Page 28 of Highlander’s Vengeful Seduction

“This is what my sister did to Ronald, Angus,” Vanora said. “Few people ken this, but Ronald’s heart didnae give oot on him. T’was something much more terrible than that.”

Vanora and Donal watched in silence as Angus read the letter, and soon Angus’ own skin was pale, white as fresh snow. The more he read, the more his eyes widened, and the more Vanora worried that the man would lose his mind from the betrayal and the pain.

“What does this mean?” Angus asked though Vanora suspected he already knew the answer to his own question. “I dinnae understand…what dis it mean?”

No one spoke. Vanora thought it best to give Angus some time to gather his own thoughts, to allow him to piece the puzzle together in his mind, instead of trying to explain to him something that he certainly did not want to hear.

“Vika…”

Angus turned to look at Vika. His hands trembled, balled up into fists by his sides, nails digging into the skin in an attempt to ground himself. Vanora felt something shatter inside of her when she saw her friend looking so utterly and irreparably broken. She knew at that moment that Angus would never trust anyone else again.

“I was planning tae marry ye,” Angus said. His voice was weak and frail, trembling just as much as his body did. “I’d make ye my wife, Vika. I’d give ye anything, anything ye could ever ask for, and I’d make ye happy.”

“Aye.”

It was all that Vika said, and there was no hint of remorse in her voice, at least not for what she had done. If there was any remorse, Vanora thought it was for the fact that she had been caught in a lie.

“Did ye truly do this?” Angus asked Vika. “Did ye send this letter tae Ronald?”

“Aye.”

Vanora managed to grab Angus the moment that he sprung towards her sister, clutching onto his arm and using all of her weight to hold him back. The man was like a wild animal, thrashing and fighting her grip on him, and Vanora feared that if he escaped her hold, then there would be nothing that could save Vika.

If it weren’t for Donal’s help, Vanora was certain that she couldn’t have held Angus back, his fury overtaking any logical thought and sending him into a rampage.

“Calm yerself, Angus,” Donal said, shaking the man a little to bring him back to his senses. Angus did what he was told, breathing in through his nose like a raging bull, and Vanora thanked the Lord that her sister was still safe. Despite everything, despite what she may have thought when her sister’s welfare was not at stake, Vanora didn’t really have it in her to let Vika die or come to harm.

Vika walked towards them, though her gaze was pinned on Angus. She was defiant, head held up high, and lips curled into an unpleasant snarl.

“Aye, I did,” she said. “I was but a child when Ronald was here, ye ken, but we were friends, and we exchanged letters for a long time. Weel…he fell in love, the fool. I thought he’d make a good husband, especially if Donal were tae…oh, I dinnae ken, perhaps die prematurely.”

It was clear to Vanora that Vika had nothing to lose anymore. She had already lost everything, and the only thing she could hold onto was the pride in her own evil schemes. Vika needed everyone to know that she was clever and that her plans were just as clever as her, even though she hadn’t managed to complete them in the end.

Vika had to brag.

“Then Ronald would become the laird of the Cameron clan, and I would become his lady,” Vika continued her rambling, her eyes widening in glee with every part of the plan that she recounted. “But then ye fell in love, tae, Angus…the only heir to the MacMillan clan, a guaranteed heir to the lairdship. I kent that ye would be…weel, easier, if nothing else. With Ronald, I’d have tae kill Donal afore I could be the lady of the clan, but with ye, I widnae have tae do aught other than marry ye.”

As Vanora listened to her sister, her words made her sick to her stomach. She knew that Vika wasn’t the shy, innocent girl that everyone thought she was, but she had never thought that her sister could be so malevolent and wicked. Vika had no shame in her, not even after causing Ronald’s death. The way she spoke about killing Donal with such ease, as though she were talking about the weather, made a chill run down Vanora’s spine.

Vika was practically a stranger. Vanora spent her entire life with her, growing up with her, caring for her as every older sister would—only to realize all these years later that she did not know her at all.

Angus only felt a fraction of what Vanora was feeling, but then again, Vanora had taken a few days to come to terms with the fact that her sister was not who she thought she was.

Vanora had already cried about it. She had already mourned the loss of the sister she once knew.

“Stop,” Angus said, barely audible.

Vika was not done, though, and she made sure that everyone knew.

“When I kent that ye wanted me, I sent Ronald the letter,” she said. “I didnae kent that he would take his own life, that I can promise ye. It wisnae a part of my plan, but t’was what t’was. I thought it wis over, but then ye had tae come here,” she said, as she pointed a finger at Donal, who only glared at her, though if stares could kill, Vika would have died on the spot. “Ye came, and ye were asking questions about yer brother, and I didnae ken what tae do. I couldnae allow ye tae find out what truly happened to Ronald. Ye must ken that I took no pleasure in Ronald’s death, and I widnae take any pleasure in yers, either, Donal.”

Knowing that the plan to kill Donal was purely strategic wasn’t much comfort to any of them. Vanora felt in that moment as though she could have killed her sister on the spot for everything that she had done.

She had no doubts that Vika would do the same to her if she deemed it necessary.

Angus swallowed drily, his throat constricting around the words that he was trying to say. In the end, he could only muster two simple words, which he uttered after he disentangled himself from Donal and Vanora, taking a few unsteady steps towards Vika until they were nose to nose.

“Take her.”