Highland Resurrection (Blades of Honor Book 2) (12 page)

“At least you’d be alive and free.” She brought his fist to her lips and kissed his knuckles. “We could go away, start anew in a place where no one knows either of us, and make a home for Quinn. You can change your name and no one need know about your past. Nothing can alter the man you are inside.”

Lazarus addressed Simon, who until now had remained silent. “Take her from this place and dinna bring her back. Send word to King Robert the Bruce, the Pope, or anyone else you might think of who can facilitate Quinn’s release. But swear you willna put her in harm’s way again.”

“I give you my word.” Simon rose and clutched Sheena’s elbow. “Come, lass. Lazarus is right, we must be away before the guards wake up, or someone else comes along.”

Sheena swatted his hand away. “I’m na leaving him like this. He needs a healer. You said we were going to help him escape. Have you turned coward?”

“In his weakened condition, he would never make it out of the abbey. Even if he could walk. His leg appears to be broken and there is no telling what other injuries he harbors.”

Sheena grasped Lazarus’s tunic by the shoulders and tugged. “We must try. Please, Lazarus, get up.”

Lazarus coughed, a sharp pain lancing through his chest as if he’d been run through with a hot blade. He clasped Sheena’s wrists and glared up at her. “Go with Simon,” he rasped. “I can face whatever my captors dish out as long as I know you’re safe.” He cupped her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye. “Do as I request,
ma gaol.
Please.”

Simon grasped Sheena’s upper arm and yanked her to her feet. “We must make haste.” He dragged her toward the door. “I know leaving him isna easy, but it is his request, and we must honor that wish.”

Sheena sniffled, scrubbed the back of her hand across her face, then gazed longingly at Lazarus. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

“Aye. Who will care for your brother if you’re caught? You must think of his welfare above all else. Go now and dinna return.” Lazarus turned his head, hoping when next he looked she’d be gone.

But instead, she raced back, knelt beside him, and pressed a kiss to his lips. “I’ll find a way to get you out of here. I promise.”

Chapter 15

Once they were outside, Sheena dug in her heels and pulled free of Simon’s grasp. “How you could give up so easily? Lazarus doesna stand a chance if we dinna get him out of there.”

Simon reached for her hand. “Come, lass, we must leave before we are spotted.”

She swatted his hand away. “Nay. Lazarus needs our help. I thought you were his friend.”

“He is like a son to me.” Simon thumped his fist against his chest. “I love him as if he were my own bairn. However, if the guards find us here and realize we have seen Lazarus, they will arrest us. If we are gone when they awaken, they will hopefully remain silent. They wouldna dare admit to falling asleep when they were supposed to be keeping watch.”

Sheena glared at Simon. “I canna believe you can just leave him at the mercy of Father Marquis and his henchmen. He is so weak and will die without a healer.”

“We have no choice.” Simon hung his head. “I know you’re concerned, but we’ve gone over this several times already. Were it in my power to save Lazarus, I would.”

“He needs his wounds tended. There must be something we can do.”

“Unfortunately, we can do naught as long as he is in their custody. Father Marquis would never allow a healer near Lazarus. I’m sure as far as he is concerned, the fewer people who know about the atrocities being committed in that dungeon, the better. No one would condone such behavior from a priest.”

“Then perhaps if we announce publically what is going on, the people will demand Lazarus be released. There must be something we can do. Someone who holds more authority in the church than Marquis and could intervene.” Sheena began to pace.

Simon lowered his gaze and nervously wrung his hands. “I’m afraid Father Marquis is the highest authority in the area right now. But Lazarus was right. I should never have agreed to bring you here in the first place. Thinking we might be able to free him was a fool’s errand at best.” Simon grasped Sheena’s elbow. “I’m sorry I got your hopes up and let you down, but we must be away.”

She tugged free. “I would have come with or without your assistance,” Sheena snapped. “Someone has to help him.”

Simon slid his arm around Sheena’s shoulders, but she shoved him away. “Your concern for Lazarus is admirable, but if my sources are reliable, there will be a change of guard happening very soon.”

“I canna just leave, knowing they will continue to torture him.”

“And Father Marquis will not relinquish his hold until he gets what he wants. The treasure.”

