Page 89 of The Cruel Highlander's Bride
“Ye dinnae need to worry. Ye asked me to take ye away, and that’s what I’m doin’,” Ewan called back to her, his words slightly muffled by the wind. “I’ll save ye, Ciara,” he promised.
His usually level voice sounded paranoid and frantic as he nudged the horses even faster.
“What are ye talkin’ about?” she shouted, trying to get a look at him through the small window.
“I willnae let Magnus hurt ye the way his faither used to hurt everyone,” he vowed.
Ciara’s heart stuttered. What was going on here? Ewan was sounding more frantic and crazed, and her breathing quickened to match her heartbeat. Their man-at-arms always seemed so collected, but that man was not the one driving the carriage right now. Something was not right…
Her mind raced with possibilities. She accepted the fact that they were some distance past her father’s castle, and if that was the case, then Ewan was not taking her anywhere that she wanted to go.
A cold shiver ran down her spine, but she clung to the fact that even in his delusions, the man-at-arms seemed to want to protect her from harm. That didn’t mean she was safe, but she hoped it would buy her some time to come up with an escape plan. There was still so much she didn’t understand about this situation.
“What do ye mean?” she called back to Ewan. “I’ve heard stories about the former Laird…”
“He was an evil, vile man,” he replied, his voice harsh and unwavering.
While he was talking, she slipped her handkerchief out the small window as discreetly as possible. It was embroidered with her initials and had Clan Gunn’s colors. If anyone from her former clan found it, they would recognize it immediately. Hopefully, that would be enough clue for someone to come looking for her.
“What did he do?” she asked.
She would say anything to keep this conversation going. She needed answers because with each minute that passed, the carriage drove further and further away from Gunn Castle.
“He hurt me maither,” Ewan snarled, and Ciara’s stomach dropped even further. This was personal for the man. “I had to listen to her cry every night because of that man.”
Ciara’s eyes filled with tears for his mother, and for all the women the former Laird MacLeon had hurt. What happened to them wasn’t fair or right, and some part of her understood Ewan’s actions.
The trauma of watching someone you love getting hurt, when there was nothing that could be done to stop it, could be all-encompassing. And it seemed the man had fully given himself over to that trauma. There may be no reasoning with the man, but she had to try.
“I willnae let his spawn cause any more pain,” Ewan roared.
“Magnus isnae like that, ye ken him,” she pleaded. “He’s nae like is his faither.”
“He’s a violent killer who uses lasses, just like his old man. Ye saw him tonight at that place!”
“Nay, nay, he’s nae like that!” she cried.
“I’ve seen ye act skittish around him, too. Dinnae lie lass, ye’re scared of him,” Ewan insisted.
She wanted to scream. Magnus may have been a liar, but he was nothing like the man who had sired him. She knew wholeheartedly that any woman he was with tonight wanted to be there. He may be a liar, but he would never force himself on someone, no matter his power or status.
But how could she convince Ewan of this? He was lost to his own past, seeing evil everywhere. In his delusions, he was helping her, and she feared he would never stop.
“Please, take me to me faither’s castle,” Ciara begged. “They can help me, keep me safe from Magnus.”
The lie tasted like ash on her tongue, but if it could convince Ewan, she would say whatever she needed to.
“Nay!” he screamed. “I thought about that at first, too, but where have they been? They gave ye to him in the first place and left ye there even after ye were threatened! Nay, they cannae be trusted. OnlyIcan protect ye.” Then, in a smooth voice, he added, “I’m takin’ ye to me farm. We can live together happily. As friends or lovers or anythin’ ye want. Ye could keep tutorin’ me—ye do owe me that lesson.” He chuckled.
God, he’s insane.
The way he could switch so quickly between anger and amusement had her shaking in the back of the carriage. Ewan was unstable, and despite his claims to help her, as long as she was with him, she was decidedlynotsafe, like she’d assumed.
She considered throwing herself out of the carriage for one brief moment, before the sound of horses’ hooves from behind them reached her ears.
Please, please…she silently begged.
Was anyone even looking for her? Magnus would have made it home form the brothel by now but did he even realize that she was missing? And if he did find her bed chambers empty, would he even come to find her?
