Across a Dark Highland Shore (Hot Highlands Romance Book 2) (19 page)

She whimpered in need and he drove into her with a force and frenzy, losing all control, Isobel clutching at his arms and back. He cried out and gave one final, shuddering plunge as he spewed his hot speed within her walls and another wave of warmth swept her body.

Isobel was weak and dazed, sated, reveling in the soreness between her legs, the evidence that he’d taken her and made her his. He moved to his back, pulling her up against his side and she lay curled against him, her head on his shoulder. She fell asleep to the lulling beat of his warrior’s heart, his fingers trailing along her arm.

Sometime later, while he slept, she slipped from the bed and returned to her chambers. The sooner she could start preparing herself to leave him, to leave the Maclean keep, the better. She was no longer sure she could help him, and wondered if indeed her presence here would instead become a hindrance to his goals.

26

Isobel slept late that morning. Her body was tender from being loved by the Highland warrior. A haze of warmth rushed through her as she remembered the night before, the feel of him inside her, filling her as she’d never been filled.

She’d just finished washing and dressing when there was a commotion outside her door. Someone beat their fists upon it. “Open this door at once,” Lady Katherine barked.

Isobel unlatched the door and Lady Katherine strode into her room, anger sparking her dark eyes. A small crowd stood outside Isobel’s door. Dugald and Ranulph and Errol were among them. Errol did not look happy.

Lady Katherine addressed the crowd. “Isobel, as ye know, was given access to my room to mend some of my costly garments. While I couldna find fault with her sewing it saddens me and disgusts me to tell ye that Isobel is nothing more than a rank thief. One of the jewels is missing from my riding gloves. Isobel stole it.”

Isobel thought of how she’d found the jewel in the stable and hid it in her room. She knew what was coming next. Someone had apparently been spying on her; someone had seen her find and hide the jewel. But how?

“I tell ye now that if I search her room we will find it. Do ye object, Isobel?” Lady Katherine’s eyes glittered hotly with accusation.

“Nay,” Isobel said, as Leith came thundering down the corridor. “What goes on here?” he said, elbowing men and women aside and stepping into her room, standing beside Lady Katherine. He had obviously slept late himself, as his hair and clothing had a tousled look.

“It seems we have a thief in our mist, Leith. A jewel has been stolen from my riding glove and I ha’e no doubt we will find it here.”

“I am no’ a thief!” Isobel said, standing defiantly, her hands on her small hips. “Yea, I did sew for ye, but Mary Francis and Rowena were there with me in yer room and they ken that a jewel was missing from yer glove
before
ye invited me to work on yer gowns.”

Lady Katherine turned to Rowena, who smiled viciously at Isobel. “Well, Rowena, what say ye?”

“The witch lies. The jewel was ne’er missing from the glove.”

Isobel felt the first true flurry of panic. Rowena would always lie to protect Lady Katherine. “Where is Mary Francis?” Isobel asked. “She is honest and will speak the truth. I think we ken who the liars are in this room.”

“How dare ye speak to my servant in such an insolent manner!” Lady Katherine said, raising her hand to strike Isobel.

“
Dunna strike her
,” Leith said, steel in his voice.

Reluctantly, Lady Katherine lowered her hand. “No matter.” She walked to the writing desk and searched it. Finally, she opened a drawer, and pulled the jewel out. There were gasps and whispers. “She’s a thief!”

“What did ye expect? She’s a MacKinnon,” another said.

There was a flicker of uncertainty in Leith’s eyes and it was more than Isobel could bear. She could tolerate anyone doubting her, anyone but the dark-haired Highlander who had stolen her heart and taken her innocence.

“Where is Mary Francis?” Isobel said. “She will tell the truth. The jewel was already missing from the glove. I found it in the stables, in the stall where Logan kept his horse, along with traces of yew leaves, which are vera poisonous. I ha’e no doubt that Logan’s horse was poisoned by someone, possibly someone in this room who now stands accusing
me
.”

There were murmurs once more. “I hid the jewel here until I could talk to ye about it, Leith….”

“I did see Isobel returning from the stables that night,” Errol said.

Isobel was stunned that he had come to her defense.

