Page 64 of Awoken
“MacKinnon might have something to say about that.” Broderick stepped closer, and as the first glimmers of sun lightened the morning behind him, Leanna saw his face clearly. He had handsome, if austere, features that were set in a hard expression. However, his eyes were troubled.
“Is he here?” Ross asked, his tone unchanging.
“No … he’s gone to Duncaith.”
A brief silence followed these words. Leanna’s gaze slid down Broderick’s burly form to the sword that hung at his side. Interestingly, he hadn’t yet drawn it.
“And the rest of yer men?” Ross asked. “Surely, ye aren’t searching for us alone.”
“I sent them ahead, to look farther down the coast,” Broderick replied, his voice giving nothing away. “I had a feeling ye would be at the docks this morning.”
Although Leanna didn’t glance his way, she sensed Ross’s smile. “Ye know me well.”
“I thought I did … until a couple of days ago.”
“Don’t tell me ye wouldn’t have done the same thing,” Ross replied, his tone hardening just a little. “We both knew MacKinnon had gone too far … we should never have abducted Leanna.”
“And yet we did,” Broderick countered. “And unlike ye, I continue to serve him.”
“Ye saw MacKinnon slay Father Athol,” Ross said quietly. “Do ye think if any of us displeased him, he wouldn’t have done the same to us? We were both living on borrowed time at Dunan. I had to make a decision.”
“And ye have, it seems.” There was an edge to Broderick’s voice then that Leanna couldn’t quite isolate. Anger or wry humor, she couldn’t be sure.
Silence fell upon the docks. Leanna glanced askance at the merchant. The older man stood upon the deck of his birlinn, gaze narrowed while he observed the unfolding scene.
“I love Leanna,” Ross said finally, his voice low and steady, “and I’ll die before I see her back in MacKinnon’s clutches.”
Leanna’s chest tightened at these words. Suddenly, she found it hard to draw breath. Ross had told her how he felt, but to hear him publicly announce it confirmed that he’d meant what he’d said.
Carr Broderick’s grey-blue eyes widened, before his mouth quirked. “Ross Campbell in love … never thought I’d see it.”
“Neither did I … but the past few days have changed me.”
“Ye have given everything up,” Broderick replied, his tone pensive now. “Everything ye sweated blood to achieve.”
“Leanna is worth the sacrifice.”
“But ye have nothing other than the clothes on yer back.”
“I have some coin I’ve managed to save over the years.” Ross patted the pouch he kept tucked away inside his vest. “It’ll be enough to get us started.”
Broderick huffed a deep breath and folded his arms across his broad chest. “So, ye think I’m going to let ye go, do ye?”
Ross held his friend’s eye, his head cocking slightly. “Ye sent yer men ahead for a reason … ye wanted to speak to me alone. Ye didn’t want MacKinnon or the others knowing ye had found me.”
Broderick’s mouth thinned at this, and Leanna realized with a jolt that Ross was right. His friend was conflicted; she could see the battle he was waging with himself in his shadowed eyes.
“Damn ye, Ross,” he growled finally. “Do ye realize the position ye have put me in?”
Ross nodded. “I’d hoped to spare ye this.”
“Does this mean we’re going now?” the merchant spoke up. His gravelly voice held a wary edge. “Sorry to intrude, lads … but the sun’s rising, and I’d prefer to be on my way.”
Broderick frowned at this, his attention never wavering from Ross. “Where are ye headed?”
“It’s best ye don’t know, Carr,” Ross replied softly. “For yer own good … and ours.”
A bitter smile twisted Broderick’s face. “Afraid that MacKinnon might try and torture it from me?”
