Page 61 of Intrigued By A Highlander

He turned to Dru, his gaze raking over her. His jaw clenched when he saw the bruise blooming on her cheek. He stretched his hand out to her.

She reached up and took hold of it and he eased her up onto her feet.

“You are far too reckless?” he admonished, his heart thudding wildly in his chest.

Fear had struck him swiftly and so powerfully he thought it would knock him off his feet when he saw the peril she had gotten herself into. But his warrior instinct didn’t fail him. He’d been ready to rip the man in two with his bare hands he’d been so furious.

She smiled. “I did exactly what I needed to do.”

Her smile calmed his worry and his heart—somewhat. “And what was that?”

“I held him off long enough for you to arrive.” She poked him in the chest. “Why are so many mercenaries fearful of you?”

“Have Mave look at that bruise,” Knox ordered, ignoring her question and thinking about the unshakeable trust she had in him.

“She’s busy and the bruise will fade with time.”

“That wasn’t a suggestion, Dru,” he said, taking her chin gently in his hand to tilt her head and get a better look at the area that had deepened in color. “Have Mave look at it while I speak with Owen.”

“Owen?” she asked, having assumed from what he had said about the young man he wanted to talk with that it was Owen. She hoped to keep him from speaking to him. She worried that fear of Knox might have the young man revealing something he shouldn’t. “I know Owen.”

“How?”

“I’ve passed through these parts before.”

“So, you knew where Autumn lived?”

“I knew she lived around these parts somewhere, but I had no reason to know more and with her connection to Lord Torrance, I didn’t want to know.” She almost bit her lips since that was a lie—a lie that couldn’t be helped. “You asked for my help to find her because I?—”

“Peddle in information.”

“Merchant of information sounds better. By the way, what did the merchant have to say?” she asked.

“I’ll tell you later. Right now, I want to talk with Owen.”

“He’d talk more easily to me than to you, which means I can get more out of him than you can.”

Knox didn’t argue with her. “Fine, talk to him. I’ll go let Mave know you need her.”

Dru hurried to Owen.

“You need to be careful,” he said as soon as she reached him. “The merchant said that there is a death bounty on Autumn. Someone wants her dead. And Lord Torrance is adamant about finding his half-sister.”

“I know. I heard,” Dru said and saw fear in Owen’s eyes. “What is it, Owen?”

“I heard the elders talking. They say these men will not offer coin to learn the truth. They will hurt people until they have their answer. Knox does not know who you are, does he?”

Dru shook her head.

“This time, you really need to disappear,” Owen said. “You need to let the forest whisper you away before it’s too late. Wilbur, Rona, and I are the only ones left who know your true identity and we are going to take our leave tonight before it’s too late.”

“Where will you go?” Dru asked anxiously, worried for the ones who had remained so faithful to her.

“We don’t know yet.”

“Clan MacLeish,” she suggested quickly. “Speak with Quint or Shade. Tell them Dru sent you and you need a safe home.”

“Are you sure they will welcome us?”

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