Chapter 21
"Ye always were a squealer," a husky voice hissed in Izzy's ear. Her heart thumped frantically against her ribs, threatening to leap out of her corpse. "I should have silenced ye all those years ago."
Something stung her shoulder. Izzy didn't know if it came from an insect or a blade. All she knew was the burning sensation wouldn't stop as she felt yet another slash across her face.
"Izzy! Answer me, love. Where are ye, lass?" Aaron's voice was so close, it sounded as if he were right on top of her. Izzy couldn't understand why Aaron couldn't see her. She tilted her head, trying to spy through the sliver of a hole in the burlap sake covering her face.
"Aar—"
"Ye'll be still, or ye're beloved will find yer lifeless body right where I drop ye," the man growled.
The threat in his voice struck Izzy like a javelin to her chest. Fear crawled over her like ants marching up her spine.
She froze in place as the warmth drained out of her body.
The hair on the back of her neck tickled as it rose.
Aaron was so close; she could feel him inches from her.
"Come out now," Aaron ordered. "And I'll spare yer life, but if so much as a single hair on her head is damaged, I'll run ye through."
"Who do ye think yer talkin' to lad? Ye think I'm scared of the likes of ye? Who do ye think started all the rumors and kept them alive in the minds of yer servants? Oh, how easy people turn when ye give them a monster, and ye became me perfect pet."
"Caiden?" Aaron called. Izzy's body went rigid as the name clung to her like barnacles on the bottom of a ship. Where had she heard that name before? It was like a frayed memory dancing on the edges of her mind.
Caiden…
"Ye can hide like the snake ye are, but I'll smoke ye out eventually," Aaron shouted. Izzy closed her eyes as her mind played with the idea of Aaron rescuing her. But unless there was some way to show Aaron where she was, all hope was lost.
Izzy shifted. Caiden's grip around her tightened until all the air had been squeezed from her lungs. With no wiggle room to make a commotion, Izzy was left with one option. Squeezing her eyes shut and setting her jaw, Izzy threw her head back.
"Ye bitch."
Flashes of light filled Izzy's vision as pain rippled around her skull to her forehead.
She heard something crunch like gravel under her footing but much closer.
All she could hope was that it was her attacker's nose she had broken, but by the cursing that followed, she was certain her luck had just run out.
"Aaron!" Izzy screamed out in desperation the second the clamp over her mouth dropped. She didn't have a clue where she was going, only that with her head covered and hands bound before her, she was at her attacker's mercy.
"Izzy? IZZY."
"Aaron?" Izzy gasped his name, choking on it as she struggled to put one foot in front of the other. She clawed at the covering over her head, desperate for clean, fresh air instead of the hot stagnate air she'd been gulping down like muddy water.
"Nay ye daenae," Caiden growled.
Sharp nails dug into Izzy's arm, yanking her back from the light. The hope she had clung to and groped slipped through her fingers like sand in an hourglass. She reached out as she flew back into the grasp of her enemy.
"Ye broke me nose," Caiden yelled into Izzy's ear as he pulled her to him. How different he felt against her compared to Aaron. The malice radiated off him like the stench from the bog, repelling all to steer clear.
"And I intend to do much more than that," Aaron growled as Izzy tried to keep her wits about her. If only the sack would be removed, then the world wouldn't be such a scary place. At least then, she'd be able to see Aaron once more.
The fact he come for her barely phased her; it was the fierceness and loyalty that flowed so freely out of him.
From the moment he had met her, Aaron had taken care of her.
He had saved her from the bandits on the road and in the village, and even now, in the forest, he was there, ready to die for her.
Izzy's chest tightened at the thought of losing the only man whoever truly cared for her. Sure, Aaron didn't dote on her the gifts of expensive jewelry or fancy dresses, but what he offered was far more valuable; it was his soul, his heart, and his body laid bare before.
With every ounce of strength and courage Izzy could muster, she thrashed about, kicking and fighting as best as she could.
It didn't matter to her that Caiden's blade cut into her shoulder and neck.
She could feel the sting of his blade making cuts, but as long as Caiden was distracted by her, Aaron wouldn't be in danger.
"Ye'll pay for each one of those," Aaron shouted as a darkness fell over Izzy. For a moment, she couldn't help but wonder if death itself had swooped over them, taking the vile souls with him.
"I dare ye to come closer," Caiden hissed as Izzy felt the ground slip away from under her footing.
Her heart fluttered with anxiety. It was bad enough Izzy couldn't see Aaron one last time, but to never glimpse into the heaven's again either was plain cruel.
