Chapter 3

“Ye must be jesting with me,” Catreena’s voice was breathy with shock.

She stood in laird’s study with the strong sunlight of the early morning shining through the lead-lined windows behind them. That glaring yellow light fell on the faces of her two brothers. Her twin, Dunn, looked the guiltiest about what he had just said, whilst Evander seemed untouched, unaffected, forever the strong and quiet soldier.

“Say ye are,” she pleaded, looking between the two of them.

Evander folded his arms, making the tattoos across his forearms, one for each man he had killed in battle, stand out across his skin. Dunn ruffled his blond hair, the strands a little paler than her own. His icy blue eyes, almost a mirror match for hers, were clearly struggling to meet her gaze now. That scar which stretched across both of his eyes, running from temple to temple, sometimes made that strong gaze of his all the more intense.

“Dae ye need tae hear it again, sister?” he asked, moving to the window and peering out beyond. “I ken ye’ll hate me enough fer saying it once.”

“I’m just checking that me braither is the one who has gone mad, and that it’s nae me.” Her wit made Dunn smile a little, if only for a second. He turned back to face her, leaning his back against the window.

“We have talked it over with Tad, and we want ye tae go and stay with him fer a while.”

“Nay, I was right. Ye are the ones who have gone mad.” She waved a hand at her brother. “Of all the people in the world, ye wish me tae stay with him? Ye think I will be safe there?”

“Aye, we dae.” Dunn nodded, just once. “Cillian seems to have focused his revenge on Clan Mackintosh fer now. As Tad says, maybe it is because he sees us as an easier target because We dinnae ken, but it isnae wise fer ye tae stay here if we are the targets.”

“And ye think sending me away is the best idea? Away from our own soldiers and guards who can protect me? Oh aye, wonderful idea.”

“Sarcasm isnae helping, sister,” Evander’s suddenly sharp tone made her turn on the spot, pulling on her blonde plaited hair. Evander was the strong and silent type. He had a habit of being quiet and icy with everyone, except them. He was never usually icy with them.

“As warm as an icicle, Evander,” she muttered in his direction, not bothering to look at him as she spoke. She grew aware out of the corner of her eye that he had risen from his seated position on the desk and moved toward her. He stopped in front of her and kissed her forehead, the sudden warmth from him making her shoulders slump.

“We’re doing what’s right tae keep ye safe, even if it means going with a man who isnae yer favorite in the world,” he said softly. “Without its laird, our clan might nae be the safest place. Besides, ye willnae be so bored there. Bran and Ilyssa are there. I ken ye miss them both.”

Her shoulders slumped even more, for she did. Being without Ilyssa, her dearest friend, was rather like missing a limb, and as much as she hated Bran’s overprotectiveness as a brother when he was around, she missed it when he was not here. She was sure she would be safe with him there too, so she understood Evander as much as she hated his and Dunn’s decision.

“Tad has more soldiers at the moment,” Evander said, his voice back to business and matters of military. “His forces arenae divided as our own are. In his castle, ye willnae only be guarded by his men, but Bran and him as well. Based on last night, Tad isnae too bad a guard tae ye, even if ye dislike him. I also have a feeling he’ll dae a better job at keeping ye in a castle, so ye dinnae keep running off intae the woods.” He gave her a pointed look and she sighed.

“I’m sorry about that,” she whispered. He nodded, clearly accepting her apology, but not necessarily forgiving her for it.

“Maybe Ilyssa has rubbed off on ye more than we thought, eh?” Evander said as Dunn chuckled softly from behind him.

“Aye, she always was the worst of the two of ye. More mischievous than any of us, in fact. Maybe ye are keen tae take her place now that she has settled?”

“Settled? Pff!” Catreena scoffed at the idea. Being married to Bran might have meant that Ilyssa was now rather glued to his side, but it had done nothing to dissuade Ilyssa’s true character. Catreena suspected that Bran would find his hands full with his wife. Then again, she supposed he liked that. “We’re losing our thread here.” She sighed, her eyes flashing with anger as she looked between Evander and Dunn once again. “I willnae accept Tad as me bodyguard. Nae today, nae any time in the future. Ye cannae make me sit at his heel like an obedient lamb.”

