by Lora Andrews
Daniel turned to face the guard. The man took a full second to notice the body on the cell floor. The moment recognition set, Ewen jumped behind the last guard, snapped the man’s neck, and whirled to meet the next opponent. Meanwhile, Daniel slammed the first man’s wrist against the iron bars to dislodge the gun from his hand and forked his knife through the man’s gut.
Caitlin covered her ears, but she couldn’t block out the smell or the gurgling sounds of death as the man slumped to the floor. The Caitlin Reed versus nausea battle screeched to a fast finish. She ran to the far wall and vomited, hating the shaky feeling that had invaded her body. With the back of her sleeve, she wiped her mouth and straightened her spine. When she turned around, the ambush was over and there were three more bodies on the ground.
Ewen keeled over in pain and fell to his knees. His skin had gone from jaundiced to ghostly white in a matter of seconds.
Caitlin jumped over the corpses and scanned his body for injuries. “Where are you hurt?” she asked.
“It’s the bacterium. He’s burning up fast,” Daniel said.
“’Tis naught. We carry on with the plan.” Ewen shoved aside the hand Daniel offered and stood.
“You’re one hell of a stubborn bastard, aren’t you?”
“A proud Scot through and through.” The added wink had her rolling her eyes despite her concern.
Daniel bent over the dead guards with a shake of his head and rummaged through their clothing for weapons. “Here.” He threw Ewen a cartridge. “Same ammo. You’ve got another fifteen rounds. Think you can handle it, Scotty?” He smiled. The unexpected grin lifted the hard shell of Daniel’s face to reveal a magnetism Caitlin hadn’t expected to see.
“Aye,” Ewen said, stuffing the magazine in his boot. “Haven’t met a weapon I can’t handle in my time, or yours, laddie.”
Daniel snorted, searched the next guard, and pulled out a knife and another gun. Ewen took the knife and Daniel handed her the gun.
“I can’t shoot.” Nervous as she was, she’d probably do more harm than good with a loaded weapon in her hands.
“Don’t be stubborn. Take it.”
Ewen stepped in, shoved the gun away, and slipped the jeweled dagger in her hand instead. “Strike first. Think later. Dinna hesitate.” He cupped her chin and kissed the tip of her nose. He stepped past her and braced a hand against the wall for support.
The motion didn’t go unnoticed. Daniel gave her a look—one that reminded her they didn’t have much time, and then something else—sympathy?
She didn’t like the something else. The antidote will save him, she glared back.
Daniel wasn’t buying it. To Ewen he said, “Remember, point the barrel away and keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot. Got it?”
“Simple enough.” Ewen scanned the bodies on the floor. “How many more?”
“Twelve at last count.”
Ewen grabbed her hand and followed Daniel out of the chamber. “Is this the only exit?”
Daniel squinted at the old stone walls leading out of the cellar. “This house is filled with secret passages. But, as far as I know, this is the only way to access the cells. One way in. One way out.”
The stone’s magic called to her.
Caitlin carefully positioned the dagger in her sock where it would do the least harm. When Daniel approached the stairs, she pulled Ewen back and checked to make sure the guard was out of earshot. “You still have it?”
“Aye,” he grinned and pulled the stone out of his pocket. “Right where I left it.” He slid the Tempus Stone into her hand.
Relieved to have it back in her possession, Caitlin gave the stone a quick squeeze and shoved it into her pocket.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“No.” She was nowhere near ready for what they were about to face. “Promise me you won’t get yourself killed. No warrior heroics, okay? Just…just stay in one piece until we find the antidote.”
Lowering his mouth to her ear, he whispered, “Will you offer me a boon in exchange for my prudence, lass?”
“God, your incorrigible.” She couldn’t squelch the smile that exploded on her lips as she climbed the stairs. She was so not falling for Ewen MacLean.
THIRTY-SIX
Once out of the cellar, they dashed down the darkened aisle. Pressure built beneath Ewen’s ribcage, and with each step, the walls closed in around him. He knew the corridor bridged two main access points through the heart of the manor. Each ran parallel to one another and was accessible from both ends.
