Page 54 of The Highlander's Auctioned Hellion
It has been too quiet for too long.
What was Moira playing at? If she wanted the girls, she could have come to take them at any time.What is the delay?
Since the night of the attack, Callum had been like a coiled spring. His reputation was such that there would be few who would wish to meet him head-on—he was a fearsome opponent in battle and had destroyed armies in the past.
If they chose to attack, it was more probable they’d aim for the castle and avoid a confrontation with him completely.
The idea of the girls being taken, even in the short time he’d spent with them, made his blood boil in his veins.
“I shall report tonight,” Alexander murmured, heading to the door.
“Watch yer back,” Callum said automatically and saw his man-at-arms pause, his eyes warming a little before he headed down to join the guards.
Callum stared after them as the horses galloped away, splitting in four directions as the sun moved lower in the sky.
I will catch anyone who is watchin’ us. Moira cannae take me by surprise again, and if she tries, I’ll kill her meself.
“Uncle Callum! Uncle Callum!”
He spun round, a hand on his sword, sprinting down the stone steps of the keep and leaping onto the courtyard below.
Amy and Eilis were running toward him, waving madly.
“What is it?”
“It is Lady Lydia! She is callin’ for ye, she’s cryin’ for help in the library!”
Callum didn’t hesitate, summoning a guard to watch the girls. He sprinted inside, drawing his sword and running at full pelt toward the rear wall where the library was situated.
He hadn’t set foot in that room in years.
Were there windows that could be penetrated? If someone had gotten in, how much time did he have? Would they kill his bride-to-be out of spite?
The questions swarmed through his head, his heart drumming at a rate of knots as he ran through the final corridor and only paused his stride for a second to burst through the door.
Panting wildly, he held his sword in front of him, ready to kill any man who laid a hand on his future wife.
But the sight that greeted him made him scowl instead.
Lydia was standing beside the fire, examining a telescope balanced on a tripod beside a bookshelf. She leaped back from it as though scalded, staring wide-eyed at him.
“Whatever is it?” she asked. “Was there another attack?”
“Who is in here with ye?” he demanded.
“Who would be here with me? I am alone.”
“Nae, was there a break in? Has someone attacked?” he demanded, staring up at the high window above and the small metal balcony that ran around the upper shelves.
“No, no one is in here. I was waiting for the girls to read them a story.”
“They said ye were callin’ for help!” Callum spat, stalking forward and walking around the edges of the room.
The library was filled with shelves on all sides. The kind of place that, if a villain wanted to hide, he could.
Callum and Angus hadn’t spent a lot of time here. He had never been a great reader, and the musty shelves and silence made him tense.
“Callum, there is no one here,” Lydia insisted, following behind him and watching as he leaped behind each shelf, sword drawn.
