Page 13 of This Frozen Heart

“I have the key safe and sound,” he assures me, like he actually thinks that’s what I want to hear. “I’ll unchain you once you’re secured.”

Glaring up at him, I hope he feels every insult I can’t say to him yet, as my promised headache now throbs at full force.

“I thought it would be more convenient this way,” Kay says, sounding like he has since changed his mind concerning the convenience of this. “I was only tasked with capturing the ringleader of your band. And this way I can return the favor, letting your men go free like you did with mine. That is, if they areclever enough to abandon their hideout before my men reach it.”

My men. . . They might not hear me even if I scream now, but they can still track. Every step Kay takes in the snow leaves a footprint, and Wolf should know his scent by now. They’ll rescue me.

And then Kay will learn that hospitality is shown only to prisoners who didn’t turn the tables on me.

Kay glances back down at me, and there is a note of what almost looks like remorse behind his frozen expression.

Mayhap my hospitality hasn’t fallen on a frozen heart after all. And I might just be able to use that to my advantage . . .

I widen my eyes, letting the icy wind dry them out. Tears brim to compensate for the dryness.

Kay glances down at me as we approach the road where the trees grow further apart. He frowns. “There is no need to cry, lassie. No harm will come to you. Theft and rebellion are no longer capital crimes.”

As though imprisonment is any better than death. The whole reason I sleep in a cave and live off the land is because I value freedom more than comfort— more than life.

I’ll die before I submit to Constantinium rule.

Sniffling, I close my eyes as more tears slip out.

His step falters, and I wonder how weary he must be after carrying me so far. Mayhap weak enough to just let me go?

I gasp, gagging on the cloth wrapped so tightly between my lips.

Kay stills. “You no longer require a gag.”

Opening my eyes, I brace myself for being set down. I don’t know how that will help me yet, since I can’t run without the key, but at least my feet will be on Gaelic soil again.

Except Kay makes no move to set me down, and I’m left with a view of the white sky that is rapidly becoming gray. A blizzard is moving in.

In Gaelia, a snowstorm is both a way of life and a cause of death. For me right now, it means the snow will cover my prints and likely hide our scent. If my men don’t find me soon, they’ll have to return to the cave. And then they may never have the chance to find me again.

I have until we cross the border to escape Kay’s clutches before I have more enemies to deal with. That is, if he doesn’t have his men waiting farther down the road, since it seems like everything he’s said and done thus far has been a sick ruse.

And that’s assuming he has any idea how to survive a Gaelic blizzard. Otherwise, I’m anchored to my death.

Not that a single word that comes out of his lying mouth should be trusted.

That lying mouth that is playing with my hair. What under the Three Heavens?!

Horrified, I writhe again. What kind of sick power play is this? Mayhap I kissed his hand while I had him chained, but I was drunk onhisale.

I head butt him, intensifying my headache. But Kay pulls away— along with my gag.

Turning, I see him with blood trailing down his nose and the gag between his lips. Kay spits the gag out before frowning at me. “I see now I should have expected that.”

Desperately gasping in air, I glare at him. “You could have just released my hand and letmeremove my gag.”

“And risk you lifting your knife from me in the process? No, this may be painful, but I took the route with fewer risks.”

“The route with the fewer risks is letting me go now before I have tomakeyou.”

Kay shakes his head. “It’s not just about the lowest number of risks. It’s about accomplishing my mission.”

“So, I should be assured you have taken into consideration the fact that the skies are about to become our greatest foe?”

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