Page 60 of Saved By the Cruel Highlander
“Felix?” Holly echoed.
“Aye, that was his name. A brute, by the sounds of it.” Eliza shook her head and wore a large smile. “They said the Laird would duel him, each with only a sword, and to the death.”
“What?” Holly gasped. Her heart beat quicker at the thought of it.
Did I make a grave mistake by admittin’ to Elias what Felix had planned? He would have surely given up by now.
“I need to find them,” she said. “Will ye take care of Cole for a minute?”
“Aye, of course, Me Lady,” Eliza said, bobbing a small curtsey before she ran off toward the stairs, leaping down into the bowels of the castle.
She had just made it there when Elias and Laird McKinnon emerged from the darkness, walking toward Holly.
Holly let out a sigh of relief, the questions still swirling in her mind.
Footsteps sounded from behind, and she spun around, on high alert after what she’d heard. It was Cole, running toward her. Eliza was hot on his heels but unable to catch him.
Holly smiled and chuckled before turning back to the Laird. He was conversing with Laird McKinnon, even after seeing her approach, and she didn’t want to interrupt them, so she waited for them to reach her.
Then, her mouth dropped open.
She saw the blood on his hands and immediately ran to him.
“Me goodness,” she said, taking him by the arm. Her mind was torn between the pleasure she had felt with him lying on the blanket and the thought that he now might be mortally wounded. “Come with me. We have to get ye to Cassandra to take a look at ye. Where are ye injured?”
Elias chuckled. “I’m fine, lass. ‘Tis nae me blood.”
“Nae yer blood?” Holly asked, relieved.
Laird McKinnon chortled. “So, I finally get to meet the lass who can manhandle Laird McAllister like this. Who drives him to use up his favors in huntin’ down a man.”
Holly quickly let go of Elias’s arm in embarrassment and took a step back. “Laird McKinnon, it’s a pleasure to meet ye.”
“And she kens who I am without an introduction,” Laird McKinnon said.
Cole had reached Holly and stood by her side, not saying a word. Holly looked at Eliza, whose face was apologetic, and she waved her away.
“I like to keep up with the clans in the area,” she admitted. “It’s best to ken who yer neighbors are, both good and bad.”
“And which is Clan McKinnon?” Laird McKinnon asked with a raised eyebrow.
“If Laird McAllister trusts ye enough to have ye here on any sort of business, then ye are definitely an ally and friend of Clan McAllister.”
Laird McKinnon nudged Elias with his elbow. “I like her more and more, Laird McAllister. I can see why ye like her.”
Holly looked down at the floor as she blushed.
“All right, enough of this idle chat,” Elias said. “I was comin’ to find ye, Holly. Ye have a right to ken what I’ve done.”
Holly raised her head to look at him. The look in his eyes reflected uncertainty, but not a lack of confidence. Whatever was done was done, and he was not ashamed of it, but he did need to hear her opinion on it.
“The blood,” Holly blurted before he could start explaining. “Does it belong to Felix Grant?”
“Aye,” Elias said plainly. “I had him brought to me, and when I questioned him, he admitted that he meant to poison ye. If I let him leave the castle, he would have done everythin’ in his power to kill ye and me.”
“Aye, it’s the truth,” Laird McKinnon added. “I was there to hear the man’s madness. He didnae even plead for his life or deny it. He only spoke about how he would still do it. Then, he had the gall to attack Laird McAllister. What McAllister did was fair.”
“Aye, it was,” Holly agreed.