In other words, an ambush in the making.
He scanned ahead and took in the vibrant rug running the length of the wood floor. A paltry table was set against the wall holding a fancy vase. It would serve no purpose if they were attacked. Next, he eyed the open space leading to the manor’s main artery. They were feet away from MacInnes’s office.
Feet that felt like miles. The muscles in his arms contracted and pain fired into every limb as the poison roared in his blood. Daniel was to be their hostage, but holding the weapon at his back was a bluidy chore. He kept his arms taut, sweat rolling down his back, and clenched his teeth to swallow back the pain. Any sound or sign of weakness would alert Caitlin to the severity of his condition.
He wasn’t about to add to her worries.
Her light touch at his back stirred the uncomfortable emotions welling in his heart. Promise me you won’t get yourself killed. The lass cared for him. She couldn’t feign the concern he’d seen in her eyes. Damn the fates and their mercurial moods—propelling him six hundred years into the future, into the arms of a woman who set his blood on fire, to then punish him with a slow and torturous death the moment his oath to never love wavered.
He glanced back at Caitlin, and everything inside him seized. Before he could react, a banded guard snuck behind her and wrapped an arm around her neck. Ewen shoved Daniel’s body in front of him like a shield.
“Drop your weapon.” With the barrel of his gun pressed against Caitlin’s temple, the guard’s confident, merciless expression was a testament to his resolve. He’d have no qualms killing an innocent woman.
Fear radiated from her eyes—a fear that stole his breath. Ewen matched the man’s move, feigning a casualness he did not feel and lodged his own weapon to Daniel’s head. “It would appear we are at an impasse, would it no’?”
The man laughed. “Looks like I’m holding the queen and you’ve got yourself a pawn.”
“Perhaps that is where you are mistaken.” Ewen said. “Lose the king and you’ve lost the game. Take me to your leader and let him decide.”
“In this game, everyone is expendable. Question is, whose life are you willing to gamble?” the man asked. “His, hers, or yours?”
Caitlin bit her lip, a brave gesture designed to push back her fear. He would not risk her life. Not when his capture would buy him the time he needed to save their hides.
Ewen threw the gun to the floor.
Daniel broke free of his grasp, grabbed the weapon, and pointed it at Ewen. “MacInnes wants them both alive.”
“MacInnes isn’t the one giving orders.” The man loosened his hold of Caitlin’s neck but kept the weapon pointed at her back. “Kill him. All we need is the girl.”
Ewen had seconds to act. A gunshot would alert the rest of the unit to their location. He had but one option, and he needed Caitlin out of harm’s way. His gaze locked on hers, then darted to the floor while his hand slid around to the knife’s handle at his back.
Her eyes flared with recognition. The second she dropped to her knees, he threw the knife, his aim perfect. The guard crashed to the floor, and Caitlin ran to his side.
He wiped the tear from her cheek. “You are okay?”
She nodded.
“Stay strong, sweet. It will be over soon.”
Daniel removed the dirk from the dead guard’s eye and aimed his gun in their direction. “Raise your hands in the air until we get to the next blind
spot.” He wiped the blood from the blade and handed it to Ewen. “Here, you’re going to need this.”
A scream tore through the silence. Caitlin whirled, her eyes wild. “That sounds like Marissa.”
Before he could respond, pain blasted his insides, setting his teeth chattering to the chills invading his blood. He fell to his knees. Caitlin gasped and tried to grab ahold of his waist to keep him from crumbling to the floor.
“I’m fine,” he lied.
“We need to move fast.” Daniel pushed his shoulder under Ewen’s arm.
Ewen wiped sweat from his face with a hand that felt coated in ice. A wet rattle sounded from his chest when he breathed. He forced his legs to respond, but his vision dimmed, and with it his strength. He had but one more battle to win. For Caitlin. For his kin. For justice.
But for the first time in many years, Ewen feared he would not live to see the victor raise his flag.
