“Aye, but the King’s money is gone. Ye have to believe that the rest of the plan will go into effect as well.”
Someone stole her dowry? Ness needed that money! His clan needed that money even if Ava didn’t believe they deserved it.
“Ye shouldna worry. Ness is just as paranoid as Errol. Cormac will find himself alone at the bridge.”
What was going to happen at the bridge? The voices faded away, and Ava hurriedly unlatched the stall and slipped out. When she took a step forward, her dress snagged on a on the closure of the stall. “No, no,” she whispered as she tugged on the dress. It ripped when she finally tugged it free, and she hurried out of the stables, but the guards were gone, and she had no idea how to identify them or ask them what they knew.
Ness thought that Cormac was ready to help him after his sisters had nearly died. He would meet the man at the bridge, especially if he thought that it would help the clan. When? When was it going to happen?
Uncertain, she turned to the keep and took a few steps forward. Surely Lachlan and Sloane would help her, but with the festival going and the newborn, they had their hands full, and if their own guards hadn’t come forward with the information, what’s to say that they didn’t have more traitors among their ranks?
Swiveling her head, she looked to the barn. Melli could get her there much faster to warn Ness. She knew the way, but it would be a hard ride for her.
Glancing up to the window in the loft, she smiled faintly. She certainly wouldn’t be able to make the trip in a dress, and the grooms were out celebrating. Now would be the perfect time for her to slip out.
22
Nicholas stood guard at the vault room door and glowered when Ness walked towards him. He and the other men had been on edge since the disappearance of Ava’s dowry, and Ness knew that they didn’t understand why he’d sent her away.
“I am guarding an empty room,” Nicholas growled. “Have ye come to check up on me and see if I am doing a good job?”
Ness ignored him. When they did get the money back, and they would, Ness wanted to make sure that temporary vault was still standing. Nicholas wasn’t guarding the money. He was guarding the safety of the room.
Instead of arguing with him further, he thrust the piece of paper out for Nicholas to read. “Cormac believes he has found where the bandits have hidden the money. There are several caves along the river shores, but ’tis too many for his small group to search. I am riding out there to join the search. Idris is going to relieve ye if ye want to come with me.”
At that Nicholas brightened. “Aye! Anything to get back out into the sun.”
“Good. I will saddle the horses. Idris should be by momentarily to relieve ye.”
Twenty minutes later, they were on their way. Ness had his doubts about Cormac’s find, but it made sense. The dowry would have been too large for bandits to have carried away without causing some suspicion, and the caves were a perfect place for them to stash it while they came up with a plan, assuming that this was an impromptu robbery and not a plan they already had in place. If that were the case, it might be months before they recovered everything.
Ness didn’t have months, so he could only hope that Cormac was right.
“Do ye trust him?” Nicholas asked him softly.
“I cannae imagine that he would set fire to the vault while his sisters were inside, and I doona think he had enough time to plan the robbery. He may want me dead, but he wouldna want the clan to suffer.” Ness said finally. He wanted to believe that Cormac was coming around, but he knew that it was hard for a stubborn man to change his mind.
“Have ye heard from Ava? Is she settled in?”
Ness just grunted. He’d received word that Sloane had given birth to a healthy baby boy, but he had not heard from Ava. He feared that she would not forgive him for sending her away. When it was safe for her to come home, she may not return. It made him sick to think about, but he wouldn’t trade her safety for anything.
As they neared the caves, he slowed. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled. Cormac had ridden out with half a dozen men, so where were they?
“Ness?” Nicholas asked. He must have been having the same reaction.
Holding his breath, he reached for the sword by his side, but he barely had time to draw it before the caves erupted with shouts of rage as Cormac and his men rushed him. Heart pounding, Ness readjusted his grip on his sword as he mentally identified the men attacking him. Some of them he knew were his enemies, but others he thought might be his friends. Standing on the edge, Cormac watched with a maniacal smile.
The half dozen who there were supposed to be here had nearly doubled, and Ness and Nicholas were horribly outnumbered. “Ness, run,” Nicholas shouted. “I’ll buy you some time.”
