Page 6 of The Highlander’s Gypsy Temptation

“August Raymond, I will kill ye someday.”

“You will try, but you will not succeed.”

Bran took a step forward, his hand on the hilt of his blade. Within the blink of an eye, Raymond’s men had him surrounded. “Someday,” he promised, removing his hand.

“I will be ready,” August promised, before turning and walking away.

* * *

Bran stood in the trees outside of the seer’s cottage, waiting for the woman he was to capture. It turned his stomach to think of what he was about to do, but he had no choice. He had to protect his daughter at all costs. He was all she had left in the world. The only person remaining who cared enough about her to keep her safe. He wished now that he had told Andrew about her. At least then, if he died, there would have been someone to come find her and take her away from August Raymond.

If she and I get through this alive, I am takin’ her home. Family shame be damned. There is nae family left to be ashamed o’ me or me sins.

His need to preserve his family honor by not telling them of his affair seemed so very foolish now. If he had it to do over again, he would have told them all everything from the very beginning. He also would have taken August’s sister away from him and married her against her brother’s wishes. She had told him to go, and then she had died, leaving their daughter alone and unprotected in the hands of a monster.

The sound of footsteps drew him out of his thoughts and back to the present moment. A lad of undeterminable age appeared and knocked on the seer’s door. Perhaps the lass has decided nae to come after all. A brief moment of hope filled his heart. He did not wish to perform the task he had been commanded to. Bran felt like a bird of prey sitting there waiting. He sent a prayer heavenward that God would see fit to keep the girl away from the trap August Raymond had lain for her. He had no notion of who the lass might be, but as the father of a daughter he found himself looking at women in a completely different light. All women were someone’s daughters.

The seer opened the door and allowed the lad to enter. Bran settled back in against a tree and continued to wait. People came to the seer to have their ailments healed. Perhaps the lad was simply seeking a cure. If so, then he would not be there long. Bran did not need witnesses when he abducted the unsuspecting girl. August had been quite clear that Bran was not to speak to the lass but was simply to deliver her to him in the same state that he found her. The only way he had of identifying the girl was a small crescent-moon-shaped birthmark somewhere on her body. Bran had informed the seer of this and that she was to confirm identity by whatever means she deemed necessary.

The poor lass. She does nae ken what awaits her. He sent another prayer for God to protect the poor girl, whomever she might be. At least August has moved on from his obsession with Idalia. Thoughts of home caused a twinge of pain in his chest. Shaking his head to clear it, he turned his attention back to the seer’s cottage. The only girl he could afford to think about now was his daughter. Whoever the lass was, she would have to fend for herself and hope that she too had a father who cared enough to come after her and protect her. May he kill August Raymond in the doing o’ it.

Moments later, the seer opened her door and motioned for Bran to come forward. Hе stepped out of the trees and walked over to stand in front of her. “The lass is prepared for ye.”

“Lass?” Bran asked, looking past the woman to the person lying on the floor. “I saw a lad enter, nae a lass.”

“She disguised herself so that she might travel alone.”

Bran raised his brows in surprise. “She bears the mark?”

“Aye. She does.” The seer nodded, stepping back into the cottage and motioning for him to take the girl. “Take the lass and go. Tell yer master that my debt is now paid. I owe him nae longer.”

Bran nodded. “I will inform him o’ yer words.”

Stepping forward, Bran scooped up the girl into his arms and carried her from the cottage. To cover his tracks, Bran had arranged for a boat to take them to the location that August had dictated. He did not need the girl’s family catching up with him on the road and slaughtering him in his sleep. He was not about to take the blame for August Raymond’s actions. In many ways, Bran was just as much a victim as the girl he carried. Placing her on the back of his horse, Bran climbed up behind her. He turned the horse in the direction of the coast and left the seer’s cottage behind at a brisk clip.

Bran rode carefully to avoid being seen. It would not be good to have someone see him with a bag-covered hostage in his lap. August had been very specific about the bag being placed over the girl’s head. He had been equally clear that Bran was not supposed to remove the bag until he arrived in front of August himself. Bran had to admit he was tempted to look regardless of his orders. It was not as if August would ever know one way or the other. However, as he did not want to take the risk of August having sent spies to watch him, Bran left the bag in place. When they arrived at the coast, Bran carried the girl, still dressed in lad’s clothes onto the boat he had hired and stowed her away midship before they set sail.

* * *

Idalia awoke as the world swayed around her, but she could see nothing as her head was covered. She attempted to feel about her with her hands, but found that they, as well as her feet, were tied. She was lying on a hard wooden surface that seemed to slope upwards against her back. A man shouted orders somewhere behind her as the sound of wood slapping water filled the air, and a splash of water slid over her hands. She attempted to sit up, but the world continued to sway around her, and she realized she must be in a boat. How did I get here? The seer... She remembered the seer’s face right before she had lost consciousness. The seer did this to me.

“Help!” she called out, hoping that someone other than her captor would hear her. “Seer, you will regret the day we ever met!”

“Be still,” a deep masculine voice commanded from above her. A voice she could never mistake. But this time, he didn’t come to her rescue.

Idalia froze. “You?” she breathed in question, her mind in disarray. “Take this cloth off of my head or I will scream.” The sound of footsteps on wood drew closer to her, and then the bag was removed from her head. Light filtered through the canvas overhead and she could make out the familiar features of the man who had saved her from August Raymond when she had been held hostage by the former Laird Morgan. “It is you. I knew I recognized your voice.”

* * *

Bran was unable to stop the surprise from showing on his face when he realized that she had, in fact, remembered and recognized him. His face transformed from surprise to anger, and then quickly slipped into a mask of indifference in a bid to hide the truth from her. He shook his head. “That cannae be as we have never met ’afore this day, and I never saved ye in the Morgan lands.”

His jaw ticked as he realized his error. She had not mentioned the Morgan lands and he hoped she would not catch onto him. Idalia squinted at him, and he believed he was about to be called out on his mistake, but then she frowned instead.

“You saved me from August Raymond. Why do you pretend that you do not know me?”

Yes, he had indeed done that, and, for the longest time, Bran had wondered what had happened to her. He had dreamed of her after he had saved her from August Raymond’s grasp. She had plagued his thoughts and he had always hoped she had managed to escape and would remain far out of his reach. The irony was not lost on him that he was currently taking her back to the man he had saved her from. Bran was bitter and angry.

In all the time he had spent with August, carrying out his tasks, he had been made to do so many terrible things that it tore at him all the time, but nothing was worse than knowing he was helping in the capture of Katarina’s sister.