Chapter 26
Sloane’s mouth was dry and her whole body felt like it was on fire.
He had a talent. There was barely any blood on her dress and yet she felt like she was dying.
Sweat drenched her and every time she breathed, the pain seemed to increase.
He’d taken his blade all over her body. There wasn’t a single position that she shifted into that didn’t hurt.
She feared that his worst was more than she would be able to stand.
There was no point in even keeping her tied up. She was too weak to crawl let alone walk to the door, but the ropes were still firmly in place. It seemed to be more for his benefit than hers.
There were certain aspects of the body more susceptible to pain, according to Blaine as he cheerfully showed her. Her throat was hoarse from screaming, but that only seemed to excite Blaine more.
She was going to die here.
He stopped when she passed out, woke her up, taunted her, and then started all over again. How long had she been here? Hours? Days? Weeks? She couldn’t even tell.
This time, he was letting her wake up naturally. She kept her eyes closed and listened, but she couldn’t hear his breathing or his footsteps on the ground. Opening her eyes, Sloane saw that she was alone. If she had any strength, now would be her time to escape.
It was a laughable idea.
“Lachlan,” she whispered as tears tracked down her cheeks. “Lachlan, I am so sorry.”
The door opened and against all the odds, she hoped that her husband would walk through the door.
It was Blaine.
“Calling for the man who would never forgive ye? I had no idea that ye were so pathetic.” He carried in a bucket of water. “My apologies for not being here to wake ye up. The work makes me thirsty.”
Feeling just as insane as he was, she chuckled.
Maybe it was a natural reaction of someone who had lost all hope.
“Aye. I can see how torturing someone might make a person thirsty.” Her voice was hoarse, and her lips so dry that they were cracked.
Flicking out her tongue, she tried to wet them.
“Ye will never get me to admit that I set my sights on Lachlan. It didna happen, but I doona think ye care. Ye have no one to blame for yer sister, so it is easier for ye to blame me.”
“Ye killed her.”
“She killed herself,” she said as she coughed. “And I am sorry for it, Blaine. I am. I cannae imagine the pain of losing a sibling…”
“Stop talking,” he hissed as he rushed toward her.
“Ye know nothing about me and my sister. She was my only family. My only goal in life was to see her happy. She had that with Lachlan. She had a future, to grow old with a man that she loved, to be happy every day of her life. I would have given my life for that.”
He wrenched back her hair and forced her to her knees. Unable to help herself, she screamed, and he held the blade to her throat. “Are ye just hoping that I will end it right here and now?”
“Let her go, Blaine.”
Choking back a sob, Sloane watched, fearing she was delirious, as her husband stood in the doorway with his sword in hand.
Blaine’s grip on the dagger wavered. “Ye shouldna be here,” he said evenly. “Walk away, Lachlan. I doona blame ye.”
“Blame me for what, Blaine?”
The warrior said nothing and Lachlan took a slow step inside. “I spoke to Cunningham on yer behalf. I wanted ye to have the news of yer sister. Imagine my surprise when he had no idea what I was talking about.”
“Ye doona care about this woman. She betrayed ye. I will take the burden from yer shoulders,” Blaine said as he adjusted his grip on her hair. Her knees were starting to weaken, but if she fell, the pain would be even worse. “Just let me be, Lachlan.”
Was he still not going to tell his Laird the truth?
Sloane braced herself. “Kenzy killed herself.”
“Shut yer mouth, whore!” Blaine screamed in rage and threw her against the floor like a rag doll. Every bone in her body shook and her head slammed against the wall. “This has nothing to do with ye, Lachlan.”
“She is my wife.” He stayed still and didn’t react to Blaine’s treatment of Sloane. She tried to remain conscious as her vision started to blur again.
“Ye threw her away as ye should have. Ye and yer sister are victims of her just as me and mine are. Walk away, Lachlan.”
“I am sorry about Kenzy, but it is not Sloane’s fault. She didna ask to marry me, but ye are right. She was a pawn, a pawn in her father’s plan to insert a spy into my home. If ye want to blame someone then ye can blame him.”
