Page 158 of Bride of Fire
While they bent their foolish, unwary heads together, her fingers finally found and closed around the dagger she’d dropped.
She grinned through bloody teeth.
She might never regain Morgan’s affections, not after the lie she’d told him about his son. But if she couldn’t have him back, neither could the scheming bitch who was clamoring for his affection.
Mustering her strength for one bold attack, she scraped the knife across the ground toward her and tested her wobbling legs.
As she moved, her weight shifted to her injured arm. She bit back a groan and blinked away the red haze of pain.
Then, with strength born of vengeance, she surged up all at once, stabbing toward the belly of the unsuspecting wench.
Time dragged to a slog as Alicia perceived the next moments in isolated flashes of detail.
The thrust of the knife in her left hand.
The insipid chatter of the woman.
The sudden sharp turn of Morgan’s head.
The widening of his eyes.
It was strange, she thought. She’d never known the exact color of his eyes. But she could see now that they matched his beloved Highland scrub. Brown. Green. Gold.
Then her attention was distracted by the loss of her target.
Morgan was shoving the wench aside with his left arm, moving her out of range.
Alicia’s brows drew together in frustration.
It wasn’t fair.
She deserved this. She deserved revenge.
With one last burst of effort, she angled the dagger, hoping to at least maim her victim if she couldn’t kill her.
But her lunge was cut short as Morgan’s claymore came down, colliding with her blade.
The impact of steel on steel jarred her, sending a shudder up her arm.
But she held tight to the dagger. She’d be damned if she’d let herself be disarmed again.
Before she could recoil for another strike, Morgan knocked her aside with the flat of his blade.
Weakened and off-balance, she staggered sideways. She fell onto her injured arm, which collapsed beneath her.
For an instant, she lay stunned on her belly. Numb. Confused. Unable to sort out what had just happened.
It made no sense.
Even Morgan’s words as he towered over her at first had no meaning to her.
“That’s the last time ye’ll attack the ones I love,” he proclaimed.
Then the truth of what she’d done sank in.
Strangely, she felt no pain.
All she felt was disbelief and a curious, comical irony. Morgan didn’t know how true his words were, she thought.
