Chapter 18
Hunter brought his horse to a stop at the outer yard to take a moment to assess the scene. Finding Kira in the midst of the mayhem with only a glance. She was dragged by her hair by none other than Rory Barclay.
“Take Edine to the stables and barricade yerselves in there,” he commanded the warriors at his side. “The rest of us will deal with Barclay’s and Fairbairn’s men.”
And he was off again, riding hard toward his Keep.
He didn’t have to get near to see that it wasn’t a battle and more so a slaughter.
They were greatly outnumbered and Hunter wasn’t sure how much longer his warriors could hold out, no matter how strong and well-trained they were.
And it was his fault for being too distracted by emotion to see through the scheme.
Once near enough to the action, Hunter dismounted his horse and dove into the fight, heading right for Barclay and Kira.
He was a one-man army, all of his senses sharp and focused to dodge attacks and land his own with brutal strength and precision.
They came at him in waves to protect their Laird, but Hunter was too skilled, too practiced.
All of those years of grief where all he could do to prevent madness was to train endlessly, they were finally not in vain.
Finally, he felt like the man capable of protecting those he loved.
His sword sliced through sides and impaled his attackers almost mindlessly, his mind focusing on his breath and staying clear-headed. The odds were against them, but he had to believe that destiny was not.
Horns blared. Hunter’s head whipped around to see horses with riders carrying flags of the MacDougal tartan charging at the Keep. Help was here. MacDougal’s men moved in a circular formation, surrounding the Keep and applying pressure to prevent Fairbairn or Barclay from withdrawing.
It truly was going to come to an end today, once and for all.
He was going to make sure of it. Hunter pressed on, a new surge of motivation and hope coursing through him.
One last warrior fell to his feet and he was face-to-face with Laird Barclay at last. He raised his sword and stared the man down. “Let go of my wife,” he said, venom in every syllable.
Barclay’s face split with a grin and he brought his hand up, dragging Kira to her knees and tilting her head back to show her face. Hunter’s entire body ached with the pain on her face and watched as her hands pawed at Barclay, trying to free herself.
“Sorry, lad. This marriage of yers isn’t lawful. Nae when the bride was kidnapped and forced.”
“Funny,” Hunter spat. “I dinnae have to drag her down the aisle by the hair.”
“Even the most tortured of birds learn to appreciate the hand providing the seed when they believe freedom to be out of reach,” Rory chuckled.
“She’s nae a bird. She’s my wife and I’m ordering ye one last time to unhand her,” Hunter barked.
Rory smirked and dragged Kira to her feet before shoving her into the arms of two of his men. “Very well, Galbraith. Let us settle this as men. Shall we?” he said, reaching down. When he stood straight, there was a bow and arrow in his hold.
Hunter ducked to the side, managing to let the arrow soar by him. And there was a smile on his face when he locked eyes with Kira. She was confident, no longer looking afraid though her eyes were red and swollen from crying. There was a reason for that: she believed in him.
Without wasting another moment, Hunter charged at Rory, forcing him to abandon the arrow he was attempting to string and reach for his dirk.
Rory parried Hunter and slashed at him wildly, all with a wicked smirk on his face.
He was fighting confidently, like a man who believed he had already won.
But he was against Hunter, a man who would always have Kira’s heart. And for that, he couldn’t lose.
Hunter dodged the dirk and brought his sword down in angled blows so that Barclay had to use all of his body to parry with his meager dirk.
And each time that happened, Hunter got closer.
As he towered over him at last, Hunter didn’t have to use his sword.
Instead, he jutted a hand out and captured the blade of the dirk and took hold, tossing it to the ground behind him.
Hunter stared Barclay down, murder and vengeance returning to the hazel hues once again.
There was nothing Barclay could do but surrender to death or run.
Like the coward he was, Barclay let out a trembling breath before turning and running away, yelling for his men to follow and protect him. At once, the guards let go of Kira and shoved her away so they could follow after their pathetic Laird.
Hunter caught Kira and hugged her as tight as he could. She clung to him, her breathing labored and her body trembling. And the chaos around them started to settle, Barclay’s men retreating, and Fairbairn’s men overwhelmed with the new numbers and without the direction of their Laird.
Only after a long while, Hunter pulled her back so he could get a good look at her. “Are ye hurt? Let me see—”
Kira took hold of his hand and pressed it to her cheek, her fingers gently rubbing the back of his hand. “I’m fine. Where is Edine? Did ye find her? Is she safe?”
Hunter nodded. “She’s safe and guarded. It was only a trap set by yer faither that I foolishly fell for.”