Ness didn’t say a word. He wasn’t leaving Nicholas, and the other man knew it. Gritting his teeth, he held his sword high in the air and bellowed a war cry as he raced toward the crowd. Mounted, they had a slight advantage, and Ness cut through a couple of men. Rage urged him on. How dare these men turn on him after everything that he’d sacrificed! After everything that he’d done for them.
Cormac was his target. Take down their leader and they would falter. The man stood near the edge of the bridge with a cold and a satisfied smile on his face. This was the kind of man who was comfortable letting others fight his battles for him. How could they support someone like him? He was all charm and manipulations, but he wanted the adoration, and he wanted to be feared.
Gritting his teeth, he turned his horse toward Cormac and headed toward him as he swung his sword down at another man. Nicholas’s cry of pain drew his attention away for just a second, but that was all anyone needed.
The dagger buried cleanly into his calf, and he jerked and stared at the young man on the ground. He met an uncertain gaze at the boy stumbled back with fear and horror in his eyes. He could be no more than fifteen. Anger and rage pulsed in Ness, but he couldn’t deal a blow to the boy. He just couldn’t.
Pain lanced up his body, and he fought futilely against the crowd. Pulled from their horses, they were disarmed. Hands roughly pulled his arms behind his back, and as someone kicked at the wound on his leg, he fell to his knees. Looking over at Nicholas, he moaned when he saw the wound on his friend’s head.
Ava. Although he desperately wished that he could see his wife one last time, he was happy that she was away and safe where Cormac could never touch her.
Bubbling with rage, Ness growled and looked up as the traitor approached them.
“I didna think it would be this easy to get ye here, Laird,” Cormac sneered as he tipped the point of the sword under Ness’s chin and forced his head up. “Ye are weaker than I believed. Or naïve. Did ye really think that I would help ye?”
“Not weaker,” Ness rumbled. He refused to let his anger get the best of him. “I hold fast to my belief that the Fentons can come together again in trust and love.”
Throwing back his head, Cormac howled with laughter. His whole body shook, and when he looked at Ness again, there were tears running down his cheek. “Trust and love? There was a time when the Fentons were feared throughout the whole land. We may not have been vast, but we were fierce. Now ye want to be likened to puppies!”
Ness darted his gaze to the other men. If he and Nicholas stood any chance of surviving, then he would have to turn them against Cormac. He would need to take control of his land again. “Ye risked yer family just to turn on me? Yer sisters nearly died. They are yer blood, and ye turned on them!”
“Did ye really think that the possible death of my sisters would make me give up my goals? They are weak, sniveling fools who look at ye with love in their eyes and come home sighing in pleasure with thoughts of ye. I have no use for them. I only regret that yer wife was able to save them.”
It was exactly the crack that he was looking for, and Ness dug in and hoped to pry it apart. “If family means so little to ye, then how do ye expect to keep a clan together?” Ness
accused boldly. “How can ye expect their loyalty when ye willna protect yer own family?”
“You dare doubt me?!” Cormac’s face twisted in rage. “They will follow me because I have more of a claim to this land than ye do! I am the true heir to the Fenton line!”
True heir? The implications hit him hard, and Ness’s eyes widened. “Ye are Errol’s son?”
More in control, Cormac began to pace as he talked and swung his sword menacingly. Around him, his men bubbled with dangerous energy. The looked poised to strike at any minute. “I didna know the truth until my cow of a mother died and made her confession. Fer three decades, we’d lived off my father’s land and his mercy while she kept the truth from both of us! I told my father the truth, and he embraced me like family and swore that I would be his heir, and then ye killed him the next day!”
Ness had no problems believing that Cormac was Errol’s son. They were both fixated on power and control to the point of insanity. He wasn’t the only one surprised by the declaration. Some of the other men began to exchange uncertain glances. Cormac didn’t realize it yet, but the clan wasn’t going to take too kindly to him being Errol’s son. No more than they liked the idea that Ness was his nephew.