Lady Katherine looked wounded by the war councilor’s words. “Well, Isobel, ha’e ye no’ heard the news? Mary Francis has gone missing. She has no’ been seen since yesterday morning. Would ye ken anything about that?”

A cold shiver crawled up Isobel’s spine.

“Missing?”

“She’s just gone,” Rowena said. “Vanished. No one knows why. Perhaps she is dead.”

“Yer a heartless girl,” Isobel said.

“And yer nothin’ more than a dirty witch.”

“Leith, what do ye propose to do with the thief in our midst?” Lady Katherine said. “I say ye put her in the dungeons with her filthy MacKinnon lover and hang them both in the morning.”

Isobel could not read Leith’s emotions. “E’eryone leave us,” he said. When Lady Katherine hesitated, he ordered her out. “Now.” The others followed.

27

Quietly, Leith closed the door and he turned to look at Isobel.

Isobel had a sudden and disturbing thought. Errol had only been too ready to come to her defense. Could Errol have been the one who poisoned Logan’s horse and killed Logan because he could not bear the thought of the odious woman married to Logan? And then an even more insidious thought—could Leith have killed his own brother to prevent the marriage to Lady Katherine so he could marry her? His first wife had died in a mysterious fall from a cliff. Had he truly loved her as he’d said, or….

She pushed the horrid thoughts far from her mind. No. she knew Leith in her bones and her soul. He was not capable of such horrid acts.

But would he trust her now?

There were tired shadows beneath his startling eyes, and dark whiskers had started to appear on his chin, giving him a menacing air. “The evidence is damning,” he said, frowning.

She felt wounded to her very core. “Ye believe me capable of stealing? I wouldna steal! Ye ha’e given me e’erything I could ha’e asked for. I ha’e no reason to steal the small jewel. I was trying to help ye solve Logan’s murder,” she beseeched.

When he said nothing, she cried, “What, will ye throw me in the dungeons with Rory? Let me drown upon the great rock in the Maclean torture cell?”

When still he made no response, she started to tap her foot. “Someone obviously watched me that night when I returned from the stables. Did Errol no’ tell ye that yer uncle Rolph accosted me on the way back from the stables? Of course I had the jewel hidden. I didna want anyone to ken I’d found it until I’d told ye about it. I just didna have the chance….”

Leith’s features turned hard. “My uncle…what did he do?”

“He forced me against a wall and kissed me. He practically bit me. Errol was there fortunately, to stop him from doing anything else.”

“My uncle will pay for his behavior,” he growled.

“Perhaps ye can put him in the dungeons as well?” Isobel’s voice rose; she was on the verge of hysteria, remembering how ugly a crowd could get in an instant, remembering the night she was lashed to the stake in the cold, bitter wind, remembering Bothen’s ugly, cruel face as he leaned down to set the kindling at her feet afire….

Leith crossed the room and gripped her arms softly. “Isobel. I believe ye.”

“Truly?”

“I ken ye are no thief.”

“What will ye do then?”

“Ye will continue as normal. Yer under my protection. I will make it clear that I believe in yer innocence.”

“Lady Katherine and her minions willna be happy about it.”

“Yea. I know. Yer in danger yerself. We dunna know what became of Mary Alice. Did she say anything odd to ye before she disappeared?”

“She showed me the Laird’s Ear in the great hall. I found one in Logan’s room. She said she heard rumors there was a secret tunnel in this keep and that she was going to find it. Is it true? Is there a secret tunnel in the Maclean keep?”

“As boys, Logan and I explored e’ery inch of this keep. We had mock battles. We went into rooms we werena supposed to go into, as boys are wont to do. And we ne’er found a secret tunnel. Though we heard stories about it. In the tales, they said a monster roamed the tunnel, a monster that speared little boys and girls with his great sword and ate them.”

Isobel was thoughtful. “Leith, do ye trust me, truly?”

“Aye, Isobel, I do. I’ve kent cunning women like Lady Katherine. Yer no’ like her. She kens how I feel about ye. She hates me, so she hates ye, too.”

“Then listen to me. I ha’e a better idea of how ye can appear to treat this matter. One that may draw the murderer out into the open more quickly than if ye take no action against me. For I ha’e no doubt that someone wants me gone from this keep, Leith, and they want ye gone, too.”