Kira nodded but her lip was trembling. He squeezed her shoulders and looked for understanding. At the sight of tears in her eyes yet again, he knew something was wrong. “Calum… He’s… He’s dead.”
The words sliced through Hunter more than any blade ever had. Kira’s arms wrapped around him, making him wonder if he looked as unsteady as he felt.
“Rory called him a traitor, and he confessed to it… But it was something about his maither. He fought until the very end, trying to keep me safe, Hunter.”
Hunter wasn’t sure how to feel or what to think.
For a moment, he was numb. Some part of him had wanted to hear those words from Calum’s mouth himself and to give him a chance to explain, even if he couldn’t accept any apology that might have followed.
To hear his mother was somehow involved made the betrayal make a little more sense, but…
His mind reeled and he hugged Kira to himself.
“Whatever he might have done today or in the past… I cannae make sense of. But I can still be grateful that he managed to keep ye safe. It’s over now, mo graidh. ” His voice was gravelly with emotion.
Bitter laughter filled the air and Hunter turned to see Laird Fairbairn making his way toward them, holding his stomach as he laughed.
“Ye truly believe this is over?” he cackled.
“It will never be over. Nae until Galbraith falls under my boot.” He stepped closer and Hunter’s arms tightened around Kira.
She was shaking like a leaf at the sight of her father.
“Yer faither should have kept his eyes on his future instead of on my land and perhaps none of this would have happened.”
“It is ye who owns the blame and has all this blood on yer hands,” Hunter bit. “Ye and yer greed for power and wealth.”
“My daughter belongs to me. And yer lands will be mine,” Fairbairn seethed.
“I dinnae!” Kira shouted. “I dinnae belong to ye. I was yer pawn long enough. And ye’ve never been a faither to me. I want nothing to do with ye.”
Fairbairn’s laughter raised in pitch and his eyes were fixed on his daughter, wicked and cruel.
“Ye’ve always been daft, Kira. Ye ken nae the world of politics and men’s business.
Ye are too valuable to lose and any alliance that comes from yer marriage will be mine.
One day, all the Highlands will be mine or my heirs’.
The Fairbairn name will ring through the land, and praised by all.
Ye are a Fairbairn, Kira—ye belong to me.
Ye are my daughter, dammit! Or perhaps I’ll be back when she finally makes good on what women do and gives me a boy.
An heir to both Fairbairn and Galbraith all for me. ”
Hunter’s mind was drenched in red. No longer was he threatening Hunter’s present, but his future. His children. Hunter raised his sword high above his head and lunged forward.
Fairbairn had underestimated him. He knew he was hurt, he knew he was scared of losing his clan and Kira.
But Hunter would never again see Kira as a weakness.
Would never see the love of his people as a weakness.
Like all the forces of nature gathered in this sword, Hunter brought it down at Fairbairn’s shoulder.
The man howled and sank to his knees, his eyes wide in shock.
Hunter heard Kira’s gasp as he plunged his sword into the center of Fairbairn’s chest and pushed until it was driven straight through him.
The vile man who had always hung over their heads like a puppetmaster fell onto the ground heavy and dead.
Hunter stared down as the man gargled on blood and let out his final breath of life, those light eyes that had never looked less like Kira’s going completely blank as they fixed on the sky.
At last, he had done it.
He had taken Fairbairn’s last breath, just like he said he would.
He hadn’t even realized his own breathing was ragged until Kira placed a hand on his chest. Slowly, he looked down at her, and all the rage and war drained from his spirit.
There were only her tranquil blue eyes and her sweet scent that pierced through the metallic stench of blood that hung in the air.
“It’s finally over,” she whispered.
“Nae yet,” he murmured. Cradling her face, he brushed his nose against hers and continued to breathe in the smell of her until it filled him completely, soothing all the aches and pains of battle.
“I should have said it back at the loch. Maybe I should have said it when I first approached ye at the edge of Clan Barclay. Because I’ve always known it, even if I hated myself for it. ”
His eyes locked with hers, his thumbs caressing her cheeks. “I love ye, Kira. I’ve loved ye from the beginning. And I’m ready to leave the past behind and start our forever.”
Tears, finally ones of joy instead of sorrow or fear, filled her beautiful eyes. “I love ye too, Hunter. I love ye always and forever.”
The two kissed and embraced at the fall of the Fairbairn legacy and the shackles of despair that had always crushed them.
Their mouths moved together and they clung to one another, fully embracing the moment.
No matter how bloody it was, it was the start of their forever.
A path would be forged with love and forgiveness instead of wrath and fear. He would be sure of it. For her.