THIRTY-SEVEN
Caitlin wasn’t sure which scared her more, Ewen’s pale skin, Marissa’s scream, or the somber silence surrounding them. She sagged beneath the weight of Ewen’s unconscious form as they lifted him off the floor. She didn’t have time to worry about what his collapse meant. With their crappy luck, Cordelia’s killer guards would round the corner and wipe out any chance they had of saving him.
Daniel shouldered the bulk of Ewen’s weight and handed her Ewen’s gun. “The dining room is right around the bend. Can you make it?”
She nodded and shoved the gun into her waistband, half expecting the bloody thing to blow off her hand.
“What about Marissa? How are we going to find her?” she asked.
They shuffled along in silence for three quarters of the way before he responded, “We’re not.”
“We can’t leave her behind.”
Daniel shook his head. “Pick your battles. You won’t do him any favors dead.” He signaled to halt and raised his gun with his free hand.
Standing side-by-side with Ewen between them and their backs to the wall, Caitlin couldn’t see much beyond Ewen’s slumped head. She was trusting Daniel with not only her life, but Ewen’s.
“Let’s go,” he whispered.
Moving quickly, they rounded the corner into the main hallway and entered a room to their immediate right. Once inside, Daniel lowered Ewen to the floor and propped him against one of the paneled walls away from the door. Other than the ginormous table centered in the middle of the room, there was nowhere to hide.
“Catch your breath. There’s an access door into the next room through a wall panel,” Daniel said.
Caitlin kneeled and smoothed the damp hair from Ewen’s forehead. With his dark head leaning to the side, he looked peaceful, like an angel stealing a few minutes of rest amidst the chaos. His clammy skin was hot to the touch. Whatever was happening inside him was anything but peaceful.
“You know Marissa is dead the minute they think she means anything to you.”
Her shoulders tensed. The guilt of leaving her behind would kill her.
Daniel crouched, lowering his body to the floor near Ewen’s outstretched legs. His elbows rested against his knees and his right hand dangled between his legs. It was a casual pose. Only nothing about this situation, or Daniel Cohen, was casual.
“This isn’t a fairytale.” His mouth twisted into a wry smile “Good won’t win over evil. Innocent people will die, and those with power will come out on top. Every time. Those are the facts. MacLean is a ticking time bomb. The only thing keeping him on his feet is his fucking honor. Get the antidote and get the hell out of here.”
He rose and glanced at the door.
She stood, too. “So, how do you live with the guilt?”
“You don’t.”
Caitlin sighed and touched his arm. An image from Daniel’s past materialized in her mind. A woman laughing, happy tears falling from her eyes while a bonfire raged behind her. His deep sorrow clogged the faded tendrils of joy the memory pulled. Suddenly, she understood the demons driving a man like Daniel, the same demons that would eventually destroy Ewen—destroy her—if they didn’t come to terms with the losses they had suffered. Like magic, vengeance had the power to corrupt.
She sucked in a breath and let go. She’d spent her whole life running from who she was, only she didn’t know it then, and now she wanted to forget and couldn’t.
“Don’t ever do that again,” he warned.
“She’s someone’s daughter. Maybe even someone’s sister.”
He flinched as if he’d been slapped.
“She comes with us.” Ewen used the wall to stand. Blood trickled from his nose. He dabbed the wetness with his hand.
“It’s your funeral.” Daniel pointed to an adjacent wall. “Time to move.”
Caitlin sighed and turned to Ewen. “I probably shouldn’t have aggravated our tour guide, huh?” At the vacant look in his eye, she said, “Never mind.” His color hadn’t improved, and his bloody nose worried her.
“Are you feeling up to this?”
“I am.” He tipped his head to a waiting Daniel. “Best we continue.”
Voices filtered in from the hallway. A door slammed. Someone yelled, “Clear.”
Caitlin rushed across the room with Ewen on her heels. Daniel opened the panel and they stepped over the threshold. Once inside, they inched along a narrow passage, dark and barely wide enough for the width of her body, never mind her quarterback-sized companions. At a hinged section of the wall, Daniel stopped and listened for activity on the other side. They could hear the rumble of voices. Another slam reverberated through the partition. When the noise settled, they entered the room and hurried to the door to the hall.
