Page 91 of Taken By the Vicious Highlander
“How do ye ken that? Did she tell ye? Did ye think that she was lyin’ just so that ye’d feel sorry for her? I’m sorry, lass, but ye dinnae ken what ye’re talkin’ about.”
“I ken well enough what I’m sayin’, and—I ken yer ways as well, Damon. She willnae speak to ye or give up her source, and I dinnae take kindly to torturin’ a pregnant woman.”
“What are ye on about? I’m nae evil. I’m nae yer braither. Why would ye ever think that I would torture her?”
“Well!” Lilith started to hurl an insult his way but then thought twice. “Well, I already scared her by tellin’ her that ye would!”
“Ye did what?”
“I was angry! And, well, I played into her fear, so I put that out there, but I dinnae actually wish for it to happen. She thinks ye are a brutal man. Ye could use it in yer favor.”
Damon sighed, his hands falling to his sides. “Brutal? Ye think I’m brutal? Truly?”
Shite, this isnae how I wished for this to go.
“I never said that, but while we’re on the topic. It was appalling to find out that ye dinnae consult me, again, before visiting her!”
“That doesnae make me brutal, does it?”
“I never said that, Damon,” Lilith said in a softer voice, trying to convey her meaning. “But ye cannae deny that ye were. I mean, ye should leverage it in times like these.”
His eyebrows knitted together in frustration. “Ye wish for me to be that man again?”
Again?
“I just—Nay! I’m just tryin’ to say that I’ve already put the threat out there, and to her, it’s nae out of the realm of possibilities for ye to confuse her.”
“Confuse? What are ye sayin’?”
Lilith’s pain, anger, and frustration boiled over to the point that her ears started ringing furiously. She let the next words spill out of her to relieve the pressure.
“For heaven’s sake, Damon. All of Scotland kens that the Second Aragain has a wrathful side?—”
But the blow landed precisely where she hadn’t intended.
“I’m the Second Aragain now? Ye cannae be serious. What has Magnus told ye about me, then? Out with it!”
“He told me enough,” she said, clenching and unclenching her fists, squeezing her eyes shut.
“And ye believe him, even in death? A man who was nay braither to ye, who was an actual evil brute—ye believe him?”
“I believe…” she began, her eyes fluttering open, the edges of her vision blurry.
He was supposed to give her a respite, but he was not doing anything to rescue her this time.
“I believe…” she tried again.
“Aye, Lilith, ye believe what ye must.”
“I—”
She felt herself slipping, but Damon walked up to her, gripping her arms with soft surety.
“Believe this,” he said, his eyes locking onto hers, grounding her. “I would burn the world to ensure yer safety. Call me a brute. Call me whatever. But believe that I would never harm a pregnant woman.”
A tear escaped and slid down Lilith’s cheek as she let out a shaky breath. “I ken that, butshedoesnae. That’s all I was tryin’ to say…”
“I’m nay brute. I’m vengeful and wrathful when it comes to protectin’ me own, but I’m nay monster.”
