A shot rang out and Aaron’s head snapped back, his vehement words forever silenced.
• • •
Mariel stared in horror as blood pooled around Aaron’s lifeless form. She had imagined him dead many times but had not actually thought to ever see it. His death did not elicit the surge of powerful victory she had once envisioned.
“Some people talk too damn much.” A smooth, polished voice came from the other side of the room. The man’s accent held an air of pretention that smacked of nobility. Lord Hampton had shown up for the fight.
Mariel turned in his direction as he exited a hidden door in the wall. He was far more handsome than she had assumed he might be. Dark hair curled just over the tips of his ears and his cheekbones were high beneath his regal brow. Sharp gray eyes glinted with hatred when they came to rest on Kieran. “So, we meet again, brother.”
Kieran tensed. “Ye killed Brennan.” He took a step closer to his adversary, his gaze intense. “Ye hurt Blair.”
Hampton held his ground, his back straight with noble pride. “She was miserable in our marriage because of your actions. If you would have let me have the dowry I earned, none of this would have happened. With all your land and all your wealth, you refused to part with anything while I was forced to live on credit.” Hampton spit out the last word, and his aquiline nose wrinkled in disgust. “A credit, might I add, that has run out. Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to owe the king taxes you cannot pay? I’d been given four months to pay what has been outstanding, and this street urchin consumed three of them with her lack of success.”
He fingered the sword at his side, obviously not realizing the way Kieran’s face darkened with rage. “Not that it matters. I’m pretty sure I can get her location out of you before I kill you. And once I reclaim my wife and her massive inheritance, the funds owed to the crown will be easily paid.”
Kieran loosed a roar and charged forward with his claymore drawn. Hampton pulled an elaborate sword from its scabbard and parried with remarkable skill. Kieran lunged at him again, his heavy blade swinging through the air with enough force to split a man in two. Hampton narrowly evaded the blow.
Hampton feigned to the left and jabbed his thin blade at Kieran’s shoulder. A small, red stain appeared against the stark white linen, but Kieran did not appear to notice. His black gaze remained focused on his target as he gripped his sword with two hands and swung.
The clash of metal on metal rang sharp against the rich walls. Both men grunted with effort and charged into a violent dance that would leave only one standing. Kieran was the more aggressive of the two and forced Hampton backward with powerful thrusts of his sword. The Englishman’s heel bumped the wall behind him, and his confident smirk wavered. For every fatal blow Hampton attempted, there came the ring of failure as Kieran blocked the weapon’s path.
“My men will be here soon,” Hampton growled.
“No soon enough.” Kieran plunged his blade into his opponent’s chest.
Hampton’s body jerked at the impact and blood bubbled from the wound. Surprise filled his cold, gray eyes.
“It is finally done.” Kieran’s voice was gravelly with emotion. He turned toward her, his face grim. “Brennan is avenged and my family is safe.” His dark gaze locked on her with an unreadable expression. “Ye are safe.”
Tears stung her eyes as the realization dawned on her. Over two years she had been under Aaron’s control, forced to sacrifice a part of herself she would never reclaim. She was finally free. Jack was finally free.
“Jack,” she whispered.
Kieran’s hand touched her shoulder. “Aye, lass. Let’s go find yer brother.”
Mariel did not need further encouragement. She turned her back on the ugly past that lay in a broken pile of congealing blood and moved toward a future of promise and safety.
The complex twists and turns of the large home unraveled with simplicity as she followed the path she had traced so many times before. Each hurried footstep brought her closer to Jack until she was running down the darkened hallway.
Faster and faster she ran until it loomed before her, the whitewashed plain wood door in a hallway of countless other doors. The room behind it was little more than a closet. She could see it perfectly in her mind’s eye. The narrow bed, the barren walls pockmarked with scars of disrepair. Her knees went soft, and her hand seemed to drag through time as she reached for the key beneath the doorknob with trembling fingers. What if Aaron had lied? What if she found the room empty?
Her fingertips gripped the cool, unyielding brass, and her heart stuttered with fear.
Kieran’s rough hand closed around hers, his warmth and strength lending her a quiet support as she turned the key. The door swung open with a familiar protesting squeal and revealed the blackness of a room without windows.
Her pulse raced. Was he in there?
“Jack?” Her voice trembled.
Naught answered her desperate call, but silence.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Mariel stepped into the dark room.
“Jack?” Her voice strained with anxiety.
Kieran stepped beside her with a flickering candle in his hand. The flame illuminated the still form of a boy sitting on the bed, his dark head bent low.
He looked up with large, sapphire blue eyes.
“Jack.” Her throat tightened and left his name thick on her tongue. She wanted to run to him, to scoop him into her arms, and cradle him as she had when he was younger. Her feet refused to move, so all she could do was stare down at the little boy who had been her reason for living.
His mouth dropped open and his eyes widened. “Mariel?”
Oh, to hear his sweet voice again, to see him alive. Emotion choked her. Two long years she had waited for this moment, and yet nothing could have prepared her for the rush of affection that ached within her chest.
She stepped toward him, her arms outstretched.
