“Pray he does not betray us,” Daniel said, pulling her toward him. “I would hate to have to kill you.”
Isabail had been this close to Daniel many times over the years, often while engaged in some sort of playful banter that included her brother. But this time a shiver of fear ran through her. The icy tone of his voice left her in no doubt: He would fulfill his promise to kill her if Jamie did not return.
It was difficult to imagine John’s death at Daniel’s hands. She’d only ever witnessed amusing or tender moments between the two. Had her brother known the identity of his murderer? She prayed not. It would have made his last moments unbearable. John had trusted Daniel like no other. He had forsaken a wife in favor of continuing to share his life with Daniel, even though it meant the earldom would pass to a different branch of the family upon his death—and that was no small commitment for John to make.
“How could you betray him that way?” she asked honestly.
Daniel’s grip on her arm tightened. “Do you not think I have berated myself time and time again for my mistake? Believe me, I have. I even contemplated throwing myself upon his sword simply to make amends.”
Torchlight flickered in the cavern of the tomb. Jamie was returning.
“But my death would not have brought John back,” he said grimly. “And so I dedicated myself to a greater purpose.”
“Accusing MacCurran of your crime?”
He snorted. “MacCurran deserves what has come to him. He and his kin are the cause of many a grievance.”
Jamie appeared at the mouth of the narrow tunnel, his arms clasping the sword and the crown to his chest. He struggled to hold the torch aloft as he walked, but he remembered to avoid the tiles on the tunnel floor as he exited.
“What have you got there, lad?” Daniel asked, releasing Isabail. He stepped forward to grab the silver crown. He grinned as he spied the large sapphire set in the band. “Nothing but a few moldering bones, eh, Isabail? And here I thought lying was beneath you.”
Then he spied a velvet bag in Jamie’s hands, and he snatched it from the boy’s fingers. Tugging on the drawstring, he peered inside. “A gold necklace set with a magnificent heart-shaped ruby. Do you know the value of this find, lad?”
Jamie shook his head.
“Such a necklace can change the course of history. It has the power to right a great wrong, and I intend to see that power enacted. With a little help from a friend in Edinburgh.” Daniel stuffed the velvet bag in the front of his lèine. “Time to make our escape, I believe.”
“MacCurran will come after us,” Isabail warned, hoping that her words were true.
Daniel studied her in the torchlight. “He does seem to have developed a genuine affection for you, Isabail. But perhaps I can use that to my advantage. Slow his pursuit, just a little.”
“Coward.” She glared at him.
He took the sword from Jamie’s hands, held it up to the torchlight, and then drew the blade from its beautiful silver sheath. “And murderer. While you’re tossing insults, my dear, don’t forget that one.”
Then, without further warning or any hint of regret, Daniel ran her through.
All Isabail knew was blinding pain in her gut and a buzzing in her ears, and then everything went black.
* * *
Cormac was an excellent tracker. When they had searched a wide strip of land around the hilltop fort and the bowman found no evidence of a trail, Aiden called a halt.
“You’re saying that they’re still inside the fort?”
“There’s no sign that they headed into the woods, laird.”
Aiden nodded. It made him happier to know that Isabail had not left the confines of the camp. He urged his stallion into a canter and rode up the winding path to the outer wall. Any pleasure he felt vanished as soon as he saw Niall at the entrance. His brother’s face was gray with worry, and there was a dark stain of blood on the front of his lèine.
“What is it?” he demanded, leaping off his mount.
“Isabail,” Niall said quietly. “We found her in the tunnels.”
Aiden’s heart stopped cold, and for the briefest of moments, he couldn’t catch his breath. It was a worrisomely large stain. “Where is she?”
“With Ana.”
He headed for Niall’s hut.
