Page 55 of Enchantment of a Highlander

• • •

The sounds of the forest chirped and cooed amid the wet splat of drops against leaves. It was very dark now and they’d been looking for hours.

The muscles along Alec’s back ached with tension and his fingers were frozen around the iron loop of a lantern.

He’d thought Duncan would have been found by now.

Alec glanced at Celia for the countless time, confirming her existence.

Something bad had happened to her that afternoon.

His stomach wound in tight, angry knots. Whoever had hurt her would die.

“Stop staring at me, Alec.”

He turned his gaze from her and looked out to the dark forest.

The dark, empty forest.

“I’m sure he’s in the village,” Alec said. “Duncan has a way of talking himself into people’s good graces.”

“Your men are checking all the homes. If he’s there, they’ll find him, and if he’s here, we’ll find him.”

He nodded.

They had to find him. He couldn’t stand the thought of what would happen if they did not.

They walked in silence, but the longer they walked, the more a weight of dread settled over his shoulders, pressing him into the depths of his own emotion.

Something was wrong.

He could sense it.

Something was wrong and he hoped to God it did not mean the boy was dead.

• • •

A thick layer of sodden leaves squished beneath Celia’s shoes and rain ticked and tapped against the surrounding forest. The Duart guards had fanned across the coast by the castle while Alec stayed with her to search.

She was certain the splitting was not coincidental.

The lantern swung in Alec’s hand and cast a golden glow against the wet foliage. Her eyes ached from straining and yet she did not stop.

“He had no dagger with him,” Alec said, his gaze boring into a large bush nearby. “If attacked, he’ll have no way to defend himself.”

The meager light cut deep shadows across his face.

“He won’t be attacked,” Celia said with a reassurance she wished she could feel. “He’ll be fine.”

“The outlaws are getting more aggressive.”

“He’ll be fine,” she repeated.

Ruadh wound around a bush in front of them with his long, pointed ears flexed high.

Alec froze and put a hand out to stop her.

“You needn’t worry about the fox,” Celia said before Alec could do something protective and brutish to the small creature. “He’s an old friend of mine.”