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Lyndsay’s chest was tight, and her heart hammered inside. Bile rose in her throat, and her stomach twisted in knots. It had all happened so suddenly. One moment she was running toward her home, and the next, she was swept up in the arms of this brute. She trembled fretfully, and her mind was being pulled in every direction. She was worried for her father and Liza, she mourned the people who had already been killed, and she hated these Highland warriors who had descended upon their estate like a storm and had destroyed what little peace she had left in this life. She wanted to spew anger at the man who had captured her, this Douglas who was more like a giant than a man, more like stone than flesh and blood. She couldn’t imagine anyone further from nobility.

When he declared that she was his, her skin crawled, and terror gripped her heart.

Everything was happening so quickly and yet not quickly enough. All she wanted was for it to be over, for she knew that nobody was coming to save them. There was no army rushing because this attack had been unexpected. It was a savage raid and would leave nothing behind except bitter torment and cursed memories. Out of sheer horror, she attempted to avert her gaze from the lifeless and glassy eyes of those who had been killed, but then out of respect, she tried to give them the dignity of not recoiling in horror at their appearance.

Their flesh had been torn apart by these wild, primal strikes. Deep gashes displayed sinews and bone, and waves of nausea continued to plague her. She became groggy, and all she wanted was to sink into a hole somewhere and disappear from the world.

Worrying about a marriage now didn’t seem like such a bad fate at all. She would have agreed to marry Baron Adams a hundred times over if it meant that she didn’t have to endure this terror any longer. At least in getting married, she would have a life once the vows had been spoken. At the moment, she wasn’t sure how long she was going to last, and every moment she spent living was lived in fear, for she knew it could be easily snuffed out at any moment.

The temporary respite of being freed from his grip had not lasted nearly long enough for her liking, but at least he had not allowed that other warrior to get his hands on her. But now, she was being carried through the estate again, being manhandled like an object, and she was not strong enough to resist. The blows she rained down on him bounced away as though she was throwing a pebble against a mountain. The fear had already taken its toll, and she was feeling drained by all that had happened, so she decided to reserve her strength in case an opportunity came to escape.

There was something else that made her stop fighting as well, something else that drained all the vigor from her muscles. As she was being carried through the house, she forced herself to look into the eyes of those who had been killed, etching them into her heart so that she could mourn them properly when she had a chance. But then her gaze fell upon Liza, and her heart broke all over again. She choked on a sob and thought about the pure, innocent girl who had never asked for much in the world. She had been in love with a merchant boy and surely would have gone on to have a happy marriage and a happy life, but now that chance had been taken away from her. Everything had been taken away from her—all the moments that made life worthwhile and every ounce of her spirit. It was all gone, and for what? The sake of a message?

Douglas carried her to a chamber and threw her onto the floor. Her palms slapped against the wooden floor, and the pain reverberated up her arms. She looked up at him, her eyes wild as they gazed through the golden veil of her hair. His stature was impressive, there was no denying that. A long scar ran down one side of his face, and he was covered in thick red hair. He had muscles packed upon muscles, and she had the impression that if he wanted to, he could snap her in two, like a twig.

When the door shut, another wave of fear rippled through her, for she had a feeling she knew what he intended to do. But she was finally freed of his arms, and she knew she had to make the opportunity count. They were in one of her father’s studies; there was a writing desk toward the back of the room and bookshelves on either side. Pedestals stood against the walls as well, with small ornaments standing on each one. Lyndsay summoned all her strength to move toward these, hoping that the sudden burst of energy would take Douglas by surprise.

It did.

She threw the ornaments at him in a flurry and then moved to the books. The pages fluttered as they spun in the air and landed with a heavy thud against him, although he didn’t seem to be affected by the blows at all. He stared at her, almost daring her to keep the assault up, and she did even though she wasn’t hurting him.

She ended up moving around the other side of the desk, putting the wide wooden surface in between them.

“Why are you doing this? If you wanted to send a message, you could have done so without killing people. There are innocent people there, people who would never think of hurting anyone. You killed…you killed Liza.” The words were like a stone in her throat, and speaking them made it all the more real. “She was in love. She was young. She had her whole life ahead of her, and you just…you took it away. Why?”

“Because ye English need tae learn that we’re still here, and we’re nae gaeing tae stop until we hae what’s rightfully ours. Ye hae spilled plenty of our blood over the years. We’re only taking our fair share back.”

“But I haven’t spilled any of your blood!” Lyndsay exclaimed, prodding her chest. “And neither did Liza! Neither did anyone here! We’re peaceful people. All we want is to live.”

