Page 28 of Highlander’s Evil Twin

“Where am I going?” Connor’s voice was quiet but there was an edge to it. He leaned against the doorway, hands in his pockets, smirking at Hiram.

Hiram glared at him. “Anywhere but here. You can take mother with you too.” He squared up to his brother. “You are not welcome here anymore Connor. You tried to kill Heather yesterday! You are so sick and twisted inside and you don’t want me to have someone who loves me. You feel she should have been given to you but thank God she was not. You would have tormented her, abused her, and raped her, just like you did that other girl.”

“Just the one girl?” Connor laughed. “Oh brother, you don’t know the half of it.”

“What are you talking about?” Hiram felt his heart constrict in his chest.

“Well, there was the girl here who went missing...you remember, that one you fancied, just as we were leaving school? They found her eventually didn’t they? All cold and very dead on the moors. It appeared she had been attacked. But who would do that? Then there was the maid that you rescued. I let that one live...I wondered how she would carry on with such torment, it was all a little game. Then there was that other girl, the stupid one who committed suicide, well, dear Mother helped with that one...and then, in England, I had to shut another one up. Oh, her voice, went on and on and on. She loved me you see. Loved me so much. Sickening, really.”

Revulsion spread across his usually charming features. Now he looked ugly and Hiram realized that this was the real Connor. Now that he had started talking, he couldn’t stop.

“She wanted marriage. She wanted a family. But she was so dull. That would have been a life of dullness and boredom. I had to...get rid of her. But that meant I had to get away from England for a while. Just until the coast was clear.” Connor laughed. “Come on little brother, don’t look like that. It was fun.”

“And Heather?”

“She should have been mine. I wanted her. I tried to fight it, but I couldn’t. She should have been given to me. It was my right.” He raised his voice. Lips curled and spittle emanated from his mouth. His dark eyes flashed his anger.

“You will never have her. She is my wife.” Hiram’s voice was threatening and cold.

“I could have taken her yesterday but in the end I threw her away!” Connor sneered contemptuously. “Like a plaything.”

“Why? Why did you try to hurt her?”

“She is carrying your brat.” Connor sneered. “She sickened me the moment she began to plead with me and told me about that thing growing inside of her.”

Hiram aimed directly at Connor’s jaw. His fist connected with bone, snapping Connor’s head back and he staggered, caught off balance, eventually landing against the corner chair. He rubbed at his jaw, the skin already reddening, and began to laugh.

“The winner takes it all, eh Hiram? Heather is the prize.” He quickly stood up and continued to mock. “If I win, I take Heather as my own and there will be nothing you can do about it.” He sneered.

“She will never be yours. This is not a stupid game. This is my life. It is her life and our child. She will never belong to you,” he spat. Every fiber of his being rippled with fury and intent. Every muscle tensed ready to defend his wife and himself and in that moment, there was no way he could lose. He wanted to kill Connor and end this madness.

“Please Hiram, don’t hurt my boy! He doesn’t mean it!” Her voice was frenzied.

“Get out Mother or bear witness to your little boy’s death.”

The two men circled each other, their animosity growing as they eyed each other up.

“I will never sit on the sidelines while you have what should be mine,” Connor said with cruelty in his voice.

“That’s it isn’t it? Jealousy and greed. You want what I have. If Patrick had lived, you would have done the same to him.” Hiram shook his head in disbelief.

“That sniveling little brat,” Connor jeered at him. “Think yourself lucky, Hiram, that you were less easy to get rid of. I did think about it.”

“Connor, no! Not Patrick?” His mother gasped in horror, tears welling up in her eyes. “Why?”

“I wanted you to myself Mother, I was not going to share your affection,” Connor admitted.

“Then, why not try to kill me?” Hiram was confused.

“Because SHE did not love you!” Connor pointed a finger at their mother, who blanched at the accusation.

Hiram knew he was telling the truth. His mother’s inability to love him had probably saved him. He closed his eyes, feeling the loss of his younger brother Patrick, now knowing the true reality of that tragedy. Anger rose up again. It was time.

“Hiram.” Heather’s voice broke into his concentration. “What he did was wrong, and he must be punished, but don’t do this. Don’t stoop to his level, please.”

He turned to look at her coldly. “Go back to our room. I don’t want you here for this.”

He could see the tears in her eyes and her raw pain, but he was the Laird, and this had to be done.