"I'll toss her like the rubbish she is."
"Caiden, leave her be; yer quarrel is with me.
Leave her out of this," Aaron pleaded. His voice was further away than Izzy would have liked.
She sucked in quick shallow breaths as she tried to keep her wits about her.
By the way Caiden's arm curled around her, she wasn't going anywhere.
Whatever hope she had of escaping or getting free was gone. She was at Caiden's mercy.
"Oh, isnae that sweet. He doesnae realize ye and I have known each other for years.
In fact, I'm fairly confident that I've haunted ye on more than one occasion," Caiden said.
Malice mingled with pleasure that tainted his tone.
Little bumps rose over Izzy's skin causing her to shiver like the last leaf in winter.
Confusion pricked Izzy like a needle poking through fabric. Yet, with each jab, Izzy felt as if she were remembering something she had forgotten long ago. Caiden chuckled darkly as the memory that had been skipping around her mind came to light.
"You're Melina's father," Izzy grunted as Caiden jostled her about, letting her understand he could throw her over the cliff at any second.
"What of it?"
"What quarrel do you have with me? Surely, you don't want to hurt an innocent."
"Innocent? Ha. Ye think just because ye see ghosts that I'd spare ye? I may have done it once before, but now, ye've just become a nuisance."
Izzy's heart stopped as her ears rang. The world came crashing down around her as Caiden's words seeped into the darkest crevasses of her mind.
It was in that place she had tucked away the memory of her brother.
The pain of the moment, the backlash from everyone including her parents, it stung just as badly as the day she blocked from her mind.
Yet, she needed something in that desolate place that would shed light on her situation. What exactly she was looking for, she wasn't certain, but it was clear she'd find it there in the one place she didn't want to tread.
"Let her go, Caiden," Aaron warned. "I've got archers on ye right now."
"Daenae lie to me, boy," Caiden snapped as pain singed Izzy's arm. "If they were here, I'd already be a dead man. But ye came alone. How noble. Now, I can take ye both out in one go and step into the role I was born to live."
"Caiden, let Izzy be, and I'll spare ye. This will be yer last warnin'," Aaron hissed.
Caiden's arm tightened around Izzy as she felt the ground give way. She was dangling over a ledge. There was no telling just how far down the chasm went; all that she knew was one slip, and she'd fall.
"Ye're in nay position to negotiate. In fact, I'm the one with all the chips now," Cohen growled as he rattled Izzy as if she were a sack of flour.
"Why is it only when ye back people into a corner do they show ye who they really are?
Well if I'm nae mistaken, I believe ye might have backed me into the darkest corner there is. "
"Nay one has cornered ye into anythin'," Aaron argued.
"Aye, ye have. But the King —how kind of him to put ye two together. I had thought I'd be rid of ye once ye toasted to a marriage of convenience. But the whiskey wasnae touched for days."
Izzy's body tensed. She hadn't been aware of the threats to Aaron's life, and the fact that he hid such things from her irked her. If she managed to get out of this situation alive, she was going to have a word with him about that.
"Is this about nae marryin' yer daughter?" Aaron asked. "Melina would never be happy with me, and she could never fulfill me needs."
"Ye cannae tell me ye have fallen in love with an Englishwoman? They're less than dogs," Caiden hissed. The venom seeped out of every word Caiden spoke. The malice and sinister plans brewing within Caiden stole the very breath of Izzy.
Revenge. That was what this was all about. There was no other reason that crossed Izzy's mind other than revenge fueling Caiden's rage. It was the only emotion that lacked a logical reason and was so dangerous. But Izzy's head was too muddled to put the pieces together.
Caiden clearly had a purpose of taking her that went beyond just hurting Aaron. But as the loose bits of earth slipped out from under her toes, Izzy couldn't help but wonder if she'd ever get the chance to say such things.
"Aaron," Izzy gasped as Caiden's grip around her loosened. She slipped inches, but it was enough to send her heart plummeting into the abyss of her stomach before launching back up to her throat.
"Leave her be in peace," Aaron pleaded. "I'll do what ye say. Just leave her be."
"How the tables turn when the shoe is on the other foot. Now I have yer undivided attention, but it's too late."
"Surely there is some sort of arrangement we can come to," Aaron said. "Somethin' I have that ye want? Pull Izzy back from the cliff, leave her be, and I'll do whatever ye want."
"Did ye hear that? Laird McNeil does bend the knee to just anyone after all," Caiden said, the glee in his tone evident. "Too bad it's too little, too late."