“Fine.” Blaine reached down for her again. “Then he will be next.”
“Ye are too late, there. Errol Fenton is dead.”
Her father was dead? Despite her pain, despite all that her father had done to her, the news hit Sloane hard and she moaned. Lachlan never even spared her a glance.
“Then I will take the pain due to him out on his daughter. She will suffer twice as much.”
“Ye swore fealty to me,” Lachlan thundered as he finally took a step forward. “And when I wed Sloane, ye swore fealty to her as well. Ye are breaking yer vows to me when I took ye in and begged my father to accept ye. Ye are breaking yer vows to me when ye disobey me.”
“Someone must pay!” Blaine screamed wildly. “Someone must pay for my sister!”
Slowly, Lachlan kneeled down. “I was the one who made yer sister think that I might wed her. I was the one who agreed to wed Sloane instead. If ye want to blame someone then ye can blame me, but ye must swear to let her go. I am a man of my word. There was a time when ye were a man of yers.”
Sloane whimpered. This was exactly what she tried to avoid by leaving. Now all she was doing was ensuring her death.
“No, Lachlan. Ye cannae do this.”
Finally, he looked at her. “I vowed to protect ye, Sloane. I willna break that now.”
When he bowed his head, Blaine roared with anger and turned to her. Lifting his dagger, he lunged toward her and she closed her eyes. At least she was confident knowing that Blaine would not kill Lachlan.
“I am sorry,” she whispered and waited. The dagger never came.
There was a groan and a slump to the floor and when she opened her eyes, Blaine was dead at her feet. Lachlan stood over him with his sword in hand.
“Doona look at him, Sloane,” he said softly as he stepped over the body and leaned over her. When he sliced through the ropes, her arms fell to her side and she cried in pain. “Easy. Where are ye hurt?”
“Everywhere,” she whispered. “I cannae walk. I cannae move. Ye should leave me here.”
“No.” Swearing under his breath, he lifted her gently. Knowing that he didn’t like hearing her in pain, she struggled to stay silent as he carried her out, but her entire body burned and she screamed.
He didn’t stop. By the time he’d draped her over the horse, she let the darkness take her again.
Lachlan tried to keep the horse steady, but he was eager to get her to a healer. He hated that she was unconscious, but he was thankful that she wasn’t feeling the pain. The sound of her screams had been heartbreaking.
At their slow pace, it took nearly an agonizing day before he reached Gair’s keep and by then, he was shaking with fear that Sloane would die before he could get her to the healer.
Freya must have been watching from the window for she flew out of the steps barking orders like she was already the mistress.
“Why is she unconscious?” Freya demanded.
Jamie and Adair both silently reached for Sloane, but Lachlan blocked their path. “No one touches her but me,” he growled possessively. “Make a path to the nearest bed and Freya, get the healer. I have no idea the extent of her injuries, but she is in excruciating pain.”
Freya paled, but no one argued. Gently lifting her from the horse, he tried not to jostle her, but she opened her eyes and gasped silently. Pain filled her eyes, and he moved as quickly as he could.
“Hold on, Sloane. We are almost there.”
As she squeezed her eyes shut, tears leaked down her cheeks and he held his breath. In front of them, Adair opened the door and Lachlan slowly lowered Sloane to the bed.
“Tell me ’tis not true,” he said quietly. “Tell me ye didna find Blaine with her.”
“’Tis not the time.” The last thing Lachlan wanted to do right now was to talk about Blaine. His wife was in so much pain that she could barely speak. For all he knew, she was dying.
Adair took a step back, and Lachlan rubbed his temples. He hadn’t meant to snap at Adair, but he could barely think straight. “We will talk about this, but I cannae do it until the healer looks at her.”
Just then, Freya and Gair returned with a slim older woman with long silvery hair and deep wrinkles. Her eyes sharpened on Sloane as soon as she walked in. “Laird Brisbane, I will ask ye to leave. I must disrobe her.”
