Page 29 of Taken By the Heartless Highlander
She cursed under her breath, only to realize as she opened her eyes from her most recent fantasies that there was someone else in the room. She had not heard the maid knocking for her, and she cleared her throat.
“Are ye alright, miss?” the maid asked.
“Yes, yes, I apologize. I was readin’ me books and dinnae hear ye enter.”
“This was just delivered for ye, ma’am,” the maid said, approaching and handing her a neat envelope that Keira took without comment.
She waited for the maid to depart, feeling a tendril of fear uncoil within her as she looked at the long, elegant hand on the letter. Only one person knew where she was and would send her a letter such as this.
Keira’s hands shook as she broke the seal and unfolded it.
No matter where ye go, no matter where ye run, I will find ye, Keira. I’ll cure ye, and we will be together, either in this life or the next.
She swallowed, the trembling that had begun in her fingers spreading through her whole body as she remembered Lucas’s demonic eyes as he had addressed the crowds, ready to watch her burn.
She crumpled the note in her fingers in disgust and moved to cast it into the fire. But, as she raised her fist, she suddenly realized what those words might mean.
She smoothed out the paper and read them again three or four more times.
I’ll cure ye.
There was only one way that Lucas would think he was able to ‘cure’ her. She had heard a tale of it before: a holy man believing he could cure a woman’s sin by lying with her. It was undoubtedly what he wanted, what he would demand if he ever caught up with her.
Lucas did not truly want her dead. He wanted to own her and, in owning her, destroy her spirit. He wanted her to bow down to him and repent for her sin of refusing his proposals. He saw himself as God’s right hand and would not rest until she gave him the respect he deserved.
The very idea of succumbing to such things and having to let that man touch her filled her with nausea that she could not fight. She ran to the basin in the corner of the room, taking deep breaths and trying to calm her thundering heartbeat.
The last time she defended herself and stood up to him, she was almost killed, putting herself and her siblings in grave danger.
She could think of only one way that she could make Lucas truly give up on her, one way that, in his eyes, she would be ruined for him forever.
And I might just be desperate enough to do it.
CHAPTER13
“Well?”Amelia demanded. “Did ye see her?”
Noah frowned at his sister in confusion. “Who?”
“The healer in the Donaldson Clan that I told ye to go to,” she said, giving her husband Jack an exasperated look as though her brother were the stupidest man alive.
“Ye dinnae tell me to see a healer in Donaldson clan,” Noah said defensively, trying his best to recall any memory of the conversation.
“Of course I did. I told ye there was a renowned healer there who may be able to help ye.”
“Ye dinnae say Donaldson,” he replied heatedly, astonished that the one person his sister had referenced was now inside the castle walls with them.
“I did. Jack, would ye tell him?”
“She did tell me of the conversation,” Jack conceded.
“Ye would take her side; she is yer wife,” Noah grumbled.
“Were ye expectin’ me to take yer side?” Jack asked with amusement. “Ye cannae stand me.”
“I cannae think why,” Noah retorted as Jack and Amelia exchanged a happy smile of triumph between them.
Noah watched Jack’s eyes run over her, pausing at the gentle swell of her belly beneath her dress. Even he could admit that Amelia looked well; her skin was smooth and bright, her eyes shining. She looked happy and content.
