The Highlander’s Witch (28 page)

“Neither do I but—”

Just then, two men came in and paused at the doorway.

“What be it?” Aiden asked over the girl’s bawling.

“Tis Rory.”

“He be back?”

The men nodded, not looking too pleased to continue.

“What be it?” Aiden repeated.

“He be dead, m’Laird.”

Silence reined as hope of finding the girls were destroyed and a valuable man lost.

“What else?” Collin asked as the man looked as if he had more to say.

Heaving a sigh, he held out something in each hand. “These were found tied to Rory’s hair.”

Aiden picked up the ring he had returned to Skye while Collin held the necklace he had given his wife at Yule during last winter solstice.

Aiden growled.

Taking a goblet from his desk, he threw it violently into the hearth and watched the flames engulf the vessel.

Long moments of silence followed as he became lost in thought.

“Out. All of ye, except Collin, out!

Aiden stopped one of the guards without taking his gaze from the flames. “Bring me mother an ensure I be no disturbed!”

“Aye, m’Laird!”

When the door closed, Collin approached his friend. “What be ye thinkin?”

“Flames, Collin.” He looked at the man as if that explained it all. “Skye wanted a fire, an do ye ken the why of that?”

When the man shook his head in confusion, Aiden broke out into a grin.

“I once walked in on Skye talkin to her sister—through the flames—in me chambers.”

Aiden missed Collin’s shocked look as Elizabeth entered quickly, the door shut discreetly behind her.

“What is it, Aiden?”

“We need to contact Skye’s sister. If she has the power to appear in the flames in this time to her sister then maybe we can get her to do so with us.”

“I ken yer meanin.” Collin said excitedly.

“Aye.” Elizabeth agreed as she went back to the study door, opened it, and spoke to the guard while Aiden drew a chair closer to the hearth.

Collin crouched next to Aiden. “She can be yer eyes an bring ye to them.”

“If her powers be so great, ye need to ensure she won’t take vengeance till we can get to the women.”

Elizabeth nodded as she waited for the sentry’s return. When he handed her a pouch, she smiled her thanks and returned to the fire Collin had added logs to as the door closed behind her.

Sitting in the chair, she opened the sack.

“Skye and her sister have a natural link, making it easier for them to connect, but I have some hex knowledge of me own.” She grinned.

*     *     *

“Stop, ye bastard!” Anna screamed as she crashed through the flap of the tent, the man fast on her heels grabbing her around the neck and stopping her in her tracks but not stopping her from struggling madly against him.

“I be sorry, Will. She got out somehow and I—”

Will cut him off with a wave of his hand.

“It bothers me not, let the wench watch.” He grinned maliciously. “It will give her a chance to see what comes next for her.”

“Anna, wait!”

Skye knew Anna had used her gift to get out and come to her rescue but, with her tied, there was no way the girl could get her free while dealing with two men.

“Yes, Anna, wait.” Will sneered. “Behave and I won’t cut the brat ye have in yer belly from ye.”

Skye’s stomach curdled at the thought and she kicked him to take his attentions away from Anna.

“You are a coward having to tie me. It’s not because you have things to do, it’s because you are weak.

The man fell to a knee and backhanded her. She caught her breath and turned back to him as he tore her top in half.

“You did the same to Rory, the man you captured. You had him tied too because he would have kicked. Your. Ass.”

He sneered as he grabbed her hair, clenching it at her scalp.

“What do you think your lover did to me brother?” He snickered and licked her from her jaw, over her nose, to her scalp. “So ye shall be most willing to spread yer legs for me cock.”

She spit in his face and he threw back his head, roaring with laughter.

He was mad!

She struggled to get free as he untied his britches.

“It is a damn good thing you have me tied or I would keep my promise.”

He ignored her as he moved to her feet, not noticing her shock as she felt something squirm through the rope around her wrists as he tore her skirt while wrenching it to the side, falling on top of her before she could do any damage with her knees.

Skye glanced at Anna and saw her centering her powers.

“I will kill you and my friend will make your man watch.”

Both men howled with laugher as Skye focused on the ropes, heating them with a small flame, ignoring the burning on her wrists as they healed.

She nodded slightly to Anna so the girl knew she was ready.

Heart pounding in fear and rage, she felt the rope give as he shoved her legs apart while yanking at her undergarments.

Before the cloth ripped further, she brought her freed hands up and slipped them between the opening of his shirt.

“This is where I keep my promise.”

Will’s face turned to fury and Skye knew she had to let go of the panic and wrap herself in anger.

“Stay back, I’m going to teach this bitch her place.” He warned his man when he made to approach.

Hands wrapped around her throat, Will slowly began to squeeze.

“Let me show you how to keep a promise. Then I will show your friend.”

A chill swept through Skye and raced down her arms to her hands.

