Page 70 of Craved By a Highland Beast

“Well . . . I never thought ye could kill one o’ me men.”

Ruthven . . . so he will kill me himself.

Bonnie turned to face him; sword raised in defense. He, too, was now covered in blood, though none of it seemed to belong to him. He didn’t look injured. If anything, the battle had given him a new glint in his eyes, as excited as it was mad.

“Mistake after mistake,” Ruthven said, shaking his head in disappointment. “Ye could have had a good life with me, Miss MacLaren. I would have treated ye well.”

Bonnie couldn’t help but laugh, the sound bitter and dripping venom. “A good life? While ye worked with Baliol tae bring death an’ misery tae the Highlands? How could I be glad when everyone around me suffers? How could I stand by yer side as yer wife with the ken that yer responsible fer all this pain?”

“All the gowns an’ the gold would have silenced ye,” said Ruthven. “Dinnae pretend yer any better than this. Dae ye give yer gold, yer books, yer bonnie things tae the poor o’ yer clan?Nay. Ye sit in yer castle an’ enjoy yer wealth an’ yer balls. It is nae different from what I dae.”

Disgust welled up in Bonnie at the suggestion that she was anything like Ruthven. She would rather give all her wealth away than ever become the monster he was. “Me people prosper,” she said. “An’ so dae our allies, because we work together. Because we dinnae conspire with the Sassenachs.”

“A noble dream,” said Ruthven with a cruel laugh. “But a dream nonetheless.”

As he spoke, he walked closer to Bonnie, preparing to strike. Could she fight him, Bonnie wondered? Could she at least flee from him if she couldn’t kill him? That blade came closer and closer as she assumed a defensive stance. If nothing else, she would try to make her death a quick one.

“Touch her an’ ye die.”

Evan’s sword was suddenly between her and Ruthven, a protective barrier that would strike him down if he dared harm her. A trembling exhale left Bonnie’s lips and she glanced between him and Ruthven, heart threatening to jump right out of her throat.

Evan was breathing heavily, chest heaving with every drag of air. One of his eyes was swollen shut and under all the blood, Bonnie saw that bruises had already formed on his face from the beating he had taken.

He was in no position to fight Ruthven. He was in no position to fight anyone and yet he still persisted, throwing himself in the midst of the battle to save his men—to save Bonnie.

Ruthven growled like an angered beast as he swung his sword towards Evan, blades clanging wildly as they began to fight in earnest. Bonnie stood, frozen, watching as they danced around each other, each man taking every opportunity he found to attack. Ruthven raised his sword in the air and brought it down towards Evan’s shoulder, a blow Evan parried at the last minute, shoving Ruthven back with all his strength. In retaliation, he aimed for Ruthven’s stomach, dragging the sharp edge of his blade through the air right in front of him, missing by a mere inch as Ruthven quickly leaned back to avoid him.

Back and forth they exchanged blows, pushing each other away before the desire to destroy the other brought them back together. Among the screams of the wounded and those still fighting, their cries were piercing in Bonnie’s ears, the two of them like wild animals whose only goal was to taste blood. Their blades met again and again in deafening clashes. The very walls of the castle seem to tremble with their feral fighting.

And then Bonnie watched in horror as Ruthven’s boot collided with Evan’s chest in a blow so hard that he flew to the ground, back hitting the solid stone with a thud. Immediately, he raised his sword but didn’t have time to stand before Ruthven loomed over him, ready to plunge his blade in his heart.

“Evan!”

His name tore through Bonnie’s throat in the form of a desperate sob as she fell to her knees. Grief swallowed her whole as their eyes met for one last time, the seconds before his death stretching into an eternity.

Another war cry rang out in the hall, drowning out everything else. Before Ruthven could deliver the final blow, Alaric snuck up behind him and struck him in the back, his sword piercing fully through him. Ruthven’s eyes widened in shock. He looked down at the blade sticking out of his chest, and the last thing Bonnie heard from him was a quiet gasp before the life bled out of him.

Tossing him aside, Alaric knelt next to Evan, his hands frantically hovering over him even as Evan assured him, he was all right. Bonnie joined them, kneeling at his other side and pulling Evan close the moment he pushed himself upright, clutching onto him for dear life.

“I’m alright,” he assured them both, one arm wrapping around her as the other found his brother. “I’m alright. I’m nae hurt.”

“I thought . . . I thought ye were dead,” Bonnie said. She couldn’t bring herself to speak those words any louder than a whisper. “I thought I’d lost ye.”

With a small smirk, Evan pulled back, eyes crinkling with mirth as he said, “Me? I’m nae goin’ anywhere, lass.”

Bonnie made a sound that was half a laugh and half a sob. “Ye are right. I’m nae lettin’ ye.”

EPILOGUE

Two weeks later

Evan tapped his fingers nervously against his desk as the council members walked one by one into the room. Next to him, Bonnie stood straight as a rod, refusing to sit or to even move from his side.

They were both tense—they had been tense for the past couple of weeks as they waited for the council to come to a decision about their future.

Evan had made it clear to them he was not going to marry the Lady Buchanan. The only woman he was going to marry was Bonnie and if they couldn’t find a way to come to an agreement about this, well . . . he would marry her anyway, consequences be damned. They could do as they pleased with him. As long as he could make Bonnie his wife, he wouldn’t put up a fight.

He was done with fighting for a while, both figurative and literal. Though two weeks had passed since the battle in Castle Ruthven, his face was still bruised and aches still shot through him whenever he exerted himself, but the knowledge that Bonnie was now safe gave him all the strength he needed.

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