Page 105 of Enchantment of a Highlander

“Forgot we took it, did ye?” he asked.

Her heart lodged in her throat. She was unarmed and at his mercy.

She took a step back. And then another, and another. True, she was prolonging the inevitable, but she was also purposefully pulling herself further from the other guards’ view. If she was out of their vantage point, they wouldn’t see if she managed to escape. If she were able to escape…

The man did not stop her backward progress. He watched her with a glint in his eye, like a cat observing a mouse.

Her muscles tensed to run, to fight, to do whatever it took to survive. The men were clustered together in the distance and paid her no attention. They didn’t appear to notice the way she was slowly slipping from view.

Her heel found purchase on an uneven bit of something and her foot rolled to the right. Her balance swayed and she stumbled.

It was all the guard needed.

He pounced at her, the sharp edge of his blade flashing toward her soft, unarmored torso.

A snarl sounded above the wind and the man cried out in surprised pain. His sword fell away at the last second before it could pierce her flesh.

Celia’s body froze, her limbs locked with the fear of death. Her brain reeled to understand what had happened.

The man turned away from her and a flash of russet red showed against the straw colored grass.

Ruadh.

Wet red glistened on the man’s arm.

In one motion, he swiped his blade from the ground and attacked the little fox.

Celia staggered upright and ran, knowing Ruadh would follow closely behind.

He always did.

She had sprinted the several dozen feet to the coast where numerous caves could provide shelter when a high-pitched yelp cut through the air.

The world around her shrank to nothing and her feet planted into the ground.

Ruadh.

She spun around and found for the first time in years he was not behind her.

He’d stayed to fight.

To protect her.

Tears stung her eyes and something inside her breast withered with despair. She had no dagger, no way to fight, but she would not leave him to die.

The rain started then. Hard and stinging, lashing with the bite of a thousand needles.

She fought through it to get to where the soldier had been, when Ruadh came running toward her at his full speed.

She choked in a great exhale and her knees went weak with relief.

He did not even limp.

Together they ran for the cover of the coast, not stopping until they were concealed inside a cave with little more than a narrow wisp of light trickling in. It was enough.

She curled Ruadh’s warmth against her. He did not protest her affection.

The metallic scent of blood tinged the air.