Page 38 of Her Scot of Bygones
“What is it, Aspen?”I tried not to panic because I had a feeling her dragon was trying to warn my dragon that going this way was dangerous.“Where is Lilias taking me, because I thought the tallest battlement was forbidden?”
“’Tis,”Lucas growled, his distress through the roof.“I’m coming, lass.”
Somehow, I kept putting one foot in front of the other despite how terrified I was. Aspen’s inner dragon was rightbecause when Lilias opened the door, I found myself on the same battlement my sister had been on.
My eyes locked on a tall, broad-shouldered man who didn’t need to be wearing their colors for me to know he was a MacLeod. His chiseled features and handsome looks gave it away. With thick, dark brown hair, a beard, pale sage green eyes, and a furrowed brow hinting at distrust of the situation, he could only be Sloan.
His gaze lingered on me for a moment before he homed in on Elspet and Dugal. “Ye best explain why ye’ve brought the lass up here when ye assured the king after ye tossed my laird’s wife off the battlements, risking her life, that ye wouldnae risk another’s.”
“And I willnae, as I would never go against the king’s wishes,” Elspet assured a little too smoothly. Her dark, cunning gaze slid my way. “’Twill be entirely up to her if that happens.”
Well, what the hell did she mean by that?
Terrifying enough, I soon found out.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
–Lucas–
“IKNEWWE never should have trusted Dugal and Elspet,” I fumed as we headed for the highest battlement of MacLeod Castle. “They may say they’re for king and country, but always think of themselves first.”
After all, Hazel was just led up to the very battlement Aspen had been thrust off of, undoubtedly to force Hazel to shift and see if she was the lass destined to fulfill the pact.
“We will be there soon enough,” Broderick assured me. “Until then, I trust Sloan to handle things.”
Broderick was right there with me as we arrived at the battlement with Aspen, my aunt and uncle, as well as several of Broderick’s strongest warriors. More than he brought last time, but then, war could break out this very night.
Although Aspen wanted to come, Broderick made it clear it was far too dangerous for her and their unborn babies. She had no choice but to agree because it was, given how unpredictable, dishonest, and outright evil Dugal and Elspet could be.
“Wewillget her back,” Broderick assured Aspen, brushing his lips across hers before telling her she better get back downstairs to the safety of our castle. “You’ve my solemn promise.”
“I’ll hold you to it.” She looked at me with a mix of fear for her sister, yet the sternness expected of the Lady of the Castle. “All of you.”
“Aye, m’lady.” I nodded once, dove off the battlement, shifting mid-air, and flew toward Sutherland Castle as fast asI could on a night that wasn’t all that different from when we’d gone to Aspen’s rescue, only it was colder, and the stormy weather was nearly upon us.
Relishing the feel of my long, serpentine body and the strength it offered, I flapped my wings with all my might and started climbing to get above the clouds and turbulence, but Broderick advised otherwise as his black dragon fell in beside me.
“Nay, cousin, the cloud wall is too high and the turbulence within will only slow us down despite the speed we would find above,”he said, speaking in the way of dragons.“’Tis best we stay low, not only to get there faster but so they see us coming.”
“He’s right,”Marek said. He and my aunt Chara fell in on my other side, and the rest of Broderick’s warriors flew in formation behind us.“This storm is made of incoming winter rather than outgoing autumn, so ‘twill be treacherous indeed the higher we go.”
Though I struggled with the decision, my dragon trusted them, so I kept on course, flying closer to the ocean. As we headed north, I focused on being there for Hazel the best I could, despite the distance. I listened with apprehension as Elspet assured Sloan she would not throw Hazel off the battlement like she’d done to Aspen, yet Hazel might choose to do so herself.
“What does that mean?”I muttered, knowing my kin followed what was happening not just through me, but through their growing connection with Hazel. My dread only grew.“Why would Hazel ever do that?”
No sooner did I think it than a Sutherland warrior appeared with Evan slumped over his shoulder, clearly passed out, having been beaten within an inch of his life.
“Oh God,”Hazel gasped into our minds, her mortification and anguish as palpable as mine.“What did they do to him?”
There was no need to answer because each and every one of us could feel his human side’s pain, but also his inner dragon’s, because he couldn’t rile his other half awake.
“I think the better question is what are they going to do with him now,”Chara warned, only for the Sutherland warrior to pause at the edge of the battlement and look back at not Dugal, his chieftain, but Elspet, awaiting her order.
“Nay,” Sloan exclaimed when Elspet nodded, and the warrior tossed Evan over the edge. Sloan started to rush after him, but dozens of Sutherland swords were suddenly at his chest, and he had no choice but to stop.
“That leaves only ye to save him, lass,” Elspet warned, her cunning gaze locked on Hazel, who cried out in grief. “Dragons are faster than a falling human, so if there’s any chance of saving him, ye best move along.”
“Dinnae do it, lass,”I roared because, unless her fated mate was near, there was no way to know if she would be able to shift this first time, but it was too late. I should have known better, too, because Hazel would do anything to protect those she loved, and that was clear when she raced to the battlement with no thought of her own life and leapt after Evan.
