Emily wanted to throw up.
“Wait here,” Mrs. Donnelly told the men, pulling her aside. “I need ye to play along until I find the Laird,” she whispered in her ear, her voice shaking slightly.
The men had escorted Elize to their carriage and were now approaching.
“Where is Adair now?” Emily looked around frantically, gripping Mrs. Donnelly by her arms.
“He left, but I daenae ken where.” Mrs. Donnelly instinctively held her tighter as the men’s hands came down on her shoulders. “Daenae give them reason to hurt ye.”
The men pulled them apart, and Emily was forced to comply.
“Bring them here,” Emily heard a male voice order as the carriage slowed to a stop.
She wondered why. They had barely traveled for a mile. But soon enough, the door opened, and they were pulled out of the carriage.
“Where are we?” She looked around frantically, wrestling against the grip on her wrist.
When her eyes landed on Laird Scott, her eyes widened.
“Laird Scott!” she exclaimed. “Why are ye doing this?”
“I want ye to stay dead,” he growled, catching her off guard. “Any word from our lookout?” he asked the man who held Elize.
The man produced a letter from his boot and the arrow it had been attached to, wrestling Elize into submission when she tried to break free. Her struggles were useless against his iron grip.
Turned out Laird Scott had stationed a spy in the chapel’s bell tower to keep watch for Adair.
The arrow’s fletching was damp, but not with mist. It reeked of leather and sweat from dirty feet. Laird Scott regarded it with distaste, hesitant to take it into his hands. He leveled the man with a glare.
Eventually, he took it and unfolded it. His brow creased, a clear sign of displeasure.
“Laird MacDonnell has been sighted returning to the castle with his braither,” the man said unnecessarily, right before Laird Scott balled up the letter and tossed it aside.
Hearing that filled Emily with hope that they would be rescued soon, but Laird Scott’s next command made her stiffen.
“Bring them into me carriage.”
Her breath hitched. Being transferred into his carriage meant they were going far away from MacDonnell land and losing their chance to be rescued.
She glanced at Elize, whose hands were still bound. The man shoved them forward, and they almost fell. Mud sucked at her boots as she moved.
Inside the carriage would be just her, Elize, and Laird Scott. And whatever decision he’d already made.
“What do ye want from us?” she asked, struggling against the man gripping her arm.
18
Emily is missing.
The news was almost ridiculous. Adair could not fathom the possibility that she could be taken amidst the crowd.
“How did this happen?” he asked in a gruff voice that sounded little like him. “How did ye leave the women unprotected?”
“I am very sorry, me Laird,” the messenger replied, his voice strained as he struggled to keep up with him on horseback. They were chasing the trail that Mrs. Donnelly had pointed out. “We thought they were simply lads from Clan MacSweeny sent to arrest Lady Emily and her sister. We didnae think they intended to kidnap them.”
Malcolm Scott was a calculating devil, so Adair was willing to bet that he knew everything about the castle and his trust in the guards and had used that information to his advantage.
He was not sure what Malcolm intended to do with Emily and Elize, but it could not be anything good, especially now that he knew the truth of their parents’ deaths. His only hope was to catch up with them before Malcolm could harm them.
