“Niall. Let her go. To kill her will serve no purpose. With me gone, McMillan territory will be yers.”
Niall’s grip on my throat lessened. The idea appealed to him. Too lost in the thralls of his madness, he couldn’t see the impossibility of Baodan’s words. Niall remained surrounded at every side. Regardless of who died here, me, Boadan, or both of us, Niall would meet his end. Not a soul in the room planned on allowing him to live past sunrise. Baodan knew this too, which meant he played his brother. He didn’t intend to let Niall kill either one of us.
When he finally spoke, I startled at the sound of Niall’s voice in my ears, and he laughed at my show of nerves. “I will accept yer offer, brother, but I willna run ye through with me sword. If I tried to approach ye, I would be bested, and I will see ye dead.” He squeezed the arm around my waist to get my attention and whispered angrily in my ear. “Reach behind ye, lass, and grab the vial tucked beneath the edge of me kilt. Toss it in Baodan’s direction.”
Poison. My hand trembled as I moved it. I reached for Baodan’s death, for I knew he would drink it to save me. As much as I wished to crush the vial in my hand, I knew it would result in my immediate death. “Promise me, you’ll let me go as soon as he drinks it. Allow me the chance to say goodbye.”
“Fine. Throw it to him now.”
Baodan caught it with ease, despite my shaky throw. He didn’t wish to think about it, and he smiled as he popped the top. “I love ye more than ye will ever know, lass.”
I sobbed as he downed the vile contents, screaming as he dropped to the floor. I no longer cared about the knife at my throat. Raising my arm, I threw my elbow deep into Niall’s ribs and, as the knife fell away, I rushed to Baodan’s side.
*
His body shook in convulsions, and his eyes rolled up into his head as I sobbed against him. When he stilled in my arms, Niall laughed ecstatically. Rage exploded within me. Reaching, I grasped onto the sword that lay to my right and stood to charge him.
He moved quickly when he saw me. Before I could stand, I saw the edge of his sword swinging down toward me. Right before I shut my eyes to await death, I saw a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye.
His screams of agony seemed to shake the room. In one swoop, Eoghanan fell to the ground in front of me. His body split open from temple to thigh. As he landed, a small glass bottle dropped from his hand and onto the floor, following the trail of his blood.
Chapter 44
In the instant Eoghanan hit the ground, I was given the time necessary to stand. I ran toward Niall, thrusting the sword into the center of his chest. The impact of the metal against his ribs reverberated all the way to my bones, and the pain of it forced me to release my grasp on its handle. The jab brought Niall to his knees as he stared down at his bleeding center.
“The vial! Somebody give it to Baodan now.” I couldn’t be certain, but unless Eoghanan still carried the poison he stole from Niall, the liquid could be the antidote he worked on.
Kenna jumped to grab the vial, and I turned my attention to Eoghanan who gasped uncomfortably as blood poured from half of him. Mary and Rhona rushed to get bandanges. I crouched next to him, gathering his uninjured hand into my own. “Oh my God. What did you do that for? It was so stupid. So very, very stupid.” The words came between gasps. I could scarcely see him through my tears. He lived, but the life in his eyes dwindled as he continued to bleed.
His eyes focused dimly at my words, and he moved his hand from my grasp to touch my stomach. “I told ye I would do anything for either ye or Baodan.”
Blood from his face dripped into his mouth, and he coughed as it prohibited his breathing. My hands trembled uncontrollably, but I reached up to clean his mouth, forcing myself to examine the extensiveness of his wounds for the first time.
Thankfully, his head wounds were not deep enough to cause damage. The gash that extended down the rest of his body worried me greatly. Although I was no doctor, I was fairly certain that the blade missed any vital organs. Still, I could see little hope of survival. His wounds could be closed, but infection would set in. In an area that large, it would kill him quickly. Eoghanan’s eyes drifted closed as he lost consciousness and, for a brief moment, I tore my gaze away from him and looked up at the dying Niall.
Now collapsed onto his back, he choked on his own blood. My aim was poor enough so that his death was a slow one, and I was glad for it. He lay dying in a room full of people and not a one paid him any attention.
Mary stepped in front of my line of vision as she called to Eoin and Arran to help her lift Eoghanan.
“We will need to wrap the cloth around his whole body. No one will be able to close him until we have stopped the bleeding.”