“Get away from me,” he hissed. Contempt glowed in the beautiful eyes that once looked to her with unquestioning love.
“What?” The air grew thin and breathing became difficult.
Hatred glinted in his eyes. “Aaron told me about you,” Jack said. “You could have come for me after I got better, but you never did. He tried to make excuses for you, but I saw through them.” His little hands balled into fists at his side. “I waited for you.”
“It wasn’t like that,” Mariel whispered. Her legs were no longer able to bear her weight, and she slowly sank to the floor. He thought she had left him.
Jack either did not hear her or did not care. “I know the truth. I begged Aaron, and he told me exactly where you had been. He didn’t want to, but I made him. You became a whore and spent your days shopping for fine dresses and jewels and your nights on your back. He said that you didn’t want…you didn’t want your good fortune interrupted. He said you…” His voice trembled. “He said you didn’t want me.”
“No,” Mariel cried and lunged toward him in desperation. If she could cradle him in her arms the way she used to and explain, perhaps he would listen. “No, that’s not true. I wanted to see you—I tried to see you, but he wouldn’t let me.”
Jack leapt off the bed, away from her grasp. “More lies!”
“Aaron is the one who lied. He kept you from me, sometimes moving you in the middle of the night so I wouldn’t find you. Everything I’ve done has been for you, to find you. Jack, please…” Her words shook, laced with a fear she’d never anticipated.
Hesitation crossed Jack’s thin face. Regret lodged in the pit of Mariel’s stomach for the little boy he had been and the years she had missed. She had failed in providing him with the happy childhood he deserved.
“Get away from me.” The small tendons stood out around his neck. “I hate you!”
Large words for a little boy and spoken with such finality, they shredded the remnants of her marred soul. There was so much he didn’t understand, so much he didn’t know, and too much to say
. Her death was imminent upon their arrival back at Skye. There would not be time to explain it all to him, to erase the years of hatred fed to him.
The energy drained from Mariel’s body, and she sank back to the floor. A low keening cry rose from deep within her chest—the brutal sound of her heart breaking.
She had sacrificed more than she ever thought possible. Her pride, her morals, herself. Everything had been for Jack, and now the only thing she faced in her dark world was a traitor’s death—one justly earned.
“Jack.” A stern voice sounded from behind her.
Kieran filled the doorway, a firm gaze fixed on his face. “Come here, lad,” he commanded.
Jack moved back as though unsure of what to do.
“I dinna ask ye if ye wanted to come here, I told ye to. Come here, Jack.” The authority in Kieran’s voice was unmistakable, undeniable even to Jack who skulked to the doorway.
While Kieran’s efforts were appreciated, they would be futile. She would be dead before Jack would ever understand. He was lost to her forever.
The lad was a wee bit of a thing, no taller than Kieran’s hip and doubtlessly weighed less than a child half his age. Dark blue eyes were set hauntingly wide in his narrow, peaked face as he stared up at Kieran.
Kieran crouched down next to Jack so he was eye level with him. “Ye’ve been through a lot, and ye’ve done it alone.”
The lad stayed silent and kept an arm’s reach away from Kieran.
“That’s what men do, lad. It’s no easy. I’ll be the first to say that, but it’s what makes ye a man.”
Jack’s eyes slid to where Mariel lay and shifted back to Kieran. Still he did not speak.
“A real man would do anything for his family. Steal, lie, even kill. Do ye agree?”
Jack nodded and shuffled closer.
“Yer sister did that and more for ye. Do ye know that since I met her, she has thought only of ye? Everything she’s done moved her in yer direction so she could be with ye, to save ye from this life and give ye yer freedom. No matter who she hurt or betrayed.”
Jack’s brow furrowed. “She did?”
“Aye, she did. She had an opportunity for a new life in a beautiful land, surrounded by people who loved her, and she dinna take it. No when ye couldna be with her.”
The boy narrowed his eyes with a wary expression. “How do you know all of this?”
Kieran looked past Jack’s shoulder to where Mariel sat in dejected silence. “Because I’m the man who loves her.”
Her eyes squeezed shut, and a tear slowly trailed down her wet cheek.
He spoke to Jack, but knew he reached Mariel. “Ye knew yer sister a long time ago, but I know her now and can say without a doubt that she isna the woman ye think she is. She is strong and caring, moral and honest.” He met Jack’s gaze. “If ye dinna believe me, look at her. The clothes she wears are those of a warrior.”
Jack glanced at Mariel, and his small lips pursed in apparent confusion. “If what you say is true, why are they letting me go now?”
The lad was quick. “They dinna let ye go. We had to fight for ye. I’ve no ever seen a woman more brave or skilled in battle than her.”
Jack cast a hesitant glance back to where Mariel sat upon the dirty floor. Her luminous stare was fixed on them with a quiet intensity. He turned his gaze to Kieran once more and squeezed his arms tighter against his chest as though preparing himself for a blow. “She didn’t leave me?” he whispered.
“No,” Kieran answered in a low voice, meant only for Jack. “She never stopped fighting for ye, never stopped loving ye.”
The boy turned to where his sister sat. “Mariel?” he said, his small voice breaking.
