Page 58 of A Virgin for the Highland Beast
Hunter bolted to Archie’s side. Adam stared at him, his eyes glossed over and his icy blue eyes brighter than Hunter had ever seen them before.
Kneeling beside Adam, Hunter scanned his injuries. Sadness rippled through him as the realization dawned on him like a sack of potatoes.
“Who did this to ye?” Archie asked Adam.
With a scratchy, gruff voice, Adam said, “Intruders.”
Archie glanced at Hunter. The air around Hunter felt as if it were being stolen from his lungs. He didn’t need any further convincing as to who was behind Emma’s kidnapping.
“We need to get him back to the castle,” Hunter said sharply and tucked his arm under Adam’s neck.
With a swift move, Hunter hoisted Adam over his shoulder and headed back to the castle.
“See that his family kens what happened here,” Hunter ordered as he placed Adam on the cold stone floor.
He didn’t hesitate to turn on his heels and charge for the open door once again.
“I kenned somethin’ like this was goin’ to happen,” Hunter heard Isobel grumble. “Geoffrey never gives up, and I kenned when he showed up at the weddin’, he was plottin’ somethin’. We’re never goin’ to be safe. Nae while he still lives.”
Grinding his teeth, Hunter’s chest ached. He couldn’t help but feel responsible for Emma’s kidnapping. After all, he’d made a promise to her to protect her. He swore she’d never have to see her cousin again. It was his broken promise that drove the stake of guilt deeper into him.
Turning on his heel, Hunter started for the doorway.
“Where are ye goin’?” Archie asked.
“Where do ye think? I’m goin’ after Emma,” Hunter growled, threatening anyone to say otherwise.
“I’ll come, too,” Archie announced.
“As will I,” Isobel chimed in.
The frustration was far too much for Hunter to handle. But their eager stares and determined features pressed against his consciousness.
“I cannae allow that,” Hunter answered over his shoulder. “It’s best to travel light. Too many horses leavin’ the castle and we could have an invasion. Archie, stay here. Protect me maither and sisters wit’ yer life. Do ye understand? Lock the castle down till I return.”
“Hunter, please, be reasonable.” Katie’s voice drifted down from the stairwell.
How long she’d been standing there, Hunter didn’t know. But he knew that he couldn’t let Geoffrey get away with killing one of his men and stealing the most precious thing in his life.
Without a word, Hunter scrambled down the steps and made for the stables. Much to his surprise, the stablehand had made swift work of getting a horse ready.
“M’Laird,” the stablehand said.
Hunter gave a nod and snatched the reins off the post. He mounted the steed, and digging his heels into its flanks, he took off.
As the horse’s hooves pounded against the ground, Hunter’s mind raced with the echoes of Nora and Lydia’s words. They had unwittingly pieced together a puzzle that he had buried deep within his psyche—the raw, unprocessed memories of his own abduction.
The sensations flooded back to him—the chilling isolation of being torn from his loved ones, the rough fabric of the sack that robbed him of his vision, the cold dread that seeped into his bones. It clicked into place with a sinister clarity that left his heart hammering against his ribcage. The parallels were too precise, the methods too similar.
Whether in the throes of denial or not, Hunter could no longer ignore the harrowing truth that lurked in the shadows of his deductions: Geoffrey, with his inscrutable motives, must be orchestrating this cruel game.
Emma’s abduction wasn’t just a random act of malice. It was connected to his dark past, a repetition of a history that er now realized he was bound to confront.
“Dinnae be afraid,” a husky voice rumbled near Emma’s ear, making her jump at the closeness.
Her heart pounded wildly in her chest as she tried to peek through the thin patches of fabric covering her face.
“I’m nae afraid,” Emma retorted, hoping her tone was icy and didn’t betray her true emotions.
