Page 124 of Enchantment of a Highlander

It would be a long run and they would be in the open.

It would be risky.

The shuffle of anxious feet sounded on the stairs where the women waited.

Staying would be riskier.

He went back down several steps and motioned for the women to follow.

• • •

The mass of bodies behind Celia surged forward at Alec’s signal. The pressure of the crowd pushed her toward the top of the stairs as much as she climbed of her own volition.

Alec reached through the mass and clasped her hand. His grip was firm and warm. With a gentle tug, he caught her in his arms at the top of the stairs. But his gaze wasn’t fixed on her. It was focused on the courtyard.

Celia’s heart slammed harder in her chest. She wanted to run out into the courtyard, heedless of who saw her, and sprint toward the safety of trees outside the castle walls.

Alec nodded and stepped into the moonlit night. The milky light bathed him so he stood out like a beacon, one they would all follow to freedom.

He gripped her hand and walked quickly along the wall. Without the alcove of protection, icy air ripped at her hair and stung her face and hands until they were numb.

The shuffle of feet behind Celia told her the other women followed. Their breaths huffed in the air, erratic and heavy and disjointed.

Celia’s own breath came too quick, too hard. There was so much fear, so much hope.

The muscles of her legs felt weak from lack of food and spending so much time curled below in the cold, damp dark. Alec’s form in front of her remained stoic, his shoulders squared, his head swiveling around to keep aware of who might witness their escape.

Suddenly the light around them dimmed. Celia chanced a look upward and noticed the dark threads of clouds sweeping before the moon, blotting its brilliance.

Good.

She looked forward once more. The end of the wall they followed was near. The rest of the area would be open courtyard until they reached the gate.

Alec stopped and pressed his body flush against the castle wall. Celia and the women behind her did likewise. She glanced down the line of women and saw some still walked in the back.

After it appeared every woman had caught up, Alec nodded and they all ran forward, out into the great wide open. Out where they were all vulnerable.

Celia’s feet stumbled over the uneven cobblestones, but she did not let herself fall. Alec clasped her hand tight, urging her to run faster than her straining muscles were capable of. She pushed harder, past where her body wanted to let her go.

There would be guards who patrolled the top of the castle who would see them eventually, but how much time did that give them now?

She wanted to turn her head, ached to do so, to see if anyone stood against the night sky at the top of Aros castle.

To do so might be her demise.

They ran until the gate loomed before them and the sound of men’s voices came from the other side of the stonework. The small, battered group drew to a stop and huddled against the stonework. Though clouds shielded the moon, its meager light would still betray their location.

A shiver ricocheted through Celia’s body. They were too exposed. The women were silent and still. Her heart wrenched for them. Perhaps it was foolish of her, but she wanted their freedom even more than her own. She knew what they’d been through, knew what horrors to which they’d been subjected.

Alec’s body tensed and a metallic taste filled her mouth, the flavor of fear.

He pushed his hand back in a quiet signal to wait before he slipped around the corner.

She leaned forward, just far enough to make out Alec’s large frame. One guard lay crumpled three feet away with a puddle of blood seeping from his neck and Alec held the other guard against the wall by his neck.

Alec’s blade rose to the man’s throat and gave a savage jerk. Blood spilled from his mortal wound, an eerie tint of purple in the semi-dark.

Celia pulled back behind the wall, her heart beating so hard it made breathing difficult.