Sounds faded as her vision narrowed and she enveloped his heart in icy pain then squeezed, sending waves of energy to his limbs to keep him from moving away from her.

Watching the color drain from his face and his mouth go slack, she smiled, following his body with her own as he fell to the side.

“Lesson learned.” She whispered to his still face.

Her hearing was returning when she heard a struggle next to her and chaos outside.

Oh
no,
they’d
been
discovered!

Shoving aside her fright, Skye concentrated on the immediate danger from the other man as she scrambled to her feet, almost losing her footing when he fell into her as Anna struggled with him.

She watched as a root came up from the ground, wrapping around his ankle and causing his imbalance as the earth around it made the soil uneven.

Her hands gripped his face and held on as he attempted to right himself, his hands going over her own trying to remove them.

“Let go of him, Anna, but do something to hold him still!”

“Och, he be goin down!” Anna cried out as the root slipped around his other ankle too.

As soon as the girl stepped back, Skye fell to her knees with the man and focused on his brain, the ice burning its way inside. With his brain no longer able to control his movements, his hands fell limply to his sides as he screamed in pain. His screams turned to gurgles as blood poured from his eyes, ears, nose and mouth and then he went limp.

Vision clearing, Skye stared at the man in numbed shock, her body beginning to tremble.

Raising her shaky hands, she looked at them and the blood in shock.

“Skye!”

Whipping her head around, she stared unseeingly at the voice that called her name.

“Aiden?”

The chaos outside filtered into her dazed brain but his movement brought even more fear and she backed away when he rushed to her.

“Don’t touch me!”

“Tis alright—”

She scrambled to her feet covering the material of her torn dress to her chest as she tucked her bloody hands under her armpits and shook her head, still feeling the cold inside her.

“You can’t touch me.”

His look of distress was nearly her undoing but when he took another step with his hands raised, she barked at him.

“No!”

She barely took in the fact that Collin was holding Anna in his arms.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Skye knew she was no longer responsible for the girl’s safety and she felt a moment of intense relief before her eyes followed in a downward motion to the two men dead on the ground.

“I killed them.” She whispered in shock. “I killed them.”

“Tis alright.” Aiden repeated.

“I
wanted
to kill them.” She looked back at Aiden, barely hearing his calm voice. “I can still feel it in me.”

Understanding dawned and he took another step causing her to flee but Aiden was quicker and wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her into his body and holding tight as she struggled to break free.

At the feel of his touch, her hands clutched together between her breasts as fear clawed at her chest.

“You have to let go! Oh, my God, please, let go!”

Aiden held tight, his heart pounding hard against his chest at the horrors Skye had gone through.

If they had only arrived sooner, the trauma these girls went through could have been avoided but it had taken a long time of concentration and chanting before his mother had gotten through to Skye’s sister.

It had only been a matter of moments before Sarah had found the encampment while the women had slept. Unable to wake Skye, she had gone back to Aiden and they had formed a way for her to lead him and his men to the campsite. With Sarah’s ability to cause pandemonium with the fires burning, his men were able to slip in and battle the Reivers as he and Collin searched for their women.

Sileas and Seelie had immediately caught the girls’ scent and had led them to a tent.

When they stood outside the tent flaps, Aiden and Collin had paused to assess the situation and to listen for a moment, sweat running down their bodies at the restraint of not barging in.

They heard a scuffle and some cries and Aiden looked at his friend while adjusting his grip on his sword then entered, slashing the fabric opening in one swipe, Collin right behind him.

Standing in stunned silence, they watched as Skye fell to her knees, her hands wrapped around a man gurgling in his own blood as more poured from every cavity.

“Tis alright.” He repeated firmly as he turned her around, quickly enfolding her back into his embrace.

Warmth invaded her limbs and her struggling subsided. She raised her face to look at him.

“I be fine,
leanabh
.” He calmly reassured her, relaxing his hold slightly.

She tried to smile but her lips began to tremble. Tears formed and streamed unchecked as she buried her face into the crook of his arm, her hands breaking free from the tight fists to wrap around his waist.

His heart splintered when she broke down and began to sob, her body racked with tremors.

“Tis alright,
mo
ghaol.
I be here now an will allow nothin to happen to ye.”

Chapter Eleven
 

T
hey took the girls to separate areas of a stream near their camp, heated the water and cleaned them in private while guards stood watch further away.

Tenderly, Aiden cleaned the dirt and grime from Skye’s body, his face a mask of granite unless she looked at him then his features softened and his lips would brush across her forehead.

After pulling one of his woolen shirts over her shivering body, Aiden brushed the dried mud from the cloth before he gently put Skye’s torn bodice back over her head, wishing he had brought something for her to wear so she would not have this to remind her of the ordeal she had gone through.

Placing a chaste kiss on her cheek, he rolled up the sleeves so she could have her hands free.