Page 70 of Kilted Hate

And yet, if you don’t tell him, Reginald will implement his plan. Are you willing to take that chance?

Perhaps there is a way you can put a stop to this. Perhaps you could anonymously let Domhnall know where Reginald is, and thus, he will be captured before he gets a chance to do any harm.

Which would be a wonderful plan, her mind retorted,if you actually knew where your brother was hiding.

Katherine cursed herself for not thinking to ask him the last time they had met. She could indeed, have left some anonymous note for Domhnall to find. She knew he had scouts out all over theisland searching for the attackers, for she had heard Domhnall and Magnus discuss it.

Round and round the argument went in her head, but every scenario came back to the same terrifying reality. She was going to have to tell Domhnall the truth. He would hate her. She would lose the only love she had ever known, she would be miserable for the rest of her life without him, and yet, the alternative was even worse. If she didn’t tell him, Reginald would murder Domhnall.

When they had first journeyed to this island together, her brother had convinced her that Laird Domhnall MacLeod was an evil man who had to pay for what he had done. At the time, she had agreed, and imagined that Reginald planned to simply destroy the clan by having it overthrown.

But her brother’s intentions had always been more sinister than that. She just hadn’t seen it. Not until that day those men attacked the man she now adored, and she had been injured. Their last meeting had also opened her eyes to something else. Reginald cared little about her. He had not tried to save her on that day, and in fact, he had reprimanded her, calling her foolish and stupid.

It was mind boggling to realize that a man who had known her all her life could care less about her than a man who had known her no more than ten days. In this case, blood was indeed not thicker than water. Reginald was supposed to protect her. He was her brother, the only remaining family member she had left.

With that thought, something else bothered her. All this anger and animosity Reginald clearly displayed was supposed to come from his desire to avenge their father’s death, but Katherine struggled to even believe that any longer. There had to be more to his motivation. Reginald was so hell bent on killing Domhnall, so seething with rage at him, that there had to be something else.

But what?

She had wandered far into the gardens with the castle now a good distance away. Trees surrounded her, their branches heavy with snow fall, and naked of leaves. Gazing up whimsically, she lifted her hand and gently brushed a branch, watching the snowflakes float lightly to the ground.

I will never see this garden in the full bloom of spring. In fact, once I have told Domhnall the truth, I will never see the Isle of Skye again.

Her heart ached at the thought of what the twins, Magnus and Kai would think of her. Even though she had been there only a short while, the siblings had already accepted her into their family. Their warm, loving, funny family. And what would she get when she returned to England? The pleasure of Reginald’s company, her cold, distant brother being her only companion.

Back to conformity she would go. Back to the cage, where women did not speak, and were not heard. And all the while, she would be forced to nurse her broken heart, for no other man could elicit from her the love she felt for him.

I will remain a spinster, for no other will compare. Besides, how could I possibly deserve happiness after what I have done?

A snapping twig behind her made her spin around. She half expected to see Domhnall standing there. He did have a habit of arriving in places she least expected. Instead, she saw no one, which completely confused her, for she was certain there had been someone there.

Suddenly, someone grabbed her from behind. Before she had a chance to scream, a cloth pressed against her mouth, and she balked as a strange and horrid smell crawled into her nostrils. Her arms flailed, but a few seconds later, she felt dizzy, her arms held no power, and her world went deathly black.

Though her eye lids were heavy, Katherine woke to the sound of hushed whispers nearby. By the feel of it against her body, she was sitting on a chair. Wherever they were was also deadly cold, not unlike being outside. But where she was, she had no clue, mainly because she could barely open her eyes to see.

It took great effort, but when she finally managed to move her eyelids, she was shocked to see Reginald standing there, his arms firmly folded across his chest, murmuring to one of his men.

Katherine tried to look about her without moving her head. She had no idea how long she had been unconscious, nor where she was, but with the close proximity of the surrounding walls, it appeared they were in some tiny outhouse.

“Katherine,” Reginald growled. “You are awake. Good.”

He still kept his voice low, which confused her, and moving her head around, she noticed that there was nothing else in the building apart from herself and two other men.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” Katherine spat, now angry at the realization that it had been her brother and his men who had grabbed her and drugged her to the point of unconsciousness.

Reginald stepped forward, raised his hand, and slapped her hard across the cheek.

“Ah,” she cried, swiftly lifting her hand to her face.

“Remember who you are talking to,” he spat. “I am your brother. Not one of these brainless Scottish thugs.”

While her cheek stung badly, Katherine was too busy reeling from the fact that her brother had actually struck her, for not once before had he ever lifted his hand to her.

“Now,” he continued on as though nothing had happened. “We have a small window of opportunity, and I intend to make good use of it. We need to act quickly. Your wedding is in a few days, and if we dally, you will be forced to marry that ogre.”

An overwhelming feeling nearly overtook her, for she wanted to scream from the rooftops that she loved Domhnall and wantedto marry him. But her survival instincts kicked in, and instead, she remained completely quiet.

“My plan is two-fold,” Reginald said, now pacing back and forth. “First, I need you to help with the abduction of Laird MacLeod. I have to have him in my grasp for the second part to work.”

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