Highlander's Guardian (Highlander Heat #4)

Colin sheathed his sword, grabbed the man’s feet and hauled him down. Kneeling, he checked his breathing. “’Tis slow but steady.”


“Then we’ve only one more to find, the warrior Annie didnae serve.” Arthur crept upstairs.

Following him with his senses on full alert, Colin reached the top landing and surveyed the passageway ahead. The darkened corridor remained bare, although Lachlan’s cell door remained propped wide open. “He waits for us in there.”

“Damn. He must have discovered his fellow guards had gone down afore we did.” Arthur tugged his hood lower over his mask.

“I’ll go first.” Sword raised, Colin snuck into the cell lit only by a single candle.

“Come one step closer, and I’ll slit his throat.” The guard held Lachlan in a choke hold, his blade pressed to his neck and his chief the man’s living shield.

“Hand MacLean over. He does no’ deserve to be here, kept in the dark like some rat and fed the scraps King James decides he might have.” Colin nodded at Arthur. “Check on the MacDonalds. Make sure their door remains locked.”

“They’re no’ there,” the guard snickered, his long hair covering one beady black eye. “Both were taken to more comfortable quarters in the palace. Apparently they’re more receptive to the king’s terms than the Chief of MacLean has been.”

“You lie. Donald and Angus MacDonald would never relent.”

“He speaks the truth,” Lachlan rasped against the blade at his throat. “Just afore dusk they were taken away. I was told they’d agreed to pay the hefty fines and have sworn their obedience to the king. They’ve also stated they’ll no’ oppose the government and when summoned to Edinburgh, return within twenty days. Is that you, Malcolm?” Lachlan shot Arthur a warning look as he returned. “And is that you, Munroe?”

“Aye, ’tis me Munroe,” Arthur answered him. “We’ve come to free you.”

“Then you should know”—Lachlan slid his gaze back to Colin—“the king has offered to look into the return of my land on the Isle of Islay. Should he do so, and if all works in my favor, then I intend to accede to his demands to get the Rhinns back.”

Colin could barely believe it. For too many years to count, Lachlan had been fighting the MacDonald of Dunnyveg for the return of that land. Lachlan had lost the Rhinns to Angus MacDonald when his father had gambled it away during the short five years he’d been chief, but Lachlan had always insisted his father had lost it illegally. Hell, ’twas no wonder Lachlan had changed his mind. The MacLeans might once again own a portion of Islay. ’Twould be worth the hefty fines and summoning to Edinburgh for such a triumph. “Then I take it you would like us to leave, Chief?”

“Aye, a rescue is no longer needed.”

Lachlan MacLean was one of the greatest strategists, and if he now wished to negotiate with the king for his land on Islay’s west coast, then Colin wouldn’t stop him. He dipped his head and stepped back. “Then I bid you a good night.”

“Aye, but, Malcolm, it would pay for you and Munroe to get away from here as fast as you can.”

“That we will. Virtue mine honor.” He pulled the cell door shut. “Find me something solid enough to bar the door,” he snapped at Arthur. He couldn’t have the guard raising the alert, and locking him in with Lachlan right now was his only alternative.

“Here.” Arthur grabbed a plank of wood propped against the wall and slotted it through the shaft designed to bar the door should the lock be unusable.

“That should give us a few hours, I hope.” Colin rushed down the corridor then traversed the tight stairwell as fast as he could. Outside, Ian and Murdock waited in the shadows. “Where’s Annie?” he asked Ian.

“In her chamber, safe and well,” Ian tipped his cloaked hood back enough for his eyes to show. “Where’s the chief?”

“He’s been offered a deal by the king he does no’ intend to turn down. The Rhinns in exchange for acceding to his demands. Which means you need to leave, quickly. Return to the faerie stones and wait for us there.”

“You’re no’ leaving with us?” Ian grasped his arm. “’Twill be an easy guess for the guards to look first at you and Arthur as the culprits for this attempt on the tower.”

“The chief is still here and we’ve remained masked the entire time. He also gave the guard false names, so provided Arthur and I can merge back in amongst the guests, who’s to say we’ve no’ been in the great hall the entire time?” And if he had the chance to remain behind, for Annie’s sake, he’d damn well do it. His wife knew how to find trouble too well on her own.

“The risk is too great.”

“Have you been sighted?” he asked Ian.

“No one can identify us.”

“Then feel free to expose your MacLean plaids as you ride out. Two of Lachlan’s warriors must be sighted leaving here.” Colin clasped Ian’s forearms in a firm warrior’s hold before doing the same with Murdock. “We may need a few days. Take care.”

The two warriors slunk away into the dark.