Mariel did not wait for him to call again. She rose to her feet in a graceful movement and caught him in her arms. Her lips pressed against the top of his head and tears ran freely down her cheeks.
“Jack,” she breathed.
Kieran’s fought the tug at his chest. Mariel had what she wanted.
He slipped back into the hall and waited for them to emerge.
• • •
Mariel hugged Jack to her one last time. The manor always teemed with people coming and going. They could not stay any longer.
“We need to leave,” Mariel said softly. The shoulder of her black shirt was wet with his sweet tears.
Jack’s hand clutched hers, his eyes fixed on her as though he were afraid if he looked away, she would disappear.
Mariel smiled down at him and squeezed his hand. “Everything is fine,” she assured him. “You will always be safe. I’ve made sure of that.”
Kieran waited outside the door for them, his face solemn as they passed through the doorway. Mariel met his gaze and felt the unspoken understanding between them. There was much that needed to be said, but this was neither the time nor the place.
She led them through the house, purposefully choosing paths seldom used in an effort to decrease the chance of stumbling upon a guard or a body. She did not want to take a chance on frightening Jack any further.
There was so much he would have to adjust to already.
The warmth of his little hand inside of hers made her fingers stiff and her palms sweat. The sensation was one she wouldn’t trade for all the jewels in London.
Kieran led them outside to the earthy scent of sun-warmed grass, the daylight brilliant. Never had there been a more beautiful day.
They slipped across the lawn and into the cool shade of the forest where they met with his men. Mariel did a quick count and released the breath she’d been holding. Every one of the warriors that entered the house had emerged, albeit peppered with a few cuts and nicks.
Colin grinned down at her brother. “Ye must be Jack.”
Jack nodded. His eyes grew large as he looked from Colin to the other men around them. “Is everyone so tall?”
Mariel gave a carefree laugh, remembering having thought the same thing.
Colin chuckled as he knelt before Jack. “Aye, we are a tall lot. I’ll let ye ride on my shoulders then ye can be the tallest of all if ye like.”
Jack looked up at Mariel, his gaze questioning. She nodded, and Colin carefully lifted Jack to his shoulders. A slow, tentative smile crept over her brother’s face.
“Shall I run?” Colin teased, jogging in place. The cautious smile erupted in a wave of giggles, and Mariel’s heart lightened at the precious sound. There had been too many days she had thought she might never hear that laughter again.
Colin hunkered his shoulders down with Jack settled securely atop them and lumbered through the trees like a crazed beast.
She glanced at Kieran from beneath the veil of her lashes. Jack would not be saved were not for him. His lies to her brother had been so convincing, she had almost believed them herself.
But she knew better.
She studied his serious profile and her heart turned to lead. He looked straight ahead, his jaw clenched.
He would never forgive her for what she had done. His silence following her confession that morning was answer enough to how he felt. Regardless of the love that would never be returned, she did not regret her words.
She shifted her focus to Jack. He would be happy on Skye.
Yet her joy was hampered by her own impending fate. The life she had been so ready to sacrifice for Jack’s had increased in worth with his freedom. She would not see him thrive in his new home and never get to savor the victory of securing the bond time had loosened between them. Her throat tightened.
Kieran had upheld his end of the bargain for Jack’s safe return. Now she would follow through with her promise and willingly face the public death of a traitor.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Mariel cupped clear, icy water in her hands and splashed her face. Her lips stung with the sweat and grime that trickled down her chin to the rushing creek below. The few hours they’d traveled had felt like an eternity.
She scanned the surrounding trees once more. Jack had said he need
ed to relieve himself and though she had been hesitant to let him leave her side, she knew he required his privacy.
He had been gone too long. Perhaps she should have asked one of the men to accompany him.
A twig snapped behind her. “Jack, you certainly took your time. I was about to come—”
“Ye’re lucky I dinna drop from a tree.”
Mariel spun around and found Kieran standing several paces behind her. Her heart slammed in her chest.
He had cleaned up from battle and tied his hair back, away from his unshaven jaw. A familiar ache lanced through her as she stared at the man she could never have. The man she would never stop loving.
“Jack is with Colin.” His black gaze met hers, and a warmth fluttered to life in the pit of her stomach.
“We need to talk,” he said. “There is much to say.”
He stepped closer, but she held out a hand to stop him. She had to speak now while she had the courage. If she caught the slightest whisper of warmth from his skin or breathed his comforting scent, her resolve would falter.
His dark brow rose, but he did not speak.
“First I want to say thank you for your help in rescuing Jack. You were right. Such a feat would have been impossible on my own. Whether you believed me or not, you risked your life and those of your best warriors to come here. Because of you, Jack is safe. I don’t think I could ever thank you enough for what you’ve done for me.” She swallowed thickly.
If she did not say it now, perhaps she would not ever have the strength to do so. “I want you to know that I am not afraid to uphold my end of our agreement. When we return to Skye, I will face my punishment without a fight.” Her voice lowered. “I do not pretend to think I will receive anything better than a traitor’s death and I am prepared.”
Deception of a Highlander Page 27