Page 66 of The Defiance of a Scottish Heart
She locked her arms across her chest. “Taskill, someone else is after me. Two men came last eve for me, but my friend frightened them away. She heard them discuss returning either this eve or tomorrow eve. I have to get away. I cannot put anyone here at risk. Please help me.”
A fury Taskill could not tamp down rose inside him and his words came out with a tougher edge than he intended. “Who? Who came for you?” He thought of Tora saying that bad men were after Sheona. These were the men she referred to. Tora had been right.
Sheona’s gaze jumped from her feet to something behind him to the dark sky above and back to her feet.
He took her hand in his and said, “Who, Sheona? I need to know.”
Her gaze lifted to his and she whispered a name, “Clyde. Clyde and someone else. He’s one of our …”
“I know who the hell that bastard is. He needs a lesson.” While he knew she could see him unclenching and clenching his fists repeatedly, he couldn’t stop himself. He pictured that fistknocking two of the arse’s teeth out. But then reason stopped him. “How do you know it was Clyde? Did you see him? Who is his partner?”
“I didn’t see him. My friend did, said there were two of them, but she couldn’t identify him as Clyde.”
“Then how do you know?”
She glanced back over her shoulder. “Have you met a wee lass named Lia?”
“Aye,” he whispered, a bad feeling coming over him like a death shroud. “She’s an angel. Can tell what’s going to happen. What exactly did she tell you, Sheona? Exactly?”
“She said Clyde was coming for me and that I should go with you when you arrived.”
That was good enough for him.
“Get in the boat. We’re leaving, rough waves or not.”
No one argued with Lia.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Sheona
Glad to have convinced him, she settled her mantle around her to cover her legs once in the boat. The wind grew sharper as the temperature dropped. “Do you have another set of oars? I can help row.”
“Can you get your arms out of your mantle enough?”
“Aye. I can do it. If two of us row, we’ll get there faster.” She arranged herself the best she could and took a set of oars. “We’re heading that way, correct?” she asked, pointing toward what she thought would be MacClane Castle.
“Aye. And once we arrive, we can get inside at Tristan’s home. They’re in the castle now. Hopefully, we’ll be in front of a fire in a little more than an hour. The current is in our favor.”
They started across the water without any issues, the only boat as far as they could see. Sheona couldn’t help but look over her shoulder, as if Clyde would suddenly appear behind her.
As if reading her mind, Taskill said, “I’ll not let him hurt you, Sheona. You know I’ll always protect you.”
She nodded, tears misting her eyes. “I know. Many thanks to you. I just hate that I have to deal with him. And I can’t understand why my father disappeared. What does Lennox think? And Sloan?”
“They were headed to MacQuarie land to see if Thane or Artan knew anything.”
“What?” The wind had picked up, making it hard to hear over the lapping waves. And shortly after that, the rain began, lightly at first.
“Never mind. Just row! It’s coming soon. I don’t like those black clouds, Sheona. They’re coming up on us too quickly.”
She matched his pace, pulling her hood up to protect herself from the increasing rain. “Can we go back?”
“Nay, we’re about halfway there. We may as well head to MacClane’s. It’s safer there, and that’s the direction the current is going. We’ll never be able to go against the current. The wind is making it too strong.”
She nodded and pushed ahead, her arms aching from the force she’d used to move through the building waves. Taskill’s arms were powerful, his movements graceful compared to the awkward attempts she was making to assist him. He was such a fine-looking man, someone she’d always thought attractive. His looks were even more appealing to her out in the middle of the sea in a storm, though she was uncertain why. It could be the line of his jaw, the stubble of his golden beard, the blue eyes that could be so serious but also glittered when he laughed.
Taskill had everything she could ever want in a husband. So why didn’t she? Thoughts of Rinaldo convinced her that she didn’t need a husband. And Taskill wasn’t interested in her, either. It was as simple as that.