“But Lazarus claims it doesna exist,” she said.

“That may be, but Father Marquis is convinced otherwise and as Lazarus said, he stands to get a large reward for his capture.”

“I canna desert him.” Sheena planted her hands on her hips and widened her stance. “Leave if you wish, but I am not going anywhere.”

“Dinna be daft, lass. What of Quinn? If you are arrested, who will care for him once he is released?” Simon asked. “He has already lost his parents and you’re all he has left. Will you condemn him to a life alone? I shudder to think what can happen to a seven-year-old lad living on the streets.”

“Of course I dinna want that for my brother. But there is always a chance that even if Lazarus tells them where the treasure is, they willna let Quinn go. Or what if Lazarus dies from his injuries. I . . .” She paused and crossed herself, then continued. “I couldna bear to think of my life without Quinn. Any more than I could live with myself if I dinna do everything in my power to see Lazarus freed.”

“What are you doing here?” a man bellowed as he stomped across the kirkyard, pinning her with a malevolent stare.

Sheena’s chest tightened, making it hard to breathe when she recognized him as one of the men who took Quinn. She squared her shoulders and faced him. “My name is Sheena MacLean and I have come to see Father Marquis. Perhaps you remember me.”

The man examining her from top to bottom before he answered. “I am Louis Renoir, personal guard to Father Marquis. I’d never forget a lovely
mademoiselle
like you.” He stroked his chin, then grinned. “Wait. I do remember you. You’re the whore who keeps company with one of our prisoners. The obstinate monk who is being shipped to France for execution.”

Sheena raised her chin, staring Louis in the eye. “I am not a whore, sir, and I dinna keep company with any man. Aye, we met when you invaded my home a few days ago and took my brother prisoner.”

“If you have come to beg for the brat’s release, you’re wasting your breath.” Louis offered a curt wave of his hand. “Be off with you.
Now
.”

Sheena shook her head and stood her ground. Her knees quivered and her hands trembled, but she’d not back down from this blackguard. “I heard Brother Lazarus turned himself in. Father Marquis promised that once you’d captured him, he’d set Quinn free. I want to know why he hasna done that yet,” Sheena demanded. “I ask that you take me to him so my brother can go home with me.”

Simon leaned in close, whispering in her ear, “Please, come away with me now, Sheena. Your presence here can only make things worse for Quinn, and for Lazarus. If they realize we are responsible for drugging the guards then snuck into the cell below the abbey, there is no telling what Father Marquis’s recourse will be.”

Ignoring Simon’s plea, she glared up at Louis. “I want to see Father Marquis,” she repeated adamantly.

Louis inched closer. “You are a persistent wench. If Father Marquis is too busy to see you, I wouldn’t mind spending some time with you.
Alone
.” He wriggled a brow, then lifted a lock of her hair, brought it to his nose and inhaled deeply. “If you know what I mean.”

“Leave her be.” Simon stepped between them.

Louis laughed. “What are you going to do, monk? You seem pretty taken with the whore for a man of the cloth. I thought you fellows were into lads not lasses.”

“I’m into neither, as you so crudely put it. And Sheena isna here to be harassed by the likes of you,” Simon replied. “She merely wishes to speak to Father Marquis on behalf of her brother. Surely you can understand her concern for the lad’s well-being.”

“I understand this.” Louis pointed to the scar on Sheena’s chin, then grabbed her forearm and hauled her against his chest. “You can watch if you like, even have a go with her when I’m done,” he said, an evil grin tugging at his lips.

“Unhand her at once.” Simon tried to intervene, but was easily tossed to the ground by Louis. When he tried to stand up, he was shoved face-first into the dirt.

“Stay down, or I’ll see that you dinna ever get up again.” Louis tightened his grip on Sheena’s arm, his nails digging into her flesh.

She winced at the pain, but showed no fear. Men like Louis thrived on the anguish of others. She refused to do anything that empowered him. “Do as he says, Simon, and dinna try to intervene.”

The last thing she wanted was for Simon to be injured, or worse, killed on her account. She’d dealt with Louis’s lecherous type before and had no intention of surrendering without a fight. She was so desperate to see Lazarus freed and Quinn returned to her, she even toyed with the idea of offering herself in exchange for their freedom. But Louis did not have the power or influence he boasted, and the idea of being with him on an intimate level made her skin crawl.

