Page 52 of Highland Ruse

She wanted to turn away, to keep from witnessing the hurt of seeing them tied and helpless. They’d been so protective and gallant toward her and Leasa, even if their intent was immoral.

“My lady.” Leasa’s voice pulled at Delilah’s attention. She was grateful for the distraction.

Leasa’s expression was pinched. “I’d like you to leave me at the next village we pass.”

Hurt slapped at Delilah’s heart. “You don’t agree with what I’m doing.”

Leasa stared down at the ground. “I understand why you are doing it. I understand this protects Lady Elizabeth. But I…” Her voice wavered. “I ruin everything. All the time. It’s why they sent me with you.” She looked up, her gaze desperate and searching. “They were going to send me home, but all this happened, and they sent me with you instead.”

Surprise at the admission held Delilah’s tongue.

Leasa must have taken the silence for misunderstanding because she looked away and continued, “Because if I died, it wouldn’t matter.”

“Leasa.” Delilah breathed the other woman’s name on a hard exhale. “That can’t be true.”

Leasa’s nose had begun to redden. “I overheard the earl speaking to his wife before we departed. They said those words exactly.”

Delilah wanted to curl her arms around the maid, to console the rejection she knew too well, but she also knew she couldn’t allow her emotions to show in front of the men.

They needed to see her strong, stoic.

“If you come with me,” Delilah said, intentionally changing the subject, “you can help me take them to Killearnan, and I can help see you home after if that is what you prefer.”

Leasa’s mournful gaze drifted up to Delilah once more, now brimming with a sheen of unshed tears. “I can’t go home. My family has no money. I would just be another mouth to feed, another unwed daughter to—” She shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself. “I want to try a new life in one of the villages here, a place where no one knows me and I can start over.”

Delilah saw far too much of herself in the woman for comfort. Her heart swelled with genuine empathy for the girl who had started her adult life much as Delilah had.

Would she be where Leasa was had Sylvi not approached her so long ago?

“I don’t want you to go.” Delilah met Leasa’s gaze, where all the fractured hurt had risen to the surface, and said the words she herself had longed so badly to hear. “You’re important to me.”

Leasa choked a sob and dropped her face into her palms. Delilah’s throat constricted. She knew the power of what she’d said and the impact of feeling needed, wanted, when no one else had ever cared.

And it was the truth. Leasa was important. She was necessary to the mission being completed.

The men be damned. Delilah wrapped her arms around the other woman. “You’re strong and you give me a sense of purpose on this mission,” she said. “I need you to be at my side, to help show these men the same courtesy in captivity we were afforded. Will you stay with me?”

Leasa nodded against her shoulder and stepped from Delilah’s embrace with a brilliant smile. “Thank you.”

Delilah returned her smile and Leasa strode toward the men.

Now that Delilah had secured the men and convinced Leasa to stay, another thought burred its way into her mind.

They were three days from Killearnan, which gave Delilah at least a fortnight before Elizabeth was expected.

They’d arrived too soon. But could she keep the men retained for the next two weeks?

Something caught her eye next to Kaid’s bag.

A leatherbound book. The cover was peeled back at the corners with only a strip of supple leather holding it closed.

She looked up and found Kaid watching her intently, his body tensing. While she’d never seen him writing in the book, she’d noticed how often his fingertips were black.

“What do you write in here?” Delilah said.

He narrowed his eyes.

Suddenly she found herself not trusting him anymore. The certainty there was something important within tugged at her.