Page 85 of Highlander’s Captive

They nodded, and Craig and Owen hurried upstairs.

“Are ye all right, brother?” Owen said. “That was—”

“Not now, Owen,” he said. “Dinna ask me about her no more. Not ever. I dinna want to hear her name or remember that she existed. We have a castle to protect.”

* * *

Amy’s heart slammed against her rib cage, and she inhaled the stuffy, cold air with an effort. The tunnel was like a coffin. Like endless, black desperation.

But the confinement of the tunnel wasn’t what caused her pain and panic.

It was that the worst had happened in the worst possible way.

Craig knew the truth.

She’d seen the unbearable hurt in his eyes, the death sentence of their love. And that was what she felt, too, the unforgiving lash of her own lies as they tore her soul and heart apart.

“Hold on, lass,” Hamish said. “I ken ’tis nae pleasant, no light here, but I have yer hand.”

“You were never going to kill me, were you?” she hissed. “I should have just run to Craig.”

He didn’t say anything for a while. Then he threw curtly, “Ye dinna ken me at all.”

“Clearly. How could you have murdered Lachlan like that?” she said. “And what about the woman he was with?”

“I thought he was Craig. Who else would have been in his bedchamber, with a red-haired woman?”

She shook her head. “So you are working for the MacDougalls?”

He kept silent for a moment, as if deciding what to admit to. Then she felt him shrug. “Aye. They hired me to find the tunnel and kill Craig. But I failed at both.”

“Why? You found the tunnel.”

“Aye, but now that Craig kens, he is never going to let them use it. ’Tis only good if ’tis secret, if one attacks unexpectedly, from within.”

“So what now?” she asked. “Are you going to give me to the MacDougalls?”

“Nae. I canna show my face to the MacDougalls now. They’ll kill me. Nae, ye and I, we run.”

“We?”

“Aye, I need ye as my protection in case Craig decides to come after me. He’d never let harm come to ye.”

It was as though something sharp stabbed Amy in the chest. “Really?” She chuckled bitterly. “Maybe that was true before. But I’ve hurt him too much now. I betrayed him. He hates me.”

Hamish sighed or chuckled, or something in between. “If I ken men—and I do ken men on account of being one—he does not hate ye. I hadna realized it before, but I see it now. He’d die for ye, lass.”

She choked a little from her sadness. “Not anymore, Hamish, not anymore.”

Soon, the air became fresher, and somewhere before her, over Hamish’s shoulders, she saw a little hint of light.

“Almost there,” Hamish said.

In a few more seconds they stopped, and somewhere above was a barely visible semicircle of light. Hamish climbed the stairs and pushed the lid to the side. Light flowed into the tunnel, blinding Amy for a moment. She closed her eyes, letting them adjust. When they stopped hurting, she sucked in fresh air. Hamish looked around.

“Aye, good. It’s starting to snow. Better hurry.”

Chapter 31