Page 78 of Married to the Highland Devil
“I do not want to hide,” Amelia told him, and when he said nothing, she stopped him from tying the sash of her dress. “Duncan, I want to help you. I will stay in the work chamber and work on herbs and tonics for the injured men. Your men can guard us there. I do not want to sit idle and think of all the million things that can go wrong with you in the heat of battle.”
Duncan loved that she was brave at the moment, but he could not risk her getting hurt again.
Not ever.
“Amelia—”
“Do you want to waste time arguing about this with me?” she asked, insisting on helping out. “We do not have the time to argue, Duncan.”
“All right,” he agreed with a long sigh. “All right.”
He led her to the work chamber, and once his mother and Yvaine joined them, he began giving out orders to his guards.
“I need ten men guardin’ this door at all times,” he began, not caring about anything else.
Amelia’s father and Lily joined them in the chamber.
Once Duncan was certain they were all there and safe, he marched towards the front of his keep with the rest of his men, and everyone began making their formation.
He had men at the drawstring and others in the front line with him. When Laird MacGregor arrived, he would be right here, waiting to defend his castle.
Towards the early hours of dawn, Duncan heard the first war horn as the MacGregor soldiers approached. His men charged forward to meet them halfway, and the heat of the battle began.
As he cut his way through each man standing in his path, he had one goal in mind.
Find Malcolm and end him once and for all.
Duncan did not relent while fighting his way through the crowd, but he could not find Malcolm anywhere in the crowd of men or even Arran. He could immediately tell that something was not right.
Malcolm loved to gloat, and there was no way he would lead his men into battle without being here himself.
Except this is a decoy.
The second the thought occurred to Duncan, he spun around and began making his way through the fighting soldiers to get back to the castle. One of MacGregor’s men attacked him before he could make it far, and Duncan grunted when his attacker’s sword cut into his arm before he fought back and drove his sword straight through the man’s heart.
Duncan raced into the castle and headed straight to the work chamber. He got there in time to hear the loud yelp from inside and shoved the door open.
Amelia was pinned tight into Malcolm’s hands when he entered.
Arran stood by his father’s side, and two guards held him in place as he struggled to break free and lurch towards his father. Everyone else stood at the other end of the chamber.
Duncan saw the pale, shocked look on Yvaine and his mother’s faces while the Duke stood rooted to the spot, his face red with anger as a guard made sure he couldn’t launch forward.
“Let her go!” Duncan yelled before he took another step into the chamber. “Now.”
“It took ye some time to figure out that was a distraction,” Malcolm said as he pressed his blade into Amelia’s neck.
Duncan heard her whimper, and he knew he made the wrong choice again. He should not have listened and allowed her to come here. He should have locked her in the crypts where he was certain she would be safe.
But now was not the time for regret. Every muscle in his body tightened, and he waited for Malcolm to make another move. Duncan knew he would rip the man to pieces if he tried to hurt Amelia. He could not let that happen.
“Yer issue is with me. Let her go and let us fight like men.”
“I dinnae want to fight ye,” Malcolm answered and burst into a loud cackle that filled the air. “I want yer clan and yer lairdship. I have told ye this a thousand times.”
“I willnae let ye have either,” Duncan insisted. “Let her go, now.”
When Amelia whimpered again, he saw a tin droplet of blood appear on her neck. The blade Malcolm pressed into her neck was sharp and pointy. One wrong move and it could cut through her flesh.
