Page 55 of In Bed with a Highland Beast

“I ken how ye work,” Lucia pointed out with a shrug. If there was anyone in the world who could track the Ravencloaks, it was her. She knew their patterns. She knew their hiding spots and what they preferred when they were in enemy territory. The only reason it had taken her this long to find them was because in the dark, losing one’s way was easier than finding it.

“Aye, that much is true,” said Callum with a sage nod. “Ronan taught ye everythin’, right? Ye’re the one who was helpin’ him all along.”

It wasn’t a question and Lucia neither confirmed nor denied it. She had seen Callum before, when her brother was still alive, watching one of their meetings from the shadows, but Callum never knew she existed. It was only now that Lucia had revealed her identity to him that he could piece the puzzle together, understanding just how much of an important role Lucia had played in the plans of the Ravencloaks.

“Ronan’s stubbornness is what killed him,” Callum said. “We could have ruled the Highlands together. We could have taken over everythin’ if only he wasnae so against the Sassenachs. But he’s dead now an’ ye’ll follow him soon, stubborn as ye are.”

Bile rose to the back of Lucia’s throat. Callum spoke so casually about dominating the Highlands and she knew he would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. Ronan had never wanted to live under the influence of the English or the king. He would have never accepted a deal between the Ravencloaks and the English, and so Callum had disposed of him with no hesitation.

“Ye speak as though me braither would ever stand by yer side,” Lucia spat, sneering at Callum. “He was naethin’ like ye. He would never have agreed tae any o’ yer plans.”

“Och, but he did,” said Callum. “He agreed tae plenty o’ them. Ye may nae wish tae believe it, but yer braither was a good friend. Iappreciated both his company an’ his intellect. It’s such a shame that I had tae kill him.”

Lucia stared at Callum in shock, dumbfounded by what she had heard. Surely, Callum couldn’t be serious, she thought. How could he claim to be Ronan’s friend when he had killed him in cold blood? Lucia knew her brother and she knew he would never be friends with a beast like Callum.

“Are ye surprised?” Callum asked, laughing once more. The sound was cold and cruel, like a clang of a sword in Lucia’s ears. “Yer braither was a criminal, like the rest o’ us. He was the heart o’ the Ravencloaks. How can ye be surprised that we were friends?”

“Ye lie!” Lucia said, but even she couldn’t deny the waver in her voice. She, too, had been a crucial member of the Ravencloaks, after all, even if no one was aware of her involvement with the gang until now. She had committed her fair share of crimes, but she couldn’t reconcile the idea of the Ronan in her head being the same as the Ronan Callum claimed to know. Her brother was not like Callum. He had a sense of honor. She still held onto the belief that her brother had been a good man; he was the kind of man who would never have associated himself with the likes of Callum.

Before Callum could say anything else, Lucia, in her rage, charged at him with all her might, her sword clutched tightly in her fist. Callum wasted no time before he parried the blow, using a movement that was terribly familiar to Lucia.

He trained with Ronan. He kens all o’ Ronan’s moves.

She, too, had trained with Ronan. He had been the one to teach her everything she knew, but if Callum knew the same strategies, the same attacks and blocks, then she couldn’t defeat him through technique or strength. She had to be fast; she had to be brutal and she had to rely on the element of surprise if she wanted to defeat him.

Gritting her teeth, Lucia dealt attack after attack, viciously moving towards Callum as she tried to corner him. Callum was a big man, so he wasn’t as fast as Lucia, not as lithe and limber. Many of the attacks she delivered were close shots, barely missing the mark as Callum stepped out of the way at the last possible moment. When she managed to injure him, her blade cutting his sleeve open and slicing his flesh, several men stepped forward and for a moment, Lucia thought that would be it; they would subdue her, all of them attacking her at the same time, and she would have no choice but to surrender.

But then, Callum yelled, “Get back! She’s mine.”

His free hand clutched at his injured arm, drops of blood pouring over his fingers as he panted, trying to catch his breath. His men listened to him, clearing out more space for the two of them. They trusted Callum; they trusted his skills. Even with Lucia’s draw of first blood, they didn’t think he could lose to her.

Lucia knew better than to think he was invincible, but she, too, was quickly getting out of breath. His vicious attacks had already taken a toll on her. Sweat dripped down her forehead and herchest heaved as she tried to draw more and more air into her lungs, determined as she was to end Callum’s life herself. Even if she lost her life in the process, nothing else mattered as long as she could have her revenge.

“Come, then!” Callum shouted, his voice ringing out in the clearing. “Come! Kill me if ye can!”

With a battle cry, Lucia threw herself at him once more, sword raised high, her rage coiled around her like a living, breathing thing.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Alaric woke with a start. He didn’t know what it was that had disturbed him in his sleep, and he was quite certain he hadn’t been asleep for long, but from the moment he opened his eyes, there was a strange tightness to his chest, a knot in his stomach. He had the feeling that something was wrong. Never before had he woken up like that in the middle of the night, especially after an attack that had left him exhausted and in desperate need of sleep.

For a few moments, he tossed and turned in bed, thinking that perhaps he had had a nightmare he could no longer recall. Eventually, though, the feeling in his gut grew until he couldn’t take it anymore. He stood, dressing hastily before he left his chambers.

He didn’t know where he was going until he came up to a familiar door. Everyone else was now asleep save for the guards on patrol. He figured Lucia would be asleep, as well, but he couldn’t help the urge to check in on her. Slowly, quietly, hepushed the door to her chambers open, only to find them empty, and then he instantly knew what that feeling in his stomach was.

She was gone. Just as he had thought, her promise to stay within the castle walls had been empty and she had fled in the middle of the night.

Or maybe she hadn’t fled at all. Maybe she had left for a very specific reason—to find Callum.

Alaric wouldn’t put it past her. If anything, the more he thought about it, the more he feared that was precisely the case. He had seen the look of determination on her face when he had told her he couldn’t forgive her. There had been that familiar mask over her features once more, the very same one he had seen on her countless times before, whenever she spoke of her brother. Now that Alaric had no way to hold her back, it wouldn’t surprise him if the first thing she had done was to track Callum down and try to kill him.

But that could only mean danger. Lucia would walk right in the jaws of the wolf, and the Ravencloaks would not let her live.

He had to go after her. A part of him was reluctant to do so after everything; after all the lies and the manipulation, he thought that perhaps it would be in his best interest to stay where he was and let Lucia deal with this on her own, in the only way she knew how. Another part of him, though, the bigger of the two, would not be able to live with himself if something happened to her, and it was more than likely in his mind that she would lose this battle.

He didn’t want to see her harmed. Even more so, he didn’t want to see her dead, and if he did nothing, he feared her death would be imminent.

At first, Alaric had half a mind to simply don his armor and ride after her, searching for her in the dark. He didn’t know what time it was, he didn’t know where she was or how he would find her but he knew Evan’s men were still out there, combing the area for signs of the Ravencloaks and if they found them, then they were bound to find Lucia, too. As tempting as it was to go after her on his own, he knew he needed help, and so before anything else, he rushed to Evan’s chambers, knocking incessantly on his door. When it opened, Alaric saw his brother there in nothing but his nightshirt, his eyes wide in alarm and his dark hair forming a wild halo around his head, strands sticking up towards all directions.

---