“What’s to stop them from searching the passages?” she asked in a hushed voice. Daniel couldn’t be the only one who knew about the secret panels.
“Nothing. My team is aware of most, but we’re not dealing with my men any longer.”
“Aye,” Ewen agreed. “And your men may have discovered your duplicity.”
“We’ve been careful,” Caitlin interjected.
“MacLean’s right. We assume the worse, which means the office may have been compromised.”
“Okay, so we go in another way.”
Daniel shook his head. “The lab is only accessible from one point—MacInnes’s private office.”
“Oh, then…” Crap.
“It would appear the decision has been made for us,” Ewen said.
“I’ll take you to the lab, but that’s as far as I go. You should know the Order makes MacInnes look like an amateur. If you manage to make it out of the house, you’re going to need protection. I have a contact, but I want something in return.”
Daniel’s eyes bore into hers, and something told her this would not be a “normal request” but an “unnatural” one.
“This is no’ the time or place for such bargaining, Daniel. But, if what you’re asking is requested in good faith, then aye, I’ll grant your boon.”
Daniel’s expression was hard and unwavering.
Yeah, this couldn’t be good.
“Your contact can protect us from the Order? You can promise me that?” she finally asked.
“Yes.” One word stated without hesitation.
Caitlin sucked in a breath, and for once, chose to trust her gift. “Fine, but on one condition—I’m not breaking any laws.”
THIRTY-EIGHT
Ewen listened for activity outside the room. “It’s silent. The time to act is at hand.” He ran his dry tongue along the inside of his cheek, tasting the metallic tang of his own blood.
“I’ll get you access to the lab, and then we split off.” Daniel took note of Ewen’s trembling hand.
“At which point we retrieve the antidote and escape through the unmarked exit.” Ewen clutched his wrist behind his back.
Daniel nodded. “The rendezvous point is about three miles west of the manor. A gray cottage directly abutting the property line. Stone patio. One-car garage. I’ll meet you t
here with Marissa. The clock starts ticking once you gain access to the lab. If I’m not there in one hour’s time, leave without me. Am I clear?”
“Agreed. Loitering will endanger our chances for success,” Ewen added.
“But—”
Daniel held up a hand. “That’s an order Caitlin and not up for discussion.”
“Three miles,” Caitlin said. “That’s a thirty-minute run pushing a ten-mile-per-hour pace. It doesn’t give us much time to get there.”
“Then I’d make haste.”
Caitlin flushed. “Daniel, we need a buffer.” She avoided looking at Ewen and kept her attention focused on the scowling guard. “In the event something goes wrong.”
Ewen leaned against the wall and folded his arms across his chest, a casual move intended to hide the fatigue storming his blood. The “something” she referred to—the words her tongue refused to utter—was the same worry chaffing his own.
Could he handle the pace?
She opened her mouth to speak, then pinched her lips closed against whatever she had been about to say. But something told him she wasn’t quite done.
His chest warmed knowing it was him she defended. Aye, beneath her reserved manner roared a lioness who would make a man proud. When had anyone who wasn’t kin championed him? He swallowed hard. Christ, what did that say about the life he’d lived? Shaking away the grief the thought stirred, he focused on the task at hand.
“One hour,” Daniel insisted. “No more, or we’re done here.”
“Fine,” she grumbled.
Daniel narrowed his eyes.
“Dinna worry, lass. If you tire, I’ll carry ye over my shoulder.” He winked.
She glanced away, but not before he saw the telltale flush of her cheeks. He hid his grin.
“I’ve got an unmarked car, meaning it’s clean,” Daniel began.
Clean?
“Cordelia’s people won’t be able to track you, but you’re susceptible to satellite if you’re made. Key is under the mat. Head to Ardgour, to the Loch Linnhe Bed and Breakfast.”
All of Daniel’s strange words fell from his ears but one.