Page 80 of Healing the Highland Sinner
“I cannae fight them if I’m worried about ye,” he snapped.
“Ellair—”
“The corridor will nullify their numbers,” he said. “Now go.”
Rosalind was torn, not wanting to leave Ellair, but she was desperate to get her brother to safety. If anybody could emerge from a fight against six men, it would be Ellair. His arm around her shoulder, she turned Blaine around and started moving him away from the fight. He winced and groaned in agony, and it tore her heart from her chest. Sinclair and his men had done terrible things to Blaine, and it filled her at once with both sorrow and rage.
As the ring of steel on steel echoed in the corridor around them, Rosalind tried to hurry her brother along. But he was so weak and wounded, the going was slow. She listened to the sound of men screaming, dying, and said a silent prayer Ellair was not among them. Her heart raced and her head pounded with fear. They weren’t moving fast enough. They needed to put some distance between themselves and the battle raging in the corridor behind them.
Her eyes stung with tears as she hurried Blaine along, her chest filled with terror as she pictured Ellair falling in a bloody heap on the corridor floor. The mere image of that floating through her mind caused Rosalind to choke back a sob and she nearly stumbled. Blaine groaned miserably but somehow managed to stay on his feet. He turned to her
“Ye’re worried about him, eh?” he asked.
She nodded. “Aye.”
“Ye love him,” he said, a statement, not a question. “I can see it on yer face, sister.”
“Stop focusin’ on me and focus on yerself,” she said. “We need tae get out of here.”
She led Blaine around a corner and paused. Her mind was such a jumbled mess with thoughts of Ellair falling, her fear and grief, that she’d lost track of where they were. She hadn’t been in the place in quite some time and had forgotten parts of the layout. Itwas easy to get lost in such a big building, especially when your attention was divided, as Rosalind’s was.
“What is it then?” Blaine asked.
“Just tryin’ tae get me bearings.”
She looked left then right, trying to recall the corridor she was in and where it led to. The sound of heavy footsteps pounding up the hallway behind her rang in Rosalind’s ears and sent a rush of white-hot terror through her. She’d run out of time. They were coming. Still supporting Blaine with one hand, she pulled her dagger with the other and turned around. If this was the end, she wasn’t going out without a fight.
Relief flooded her instantly when Ellair came around the corner. He was limping and gasping for breath, bleeding from a myriad of wounds, but he was alive. She almost dropped Blaine to rush to him but forced herself to stand still and continue supporting her brother.
“Ye’re alive,” she said, doing her best to sound casual.
“Aye. ‘Twas a close thing though,” he wheezed and grimaced, his breath ragged. “How dae we get out of here?”
“I—I’m nae sure.”
“Rosalind, there are more men comin’,” Ellair said.
Teetering on the edge of panic, she looked both ways along the corridor before her eyes settled on the door in front of her. Scraps of memories drifted through her mind like motes of dust, small and impossible to catch in her frenzied state.
“Rosalind—”
Her gaze turned back to the door in front of her and memories came pouring back into her mind. She pointed at the door and nodded.
“Through there,” she said. “’Tis the main hall. There’s a door on the far wall that will lead us back outside.”
From deeper in the fortress, the sound of raised voices echoed along with a clashing of steel. Soldiers were coming.
“Are ye certain?” Ellair asked.
“Aye. I’m certain.”
Ellair dashed across the corridor and threw the door open. Rosalind led Blaine through it and pulled up, a gasp bursting from her mouth.
“Bollocks,” she whispered.
Laird Hugh Sinclair, flanked by four men in English chain armor, turned as they stormed into the hall. With a dark glimmer in his eye, a wolfish smile stretched his lips.
“Well, look who we have here, lads,” he said, his voice deep and gravelly.