“Ye? A lamb?” Dunn laughed. “Never.” She felt warmed at his words.

“Yet that isnae the point.” Evander cut in, with no such laughter in his own expression. “The point isnae whether ye like Tad or nae, Catreena, but whether ye trust him.”

It was an odd question, one she hadn’t been expecting. It wrongfooted her so entirely that she shifted her weight between her feet, allowing her eyes to dance around the room. The air was suddenly heavy as they waited expectantly for her answer. She could smell the whisky in the air from the empty glasses from which her brothers had drunk late into the night. Tad must have been with them, talking of what had happened.

Tad, who had practically thrown himself onto her to protect her and had then thrown her onto his horse to get her out of there, out of that forest, and away from their attackers.

With a heavy sigh, she jerked her head into a nod.

“Is that an ‘aye’?” Evander asked pointedly. “Ye dae trust him?”

“Reluctantly, aye, I admit I dae.” She was loathed to admit it, but she had to. Tad may not have been her favorite person in the world, but he had protected her. “I suppose he has some uses after all.”

Dunn chuckled though Evander still appeared less than amused.

“Then it is decided.” Evander nodded, the conversation clearly at an end. “Go and see yer bags are packed. Ye leave with Tad in the hour.”

“An hour!?” she spluttered.

“We have just wasted time in one argument, it is nae good wasting anymore time in another.”

“Evander!”

“Evander is right,” Dunn stepped forward, adding to the conversation with a quiet voice. Her twin’s words cut through her anger better than anything else could. If he was convinced, his tone this calm, then he too thought it was the right course of action. “We cannae ken when Grant’s soldiers will return. Please, Catreena. Go and pack.”

She huffed another time, showing her displeasure, but nodded all the same.

“When will the wedding be?” she asked Evander with sudden concern. “I dinnae wish tae miss it.” At the mention of Evander’s upcoming wedding, it was as if she had kicked him in the stomach. He folded his arms and took a step back, his gaze drifting away.

“Nae yet.” It was plainly the only answer she was going to get.

As Evander turned his back, she looked at Dunn questioningly. There was much meaning in that silent exchange. She knew Dunn understood as well as she did that Evander had little care or love for the woman he was betrothed to, Enna. It was to be a marriage for alliance, to make the clans stronger, but it would not be a happy one.

What a shame May had tae vanish.

At the thought of May, Catreena squirmed on the spot. Her good friend, May, had disappeared without a word some years ago. One day, she and Evander had seemed on the verge of a betrothal, heady with attraction and love, then it had all disappeared overnight. Catreena didn’t think she had even heard Evander speak of her since.

He scratched one of the tattoos on his arm and flicked his fingers distractedly to the door.

“Hurry, Catreena,” he urged.

“Oh aye. Little sister must dae what her braithers say,” she said mockingly, turning to the door and flinging it open. “Little sister cannae have an opinion, fer it’s always the braithers that decide her life, isnae it?”

“Cat!” Dunn called after her, his voice hurt, but she didn’t wait to hear anymore.

She closed the door between them and turned to march away down the corridor.

“Damn being a woman when yer body and life is controlled by men – oh!” she yelped in surprise as she walked into a wall of muscle.

“Well, ye look happy,” a familiar voice said as a pair of hands closed on the top part of her hips, holding her perfectly still. “I see they must have told ye the good news? Or is that because ye have bumped intae me again?”

Catreena looked up and stared up into Tad’s eyes. He had that lazy mischievous smile on his face as usual, his gray eyes staring down like starlit orbs into her own. Tongue-tied, she didn’t move, she didn’t say anything, as a fearful thought shot across her mind.

I have tae stay in his house… what if I succumb, like so many other women have done, tae his bed?