The late afternoonsun beckoned through the tall windows, promising warmth and fresh air that would help clear her mind.
The castle gardenswere particularly beautiful at this time of day, with golden light filtering through the leaves and casting dancing shadows on the well-tended paths. She breathed deeply, letting the sweet scent of blooming roses and lavender fill her lungs as she wandered among the carefully arranged flowerbeds.
“Gabriella, dear!”
She turnedto see Andrea approaching along one of the garden paths, her face brightening with the warm smile that had become so precious to Gabriella over these past days.
Hector’s motherhad been like a beacon of light in the darkness of her recovery, offering the kind of maternal comfort Gabriella hadn’t realized she’d been desperately craving.
“Me Lady,”Gabriella said, smiling at her with genuine affection. “I was just takin’ the air before tomorrow’s ceremony.”
“And how are ye feelin’about it all, child?” Andrea asked, her gentle eyes searching Gabriella’s face with the perceptive care of someone who had watched her grow from a frightened, broken girl into a confident young woman. “Nae too nervous, I hope?”
“Actually,”Gabriella said, falling into step beside her as they began walking deeper into the gardens, “I’m feelin’ much better about everythin’. Erica helped put some of me fears to rest.”
Andrea’s facelit up with maternal pride. “I’m so glad to hear that, dear. Ye deserve all the happiness in the world, and I ken me son will give it to ye.”
They strolled togetheralong the winding path, Andrea’s presence as comforting as always.
The older womanhad thrown herself into helping Gabriella prepare for this new life, and her enthusiasm about the wedding had been infectious. More than that, she’d become the mother figure Gabriella had lost so long ago.
They had just roundeda bend in the path, moving toward a more secluded section of the gardens where ancient oak trees provided shelter from the castle’s windows, when Gabriella heard a sudden, sickening thud.
Andrea crumpledbeside her with a soft gasp, her hand flying to the back of her head as she stumbled and fell to her knees on the stone path. Blood seeped between her fingers, and her eyes became dazed and unfocused.
“Andrea!”Gabriella dropped to her knees beside the older woman, her heart pounding with sudden terror.
Thankfully,Andrea remained conscious.
“What happened? Are ye—”
The words diedin her throat as she whirled around to see who had attacked them.
Lewis stood there,a heavy tree branch still clutched in his filthy hands, his clothes torn and stained as if he’d been living in the wilderness for weeks. But it was his eyes that made her blood run cold—wild, manic, with the gleam of someone who had completely lost touch with reality.
“Nay,”she whispered, scrambling backward on her hands and knees, trying to shield Andrea’s prone form. “Nay, nay, nay…”
A scream torefrom her throat, high and desperate, echoing through the gardens as pure terror flooded her system. This couldn’t be happening. Not here, not when she’d finally found safety, finally found a family who accepted her.
But her screamwas cut short as Lewis lunged forward with inhuman speed, dropping the branch and seizing her arm in a grip that sent fire through her shoulder. His fingers dug into her flesh hard enough to leave bruises as he hauled her to her feet, his other hand clamping over her mouth before she could scream again.
“Quiet!”he hissed, his breath hot and foul against her ear. “Ye belong to me, Gabriella. Ye’ve always belonged to me, and I’ll be handin’ ye over to a more deservin’ laird by the end of the day.”
Behind them,she could hear Andrea trying to call out, her voice weak but filled with maternal fury. “Let her go! Hector! Help!”
She struggled frantically,trying to break free from his hold and get back to Andrea, but Lewis was stronger and driven by a madness that gave him terrible strength. He began dragging her away from the path.
“Nae one can haveye unless they buy ye from me,” he muttered as he forced her toward the edge of the gardens where the manicured paths gave way to the wild forest. His voice was sing-songy, almost cheerful, which made it infinitely more terrifying. “That’s how it works, ye see. Ye’re me property.”
Tears streamed downher face as she fought against his grip, her feet scrabbling for purchase on the increasingly rough ground. The castle walls seemed impossibly far away now, and with each step, Lewis dragged her deeper into the shadows of the trees, away from Andrea, away from safety, away from the life she’d finally begun to believe could be hers.
“I’ve been watchin’,”he continued casually, as if they were having a pleasant chat. “Waitin’ for the right moment. That Scottish bastard thinks he can just take what’s mine? He’ll have to pay, just like everyone else. They all will.”
22
“Come now, Me Laird,” Malcolm grunted, launching a particularly vicious overhead strike that Hector deflected with apparent ease. “Surely ye can do better than that against two old men.”
Noah circled to his left,while Malcolm—his most experienced captain—attacked from the right, both men working in coordinated strikes that would have overwhelmed a lesser swordsman. The clash of steel against steel rang across the training yard as Hector found himself pressed by two opponents.