Gair nodded his head and looked at Lachlan mournfully as he stepped out. Adair and Jamie followed him and they closed the door behind them. Only Lachlan and Freya remained.
“Aren’t ye a pretty girl,” the healer told Sloane with a smile.
“I am Elizabeth and if ye detect a slight English accent, that is because I am a Sassenach as ye Scots so lovingly say. I hope that ye doona hold that against me for I trained under a highly skilled physician before I fell in love with a bloody Highlander warrior.”
“I feel sorry for ye,” Freya muttered as she sat gingerly by the bed.
Elizabeth snorted. “Aye. He was also the reason that I became a great healer. I was always having to sew him back closed.”
“She isna talking,” Lachlan said anxiously.
“Aye. She appears to be in a great deal of pain,” Elizabeth murmured. “How was she injured?”
“She’s been tortured with a blade,” Lachlan muttered. “For nearly two days.”
Freya gasped. “Lachlan, look at her thighs.”
Dropping his gaze, he saw the deep cuts all along her skin and inhaled sharply. Elizabeth turned her head. “Ye two will remain calm. I doona have time to handle the two of ye and her, so breathe. ’Tis good news that she was tortured.”
“How can that be good news?” Lachlan roared.
“He wanted to extend her pain,” the healer snapped. She didn’t appear at all concerned with his rage. “‘Tis doubtful that she will die. Cut her dress away. I’ll need to see the rest of her injuries. Then I want ye to leave.”
Lachlan growled, but before he could object, Elizabeth gave him a tight smile. “To help her, I will need to touch her. She is in and out of consciousness, but when she’s awake, she will be in pain. Will ye be able to stand by that bed and not react when she is crying and moaning?”
Rooted to the spot, he couldn’t even take a step to the door, so Freya gently tugged on his arm until they had cleared the room. “I will stay with her. Go talk to yer guards. They think that ye doona trust them.”
The door shut in his face, and Lachlan closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against it. He’d never felt so helpless in his life.
“There is nothing ye can do here,” Gair said quietly. “Freya will tell ye if ye need to know something. She is right about one thing. Ye need to talk to yer men. Come.”
Feeling in a daze, Lachlan pushed away from the door and followed Gair to the library. Adair and Jamie were already pacing angrily.
“What happened?” Jamie roared.
He met their gaze. They would be crushed. “What ye have heard, ’tis true. Her father never wanted her dead. Blaine orchestrated everything.”
“That doesna make sense,” Adair demanded. “Blaine loves ye. He would never hurt ye this way.”
“Kenzy never left with Cunningham after my wedding. She killed herself when she discovered that I couldna wed her.”
The revelation was followed by shocked silence. Kenzy was beloved by all and he knew that they were mourning her while they tried to work through her action. Slowly, he walked to the window.
“He blamed Sloane. I doona know why he waited so long to act. Perhaps he thought my guard was down.”
“Ye didna take us with ye even though ye feared it was Blaine. Has he ruined yer trust in the rest of us?” Jamie asked as he cleared his throat.
“Aye, until I learned the reason,” Lachlan said numbly. “How could I not have seen it?”
“We didna either,” Jamie said softly. “Ye cannae blame yerself.”
“Is he dead?” Gair asked.
“Aye.” Bile rose in his throat as he remembered how close he’d gotten to losing Sloane. Just a breath slower and he would have been too late. Blaine had looked so betrayed as if he never expected Lachlan to go so far to protect Sloane.
“Good,” Adair said darkly. “What will ye do now?”
“If what I fear Blaine did to her is true, she will be bedridden for days and I am sure that Freya willna marry until she is better.”
Gair groaned at that one and Lachlan shot him a look.
“When she is ready to return…” Lachlan’s voice trailed off. Because he’d been the one to push her away, she’d literally run right into danger. Because he couldn’t trust her, Blaine had found the perfect opportunity to torture her.
Because he had no idea what was going on in his own clan, Sloane had suffered. When she was ready, he wanted to take her home.
She wasn’t going to want to go anywhere with him.
“Adair. Jamie,” he said softly. “I need a favor.”