Page 88 of Bond of a Bewitched Highlander

I'm going to lure one of them over.

The selkies nodded.

Brodie picked up a pebble and tossed it into a bush opposite.

"Was that a bird?" one of the guards muttered.

"I saw naught," the other grumbled.

"I heard it in the bush. Fluttering. Did you not?"

"Nay."

"Your hearing is going, old man."

The two debated whether birds were active at night.

"'Haps 'tis owls hunting other birds," the older man said.

Brodie tossed another pebble into a distant bush.

"I heard it again!"

"Go look, then, daft lad."

"Vesey said the place is haunted. He sensed a presence in the kitchen but saw no one."

The older man scoffed. "So, you think a ghost is in the bush?"

"You never know, do you?"

"You eejit."

The younger guard crept closer to the bushes opposite them and slashed his sword at the branches, sheering off the stem tips. "Out of there, you blasted owls!"

He paused to listen, then turned his head toward Brodie. Either one of them had made a slight noise, or he sensed them staring at him.

He plunged his sword behind the bush where Brodie hid. Dodging, he grabbed the guard's arm and yanked him down. He squawked as Brodie disarmed him, and one of the selkies hit him on the head with a rock.

"Ross!" the older guard yelled and raced toward the bush, sword in hand. Brodie leapt out and blocked the man's first strike with his own blade. Swordplay ensued, and Brodie got the last slash in, dispatching the man. One of the selkies took possession of his sword. The young guard was still knocked out cold. They hastened to the doorway. Brodie took the torch down and proceeded inside. Narrow steps led downward.

Men's voices from below reached him. How many? Two. 'Twas what the females had said. The scent of whisky blended with mildew in this dank place.

"If I had a key to this cell door, I would have some fun with the bonnie lasses." The slurred voice echoed upward.

Brodie's chest tightened, and his breath felt like fire in his lungs.

"His lairdship will have your head, Milton," the other man warned.

"Only if he catches me." He gave a drunken chuckle. "'Twould be worth it. Look at them."

"'Tis why they're so valuable, and he does nay want the merchandise sullied."

Merchandise? A fresh wave of vengeance surged through Brodie.

Milton laughed. "I'll sully them all right."

"'Tis why Alred has the key and nay you."