Page 32 of Awoken
“Ye will pay for this, Campbell,” MacKinnon wheezed, his eyes wild, his face contorted. “I’ll hunt ye down like a dog.”
Ross ignored him, his gaze fixed upon Leanna. “Do it.”
Moments later MacKinnon’s mouth was firmly gagged.
“Bind his ankles with the other half,” Ross instructed, “and pass me the veil.”
This time she obeyed without hesitation. Meanwhile, his knee still pressed firmly between MacKinnon’s heaving shoulder-blades, Ross straightened up. He used his dirk to cut the veil into strips, and with them he bound the clan-chief’s wrists behind him. He then secured the binding on MacKinnon’s ankles with it—once the man recovered from his blow to the groin, he’d find a way to free himself of his bonds. However, Ross wanted to ensure it took him a while to do so.
Rising to his feet, Ross gazed down at the man he’d followed loyally for the past decade, a man he’d sworn fealty to. He’d pledged his life to serving MacKinnon, and now he hadn’t just broken that pledge, but he’d openly betrayed him.
Ross had imagined that he’d feel a terrible weight of guilt at doing such a thing, but he did not.
The only emotion he felt right now was a seething anger in his gut as he stared down at MacKinnon, trussed like a Yuletide capon. The man writhed against his bonds, his movements frenzied, his eyes wild.
The urge to kick him to death reared within Ross, his rage a dark beast that screamed to be unleashed.
Controlling the impulse, Ross took a step back from the clan-chief. He wouldn’t do it. Unlike the man he served, he didn’t have that streak of latent cruelty. He could be ruthless when necessary, but he knew when to draw the line.
Ross’s mouth compressed at the irony of it.Perhaps ye have a moral compass after all.
He turned to Lady Leanna then. She was staring at him as if he’d just sprouted another head.
“I’ll get ye a cloak, and then we must leave Dunan.” He made for the doorway. “Come on.”
Leanna edged past MacKinnon. Her heart still hammered, and she felt sick with nerves, yet the relief at seeing the clan-chief trussed upon the ground made her knees wobble.
She deliberately avoided his wild gaze, for she knew it would be murderous. Instead, she wordlessly followed Ross Campbell to the door. His appearance in the chamber shocked her. When he’d first burst into the room, brandishing a dirk, she’d thought he’d come to help MacKinnon.
A moment later he’d surprised her by coming to her aid instead.
She didn’t understand his behavior, or entirely trust it, but there was no time to question him. For the moment he was her ally, and she would do as he asked if it meant getting free of Dunan.
Stepping out into the hall, she pulled the chamber door closed behind her. However, she saw that Campbell had halted a few feet away, his gaze trained farther down the hall.
Leanna’s attention followed his, and she froze.
A few yards away stood a woman. Dressed in a night-rail, with a long shawl pulled tight around her shoulders, Drew MacKinnon stared at them.
It was then that Leanna saw the angry red swelling upon the woman’s left cheekbone. Her long brown hair was unbound tonight, giving her a softer, more vulnerable look.
Long, tense moments passed, and Leanna held her breath, waiting for MacKinnon’s sister to explode, to yell out and bring the guards running. Yet she did not.
Instead, Lady Drew met Campbell’s eye, and a strange look passed between them. “Take the South Gate and leave via the kirk yard,” she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. “There are fewer guards there … it’s safer.”
Campbell gave a curt nod.
Drew MacKinnon’s gaze shifted then to the closed door of the clan-chief’s bed-chamber.
“He’s alive,” Campbell said softly. “I’ve tied him up … so he won’t cause any trouble for the time being.”
Lady Drew’s head inclined, her mouth lifting at the corners.
“Lady Leanna needs a cloak,” Campbell continued.
MacKinnon’s sister favored him with a cool smile. “Then I shall fetch her one of mine.”
They slipped out of the broch and into the bailey below, before making their way to the stables. Cloak clutched close, Leanna watched as Campbell saddled a leggy courser with deft movements. He didn’t look her way while he worked, yet she stared him down nonetheless.
