Page 56 of The Highlander's Twisted Deal
Duncan sighed, throwing up his hands in defeat. “Very well. Be safe, and ride well.”
Callum gave a curt nod, nimbly mounting his favorite bay horse and wheeling it around. “I’ll send ye a message once I’m there.”
Breathing in deeply, Duncan stepped back, and Connor tapped the flanks of the horse, sending it powering forward across the courtyard. They were galloping by the time they passed the open gates, splashing through puddles still gathered between the cobbles.
Then, they were out on the bare, open road, zigzagging past slower cart drivers and carriages. Clenching his jaw, Callum leaned forward over the horse’s neck, urging it forward faster and faster, his eyes peeled for a flash of red hair.
Come on, come on.Please, dinnae leave me. Please.
The sun was going down by the time Callum reached Keep MacLennan. The sentries at the door were getting ready to shut the gate and glanced at him quizzically as he passed by. Callum was too exhausted to even look at them. One of the men’s eyes widened in recognition, and he went darting across the courtyard to warn his laird.
Callum had hoped against hope to come across Ava on the path to the Keep, but there’d been no sign of her. Towards the end of his journey, as hope was fading away, he’d asked a few travelers if they’d seen a pretty young woman with red hair, and all said no.
She’s been picked up.Somebody gave her a ride. She’ll be here.
He pulled his horse to a halt in front of the stone steps leading up into Keep MacLennan. The Laird and his Lady might not even be there. They ran a pub calledthe Sinneror something like that, and it was possible…
A man appeared at the head of the stone steps, coldly handsome, with ice-blue eyes and premature gray hairs at his temples.
“Laird McAdair, what a surprise,” he said coolly. “Callum, I didn’t expect to see ye riding into me courtyard at dusk. What’s going on?”
Callum dismounted, his legs nearly crumpling as he hit the ground. “Laird MacLennan, I thank ye for yer hospitality.”
“Steady on, I havenae offered it yet. What’s wrong?”
Laird MacLennan—Dominic, he was called—gestured to a soldier who brought water and a bowl of cheese and bread to Callum. Callum refused the food but drank the water, wiping his lips with the back of his hand.
“Is yer lady at home?” he managed.
Dominic frowned. He wasn’t a man for unnecessary smiling, everyone knew that, or for unnecessary politeness.
Or necessary politeness, in fact.
“Aye, she is. Why?”
“Who’s our guest, Dominic? And why haven’t you invited him in?”
A lady appeared at the top of the steps and gracefully descended towards them. She was pretty with golden-brown hair and a sweet face, and to Callum’s surprise, she was English.
Callum caught himself staring and bowed. “Lady MacLennan. I havenae had the pleasure of meeting ye yet.”
“Well, you have now. Come in, it’s freezing out here.”
“I’m here to see Ava,” Callum blurted out.
Dominic scoffed, his eyebrows shooting up quizzically. “What are ye talking about?”
Lady MacLennan, on the other hand, frowned. “Ava?”
“Aye. She was coming here to see ye. She told her maither and friend, Elsie, as much. They’re at me Keep right now. Until early this morning, Ava was staying there, too, until she set out on foot to come here. I didnae see her on the road, so she must have gotten a ride here. She may nae want to see me, but I must—Ineed—to speak with her, please, if only for a moment.”
Lady MacLennan shook her head slowly. Her face was white. “Ava knew she was welcome here at any time without sending a note ahead,” she said slowly. “I would have welcomed her at once, she knows that. But she is not here.”
Callum swallowed reflexively. “But… but she must be.”
Lady MacLennan’s hands fluttered nervously. “She is not. She has not arrived. She’s nothere.”
Callum’s knees gave out, at last, protesting after a poor night’s sleep, too much alcohol, not enough food, and a day’s worth of punishing riding without pause or rest. He crumpled onto the wet cobblestones, the edges of his vision blacking out. He heard Lady MacLennan give a cry of surprise and heard Dominic’s cool, unruffled voice calling out for help and healers.
