Slowly, Katherine lifted her head, following the direction that the weapon had come from. Just at the edge of the trees, a horse standing behind him and stomping its hooves in the mud, was Liam.
Saints, he came.
* * *
Liam pulled out his sword, charging forward in the moment of stillness he had earned. There were three of them, and he knew that the odds weren’t in his favor. His plan was haphazard, thrown together as he blazed through the trees, but he knew one thing for sure.
He would gladly die before he let anyone hurt Katherine.
His first strike landed upon one of their right shoulders. The injured man screamed, a guttural cry that echoed through the area. It wasn’t incapacitating, though, and he reached for his own weapon.
“Nay,” Liam cried, expertly parrying the man’s wild swing.
Before the man was able to attack again, Liam knocked the sword from his hand. Then, before the man could even attempt to regain control, Liam’s sword found its home in the man’s ribs.
“Ye bastard,” the second man growled, surging forward. “Ye willnae get her back. We will make ye hurt in the same way yer family did to us.”
“Daenae test me,” Liam replied, ducking and barely dodging the sharp edge of the man’s weapon.
As he lifted his own sword, slicing through the air with the intent to kill, his eyes flitted to the man dragging Katherine’s body away. She was bound, but she was struggling. It seemed that she was unwilling to go quietly. He expected nothing less.
“Ye will let her go,” Liam growled, boxing the other man in with a series of quick strikes. “It is over. Me army is circlin’ every inch of this land, and ye cannae escape.”
“Ye sound quite sure of yerself,” the man he was fighting spat. Over his shoulder, he yelled, “Pick her up. Get her out of herenow.”
“Ye will die here,” Liam said, his voice ice cold as he swung again.
His sword connected to the man’s neck, the blade digging in so deep that Liam was certain he’d hit bone. Blood spurted forth when he pulled it away, and the man collapsed into a heap. Then, he turned on the man who was wrestling Katherine to her feet.
As Liam took off toward the two of them, Katherine managed to get her teeth on the man’s arm. With her eyes closed, she bit down, latching onto him. He grunted, his grip loosening as he tried to shake her off. It wasn’t until he fully let go that Katherine released him.
“I’ve got ye,” Liam said, grabbing onto Katherine and pulling her as far away from the man as he could. As quickly as he could, he cut the ropes that were binding her ankles. “Run. Now.”
Then, without turning to look and ensure she was following his order, Liam attacked. This man was quicker than the other two and had already recovered from her teeth digging into his flesh. Just as Liam’s sword came down, the man pulled his own blade out.
Steel crashed against steel. The vibrations of the impact ran up Liam’s arms through his palms. Tightening his grip, he pushed forward, forcing the man to take several steps back.
“This ends here,” Liam snarled, taking another swing at the man.
His enemy seemed to be prepared. Their blades collided again, this time with enough force to knock both of them loose from their grips. Instead of trying to correct his hold, Liam dropped the hilt, his hand going for his dagger that was strapped to his hip.
Without giving his opponent a chance to strike again, Liam drove the blunt end of his knife into the man’s wrist. It was enough to knock the weapon away. Then, ruthlessly, he tore forward.
His knee connected with the man’s groin as he stabbed the blade into the man’s shoulder. When he fell to the ground, the dagger came loose, and blood oozed from the wound, soaking his doublet. Liam was on him in an instant, kneeling against his chest and bringing the knife down directly into his heart.
For a moment, the only sound in the glen was the gurgle of life leaving the man’s body and Liam’s heavy breathing. Then, therewas thrashing and a choked-off scream. The hair on the back of his neck stood up as Liam rose and turned around to locate the disturbance.
Nay. This is nae the end.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Let me go!”
Liam’s eyes snapped to the form approaching from the forest. In his arms, a dagger pressed to her chest, was Katherine. She was struggling as much as she could with her wrists still bound though it seemed that the blade was doing its job in keeping her from causing too many problems.
“Drop her now,” Liam commanded, grabbing his sword from the ground and taking a few steps forward. “If ye value yer life, ye will let her go.”
“I am nae like any of me men,” the man said, finally stepping out of the shadows. “And I havenae a match for me strength yet.”
