Page 232 of Auctioned to the Cruel Highlander
“And because I watched,” he gritted out, “I learned patience. I learned what years can do that one blade cannae.” His fingers twisted tighter in her dress. “I had yer father’s castle set on fire because I kent ye were fond of visiting there. I hoped ye would be inside when it burned down.”
The words hit so hard that a breath whooshed out of her.
What?
“Ye vile?—”
He spoke over her. “And the only reason I had to do that was because ye lived through the wedding. That was nae supposed to happen.”
Her mouth had gone dry. She knew what he meant before he said it.
“Yer wedding day,” he sneered. “Ye think that beast Jack came of his own accord? I sent him.”
Ava stared at him.
For one beat, the wind, the cliff, the ropes—all of it dropped away before the sheer horror of his admission.
Jack had already been nightmare enough in Ciaran’s life. Enough blood had hung on his name. To hear Laird O’Malley speak of sending him,usinghim,directinghim, made the past widen into something even fouler.
“Ye used him! Ye have been using him all along!”
Laird O’Malley gave a small shrug. “Poor lad lost his mind when Isla took her life. Would never question anything. Did whatever he was told.”
The casual cruelty of it made Ava sick.
“And ye didnae lose yer mind?” she hissed.
That struck home; she could see it when his eyes flashed.
“Nay,” he said. “I kept mine well enough. That is why I am standing here and she isnae.”
He meant Isla. He meant Jack. He meant every dead person his hatred had already claimed.
Ava’s voice sharpened. “Ye speak of vengeance as if it is holy, but it is nothing but filth. Ye used yer daughter’s pain to justify every rotten thing after it, and ye still daenae see that this has nothing to do with her.”
“I hold yer life in me hands, lass. I’d be careful if me words if I were ye.”
But Ava didn’t care. Not anymore. “Ye set fire to me father’s home and sent a broken man to slaughter innocents at a wedding. Since that isnae enough for ye, ye have dragged me here because ye cannae bear that life kept moving after hers ended.”
His face darkened. “I willnae settle, nae until me daughter is avenged.”
Ava felt the full weight of the danger settle into her bones. He had not taken her only because she was Ciaran’s wife. He had taken her because she was what came next. A future. A womb. A continuation of the family he hated. He meant to wound Ciaran through her body, through the children she might bear, through the life she had barely begun building.
The thought turned her fear into full-blown panic.
“This willnae bring Isla back,” she tried. “Ye will only leave more bodies behind ye.”
His hand released her dress, before he gave a small signal.
The man behind her shoved her forward again.
Ava caught herself with a gasp, feeling the edge too near. The wind rushed up cold and hard from below, and her heart kicked so violently against her ribs she thought she might pass out. She forced herself to stay upright anyway. If she went down now, they would drag her the rest of the way like meat.
Nay.
She had already given up hope. She wasn’t escaping this. Not after what she’s said to him. However, a part of her couldn’t help but wonder if she could go back in time and have another conversation with Ciaran.
If only she could do it all over again.
