Page 84 of Highlander’s Captive

“I came to take ye to safety. The MacDougalls are attacking. What are ye doing here, Hamish?”

Hamish’s hand slowly went to his sword.

Craig frowned, then stepped back. He looked at the stone lid that hid the tunnel, now lying beside the opening.

His face fell. “’Twas ye? Ye found the tunnel? Ye sent the message? Ye killed Lachlan.”

Amy gasped and looked at Hamish. But he didn’t even deny it. His eyes only darkened. Craig pointed his sword at the man who had been Amy’s only friend…who she saw now had been using her all along.

Chapter 30

“Did ye two work together?” Craig said through the agonizing tightness in his throat.

“Lord, we must make haste,” Owen said from behind Craig. “The gates…”

Craig nodded, but he couldn’t take his eyes off her. A bottomless hole somewhere in the middle of him smarted. He wanted to know the truth, the extent of the lies she’d woven around him. Because he wasn’t sure which he was in love with, the net of her deceptions or the woman herself.

He needed to know which was which.

“We didna work together, lord,” Hamish said. “But I am taking yer dearie with me.”

He grabbed Amy’s hand and yanked her to himself. The tip of his sword was at her neck. Amy gasped, her eyes huge and desperate.

“Hamish!” she cried, indignant.

“Let us go, or I will cut her throat, just like Lachlan’s.”

A low growl escaped Craig’s throat. He should just attack Hamish before he escaped. Judging by the fact that the MacDougalls weren’t pouring out of the trapdoor, Hamish hadn’t told them where it was yet. He shouldn’t care that Amy might get hurt or that Hamish might truly kill her. She didn’t love him. She’d lied about everything.

No one had ever hurt him like she had.

And no one ever would again.

But he couldn’t bring himself to let anything harm her.

“Craig,” Owen whispered, “we can get him—”

“Stand back,” Craig said.

“Let me go, Hamish,” Amy spat and jerked her arm. “You won’t kill me.”

“Ye dinna ken me, lass,” he said, moving towards the tunnel and pulling her after himself. “I will if I must.”

It was as though Hamish was pulling Craig’s heart out with his bare hands. Hamish let Amy go into the tunnel first, and as the woman he loved disappeared, his heart was torn in half. And what was left of Craig was a raw, open wound. Aching, whirling, endless agony.

He watched the lid close and stood still for what felt like an eternity.

He should go after. He should save her.

He would, despite her betrayal. He’d still give his own life if it saved hers.

But he had the castle to protect. The men who relied on him.

“Put rocks, barrels, tables over the lid,” he said. “Once Hamish tells the MacDougalls where it is, they will try to sneak in. I need at least a dozen men. Even if they manage to shift the weight, no more than one man will be able to come out at once. Now that we ken they’re coming through here, they have no advantage.”

“Aye, Craig.”

“Let us go, Owen. The rest of ye, start covering the tunnel.”