Page 80 of My Notorious Highlander

On foot, he and his clan scrambled up the hill and crossed the top. "Are they following?" he shouted back, gasping for breath.

"Nay, they're all headed in the opposite direction."

MacBain paused on top of the grassy hill and squinted, scanning the rocky headland in the distance where all the MacKays were running. Something was going on at the cliff's edge, but 'twas so far, he couldn't see who was involved.

Clearly, joining forces with Haldane MacKay had been a mistake. The lad had let on like he commanded a large faction of men who were scattered about. But he'd only had a few, mayhap half a dozen. Given the strength of the MacKay clan and how they fought for their chief, Dirk, they would never back Haldane as chief, anyway. 'Twas a lost cause.

MacBain had injured Torrin MacLeod in that sword dual, but he hadn't been able to kill him before his sword-bearer had engaged MacBain in a fight and driven him back. He'd had to retreat to save his own skin, but he'd escaped the bastard without much injury.

"Grab the horses and let's get out of here!" he ordered. "You two stay here, well hidden." He pointed to two of his stealthiest men. "Watch the castle, or find one of Haldane's men—if any of them survived—and see if Torrin MacLeod is alive or dead. Once you know for certain, head south. We'll wait for you just outside of Scourie."

"Aye, m'laird," they both murmured.

"We're headed to Scourie?" his sword-bearer asked.

"Aye. And if MacLeod lives, we go toward Munrick."

Moments later, they led the horses from the low-lying thicket where they'd hidden them earlier and mounted.

"What's your plan?" his sword-bearer asked.

"If MacLeod survives, he will head for home eventually. We'll be waiting for him just north of his keep. He only had seven men with him, if you recall. And if Iain Stewart accompanies him, that will be five more, if they all survived the battle. We'll have them outnumbered. And if he brings Lady Jessie home with him, as his new bride, we'll kill the bastard and then grab her."

They took off, riding as if the devil were on their tails.

Aye, his plan was brilliant. He no longer cared about her dowry. 'Twas now about pride and revenge. No one got the best of Gregor MacBain.

∞∞∞

"He still lives," Iain said, kneeling on the other side of Torrin, passed out on the grass.

"Thank the saints," Jessie whispered, the cooler air of gloaming and the harsh wind blasting the headland giving her a shiver. When Torrin had dropped to the ground beside her, she'd feared he was dead. He'd lost so much blood, his skin was pale. But thankfully, he still breathed.

They both rose and stood aside as three of Torrin's men moved in and hoisted him up onto their shoulders, then carried him toward the dunes leading to the castle. Iain followed them.

"Are you well, sister?" Dirk asked, limping toward her.

"Aye, are you hurt?" She glanced down at his leg, seeing no fresh injury below the bottom of his plaid.

"'Tis my calf, still healing from where Gil shot me with an arrow several weeks ago." Dirk shook his head. "When I saw you hanging off that cliff—" Fear sharpened his gaze. "I remember what 'tis like."

She nodded. But, thirteen years ago, Dirk had hung off the side of a cliff all night. She couldn't imagine the prolonged terror he must have felt. "Aye, I'm well. Thanks to McMurdo." Who would've ever imagined the murderer saving anyone's life? "But we must get MacLeod back to the keep and the healer," she said, still feeling jittery and weak from having almost fallen to her death.

"Indeed," her older brother said. "Let's go," he called out to the MacKays.

Torrin's men carried him quickly, ahead of everyone else.

Please, God, keep him alive.

Dirk walked over and stood at the edge of the ravine, staring down toward the rocks and the sea where their youngest brother had met his death. A flash of grief cut through her, for no matter Haldane's crimes—and even though he would've killed her with no qualms—he had once been her wee brother. She knew Dirk felt the loss of one of their own, too.

She rushed to catch up to Torrin's men, transporting him through the sand dunes. The rest of the MacKays and Dirk's friends followed.

A quarter hour later, they entered Dunnakeil. The men carried Torrin to his chamber, while Jessie dashed to Erskine's room to get Nannag, but she wasn't there.

"Where is Nannag?" Jessie asked Flora, one of the healers-in-training who watched over the sleeping sword-bearer.

"In Lady Isobel's chamber."