Page 45 of Scot of Desire
Bran backed up, watching as Cillian advanced with a fresh dirk he pulled from the back of his belt.
“Say goodbye tae yer lover, Ilyssa.” Cillian spoke with a kind of darkened relish that made Bran want to spit on the ground beneath him. “After today, ye’ll ken nay other lover than me.”
A strangled cry of fear escaped Ilyssa as she fought against Gilroy, but he was too strong and held her in place with the blade at the curve of her throat.
“Ilyssa,” Bran called out to her, knowing he could not fight anymore if he wanted to save her life.
Better she is alive than dead. I’d dae anything tae avoid that.
She lowered her chin as much as she possibly could, but an inch. Their eyes connected across the space.
“I love ye.” He mouthed the words, not saying them aloud.
The tears she had been fighting for so long now spilled down her cheeks.
Bran looked toward Cillian prepared to die, the rope loose in his grasp. Cillian raised the dirk high.
Bang– a sudden thud sounded against the door.
Cillian stepped back, just a single step, that dirk still high and threatening.
Then it happened again. Someone threw their weight against the door, and it snapped, swinging open.
The tall and hulking figure of Tad stepped in through the door, and behind him was the small form of Catreena.
Tad’s grey eyes shot quickly between Cillian holding the dirk and Laird Gilroy who had the blade at Ilyssa’s throat.
“Release me sister,” Tad said in a dark voice that Bran had never heard before in his life. Slowly, threateningly, with clear intent, he drew a sword from his own belt. “I said, release her – now!”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Laird Tad.” Despite the sudden ease of Laird Gilroy’s voice, he held just as tightly onto Ilyssa as he did before. She thrust her hands against his forearms, trying her best to break free, but he held her fast. The blade against her throat cut into her skin and he wobbled a little with her, keeping her firmly in place. “I am simply trying tae uphold the terms of our clans’ agreement. Would ye break them now?”
“When ye have a blade tae me sister’s throat? Aye, I would.”
She could hear Tad advancing slowly, though she couldn’t see him for her head was forced too far back by Gilroy’s grasp.
“Nae that there is anything tae break.” Tad’s words made Gilroy’s grasp weaken, just a little.
Ilyssa tried to break free again, only Gilroy caught it in time and shifted the blade to the side of her throat.
“Stay back!” Gilroy warned.
Now, Ilyssa could see exactly what was happening.
Bran and Cillian were facing one another, both ready for a fight. Catreena was in the doorway, her hands gripping to the doorframe as she looked about her, clearly hunting for a weapon. Tad stood in front of Gilroy and Ilyssa, his sword raised in his grasp.
“Another step, Laird Tad MacBean, and I kill yer sister.”
“I dinnae believe ye. Why would ye dae that now when all ye wanted was tae trap her in marriage in the first place?” Tad took a small step forward. “The contract’s a fake.”
“What?” Bran snapped from his position squaring up to Cillian.
“A fake,” Tad said again. “I went tae the council. They were all baffled by this agreement. Nae one of them had heard of it before, then one remembered me grandfaither saying he hated the Grant clan for their greed. He was certain he’d heard him say tae never form an alliance with them. Now, if that was the case, why would he ever give away his granddaughter’s hand?”
There was silence around the room for a second. The only sound was Ilyssa’s heavy breathing and Tad’s quiet footsteps as he took another step forward.
“I found the man who slipped the falsified contract intae me study. A footman, a spy fer the Grant clan. I found him and under careful interrogation, he confessed,” he said in a rush.
