Page 91 of A Highland Bride Taken
He remained frozen in that position as he tried to come to terms with the reality that the man before him could put the devil to shame with his wickedness.
Perhaps it was his shock that alerted Darragh that he had disclosed secret information that Campbell was not previously aware of.
“I thought Talia told ye everything.”
“Ye killed Aiden and Layla,” Campbell said numbly.
“I didnae mean to kill him. I just wanted to save him from the clutches of that witch Layla. How was I supposed to ken that he would follow her?”
“She was his wife. Ye expected him to thank ye for killing the woman he loved?!”
“He would have understood, eventually, when he was nay longer under her influence.”
“Aiden would never have been the same. Ye would prefer an empty grandson to one who was happy?”
“Love makes a fool of most people. He would have thanked me, eventually.” Durragh shrugged, as if he had not just admitted to killing someone.
Not for the first time, Campbell felt a pang of guilt. Perhaps Aiden and his wife would not have felt the need to curry favor with his grandfather if they lived with him. They would not have had to make such a dangerous journey.
The guilt kept growing until he felt breathless.
At that moment, he remembered Mabel’s face—beautiful and trusting, assuring him that he was not at fault. Now that he thought about it, it was true. While he might have provided a home for his brother, he could have prevented his grandfather from trying to kill him.
Instead of guilt, now he felt determination to make sure that Mabel and the boys remain safe, and that could not happen while his grandfather still moved around freely with no consequences for his brutal crimes.
36
“Ye cannae do anything to me, Campbell,” Darragh growled, unsheathing his sword. “I am yer?—”
“Ye will die tonight by me blade,” Campbell snapped. “For yer crimes against me family. I will have yer heart today.”
“Men!” Darragh yelled, and soon the room was filled with his guards. “Get this intruder out of me lands.”
The guards hadn’t stopped Campbell earlier, seeing as they thought he was only paying a friendly visit to the castle, but at their Laird’s orders, they looked ready for battle.
Their eyes were hard and unyielding, as much as the man who led them and no doubt trained them, but Campbell was impressed by their strength. It had been a long time since he had had reason to fight as he did, and the feeling had him grinning.
Perhaps they were right to call himbeastly.
His blood sang as steel clashed against steel, and the thrill of battle rushed through him. It had been long since he had last felt steel pierce through skin or heard the cry of men falling at his blade, and now he was transported back to the battlefield, where he had stepped through blood-soaked mud and snow to defend his clan.
The well-polished floors of the castle allowed him freedom to move, and as he did, blood began to flow, staining the stone.
Good.
Whenever they looked upon the stain, they would remember to never attempt crossing into Muir lands, like their Laird did.
His gaze was on Darragh as he fought, and he couldn’t hide his disgust as he watched the coward hide behind his men, who were falling underneath his blade.
He was careful to avoid the blades of the men who had circled him and were approaching him desperately. Already, a few cuts marred his skin and were smarting, but he ignored the pain, letting the hurt that his wife and boys had endured fuel him.
He thought of Aidan and Layla, who had been unjustly killed, and the boys, who had to watch their parents die. Their trauma was something that could never be forgiven.
Campbell would not tell them the truth behind their parents’ deaths until they were older, but he knew they would have demanded Darragh’s head all the same. He would make sure that the man’s descent to hell was as painful as possible.
The guards fell, but more kept pouring in, loyal to their damned Laird. A blade suddenly cut his side, which should have stilled him, but the sight of his grandfather’s sneer egged him on.
“Are ye a coward to hide behind yer men, Darragh?” he taunted. “It doesnae become ye.”
