Page 77 of The Highlander's Dangerous Bride

The door opened, and he saw Everard and Maxwell standing in the hallway. They pushed into the room, looking around as though searching for something, but he was so engrossed in his own heartbreak, he could not summon much interest as to why they were there.

“Have ye seen Raven?” Everard asked urgently, eyeing the bag on the bed.

Why nae tell them?“Aye, I’ve seen her.” he said, prepared to tell them she was the reason he was leaving in such a hurry if necessary.

“Where?” Maxwell asked.

“About ten minutes ago, outside. She was going out of a side gate.”

“What? A side gate? Why was she going outside the castle at this hour?” Everard demanded, exchanging looked with his brother. There was something in the tone of his voice that made Arne pause and look at them. He immediately noticed their worried expressions.’Tis naethin’ tae dae with me,he told himself.

“Did she say where she was goin’?” Maxwell wanted to know.

“Nay, but she was running away, like she did three years ago and so I let her go. If me son and I are nae enough for her, she is free tae go!”

“Christ!” Everard exclaimed, looking at his brother with a panicked expression.

“She lied,” Maxwell said. Arne could not help noticing how the color left his face.

“Of course, she lied. That’s what she does,” Arne told them with a bitter laugh.

“Nay, I mean she lied about the night of the meetin’. She told us it was tomorrow night,” Everard explained.

“Wait, what meetin’?” Arne asked, his stomach dropping.

“Aye, Struan sent her a message through some man she met in the market place the other day. He said he has Thorsten and is gonnae kill him if she daesnae go back tae him. She thinks she’s givin’ herself up tae save Thorsten,” Everard told him, “But ’tis all a trick. We just had word from yer braither at Castle MacLeod. The lad’s fine. ’Tis just another way fer Struan tae get her tae dance tae his tune.”

“We have tae go tae the old kirk right now and find her before somethin’ bad happens,” Maxwell said, sounding frantic. “She’s in terrible danger. Are ye comin’, Arne?” he added as the two brothers moved towards the door.

“She thought me son, our son, had been abducted and she didnae tell me, acting on her own accord?!” Was all he could utter.

“Are ye jokin’? This is nay time fer recrimination. Her life is in Struan’s hands!” Maxwell shouted, going up to him and staring into his eyes in a way that made him feel very uncomfortable.

Arne was hurting, and he was angry, but when Maxwell put it like that, he knew he could not just leave Raven to die at the hands of her evil husband. Especially knowing now that she did it all to save their son. “Of course I’m comin’. Let’s go!” He said.

It was the pain in her head that woke Raven, but it was nothing compared to the pain in her heart when she looked around and realized where she was. She was back where she had started, lying on her old bed, in her old chambers, at her husband’s castle on Barra, the same castle she had escaped from just a few weeks prior.

Her sorrow bore down on her, a hard, cold, painful weight on her chest that threatened to crush the life out of her.

A sudden thought hit her, and she sat upright against the pillows.Thorsten! Where is he? Is he safe, or has that monster hurt him?

The door opened abruptly and she turned her head to see who it was. Fear gripped her when she saw it was Struan. Determined not to let him see how terrified she was, she quickly pulled herself together. She sat up and dashed away her tears with the back of her hand, lifting her chin proudly.

“Where is me son?” she demanded.

He slammed the door behind him and strode over to the bed. He stared down at her and laughed, though his smile never reached his cold, dark eyes. “Welcome home, wife. Nay beatin’ about the bush with ye, is there?”

“Where is Thorsten? If ye’ve hurt a hair on his head, I’ll?—”

“Ye’ll dae what?” Struan sneered, leaning over her menacingly. “Dinnae go makin’ worthless threats tae me, ye wee whore. Or maybe ye think that MacLeod is gonnae carry them out fer ye, eh?”

Raven’s heart broke all over again to hear him mention Arne. The pain was too great, but she forced herself to focus on finding out if Thorsten was all right.

“Where is me son!” she shouted, her fists clenched in frustration.

“Where d’ye think he is?”

“I gave mesel’’ tae ye up because ye said ye’d let him go home if I did. Well, here I am, so I want tae ken he’s safe.”

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