Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The fire burned low, casting ominous shadows over the wooden beams that held up the ceiling.
Despite the late hour, Theo was wide awake, his troubled mind chasing away sleep. He glanced at the beauty beside him.
Lavina had snuggled up against him as she clung to the fur blankets. Her breathing was slow and even.
As peace encompassed her, she slept soundly beside him without a care in the world. He couldn’t help but admire the few stray curls resting on her face like a veil.
Relief crashed against the walls of his uncertainty as he studied her, wondering what she was dreaming about.
Maisie and Amber were down the hall, safe and secure. So why, then, did every fiber of his being twitch and his fingers yearn to wield steel?
He felt like a storm was brewing. Only, there were no clouds.
He rolled onto his other side, hoping to find some comfort in his pillow. Yet, even there, he couldn’t shake the feeling that all wasn’t well. And wouldn’t be—not until he ended Micah once and for all. Only then would Lavina be safe.
She would never have to look over her shoulder again. She’d be free from worry and doubt once and for all.
“Rest, dear one,” Theo whispered over his shoulder as he slipped out of bed.
Lavina was safe. But the real question was: for how much longer?
Micah would come for them. It wasn’t a matter of if, but when.
His jaw clenched. Sleep would not come, not when his mind endlessly turned over the threat of Micah’s arrival. He sifted through the schematics of his lands he had long since memorized, but until he saw the maps, he couldn’t be certain which part of the borders was the weakest.
He tried to remember the notes from the council meeting, but even those seemed to elude him.
Why did Lavina have to distract him so?
A slow, icy finger slithered down the length of his spine despite the warm, boggy air of autumn. But no matter what he did, he couldn’t ignore the nagging at the back of his head, quiet as the shadows and fog blanketing the eerie moors.
He padded out of his chambers after plucking his shirt off the back of the chair by the fireplace.
The stillness of the hallway was disturbing. Theo couldn’t tell if the danger lurked only in his head or if something sinister was afoot. He made straight for his study and the maps of his lands. He had to know if his men had mended the fence at the southern border or if they had put it off.
Uncertainty clung to him like a shroud. His footsteps echoed and cut through the silence.
Then, he stopped.
The hairs on his neck stood up as an unearthly sound echoed through the corridor.
Straining his ears, Theo tried to pick up something more—something that would confirm the sound was human and not some specter come to torment him. He swallowed hard as he pressed onward, every muscle coiled with a sudden alertness.
His hand moved instinctively to his belt.
“Son of a—” he cursed when he realized he’d left his dirk on the chair. Or maybe it had been kicked under the bed at some point when he had been trying to soothe Lavina.
Either way, it wasn’t at his side, where it should have been.
“Will ye stop?”
The feminine voice pulled him up short.
He froze, his paranoia getting the better of him. His ears perked up and strained to pinpoint the direction of the voice, half-expecting another outburst of some kind.
A silence so thick followed, causing the hairs on his arms to rise. A chill slid down his spine as another whisper tickled his ears.
“Ye’re goin’ to get in so much trouble. What if ye’re caught?”
Theo tiptoed closer, ensuring each step was as silent as the last.
“Would ye relax? Nothing is goin’ to happen. Everyone is in bed. The Laird is asleep. We’ve got the halls and shadows to ourselves.”
Theo stopped and shook his head at Stephen’s familiar husky voice. It only took him a second to find his man-at-arms with the new scullery maid behind the same tapestry he had once used to steal a moment with Lavina.
The maid’s eyes widened with shock, and she raised her hand to smack Stephen. “Did I nae tell ye I heard something?” she hissed as he rushed to pull up his breeches.
“Me Laird, I wasnae expectin’—” Stephen stammered, a playful grin tugging at his lips.
“Clearly,” Theo snapped. He lifted his hand to not only silence Stephen but to wipe the smirk off his face. “Walk with me.”
“Aye, Me Laird,” Stephen uttered, casting an apologetic glance at the scullery maid.
“And ye, lass—get back to yer parents. Ye can find a better suitor than this ruffian,” Theo said over his shoulder as he continued down the corridor to his study.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Stephen glancing at him. It was clear his man-at-arms had something to say, but it seemed he couldn’t force the words out.
“If ye have something to say, say it,” Theo barked, pushing open the door to his study.
The creak that followed instantly distracted his troubled mind.
“Just wonderin’ why the Laird isnae enjoyin’ the spoils of war,” Stephen drawled with a wink.
“Since ye brought up war, I need ye to do a head count of available men,” Theo ordered, his anxiety shifting to purpose.
He may not know when Micah was coming, but he’d be damned if he got caught off guard tonight.
“Aye,” Stephen said.
Theo tossed a heavy log into the dying embers, along with a handful of straw and dust. The embers took to the kindling, ravaging everything they could.
