“I awoke and found her missing, expect she’s gone to check on Gordon. I was on my way there now. I’ve spoken handfast vows with Kyla, must ride out soon to see her parents and procure a priest.”
“One of my guardsmen was attacked within the underground tunnels leading to the dungeons, right at the point where the passageway divides into three. One of the tunnels leads back here to the keep, while the other passageways veer in differing directions, one toward the hills and the other through the forest to the loch’s edge. The guard, when he awoke after being hit over the head, reported ’twas Jeremiah who attacked him and he was headed directly toward the keep.”
“Jeremiah’s aware of the tunnels?” His heart heaved within his chest.
“Aye, but I lengthened the tunnels this past fortnight and changed their positions, ensured each exit point was well covered. Jeremiah must have stumbled upon one of the new entrances by chance. Gordon has also returned to light duties and I have no’ seen Kyla, either in her healer’s chamber or the great hall. I’ve men on guard all over this keep, although Jeremiah is a snake, can get in and out of the tightest spots. We must find her, now.”
“Ronan! Duncan!” Hamish rushed into the room, his breath coming hard. “Jeremiah has Kyla and he’s sailing to Rhue Castle. He sedated her and she remains out to it. I saw all within a vision.”
“Damn it.” His enemy had stolen his wife right out from under his eyes. “I’ll slaughter him. We’ve spoken handfast vows and there is none who can now dispute we are wed.”
“Jeremiah will find a way to dispute whatever he wishes.” Duncan growled low under his breath. “Rhue is a highly fortified stronghold that sits in a prime position right on the rocky headland of Loch Broom. There is only one way in, and that’s through the main gate.”
“I’ll never allow Jeremiah to take my wife from me.” He nabbed his satchel and sprinted out the door. Duncan and Hamish chased him downstairs and into the inner courtyard. Duncan bellowed to his men to ready the galley and they raced out under the arched gate, bolted down the sea-gate stairs where the waves crashed in hard against the stone landing. Warriors swarmed onto the vessel, stowed their weapons and nabbed their oars. Hell, he should never have fallen asleep without first ensuring his wife understood all the possible threats.
“Listen to me well!” Duncan hollered as he gripped his shoulder. “Ronan is Niall’s son and like his father, holds the fae battle skill. He is now also my brother, wed to Kyla. We sail for Rhue Castle to retrieve her from Jeremiah.”
The men roared and pumped their fists into the air.
Their agreement to aid him almost brought him to his knees. None here despised him because of his fae blood. To the men, he shouted, “No one imprisons my wife against her will. We’ll find her then free her. She is both a Matheson and a MacKenzie, loyal to each and every man afore me.”
“All to oars,” Duncan ordered as he gripped the sail’s ropes and tossed him one.
Together, they heaved the sail up.
Chapter 6
A screeching cacophony assailed Kyla’s ears and she blinked her eyes open as seagulls squawked somewhere overhead. Her head pounded as if horses stampeded within and when she touched the back of her head, she grimaced. Such a terribly large lump had swelled forth.
All around her warriors sat on bench seats with oars in hand, stern-faced and wearing the MacKenzie plaid. Swaying, she sat up within the hull, the vessel surging forward over white-capped waves and making her belly roll.
Breathing deep of the crisp sea air, she squinted toward the land up ahead and tried to make some sense out of it all. A rag lay tucked in the bodice of her burgundy gown, half flapping out and reeking of belladonna. Ugh. No wonder everything still spun. She tore the rag out and it flew over the side and got swallowed up by the churning seas.
Directly ahead, a castle sat high on the rocky headland at the entrance to a loch and a range of mountains rose in the distance behind it, sheep dotting the craggy hills. A horn blasted across the bay and at the castle’s sea-gate, two burly warriors strode along a stone landing and bounded into the waist-deep water.
“Lower the sail!” A man’s bellow came from behind her and she cranked her head around. Jeremiah stood at the stern, an ominous cast of dark clouds gusting behind him and his fiery red hair whipping about his shoulders.
Oh hell. How on earth had she come to be with Jeremiah?
Clarity hit hard and fast and images swirled through her mind. Jeremiah had shoved her into the wall then thrust a cloth over her mouth.