Chapter 7
Evan hadn’t slept worth a damn. He hadn’t expected to, not with the chaotic events of the last few days playing on his mind. Add to that the fact that his chair was hard and his head kept lolling at an angle that made his neck ache, it was no wonder that sleep had eluded him.
But that wasn’t the real problem. The real problem was Ruby Douglas, stretched out only a few feet away. In the stillness, he could hear her every breath, soft and steady like a whisper through trees. And the occasional snore. A gentle one, nothing like the thunderous racket of a drunken sailor, but enough to make his lips twitch into a half-smile.
He knew she was trouble. Worse than trouble, if she was a noblewoman running from her husband, as he suspected she was. If he wasn’t careful, he could have an irate husband on his tail as well as a notorious warlord. Aye, Ruby Douglas was a distraction he could not afford if he wanted to get out of his latest predicament alive.
He shifted in the chair, rubbing the back of his neck and muttering under his breath. God above, what had he been thinking? He should have left her on the jetty and been done with it.
Then he heard it.
A sound. A scrape. Soft, but sharp enough to prick every sense awake. Not the careless shuffle of a drunkard headinghome, nor the lazy step of a watchman. No, this was quieter. Stealthy.
Evan rose from the chair without a sound, his fingers automatically finding the dagger at his belt. Crossing to the window, he leaned just enough to peer through the sliver of opening.
The street below was drowned in shadow. A lantern swayed far down at the corner, throwing just enough light to show the movement of figures slipping through the dark like wolves on a hunt. Not one man—several.
“Shite,” he growled under his breath.
He left the room without waking Ruby and padded down the stairs with practiced stealth. Out in the street he paused and pressed himself against the wall of the inn, listening. The night air hit his lungs, sharp and cold, washing away the last vestiges of sleep.
The first shadow passed close, unaware. Evan struck, swift as a striking snake. His arm locked around the man’s throat and squeezed. The man kicked and fought, but Evan hung on until the man lost consciousness, then dragged him into the darkness of an alley.
Another came. Evan moved like a shadow—dagger flashing, fists striking, silent and efficient. Within minutes, two men lay slumped, hidden from sight, unconscious but still breathing.
Evan went still, crouching in the darkness. He tried to calm his heaving breaths so that he could listen.
Boots echoed faintly. More footsteps. More men. Too many.
His heart thudded against his ribs. He instinctively knew they’d come for him. And if they found Ruby—
He cast one last glance at the fallen men, then glided back up the street, moving fast. Once he reached the inn, he slipped up the stairs as quietly as possible. He had to get Ruby out of here.
Because if they didn’t flee now, neither of them would see the dawn.
RUBY STIRRED, HALF-waking, to the scrape of metal and the creak of floorboards as somebody moved. For a minute she thought she was still dreaming—the dark room, the unfamiliar scents of smoke and damp wood. Then her eyes focused.
Evan stood in the middle of the room, back to her, strapping a belt of knives across his chest. His hair was mussed, but his movements were quick, efficient. On the chair beside him lay two more daggers, their edges glinting faintly in the candle stub’s weak light.
Ruby pushed herself up onto her elbows. “What...what’s wrong?”
He turned, eyes hard. “Get up. We have to go. Stay close to me. Dinna speak unless ye must.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
His eyes glinted dangerously as he met her gaze. “They’ve found me.”
She felt the blood drain from her face. She scrambled to her feet, hastily running her fingers through her tangled hair, glad she’d slept in her clothes. Her mouth felt dry as she tried to swallow down the knot of fear that suddenly tightened her throat.
She followed Evan from the room into the narrow hall, then down the back stairwell. They slipped into the darkened kitchen, the fire in the hearth guttering low, and crossed it in silence. Evan paused at the back door only long enough to check the coast was clear before he was pulling her into the darkness of the night.
Quick as shadows, they moved through the sleeping settlement and down to the docks where their boat waited. Butas they approached the vessel, Ruby’s breath caught. A man wrapped in a dark cloak stood in front of it.
The man stepped forward, his face split into a grin that chilled her blood. “Ah, Campbell. There ye are. So good of ye to come to us. MacInnes would like a word with ye.”
Evan waved a nonchalant hand. “Would he? Then I’m afraid he’ll have to get in line. I’m a little busy right now.”
The man grinned. “Ye always were a cocky bastard, Campbell. Always thought that highborn blood of yers made ye better than the rest of us. But ye are not. Ye are just another kind of gutter rat like the rest of us.”