A storm approached, and the wind rose high outside the shuttered window in high, wailing pitches, beating against the thick, stone walls. It seemed to be saying,
“Mary Alice, Mary Alice, where is Mary Alice?”

“What is this plan, Isobel? It sounds vera dangerous.”

“Put me in the dungeons. Now. Make it seem as if ye ha’e lost yer faith in me. Ye will satisfy the crowd of unbelievers and fool the murderer into relaxing his guard. Ha’e someone let me out later this evening when most are involved in the feasting and festivities, for that must go on. It canna be ye who lets me out. It must be someone else who lets me out, someone who willna be missed for a short time this evening. I will find that secret tunnel if it exists. And mayhap I will find Mary Alice. If I do, we will most certainly find her murderer, for I feel certain she is dead.” Isobel started to cry and he dried her tears.

“I dunna want to put ye in any kind of danger,” he said. He stroked her hair behind her ear, his thumb following in a gentle arc across her cheek.

“I feel with all my soul it is what we must do to end this thing, once and for all. To find Logan’s murderer and vera possibly Mary Alice’s. For I fear she found something someone didna want her to find.”

A small muscle next to his scar fluttered white.

“Dunna set Errol to guard me in the dungeon. I dunna ken if we can trust him.”

“I will send Ranulph. He seems to have a sweet spot for ye and while I ha’e ne’er had reason to doubt Errol, it may be wise to limit his knowledge of what we are doing for the time being.”

“Then let us go now. Make a spectacle of it. Lead me to the great hall and make a pronouncement that I am to be chained in the dungeons. It will appease many members of yer clan to ha’e two MacKinnons in irons.”

28

In the dank dungeon, which was nothing more than a very small room of rock that was about seven feet wide, Isobel could hear muffled sounds from the great hall above.

Rats scurried by her feet. The floor was wet. It smelled horrid. And she was cold.

Where was Ranulph? She was in a corner dungeon far from where Rory was being kept, so she could not communicate with him.

She shivered and rubbed her arms, waiting for Ranulph. Finally the cell was unlocked. She waited. When she was sure he was not followed, she left the dungeon and made her way to the ground floor, taking a torch from the wall. Even with the torch, she could only see a few feet into the darkness. She remembered where the dark-robed figure had appeared to her and quietly explored the corridor and the store rooms.

She went to the undercroft she’d found before, the one with the furniture and clothes and the plague mask hanging on the chair. Once she was able to push the swollen door open and see into the room, her heart jumped into her throat. The mask that had been hanging on the chair was
gone
.

Quickly, she exited the room. Hearing a noise, she turned to see the dark-robed figure in the plague mask staring at her, standing close. This time he was brandishing a lethal-looking sword. The man was Errol’s height. Could it be Errol? She didn’t want to believe it. She turned to her right and ran from the figure, which was no wraith but a full-blooded man holding a sharp weapon.

He laughed as he thundered after her, but Isobel didn’t recognize his voice. She spied a very small alcove she hadn’t noticed before and squeezed into a crevice, hoping she could still her breathing enough so the figure would pass her by. It was very drafty.

“Isobel, sweet, sweet, Isobel. The much-too-curious witch. How did ye escape the dungeons before I could kill ye there? Well, no matter. Yer death is more fun this way. We’ll make it like a game.”

Isobel still did not recognize the voice, but perhaps he made pains to disguise it.

Isobel inched further into the crevice and suddenly found herself falling. Fortunately, she didn’t fall far but she landed hard on wet, sandy stone. She was in some sort of cavern, surrounded by slabs of stone. There was no sign of habitation, no sign of human presence, except or a path that wandered through the cavern, sloping down toward a watery floor studded with boulders, like teeth in a great mouth.

The cavern may once have been a secret place to hide a small ship; Isobel had heard such tales about secret caverns that hid ships from the invading Norse. They were called sally ports.

On one side, the cavern leaned toward the sea and the ground fell from a narrow crest to disappear into swirling green-grey waters below. The sea loch was very narrow at its entrance.

