Chapter 29

29

Caught In A Trap

" C onall, daenae do anything' stupid now," ordered William.

"I think we are long past that, are we not?"

Conall finally stepped out of the shadows and into the edge of the clearing. Dakota pushed back until her back hit a tree, and William stood between them with his sword drawn. Conall waited a moment theatrically and then drew his sword.

"Ye daenae have a chance against me. If ye walk out of here right now, Conall, I willnae come after ye. I'm presumin' ye have come to meet with me, but ye can arrange to see me another time."

"No, I think you know why I am here, William."

"In that case, let's have it out, Conall."

Conall started to circle in the small clearing, and Dakota and William moved with him to keep their distance. Dakota knew that Conall was no match for William, but that did not mean that the man was not dangerous.

"Did you really think I would let you come into my house and take what is rightfully mine?" Conall sneered at William, and it showed his crooked teeth.

The last time Dakota had seen him, he had looked like a dapper gentleman, but she could see him for who he truly was now. He was gangly, a little too tall for the clothes he wore. He was slight, too, with almost no hint of muscle. And the way he held his sword was all wrong, as if he did not know how to wield a sword—or was, perhaps, afraid of it.

"What are ye talkin' about, Conall?"

"I know all about your little plan, William. I know you plan to send your men to my estate and uncover my little side business. Well, if you are going to steal from me, then I am going to steal from you."

"You willnae touch a hair on her head," warned William.

"That is up to you. I have told you I will not hurt her if you lay down your weapon, but you are making it hard for me to keep my word."

He had come into their home, and he was now threatening them.

"I'm scared," she whispered.

"Daenae worry, me love. I shall take care of this madman swiftly."

"Once I take your wife, I shall take your life," continued Conall as if there were no more pressing matters than monologuing. "Then, I will destroy your clan one man at a time. After that, I will take back the land you stole from me."

"Ye really are mad, aren't ye? Ye never did get over that, even though I bested ye fair and square. Well, we are here together now, and ye have a chance to dae the same. But once I am done with ye, ye can forget all about yer obsession."

"Obsession? Please! I do not care about you, William. I only care about those who laugh behind my back. I hear them talking, but they will not talk anymore when I give them your head."

"I promise nae to kill ye if ye lay down yer weapon, Conall. I will take vengeance on ye for threatenin' me wife and me, but I will not kill ye. That is the best offer ye are goin' to get from me."

"Ah, your pretty wife. You should have heard the things she said to me when we were in the dressmakers. I could have had her then if I wanted to."

Dakota was too stunned to speak.

"I have let you get away with your disrespect for too long, William. My God, I hate this place. It is filled with far too many Scotsmen, and you procreate and fill the place even more. I am doing the world a service by ridding it of your kind. I might have been sent here as a punishment, but I no longer see it that way. I have come to realize that the Lord placed me here to rid this land of vermin."

"Ye have a warped view of the good Lord, Conall. How about I send ye straight to hell so ye daenae have to answer to him directly."

"Oh, I am going to enjoy this," announced Conall.

Dakota gasped as someone reached around the tree, grabbed her, and placed a knife to her throat. She dared not move, feeling the keen blade against her skin.

"William," she managed.

William whirled around and was about to step toward the man holding his wife, but he saw the blade and stopped in his tracks.

"There's a good boy," soothed Conall.

"If ye hurt her in any way, Conall, I will do the same to ye a thousand times."

Conall acted as if he had not heard the threat. "Now, I know you played dirty at cards, and you played dirty in the fight too. You took what was rightfully mine and made me a laughing stock. I am not going to let you suffer the same humiliation. But, know this. When you die, which will be in the next two minutes, I will take your wife back with me and imprison her for the rest of her life."

"I will—" William moved forward, but another two men appeared by the one holding Dakota.

Dakota did not move, but her eyes danced around, and she counted at least three more on the other side of the clearing.

"Ah-ah!" warned Conall. "I am not done talking yet. I will imprison her for the rest of her life. Now, you might think me a barbaric monster, but that is only because you have been spending too much time with Scots. No, I will not have my way with her as you would do with a woman. I will confine her to a life alone, and all because of you. You will have to live with that knowledge."

Conall giggled.

William's hand went to the hilt of his sword, but one of the men stepped forward, and William did not draw the sword.

"Live with it! Yes, for two more minutes. Once she is imprisoned, I will wait for your man to come down and expose me, and I will run him through myself. Then, I will kill the men he brings with him. I do not know who the traitors are in my estate, but I will kill all Scottish deserters from your clan and the other clans, just to be sure. Then, I will destroy your entire clan and the Lady's clan too."

William turned so he could see Dakota and Conall at the same time. He scoffed at his foe. "This is yer last warnin', ye scum! If ye daenae let her go, I will kill ye."

Conall smiled. "You Scots really have no knack for negotiation, do you?"

"I'm goin' to rip ye apart. How is that for negotiation?" asked William.

"Fine. Kill the woman," ordered Conall.

"No!" screamed William.

"No?" asked Conall. "You sounded very valiant and steadfast in your claim, William. Are you not going to follow through?"

"Do it," pleaded Dakota. "Kill him, William. I daenae care if I die with ye. It is a better fate than to be taken by him. Ye ken he willnae just lock me up. I'm pleadin' with ye to set me free, William."

William finally turned to Dakota. "He will get what is comin' to him, ye have me word on that." He lowered his voice even though the man holding Dakota would hear him. "Cameron is nae daff. He might be walkin' into a trap, but he will be expectin' there to be trouble. There's still a chance ye will be set free."

"I daenae want to live me life without ye, though. That's what I wanted to tell ye. I love ye, William."

The words stunned him for a brief moment, and he opened his mouth to say something in return, softness in his eyes, but his face turned a shade of red Dakota did not think possible, and the Laird turned to Conall instead.

"I am goin' to make ye pay for this, Conall." William enunciated every word, and the cold way he said it sent a shiver down Dakota's spine.

She knew he meant it .

He turned back to her quickly. "Daenae give up hope. Cameron will come, and more will come when others find out what happened."

"Aw, that is very sweet," said Conall. He had rounded the clearing to get closer to Dakota. "It is just a shame that no one will be left to tell your clan what happened. No one will know where either of you have disappeared to—one alive and the other very much dead. It has been fun tracking you through the countryside this morning, but I must take my leave."

Before William could do anything else, Conall grabbed Dakota himself, and he and two of his men pulled her away from the clearing. Dakota tried to struggle, but even Conall was too strong for her.

"Unhand her! Ye dinnae get to touch her—I'm goin' to run ye through! I'm goin' to—!" William moved to come after her, but two men moved in between them, and three Englishmen now surrounded him.

"I love ye, William," Dakota whispered through tears.

She tried to keep him in view as he fought against all three at once. He blocked the first couple of swings but could not block the third, and blood appeared on his shirt. He slumped to the ground and Dakota knew her life was over.