Louis scowled at her. “As for you,
mademoiselle,
I grow tired of playing games. If I want to sate my needs, nothing you can say or do is going to stop me.”

“What is she doing here?” Father Marquis bellowed from atop the stairs of the abbey.

Louis released his hold on Sheena and spun around to face the priest. “I was just trying to ascertain that very thing.”

“Perhaps if you try asking her instead of fondling her, you might get the answer quicker,” the priest snapped.

Sheena stepped forward and addressed the priest. “He knows very well why I’m here, as do you.”

Father Marquis matched her glower of contempt with one of his own. “Is that so? I’m afraid you will have to enlighten me.” He glanced at Louis. “Take her into the rectory, I’ll speak with her there.” He focused on Simon. “You, Brother Simon, may wait here. Unless you wish to join your friend as my prisoner.” He spun on his heel and stomped into the abbey.

“You heard him,” Louis grumbled. “He will see you in the rectory. Best you make haste before he changes his mind.”

Sheena nodded and began to climb the stairs, but Simon latched on to her arm, stopping her advance.

“Dinna go, Sheena. Come away with me now and forget this foolish notion,” Simon pleaded. “Lazarus would not want you to put yourself in jeopardy on his behalf.”

“Nay. I must do this, Simon. Dinna try to intervene.” She patted his hand, then pried her arm free. “You can wait for me here or go back to Ayton Abbey and wait for us there. I hope to have Quinn with me when I leave this place.” While she prayed that would be the case, Sheena knew Father Marquis would not be easily swayed.

As she traveled the long dark corridor leading to the rectory, she prayed for the words that would convince Father Marquis to free Quinn. When she arrived at the ornately carved oak door, she knocked.

“Come in,” Father Marquis called.

Sheena swallowed hard, then shoved open the door and entered the devil’s den.

Father Marquis stood with his back to her, staring out the window. “What do you want?” he asked bluntly, but didn’t turn to face her.

Sheena inched closer. Her throat suddenly as dry as wood, she coughed to clear it. “I have come to take my brother home with me.”

“I don’t recall summoning you here.” Marquis slowly turned to face her. “Leave now and I may find it in my heart not to see you thrown in a cell like your lover.”

“You’re wrong. I have no lover. Certainly not a monk. The idea is ludicrous.” She raised her chin, looking him in the eye. “You did, however, promise to let Quinn go once Brother Lazarus was in your custody. I ask that you stand by your word and return him to me.”

“I said I would release him, but dinna say when,” he replied.

As hard as it was for Sheena to refrain from launching herself at the priest’s throat in a fit of rage, or better yet plunging a dagger into the bastard’s heart, neither act would secure Quinn’s freedom. She balled her hands at her side and silently counted to ten beneath her breath, trying to curb her ire and to keep from saying or doing something that might make things worse. “But that is not what you—”

“Silence!” The priest slammed his fist on the desk in front of him. “I do not need a whore reminding me of what I did and didn’t say.”

“How do I even know my brother is still alive?” She swallowed hard against the lump emotion rising in her throat. “And what about—” She bit her lower lip and glanced away. While she wanted to comment on Lazarus’s deplorable state of health, she did not wish to alert the priest to the fact that she’d snuck into the dungeon and had seen him. What happened to them both could very well depend on how she conducted herself around Father Marquis.

“I assure you the boy is alive and well. He will remain so if you do as I say.”

“I want to see for myself. Please take me to him,” she requested.

The priest shook his head. “No. Leave now, and I’ll forget this visit happened. Pursue this issue, and I’ll see the lad punished.”

“He is but a wee bairn. What sort of monster are you?” she blurted, then covered her mouth to keep from saying any more.

Father Marquis’s brow furrowed, his expression of ire sending a shiver up her spine. He took a menacing step in her direction. “I’ll excuse your outburst, but just this once. If you value your brother’s life, leave now and tell no one of this conversation or that the boy is my prisoner. If you breathe a word of this to anyone, the boy will be returned to you in pieces.”

With that, the priest turned and left her alone, her mind reeling at his threat.