Page 70 of Saved By the Cruel Highlander
“Elias?” she whispered. “Elias?” Her eyes closed again.
“I’m here,” Elias whispered back.
His heart beat slightly faster and with a little more rhythm. A wave of euphoria engulfed him. Cassandra spoke the truth when it came to matters of importance. She’d told him that if Holly woke up once, she would wake again, and he believed it with all his heart.
He squeezed her hand, fighting back the tears that sprang to his eyes. He was overjoyed even with the sight before him. Her arm was bandaged, and some of the blood had seeped into the bandage. The bruising on her neck was tinged with yellow, but she was alive, and she wouldlive.
Elias felt his breathing quicken just as it had a few hours ago, but this was in reaction to her being alive and not dying. Hestruggled to catch his breath for a moment as he processed the enormity of it.
Cassandra was right. He hadn’t cared for Holly one bit when she first arrived at the castle, but now he cared for her deeply.
The door burst open behind him, and when he looked around, he saw a guard.
“Excuse me, Me Laird. I wanted ye to ken that we found nay one else in the castle.”
“Good,” Elias replied. “And the prisoner?”
“Cassandra is with her now to make sure she can talk,” the guard said. “Do ye want to talk with her, or do ye want us to…”
“Aye, I want to talk with her first. I want to make sure that it is really over this time.” Now that Holly had woken up and whispered his name, Elias didn’t feel as scared. “Stay with Holly until I get back. Ye’re nae to take yer eyes off her—do ye understand?”
“Aye, Me Laird.”
Elias strode into the dark, damp, cold dungeons and made his way straight to the open cell. Two guards stood outside the door,and inside, two guards stood over Cassandra as she looked over the prisoner.
The woman’s arms and legs were shackled, and her arms were pulled up over her head and attached to the large metal rings hammered into the wall. She sat on the bare earth, her head tilted to the side as Cassandra examined it, blood caked in her hair.
“Out of me way,” the Laird said.
The two guards at the door stepped aside to let him in, and the two guards in the room moved out to give him space.
“Is she awake?” he asked Cassandra.
“Aye, she is. Do ye want me to wrap her head first?”
“Nay, that willnae be necessary,” Elias said. “Ye can tend to her after.”
He made sure the woman heard him say that so she would believe there would be an after. He needed her to talk to make sure the danger was over, but she wouldn’t leave the dungeons with her life. Felix had threatened to poison Holly, and he had paid with his life. This woman had tried to kill Holly, and there could only be one punishment for that.
“I’ll send for ye when ye are needed,” Elias told Cassandra. He was about to add something, but he stepped out of the cell with her so the prisoner would not hear. “Holly woke up briefly.”
“Good,” Cassandra said with a smile. “That is fantastic news. I’ll go and visit her now and see what else I can do.”
“Thank ye,” Elias said.
He waited until Cassandra had left the dungeons before he went back into the cell. When he spoke, it took all his willpower to speak calmly. He wanted to wrap his hands around the woman’s neck and be done with her right there and then.
“How did ye get into me castle?” he demanded.
The woman spoke weakly, “Why should I talk to ye when ye’re goin’ to kill me nay matter what I say?”
“Aye,” Elias sighed. “Aye, ye are right about that. Ye dinnae need to talk to me, but I’d rather ye did. I willnae even threaten ye with torture or anythin’ like that. I willnae waste me time on ye. Yer life consists of minutes and seconds now.”
The woman laughed, then coughed.
Something about the smell of the cell, the same one Felix had been held in, triggered a memory.
“He was talkin’ about ye, was he nae?” Elias asked. “He said he loved her, and I thought he meant Holly even though he didnae make much sense, but he was talkin’ about ye, was he nae? Aye, ye dinnae need to talk to me. Ye were the one behind it all, and he was yer pawn, and it is over now.” He chuckled. “Ye’ve told me all I need to ken.”