“I have a better idea. Wake up the men. I want to see how fast we can assemble.”
“All right, now hold on a minute here.” Stephen held up a hand and stepped back from him.
“I’m all for war games and battle theory.
Ye’ve got one of the sharpest minds I’ve ever seen, but why are we doin’ this?
And dinnae tell me ye’re worried about Laird McBride comin’ here.
I’ve got the outer wall guarded, the southern entrance is blocked completely, and if he tries anything, we’ll ken. ”
Theo arched an eyebrow as he took a long, deep breath.
Perhaps Stephen was right, and his paranoia was only in his mind. But the truth was, dealing with such a vile man unnerved him. There was too much at stake. One wrong choice could be the difference between being alive and dead, whether Lavina was here or not.
He couldn’t think of life without her in it. She had changed too much to be dismissed so easily. But it wasn’t just her.
It was Maisie as well. She was the target, and he knew if anything happened to her, Lavina would never be the same.
“Ye see to doubling the men around the keep. I want layers on layers of protection, especially if I’ll be usin’ Lavina and Maisie as bait to lure that devil of a laird out this way,” he finally said, staring out the window into the inky blackness.
Not even the moon cast its light, and that only ratcheted up his anxiety. But he knew what he had to do, and failure was not an option.
“I understand ye’re worried, but what if the men start grumblin’ ye’ve gone too far?” Stephen asked as he patted him on the shoulder.
“Let them,” Theo snapped. “Ye think their words will have a sway over me? I made a promise; Stephen, and I will use every resource at my disposal to see that I uphold it. Understand?”
Theo turned around and glared at Stephen, daring him to say another word.
“Just tell me this one thing,” Stephen said. “Ye’re nae doin’ all this because ye’ve fallin’ in love with yer wife, are ye? Ye’re nae tryin’ to impress the lass, now, right?”
It was Stephen’s words that struck through Theo like a battering ram to the gates. Theo rolled his shoulders back as he opened his mouth once before sharply closing it again.
He couldn’t deny it. He had fallen in love with his wife. She had touched and changed his world so much that the thought of her leaving—or worse, dying—crushed him.
He flexed his fists as he pushed aside the thought and wrestled it into the darkest recesses of his mind, where he would never consider it again.
“Lavina is mine, and I’ll do everythin’ I need to keep her safe. Wake up the men,” he ordered, his voice steady and sure.
“Me Laird, as yer second-in-command, I’m goin’ to say that it’s a bad idea. Ye dinnae want to cry wolf now, do ye?”
“The men need to learn to assemble in a flash, and that training starts tonight,” he insisted.
The sound of glass shattering stunned him.
He jumped back as an arrow hit the wall behind him. His eyes shot to Stephen.
“Ye all right?” he asked, bolting for the arrow.
“Where the hell did that come from?” Stephen asked as he hurried to the window.
Theo’s eyes widened when he spotted the piece of parchment pinned to the wall. Swallowing back the dread that threatened to consume him, he plucked and unfolded it.
You have something that rightfully belongs to me, and I’ve come to take it back.
“Go wake up the men,” he barked, just as he looked up to see campfires lighting up one by one.
Flexing his jaw, he yanked the arrow from the wall and snapped it like a twig.
“Take Lavina, Amber, and Maisie to the council chambers. If worse comes to worst, use the tunnels to get to the hills.”
“Nae without ye, Me Laird,” Stephen growled. “Me duty is to help ye.”
“Aye, but I cannae fight if I’m constantly worried about Lavina. Ye need to get her—and anyone ye can find—out of here. Ye’re the only man that I trust who will protect her,” Theo pressed.
He moved to his desk and took a dirk out of the drawer, as well as his pistol.
Anger surged through him, hotter than anything he’d felt before. Although he had planned to use the girls as bait to lure Lord Lewis to him, he had not expected the man to attack so soon.
“The fool thinks he can challenge me on me lands and succeed? This is McGowan land. And I’ll make him pay for what he’s done to Lavina. So come and claim her, Laird Lewis. I dare ye.”
“I’ll take them to the hills,” Stephen relented.
“Ye must be gentle with Amber. She’s just started talkin’, and I dinnae want her to go mute again.”
“Aye. And when this is over, maybe ye’ll get me that lovely kitchen maid,” Stephen joked.
“Nay,” Theo said with a firm shake of his head. “I need ye to focus.”
“And just where do ye think ye’re goin’?” Stephen asked, his eyes sharp as blades.
Theo strapped the dirk to his belt before turning his attention to the man.
“I promised Lavina I’d give her everythin’ she wanted, and it looks like I’m startin’ with givin’ her Micah’s head. But before that, we must make haste. I will nae take any chances that Lavina or Maisie are still in the keep. I willnae lose her, Stephen. Do ye hear me? I cannae.”