“I didna kill Errol Fenton,” Ness said as he struggled to keep calm. “I had no idea that ye were his.”
Cormac was his blood!
“Lies! ’Tis why ye put me in the fields to work instead of in the guard. ’Tis why ye wouldna listen to my ideas! Ye wanted to keep me down, but I was born to rise to great heights. I was born to make the Fentons warriors again!”
“Ye were never trained as a warrior, Cormac. I wouldna risk yer life without proper training, and I did listen to yer ideas, but I had to prioritize. Ye had good long-term solutions, and I would have put them to use, but there were other things that needed my attention.”
Cormac smiled cruelly. Evil glinted in his eye. “Now nothing needs yer attention. With ye gone, nothing will stand in the way of me taking control of what is rightfully mine.”
Ness knew what was going to happen even before Cormac made a move. The conversation was over. There would be no reasoning with Cormac, and his men were too far gone to listen to reason.
Ava. Silently, he sent up an apology and wished that somehow, she would know that he loved her.
“No!” Nicholas shouted, and, surprisingly, some of the other men stepped forward to stop him, but Cormac was already raising his sword. Knowing that Cormac was about to deal a fatal blow, Ness had one choice. Pushing himself back, he managed to avoid most of the sword’s arc, but the blade scraped along his chest. The pain took him by surprise, and he lost his balance and teetered off the edge and down to the rushing water of the river below.
Ava had just reached a clearing on the other side of the river when she heard the bellows along the bridge. Looking up, her heart stopped when she saw the figure hurtling off the frightening height before it dove into the frigid waters below.
Ness.
“No!” Screaming in fear, she tumbled off Melli and hurried to the edge of the water. Anxiously, she waited for him to surface and tried not to let the trail of blood paralyze her. It too long, far too long, but finally, she saw him bob a few meters down and raced along the river toward him. If she could outrun the currents, then she might be able to catch him before she lost him for good.
Pumping her legs faster than ever before, she ignored the burning in her lungs and the fear in her heart. Saving Ness was all that she could focus on. When he was close enough to the shore line, she didn’t hesitate before diving into the water. Grateful that her lonely life, and seek of adventure, had led to her studying the river and learning to fish. She looked at the water and let the currents move her while she kept an eye out for Ness. When he started to float past her, she grabbed him and pulled him close as she struggled to keep them both out of water.
His eyes were closed, and she feared that she was already too late, but that didn’t stop her. She would get him out of the water.
Snagging one of the fallen branches in the water, she used it to push off some of the rocks toward the shore until she could touch the bottom. Finally, she dragged them both onto land.
“Ness,” she said hoarsely as she checked his breathing. His chest moved up and down steadily, and she sighed in relief. Tearing away the rest of his shirt, she examined the wound on his chest. It was long and ugly, but it was shallow and would close on its own. Desperately, she started to smack his cheeks. “Ness, ye need to open yer eyes. Wake up. Please, Ness. Wake up.”
With a groan, he began to stir and cough up water. Tears streamed down her face as she rolled him over on his side. Happy. Relieved. Terrified. So many emotions hit her all at once. She covered her face and sobbed.
“Ava,” he rasped. “Doona cry.”
“Doona tell me what to do!” she cried as she slapped his chest. Groaning in pain, he captured her hands, and she cried even harder. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I have ye. Ye are all right.”
“Ava. Ye came back.”
“Did ye really think that ye could keep me away? I thought ye knew me better by now.” Leaning down, she kissed him softly on his lips. “I thought ye were dead, Ness. I saw ye go over the cliff, and I thought ye were already dead. Doona ever do that to me again! I almost didna get to ye in time!”
Chuckling softly, he lifted his head and looked at her. “Thank the stars for trousers.”
23
They rested until they were both shivering from the cold. Hoping that the men weren’t scouring the river for proof that Ness was dead, Ava built a fire to dry them. Tugging off his boots, she saw the reason that Ness was still weak. “Yer leg. Ness, ye’ve been stabbed.”