The path dipped steeply toward a dark tunnel that Isobel believed ran beneath the keep. She felt the slow thud of her heart and the hair on the back of her neck tingled as the wind howled around the cave, cold and salt scented. Isobel heard something behind her, the rustle of the dark robed figure with the plague mask and the sword, followed by his keening laughter, and she ran toward the tunnel below, her ankles disappearing into sea water, trying not to think of the tale of the monster who lived in the tunnel and speared and ate little boys and girls. Or much-too-curious witches.

As she entered the mouth of the dark tunnel, she heard a woman’s laughter behind her.

“Mary Alice?” she said, peering from within the darkness. She saw a cloaked woman holding a sharp dagger in one hand and a torch in the other. “Nay, no’ Mary Alice, but Mary Alice found this place too,” the woman said, lowering her hood. Lady Katherine stared back at her. Her dark eyes flashed. Her hair was untidy. She was unbalanced. Mad. She’d hidden it well beneath her haughty cruelty.

Isobel could hear the sea pounding in the distance as Lady Katherine pointed with the dagger. “Go first. I will walk behind ye. Unless of course ye prefer to be stabbed to death here, by myself and the man in the robe. I should think a death by drowning would be more peaceful than that. Do ye agree Isobel? If I had to choose between being stabbed or drowned, I’d choose drowning.”

Isobel began to walk. She had no weapon. She needed to give herself time to think. No one else knew of this secret passageway except herself, Lady Katherine, and the robed figure. Mary Alice had found it and Mary Alice had died because of it.

Had Ranulph seen her vanish after he’d left her out of the dungeon? Nay; he’d gone back to the hall to let Leith know she’d been freed from the dungeon. Leith himself would look for her, she knew. But how would he find the secret passage? She’d found it by accident. And much more quickly than she’d expected. Mary Alice had found it, too. Would he be too late?

“I ha’e something I wish to show ye,” Lady Katherine said.

It did not take them long to walk the darkened tunnel.

They emerged in a sea cave. Lady Katherine tried to force Isobel to a lower ledge and Isobel fought her, scratching her face in the process, but she lost her balance and fell backwards, water splashing up to her knees.

It was then she remembered the old Seer’s warning:
Stay away from the caves.
Had Nora seen her death?

“We dunna have much time,” Lady Katherine said, her eyes reflecting the green and purple lights of the cave ceiling.

Leith had told her about these caves. He and Logan had played here as children. He’d told Isobel how they were dangerous at certain times, how easy it would be for someone to drown here. And Isobel knew then that this was where Mary Alice had died; that her body had no doubt been carried out to sea.

“If only Leith hadna pulled ye from that fire,” she said. “If only he hadna brought ye here to interfere.” She cupped her ear. “What’s that Arbella?”

“Who is Arbella?”

But Lady Katherine didn’t seem to hear her. She was talking to someone Isobel could not see. And the waves were getting higher.

“I will leave ye soon,” she said, her attention on Isobel once more. “Poor Mary Alice. She shouldna have gone snooping around either. She died here, too. I watched to make sure the waves swallowed her.”

“Lady Katherine, it doesna ha’e to be this way.”

She laughed and now she was once again the haughty woman of the hall, the heir to the Campbell wealth, the most beautiful woman in all of Scotland.

“Why did ye kill Logan, the love of yer life?” Isobel asked, for now she was sure that Lady Katherine had killed Logan or had had something to do with his death. She had, after all, boasted of her skill with the bow and arrow to the Macleans. “Why kill the man ye loved so much?”

“I ne’er loved that lout. He was a weak, romantic prance-about. He wasna strong enough to rule the Maclean clan or to be my husband.”

“Then why the handfasting?”

“It was for show. There’s only one man strong enough to rule the Macleans, and cruel enough, for as my father taught me, a clan needs a cruel hand if it is to survive. There is no room for weakness. My father beat it out of me when I was young. The weakness. He so wanted me to be a boy. But when I began to show a true woman’s beauty, he began to use that to our clan’s advantage.”

She was lost in thought again.

The water inched higher at an alarming rate. It was at Isobel’s waist now. Isobel had to keep Lady Katherine talking. If only she could get closer to the entrance of the cave….