Page 68 of The Return of the Heir

She obeyed and precious air filled her lungs. Unable to resist her body’s response to the trauma, her muscles went limp and she leaned against the solid wall of Alastair’s chest. “You came for me.”

“Nothing and no one could keep me away.” He smiled down at her. “Though we must thank Marcus for the use of his fine ship.”

Gwendolyn looked beyond Alastair to see Marcus and another man who startlingly resembled the man who held her.

“Gwendolyn, you remember my brother, Tormod.”

He came forward and placed a blanket over her. “I’m pleased I am that you are not dead from our current adventure, and from past events which I still need explained.”

“In time,” Alastair said, returning his gaze to hers.

Tears stung her eyes. “You came for me.”

“I will always come for you.” A smile pulled up the corners of his mouth. “But from this moment forward, I doubt I will ever let you out of my sight.”

Wrapped in the warmth of his gaze, she returned his smile with one of her own. “Then I will have to reward you appropriately for your efforts later.”

He grinned, then a heartbeat later his expression hardened. “Where is Garrick? Did anyone see what happened to him after I shot him?”

Tormod frowned. “He dipped below the surface of the water, and we’ve seen nothing of him since.”

“Do you think you killed him?” Marcus asked.

Alastair nodded. “The ball hit his chest. I doubt he could survive a wound like that on land, let alone in the chill water. Still, I want that fishing boat destroyed. I’ll leave no way for him to get back to shore. Then all the secrets he has about Dunvegan will die with him.”

Marcus shouted to his crew to load a cannon. One single shot was fired, hitting the vessel and splintering it into hundreds of pieces.

“Thank you, Marcus.”

“Garrick had to die for what he’s done. Both the MacLeods and the MacDonalds are better off without him. Hopefully, we will find his body along the shore in the next few days and can help his spirit find the peace he never found on this earth,” Marcus said before ordering his crew to take the boat back to shore.

“Back to Dunvegan?” Gwendolyn asked.

Alastair nodded. “Now we must deal with the aftermath of Garrick and the MacDonalds’ plans.”