Page 112 of Intrigued By A Highlander

Knox growled low in his throat, pulling Dru behind him. She didn’t resist. His rage was a living thing, barely leashed, and she knew what it cost him not to lash out again.

“We’re not done, Callan,” Knox threatened.

“No,” Callan agreed, his gaze steady. “We’re only just beginning.”

Callan turned his back without another word, vanishing into the trees like a shadow, his warriors falling in behind him save for four who stayed behind to guard Knox and Dru from a distance. None spoke. None needed to. The message was clear… try anything, and it will end badly. Not for Dru since they needed her, but for Knox.

Knox shifted, angling his body just enough to shield Dru. She pressed close to him, needing his warmth, his strength, his love.

“We have to escape before it’s too late,” she whispered.

His lips barely moved. “Agreed.”

“They think you’ll behave with a blade at my back,” she said bitterly.

His jaw tightened. “Then we make sure they never get that chance.”

Dru leaned her head slightly toward his. “There’s four here but there could be more lurking close by. And where did Callan and his other warriors go? Why doesn’t he move us?”

“My guess would be that he attacked worried that he wouldn’t get his way and now he has to find a way to get us off Lord Torrance’s land before he learns about it.”

“I never thought I would pray for Torrance to find me,” she said, finding the situation ironic.

“Time is short for us and Callan. Some of Torrance’s warriors were bound to survive the attack. They will get word to him immediately. He’ll ride here with an army of men prepared to slaughter those who lifted a hand against him.”

She nodded, her eyes scanning without turning her head. “When do we escape?”

“Tonight, right after dusk, darkness will be a welcome protector.”

They fell silent, wrapped around each other, each counting the minutes, the trees around them suddenly seeming less like a forest and more like a trap waiting to be sprung.

As dusk neared, Knox whispered, “If we need to separate?—”

“Nay, we stay together,” Dru insisted, shaking her head. “I know what you’re thinking, that if you draw them away, I have a better chance of escaping. But that leaves you with a better chance of dying. I won’t have that.”

“It may give both of us a better chance of surviving. With only four guarding us, I can get rid of two easily then reach you to rid us of the other two.”

“Why do you have to make sense?” she asked, her stomach roiling at the prospect.

“Believe me, wife, I don’t want us to separate, but I do want us both to survive. So, we do what is necessary if we must.”

She understood the wisdom of his words. “Where should we meet if separated?”

“The stream where we stopped near the village before entering it. The spot where it flows the quietest.”

“I remember.”

“Then it is settled,” he said, hugging her close and kissing her, praying it wouldn’t be for the last time.

Darkness began to settle thick over the woods, broken only by the flicker of firelight and the low murmur of voices around it. Knox sat motionless beside Dru, legs folded beneath him, his posture loose and lazy to any casual eye. But she could feel the tension in him—like a bowstring stretched too tight.

Across the clearing, three warriors lounged around the fire, their conversation trailing into silence as one by one, they drifted into sleep, exhausted from battle.

Dru leaned close, her whisper barely a breath. “Now?”

Knox’s eyes scanned the camp again, slow and deliberate. “Not yet.” He nodded toward a tree.

A warrior sat guard about ten paces from them, his back against a tree, head drooping only to jerk up every few minutes with a startled snort. He was older, clearly a seasoned warrior. Yet he had been worn out from the battle, giving Knox an edge.

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