Page 6 of Passion

Chapter 3

The following afternoon,Gwendolyn gave instructions for preparation of the evening meal, then slipped away to the loch that butted the southern edge of the castle property. She pulled her cloak close against the unusually cool summer wind and sat on the cliffs overlooking the water. The tears she’d kept at bay the last month hovered too close to the surface.

“Ye are no’ allowed to cry,” she ordered, but the admonition didn’t stop the twist of her heart at the memory of last night. Caeleb’s gentle wooing was sweeter than honey. How could the man possibly want to spend the rest of his life with her? She was nothing special, and if he had any inkling of what she really was…

Gwen released a slow breath. She’d written the letter that warned them of the Donald’s attack. But she’d also been lying to him for two years. She was a traitor. He trusted her. To stay would be to continue the lies. She wouldn’t do that to him. It was time she left.

One task remained.

The decision made, she felt no relief, no pain, not even regret. She felt nothing.

Now, she waited.

The oranges and purples that painted the evening sky gradually faded with the arrival of dusk. When the first stars winked overhead, Gwendolyn closed her eyes and prayed, I ask but one favor. Let him forgive me.

At last, when the full moon hung bright in the cloudless sky, Gwen rose and started back down the path between the dense forest and the loch. She’d gone a dozen steps when a twig snapped within the trees. Disgust roiled her gut. Malcolm wasn’t such an oaf as to give away his presence by stepping on a twig. He wanted to scare her. In the past, she’d allowed him to think he had the edge.

Not today.

She started forward again at a slow pace. “If ye have something to say, do so now. I must return to Dunvegan.”

The frogs went silent and she knew he was following along within the tree line. A moment later, a hulking figure stepped out onto the path before her.

“Ye have learned well,” he said.

“Well enough to know we shouldn’t meet out in the open.” She started toward the trees.

He grasped her arm and brought her to a stop. “Keep your nerve. Ye would have known if anyone followed you.” He released her. “Dòmhnall wishes to see you.”

Laird Dòmhnall? She hadn’t anticipated that. Her heart beat faster. Was her sister safe? Of course, she was safe. Malcolm was lying. Dòmhnall had never been the one holding Arabelle as leverage, and the laird didn’t want to see her. Gwen had finally realized that most, if not all, of Malcolm’s dealings with the Sisters of the Sinister Order were at his own behest, not Dòmhnall’s. She wondered how much Dòmhnall actually knew of the Sisters.

“Caeleb joined forces with another hundred and fifty men,” he went on.

Tears pricked. She hadn’t known it was a trap until Malcolm contacted her with a demand for information. By then, Caeleb and his men were long gone.

“It was almost as if he knew we were coming,” Malcolm said in that soft voice that meant he was baiting her.

Gwendolyn stared into the eyes of her trainer. He’d molded her to think like a leader, fight like a warrior, and to live every day as her last. She had surpassed even his skill. This moment would tell her by just how much.

“We can go to Dòmhnall now.” Gwen watched him carefully. “I will gladly explain that when ye asked for the information, Laird MacLeod had already left. I had no knowledge that more men were sent to meet him.”

Moonlight illuminated the lecherous curve of Malcolm’s mouth. “He will say the same thing I say; you are a woman. Women have ways of learning information. Start using your charms.”

So, he didn’t want her to see Dòmhnall.

“We will fare even better next time,” he said.

Gwen shook her head. “I am done.”

“Done?” he repeated. “I trained you for this. Ye have a duty to your clan.”

“My clan? You cannae mean the Donalds? Even a four-year refuge does no’ mean your clan is mine.”

“Dòmhnall will no’ take this lightly,” he snapped.

She held his gaze. “I have done everything he asked of me. My task is complete. Release my sister.”

“You know, ‘tis no’ that simple.”