Page 63 of In Bed with a Highland Liar

None of Ruadh’s men followed, knowing they couldn’t easily reach Lilith without falling dead on an enemy’s sword. Ruadh, though, was not as cautious in his rage. He ran after Lilith, raising his blade as if to strike her in the back and Aaden tightened his grip on her, twisting around so that he would be the one to receive the blow.

At the same time, he saw a flash of beige from the corner of his eye and looked over his shoulder to see his mother, her dress fluttering in the wind, putting herself between himself and Ruadh to shield him and Lilith.

“Maither!” he shouted. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know how to save her. Ruadh was so close that all he needed to do was swing his blade and it would lodge itself in her heart, taking her life.

Suddenly, though, Ruadh came to a halt, a gasp escaping his lips. Then, blood trickled out of his mouth and Aaden lowered his gaze to see Evander’s blade in his chest, pushed in deep.

It was a killing blow. There was no way for Ruadh to survive such a wound. Evander must have pierced him straight to the lung.

As Ruadh collapsed to the ground, taking his last shuddering breaths, Evander collapsed along with him, holding his father in his arms. His hand pressed tightly over the wound, even though he must have known any effort to save him would be in vain, and he looked at the blood that fountained out of Ruadh’s chest with wide eyes, the horror of what he had done descending upon him like a harpy.

No one spoke. What was there to say? What could ever comfort him after he had taken his own father’s life—even if his father was a cruel man?

“F-faither,” Evander said, giving the man a gentle shake. Ruadh’s eyes were already glazed over by then, glassy with death, and his chest had stopped moving. Still, Evander held onto him, his hands and his clothes drenched in blood, the crimson a startling contrast to his now pallid skin.

It was his mother who approached him first. She didn’t care about the blood as she took hold of Evander and pulled him away from his father’s corpse, forcing him to look the other way. Aaden could see that she was speaking to him, but he couldn’t hear what she was saying. Something just for his own ears, perhaps, or even nothing more than empty reassurances.

It didn’t take long for Ruadh’s men to drop their weapons, knowing they had no real reason to fight anymore. Their laird was dead and the man who would inherit the title had killed him and was currently in no state to give orders. If they fought, they would surely die, and they were smarter than to throw their lives away like that.

Some of Laird Stewart’s men did quick work of apprehending them—an easy task, since they weren’t fighting back. It was more out of formality than anything else, Aaden knew. Eventually, they would be released.

In his arms, Lilith was still shaking, though Aaden supposed it would be stranger if she were calm. He pulled back just enough to look at her, placing a hand on each side of her face, his thumbs tracing small circles on the tops of her cheekbones.

“Are ye alright?” he asked. “Are ye hurt?”

“I’m fine,” Lilith assured him, giving him a small, shaky smile. Though the ordeal had left her rattled, her blue eyes were dry and clear, showing no signs of distress. “Ye should go tae yer Maither. She needs ye now.”

“But ye⁠—”

“I must speak with me faither, too,” Lilith said, leaning in to press a quick kiss to the corner of his lips. “Go. I willnae be far.”

Aaden couldn’t help but be reluctant as he slowly let go of Lilith. After seeing her with that knife pressed against her throat, he never wanted to let her out of his sight again. Lilith was right, though; he did need to speak to his mother, to see that she, too, was alright.

She stood with Evander a little way away from the rest of the group, the two of them silent, only holding onto each other. When Aaden approached, he saw that Evander had stopped trembling, but he wasn’t in much of a better shape than before.

It had been necessary, but Aaden still wished it could have been done by someone else. It would have been preferable if he or one of Laird Stewart’s men had killed Ruadh, just to spare Evander the trauma. No matter what Evander had done in his life, he didn’t deserve the pain that came with killing his own blood. Aaden had never thought much of Evander, thinking that he would always choose personal gain over anything else, but when it truly mattered, he had stepped up. He had done the right thing, going against his father’s wishes.

“Are ye alright?” Aaden asked them both. Evander stood there, speechless, but his mother let go of him for a moment to hug Aaden once more.

It was a silly question. Neither of them was fine, and Aaden could see it in the bruises and the cuts on his mother’s arms, in the vacant expression Evander wore. He hoped that with time, though, all their wounds would fade.

“We will be,” his mother assured him. “Dinnae fash. Everythin’ is over now.”

“Aye,” said Aaden. “We can all go home.”

“Will ye come home, too?” his mother asked, brushing a stray strand of hair out of his face with a gentle hand.

Aaden nodded. “All o’ us.”

The relief on his mother’s face was palpable. She grabbed him and pulled him into another hug with one arm while doing the same with Evander, as if they were still boys, though now she could only reach that far around their torsos. Still, she squeezed them both fiercely, with a strength that surprised Aaden. When they broke apart, the three of them walked back to the rest of the group, so they could all leave the estate. By then, Laird Stewart’s men had already gathered Ruadh’s body, though the grass was still stained with his blood.

“It’s difficult tae see ye’re nae me wee lassie anymore,” Laird Stewart told Lilith, and Aaden could have sworn he saw a tear trickle down the corner of his eye before he quickly looked away. “But ye’re right, it’s time fer ye tae grow up. Or rather, it’s time fer me tae accept it.”

“Ach, Faither,” Lilith said, rolling her eyes fondly at him. “I’ll always be yer wee lassie. An’ I’ll always need ye.”

Laird Stewart gave her a smile filled with warmth and pressed a kiss to her forehead, before turning to face Aaden and Evander.

“Thank ye,” he said. “Ye saved me daughter’s life.”