Chapter 24

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

K atherine had left the study an hour after Domhnall had made sweet, beautiful love to her. Still reeling from the sensations, she had made her way to her bedchamber. If nothing else, she needed time to herself.

She had imagined he had wanted to discuss something about the wedding when he had taken her there earlier. In fact, before he had approached, she had been on the cusp of blurting out the dreadful plan Reginald had for him and his whole family. But that had never happened.

For the previous hour, however, Katherine had paced back and forth, wondering how she was possibly supposed to tell him the truth. Of course, she was worried for his safety, but selfishly, she was also worried about her heart.

Throwing her cloak on, and with her mind still a muddled mess, she headed out into the gardens. Yes, it was bitterly cold, but maybe that was exactly what she needed. Some clean, freezing cold fresh air to give her some perspective.

Stepping out onto the snow-covered ground, Katherine wandered far away from the castle. She needed to be entirely alone, somewhere she would not be disturbed. This was the most difficult decision she had ever had to make in her life, and with so much riding on it, she needed it to be the right one.

As it happened, the cold did little to help her. Her mind tortured her with what was right and true, but her heart battled with the overwhelming love she had for the laird.

If you tell him, he will disown you. He will never look at you again, never mind love you.

Her mind, logical and critical as always, came back with a reply of its own.

And yet, if you don’t tell him, Reginald will implement his plan. Are you willing to take that chance?

Perhaps there is a way you can put a stop to this. Perhaps you could anonymously let Domhnall know where Reginald is, and thus, he will be captured before he gets a chance to do any harm.

Which would be a wonderful plan , her mind retorted, if you actually knew where your brother was hiding.

Katherine cursed herself for not thinking to ask him the last time they had met. She could indeed, have left some anonymous note for Domhnall to find. She knew he had scouts out all over the island searching for the attackers, for she had heard Domhnall and Magnus discuss it.

Round and round the argument went in her head, but every scenario came back to the same terrifying reality. She was going to have to tell Domhnall the truth. He would hate her. She would lose the only love she had ever known, she would be miserable for the rest of her life without him, and yet, the alternative was even worse. If she didn’t tell him, Reginald would murder Domhnall.

When they had first journeyed to this island together, her brother had convinced her that Laird Domhnall MacLeod was an evil man who had to pay for what he had done. At the time, she had agreed, and imagined that Reginald planned to simply destroy the clan by having it overthrown.

But her brother’s intentions had always been more sinister than that. She just hadn’t seen it. Not until that day those men attacked the man she now adored, and she had been injured. Their last meeting had also opened her eyes to something else. Reginald cared little about her. He had not tried to save her on that day, and in fact, he had reprimanded her, calling her foolish and stupid.

It was mind boggling to realize that a man who had known her all her life could care less about her than a man who had known her no more than ten days. In this case, blood was indeed not thicker than water. Reginald was supposed to protect her. He was her brother, the only remaining family member she had left.

With that thought, something else bothered her. All this anger and animosity Reginald clearly displayed was supposed to come from his desire to avenge their father’s death, but Katherine struggled to even believe that any longer. There had to be more to his motivation. Reginald was so hell bent on killing Domhnall, so seething with rage at him, that there had to be something else.

But what?

She had wandered far into the gardens with the castle now a good distance away. Trees surrounded her, their branches heavy with snow fall, and naked of leaves. Gazing up whimsically, she lifted her hand and gently brushed a branch, watching the snowflakes float lightly to the ground.

I will never see this garden in the full bloom of spring. In fact, once I have told Domhnall the truth, I will never see the Isle of Skye again.

Her heart ached at the thought of what the twins, Magnus and Kai would think of her. Even though she had been there only a short while, the siblings had already accepted her into their family. Their warm, loving, funny family. And what would she get when she returned to England? The pleasure of Reginald’s company, her cold, distant brother being her only companion.

Back to conformity she would go. Back to the cage, where women did not speak, and were not heard. And all the while, she would be forced to nurse her broken heart, for no other man could elicit from her the love she felt for him.

I will remain a spinster, for no other will compare. Besides, how could I possibly deserve happiness after what I have done?

A snapping twig behind her made her spin around. She half expected to see Domhnall standing there. He did have a habit of arriving in places she least expected. Instead, she saw no one, which completely confused her, for she was certain there had been someone there.

Suddenly, someone grabbed her from behind. Before she had a chance to scream, a cloth pressed against her mouth, and she balked as a strange and horrid smell crawled into her nostrils. Her arms flailed, but a few seconds later, she felt dizzy, her arms held no power, and her world went deathly black.

Though her eye lids were heavy, Katherine woke to the sound of hushed whispers nearby. By the feel of it against her body, she was sitting on a chair. Wherever they were was also deadly cold, not unlike being outside. But where she was, she had no clue, mainly because she could barely open her eyes to see.

It took great effort, but when she finally managed to move her eyelids, she was shocked to see Reginald standing there, his arms firmly folded across his chest, murmuring to one of his men.

Katherine tried to look about her without moving her head. She had no idea how long she had been unconscious, nor where she was, but with the close proximity of the surrounding walls, it appeared they were in some tiny outhouse.

“Katherine,” Reginald growled. “You are awake. Good.”