“Aye, well, if ye prove yer use tae me, then ye just might get that chance. Now come back from around there,” he said, beckoning for her to come to his side with a wave of his hand. She certainly wasn’t going to give in to him like this, and although she had begged for her life once, she was not going to give him the satisfaction of doing it once again. She placed her hands on the table, and every muscle inside her went rigid. If she was going to die, then she wanted to die on her feet, with dignity, standing up to this bully rather than sinking to her knees.

“Ye dinnae want tae make this hard for yerself, lass,” Douglas said in a warning tone.

“If you want me, then you’re going to have to come and get me. I’m not going to give myself to you. I don’t care who you are or what you want, but I…I’m not afraid of you,” she said, although her expression and the stumbling manner of her words betrayed her.

Douglas smiled a toothy smile and then came to the other side of the desk. He narrowed his gaze for a moment, and then he clasped his hands together, raising them above his head. His broad, powerful muscles were on display, and then he brought his hands down like hammers, slamming into the middle of the desk. Lyndsay could only watch in shock and horror as the desk buckled under the strength of this man.

The wood cracked, and the ornaments and other items sitting on the desk slid down the slanting wood while the paper rustled and fluttered through the air. Splintered shards of wood jutted out from where it had been broken, and Lyndsay stood there in utter shock at the raw, brute strength of the man. Until she had seen it with her own eyes, she never would have believed that anyone could have broken the desk like this. Perhaps a bear or a giant from legends of old could have succeeded, but for this to happen? No… It didn’t seem natural, and it only fed the fear that was coursing through her body.

Her lower lip trembled. Her mouth was agape, and all she could think about were those hands of his tearing her apart, cracking her skeleton, and leaving her broken and shattered like this desk. Her gaze fell to the door behind him. It only led into another part of hell, but it was the best chance she had. Perhaps if she was quick enough, then she might be able to dart out and evade the other warriors and flee into the forests. By this point, she knew she would rather contend with the unknown dangers of the forest than what resided in her home, her beautiful home that had once been a sanctuary for her.

“I’m nae gaeing tae harm ye, lass. Just calm down and listen tae me,” Douglas said.

Lyndsay could have laughed if she hadn’t been so frightened. He wasn’t going to harm her? The table suggested otherwise, as did the fact that so many people in the estate had been killed. Was it her position as the baron’s daughter that had spared her? Was this just one more of the privileges that she was due that others did not benefit from, others like Liza? The poor maid had just as much right to life as Lyndsay did, and at this moment, Lyndsay would have given anything to sway positions with Liza.

“I won’t do what you say. I can’t,” Lyndsay choked.

There was little space around Douglas because the man was so big, and the span of his arms almost reached the walls on either side of the room, so she knew that her best chance was staying low. Once again, she found herself summoning courage that she never knew she had before. Perhaps if she could make it to Baron Adam’s estate then she could tell them what happened and sound the alarm, and then these Highland savages would be punished.

It only took one moment of bravery for her to launch herself forward and jump over the table. She planned to land just in front of Douglas, duck, and then twist away from his grasp, hoping that she would be able to make it to the doorway before he lumbered around to chase her. The one advantage she had over the Highlanders was that she knew the estate better than any of them, and if she had the chance, then she was confident that she could find a nook in which to hide away or a path to the forest where she could slip into the soft embrace of nature.

However, what Lyndsay planned in her mind did not come to pass. Her idea was ruined when she made a misjudgment, and her trailing foot caught on a shard of wood that jutted up. She tripped, and the world tumbled around her as she was pulled down, crashing to the floor at Douglas’s feet. She groaned in an effort to ignore the pain, but really she was upset with herself at making such a mess of her one chance to escape. She could feel darkness closing in as Douglas’s shadow fell upon her. Then his hands were upon her again—those terrible, powerful hands that held death within their grip. She trembled at their mercy and blinked away the tears that were forming in her eyes, hoping against hope that he was telling the truth when he didn’t mean harm to her. After all, if they were going to send a message, then they needed someone to spread it, and who better than a terrified girl?

But as his hands held her body, she cringed, fearing they would touch places that were forbidden to him, fearing that her virtue would be taken and tainted and left just as destroyed as the desk behind her. Her head had taken a tumble as she fell to the floor, and the pain pounded in the back of her skull. She could feel the strength slipping away from her gradually, and when she tried to speak, no words left her lips. The only thing she heard was her heart thumping, and then there was nothing.