. “Ye problem is with me, nae with them. Let Laurie go. Let Nora go. Let’s deal with this together, ye and me. Man to man.”
Dallas’ gaze flickered sideways briefly, landing on Creighton then returning to dwell, unblinking, on Nora.
He blames me the most,she realized with a jolt.I was their last chance. He was so sure that I would make Creighton want to wed and have children. Apparently, I failed at me task so abysmally that Dallas chose to take matters into his own hands. He must have gone mad.
Was he mad? There was a glint in his eye that didn’t seem entirely rational, but on the other hand, he’d dealt with thesituation so coolly and rationally until now. The hand that held the sword didn’t shake. Nora still had one question.
“Ye could have done it immediately,” she murmured, holding his gaze. “Could have thrown Laurie off the cliff the second ye got here.”
Laurie was weeping openly now, trying to smother her sobs. Nora’s insides twisted. She wanted nothing more than to sweep up the little girl into her arms, to hold her tight, to soothe her bruises and fears and tell her that everything,everythingwould be all right.
There will be time for that later,she told herself firmly.Hopefully.
For now, Nora could not risk taking her eyes off Dallas. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Creighton inch forward, just a little. His eyes were still fixed on the councilman. Almost imperceptibly, his hand moved toward his hips, where the handle of his knife jutted.
Daenae look at him,warned a small voice in the back of Nora’s head.If ye look at him for too long, Dallas will ken that somethin’ is up.
“Ye really think thatIcould have changed his mind?” she said aloud, catching Dallas’ eye and holding it. “Me?”
“Why nae?” Dallas shrugged. “Pretty wee lass like ye.”
She huffed. “Well, I am nae a miracle worker. I cannae do much if a man does nae want me.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Creighton shift, a muscle twitching in his cheek. He was looking at her, she knew it, and that made her shiver for reasons she could not quite understand. Or rather, she did understand, but didn’t dare explore it.
Laurie stood between Nora and Dallas, each of them gripping an arm, her cheeks wet with tears. Dallas must have shifted at some point, and now he was only one pace away from the edge. One pace away from death.
Nay more time,Nora realized, her chest tightening.
“Enough,” Dallas choked out, and his voice trembled. “Useless. All of ye. Useless.”
The tip of the sword came closer, and Nora found herself frozen. She could scuttle away, of course, scrambling back out of harm’s way, but that would mean letting go of Laurie’s hand. It would mean leaving Laurie behind.
She did not move.
“Enough, Dallas!”
Before the tip of the sword could touch the underside of her chin, Creighton was there, covering the distance between him and Dallas in the blink of an eye. His knife was out, blade glittering. Abroad hand clamped around Dallas’ forearm, stopping the sword on its journey toward Nora.
Dallas’ eyes widened.
A mistake. He’s made a mistake,Nora thought wildly, and instinct took over.
Seizing Laurie, she wrenched her out of Dallas’ grip. Laurie cried out, no doubt in pain from where her arm was pulled free of the man’s grip, but that would be managed later. Scrambling backward in a desperate crouch, Nora put distance between herself, the little girl, and Dallas.
Dallas was in no position to follow. He whipped around to face Creighton, lifting his sword.
