Page 65 of Saved By the Cruel Highlander
“Aye, maybe,” Holly said. “But it’s nae the death that ye bring that makes them say that. It’s the way ye behave since it happened.”
“How am I supposed to behave?” Elias challenged.
“I honestly dinnae ken,” Holly admitted. “Ye’re right to be angry and enraged and bitter, but ye’re nae right nae to let anyone in or to try somethin’ that might bring more pain. It’s nae anythin’ to do with yer sword, but the look in yer eyes and the sharpness of yer tongue—which I presume has plagued ye since that day. I ken ye blame yerself.”
“I dinnae regret what I did.”
“Aye, but ye blame yerself fully for three deaths and nae only one, as justified as it was.”
“Aye, well, I couldnae save them,” Elias said.
“Nay one could,” Holly said. “Ye did the only thing to deliver justice—ye killed him afore he could kill ye. That’s right, is it nae? I can see it in yer eyes. What would have happened if ye hadnae done it? He would have become the Laird and led the clan, but he wouldnae have led it like ye do. There would have been more death and despair if his actions were anythin’ to go by. It was right that ye killed him, even if ye have been carryin’ it around for years.”
Elias was silent.
“Elias?” Holly prompted. “It had to be done, did it nae? Just like Felix had to be killed.”
“Aye,” Elias agreed. “He kidnapped me. I woke up bound to a chair, and he told me how he had killed them both. He was jealous of me, and he wanted everythin’ for himself. He meant to torture me. He wanted me to ken that he killed our parents, and for me to feel helpless about it. That was his mistake. He should have killed me quickly. He let me endure, and I finally tore me bonds and beat him to death with a chair leg. I still cannae remember it. I remember the sound of the chair as it cracked, and then his lifeless eyes as I looked down at him, blood-soaked like I have never seen before or since.”
“Good,” Holly said.
Elias squinted his eyes. “Good?”
“Aye,” Holly said. “Ye did what was right. If ye hadnae, I wouldnae be here with ye today. I would likely be dead, but how many others in yer clan would be dead? How many others would he kill to get what he wanted? Ye kill to protect, but he killed to assume more power, and ye ken that. Ye cannae keep blamin’ yerself, when ye have saved so many who willnae ever ken that they needed savin’.”
“Ye would be dead,” Elias said, rocked by the thought. “I could never have saved me parents. There was nothin’ I could do for them, but ye are right. Me braither would have killed countless more to cover up what he did and get what he wanted. Cassandra would be dead. She has always been me friend, and I ken he resented that. And the councilmen. He would have killed them and designated a whole new council of men loyal only to him.And there would be nay alliances with the other clans, and more war and fightin’, and… who kens what else.”
“Ye have always killed to protect the ones ye love, and I ken ye must have loved yer braither, but ye killed him to save yer entire clan, Elias. Ye might struggle with that, but I ken and ye ken that it’s true.”
Elias took a deep breath but did not respond.
They sat in silence, eating the delicious cake and drinking the sweet tea.
Holly thought about what the Laird had gone through, and it brought her some clarity. She loved Ollie, and she was overjoyed he was still alive. However, what she went through with Ollie paled in comparison to the loss of the Laird’s parents and brother, of her own parents. That thought made her feel tired – not only physically, but also emotionally.
There was nothing she could do for Ollie that night, and the more rested she was, the better she could help in the morning.
On cue, Holly yawned. She looked at the Laird, unsure how long they had been sitting together. There were no windows in the kitchen, but it felt late and dark.
“Come on,” Elias said. “I’ll take ye up to yer room.”
“Aye,” Holly said.
“And Holly… thank ye.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“Who do ye think ye are, Holly?” the person hissed in her ear.
Holly’s eyes snapped open in fright, but no one was there. She bolted upright, the fear in her heart intensifying. She didn’t know why, but she knew she had to find Elias.
Before she could move, there was a flash of color before her eyes as fabric was thrown over her head and then pulled tight across her neck. She opened her mouth to scream, but all that came out was a gurgled gasp.
She scratched at her neck as the fabric was pulled tight, trying to get her fingers under it. Her heart went from resting to beating furiously in an instant, and her breathing went in the opposite direction—from regular breaths to nothing. Her eyes bulged as she struggled to do something, anything, and a vein in her forehead felt like it was going to burst. She wanted to throw up.
Then, there was pressure on her back as her attacker pressed a knee there to gain more leverage. The noose around her neck tightened.
The last time she felt a breath on her ear, it was the Laird’s. A warm breath fanned her ear again, and it terrified her.