He still kept his voice low, which confused her, and moving her head around, she noticed that there was nothing else in the building apart from herself and two other men.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” Katherine spat, now angry at the realization that it had been her brother and his men who had grabbed her and drugged her to the point of unconsciousness.

Reginald stepped forward, raised his hand, and slapped her hard across the cheek.

“Ah,” she cried, swiftly lifting her hand to her face.

“Remember who you are talking to,” he spat. “I am your brother. Not one of these brainless Scottish thugs.”

While her cheek stung badly, Katherine was too busy reeling from the fact that her brother had actually struck her, for not once before had he ever lifted his hand to her.

“Now,” he continued on as though nothing had happened. “We have a small window of opportunity, and I intend to make good use of it. We need to act quickly. Your wedding is in a few days, and if we dally, you will be forced to marry that ogre.”

An overwhelming feeling nearly overtook her, for she wanted to scream from the rooftops that she loved Domhnall and wanted to marry him. But her survival instincts kicked in, and instead, she remained completely quiet.

“My plan is two-fold,” Reginald said, now pacing back and forth. “First, I need you to help with the abduction of Laird MacLeod. I have to have him in my grasp for the second part to work.”

Katherine’s eyes flew wide at his words, but worried that her brother would see her shock, and that he might react once more with violence, she dulled her expression, watching him while trying to maintain a lifeless face.

“After that, we can blackmail the others. No doubt, his siblings will give anything for his safe return, and I do think deeds to these lands would be a fine exchange.”

Reginald suddenly spun and stared at her.

“What do you think, Katherine?”

He was testing her, she knew that. The brother she had always thought she had clearly did not exist, and now, fearful for her own life, for she had a very real feeling that he would have no qualms at all in taking hers, she had to think quickly. Agreeing with this madman just wasn’t going to be enough.

“There… there are not many times he is alone,” she stammered. “It is not going to be easy.”

“Which is why I need you,” Reginald replied, his tone as calm as though they were discussing the weather. “Now, I need to know exactly where he will be tomorrow night.”

Katherine looked confused and then shook her head. “I have no idea,” she replied. “He is in many places at different times of the day.”

“So, supper is not at a given time?” Reginald pressed.

“Yes, but?—”

“And afterward, does he not retire to his study and play chess with Magnus, his brother?”

Katherine frowned, for she could not understand how he could possibly know that. But Reginald only smiled a cold, mirthless smile, his blue eyes piercing into hers.

“You didn’t actually believe I was going to leave my revenge to chance, did you, Katherine? That I was going to rely on you alone, a woman whose heart is as fickle as the day is long?”

Katherine felt pained at his words, but now understood that Reginald was getting his information from someone else. There was a spy in the castle, or at least, the castle grounds.

“So,” Reginald continued, “am I correct? Does the laird retire after supper?”

“Yes. Yes, he does.”

“Good. Then I will need you to ensure that that is exactly what happens tomorrow night, do you understand?”

Katherine nodded. “I do.”

“Excellent. Then it is high time that you return to the castle before anyone begins to miss you. We can’t have any one getting suspicious, can we?”

Hands grabbed at Katherine, shoving her roughly to her feet. The man behind her then took her by the arm and led her to the wooden door. Just as Katherine was about to step through it, she heard Reginald’s voice.

“Just to be clear, Katherine. If Laird MacLeod is not in his study tomorrow night after supper, his whole family will die.”

He glared at her with a steely expression.

Katherine then turned from him. Stepping out of the tiny building, she was astonished to find herself in the courtyard of the castle.

Reeling at the realization that she had never left, Katherine stumbled across the courtyard, wondering how her brother and his men had managed to get themselves past the guards at the gate, sneak around the gardens, and take her against her will. Maybe it had something to do with the spy they already had in place.

What does that matter? You have bigger problems.

And indeed, she did. But after all the time she had spent considering her options earlier, she now knew exactly what she was going to do. She did not have a choice. There was not a chance she was going to let her brother get his hands on Domhnall, no matter how badly this was going to turn out for her.

She loved him. She simply could not let him come to any harm. Clearly, her brother was a madman, and while he believed he had fooled her with his talk of blackmail and lands, it was clear Reginald wanted Domhnall dead. There would be no ransom, nor any exchange for Domhnall’s life. He was in dire danger. It was now up to her to tell him so.

Avoiding eye contact with anyone in the corridors, Katherine hurried back to her bedchamber. If she was going to tell him the truth, she also wanted him to know how deeply she felt about him. It was doubtful he would want to hear that after what she had to say, but she was determined to write him a letter.

It would be something. Something of herself that she could leave behind. He would likely hate her for the rest of his life, but he had to know how she felt. How sorry she was that she had lied to him. How she wished she could have had the courage to tell him the truth before now. How he had shown her how to be the person she had always aspired to be, and how she had only been able to do it with his love, encouragement, and support. How she had never loved a man before she had met him, and how her heart would be broken for the rest of her days without him.

Hurrying down the corridor with all these thoughts flying through her mind, she reached her bedchamber. Barging through the door, she came to a sudden halt, gasping a great breath in.

Across the room, Domhnall stood at the window. Upon her entrance, he turned and looked at her. But it was not his scowling glare that had her body now trembling, and her heart thumping in her chest. It was the fact that, as she gazed down to his hand, she knew the letter he held was one she had received from Reginald.