“Aye.”
Really? That was all he could say? “’Tis still bleeding. We have to cauterize it.”
“I doona have my sword.”
She really could not understand how he remained so calm! She took a deep breath to calm herself.
The idea of what she was going to have to do next made her a little ill. Reaching down by her ankle, she removed the dagger from the holster and held it up. “Will this work?”
Ness smiled weakly. “I should have known that ye would have that with ye. Heat the blade as hot as ye can.”
Staring into the fire, she hesitated. Slowly, she raised the blade over the flame. “I doona know if I can do this,” she whispered. “Ye are better at this than I am!”
“Aye, but I might pass out. Ye can do this, Ava. Ye are the strongest lass that I have ever met. Little by little, ye have stripped away every assumption that I ever made about ye and turned me into a real ass for thinking them, but I wouldna change a single thing about ye. I know that ye can do this. If it helps, remember that I sent ye away.”
Although she didn’t feel like it, she chuckled dryly. “That did upset me. Ye are an upsetting man.”
“We doona have much time, Ava. Cormac will wait until I am thought to be dead before he makes his move, but if he has the support of the clan, I will never win it back. He is Errol’s son. He has a right to challenge me, and with their support, he will gain the lairdship.”
The handle started to heat under her palm, it was time.
“Bite down on something,” she whispered.
“Ava,” he started.
“Now, Ness. Bite down on something now. If I keep thinking about it, I will never be able to do it.”
Undoing his belt, he pulled it free. As soon as it was between his teeth, she felt the despair wrack her body. Knowing that it was now or never, she pulled the blade out of the fire and placed it on his wound. His muffled roaring released the flood gates, and she fell apart. Dropping the knife, she scrambled to his side and held him, careful not to disturb his chest wound, while she chanted his name over and over again.
“Ava. Ava, my love,” he murmured, and she realized that he was talking to her. Looking down, she saw the tired smile on his face, and she felt a rush of relief. He was all right. He w
as no longer in pain. Her gaze traveled down to her leg. It was no longer bleeding. She’d done it. She’d actually done it, although the person who’d fallen apart was her and not him. “I am all right, my sweet. Doona cry.”
“How many times do I have to tell ye not to tell me what to do,” she laughed. “Sleep, Ness. Ye must sleep.”
“Just for a couple of hours, and then we must return.”
He closed his eyes, and she held him by the fire and vowed that she wouldn’t let nothing else bad happen to him.
It was still dark when he started to stir. “Nicholas,” he rasped as he fought to stand.
“Easy,” Ava murmured as she helped Ness to his feet. “It’s Ava.”
“Ava. Aye.“ He blinked, and she saw the pain in his eyes in the dying light of the fire. “Nicholas was with me. He and the others would never have accepted Cormac as laird. He may have killed him. If his body is in the water…”
Oh, no. Grief swept over her, but she held it at bay. “We cannae get to him now. Ye were swept too far down the river. We must find Melli.”
“Melli?”
“The horse, Ness. I rode here on a horse.” He had weakened with his fight to the waters, and they both stumbled as he nearly collapsed on her after their first step.
“Ava.” Reaching out, he grabbed a tree trunk and leaned against it. “I was wrong to send ye away. I hope ye can forgive me.”
He had the look of a man about to give up. Framing his face in her hands, she shook him a little. “Look at me, Ness. I have words for ye, and believe me, I am going to give them to ye, but now is not the time. Cormac believes ye are dead. He is going to the keep to declare himself the heir. We cannae allow this to happen.”
“He is Errol’s son,” Ness rasped. “He is the true heir. My cousin.”
Was he losing hope? She’d wanted him to wake up stronger. Life around him was falling apart, but she had absolute faith that he would find a way to make this right. “This isna about blood, Ness. This is about strength and acceptance. The Fentons will have the same fears about Cormac as they did ye. Ye cannae abandon them. We must go to them and show them that ye are the better man.”
Highlander's Untamed Lass (Highlander's Seductive Lasses Book 3) Page 14