“Nay,” she bit out, interrupting his tirade. “ ’Tis Eveline Montgomery now.”
His eyes widened. “So the simpleton chooses to speak. Kierstan informed me that you found your tongue shortly after arriving at Montgomery Keep. I wondered if the lamb would find the courage to bite with the teeth of a lioness. I think I prefer the new and improved Eveline over the pale, skinny coward who went rigid with fright every time I came into contact with her. It will be a lot more entertaining to break the new Eveline.”
“Why are you doing this?” she demanded as loudly as she could make her voice. “You have to know Graeme will kill you.” Her glance darted to where she knew Patrick McHugh to be standing. “He’ll kill all of you.”
Ian smiled, and it sent a shiver down Eveline’s spine.
“He’ll never know where you are. And your father? Even now, he’s likely riding on the Montgomerys, intent on war and revenge.”
Fear rocketed through her chest, squeezing her, robbing her of air. “What have you done?”
“It doesn’t look good that Graeme Montgomery’s new bride has gone missing. Nor does it sit well with the Montgomerys that a man bearing the dress of the Armstrong clan made an attempt on the Montgomery laird’s life. What think you will happen when the two clans come head-to-head?”
“You were the one who shot Graeme with the arrow,” Eveline breathed.
“Nay, not exactly. ’Twas not me, but a man under my command.” He shrugged. “ ’Tis the same. The result is the same. There’ll be no peace, no alliance between the Montgomerys and the Armstrongs. They’ll be too busy fighting each other and will be branded outlaws by the king. They’ll pose no threat to other clans. Instead, we’ll take them down, one by one, and collect a rich purse as bounty. When I am done, the McHugh name will be the most highly revered in the highlands.”
“You’re mad,” she said incredulously. “At least I only pretended madness. You are truly afflicted in the mind.”
He backhanded her with his free hand, knocking her head back. But he held her in place with the hand he still had twisted in her hair so she had nowhere to go.
He turned her head forcefully back so she had to look him in the eye again. “And you, Eveline, will be thought dead when no one is able to discover your whereabouts. No one will hear your screams. No one will ever find you. You’ll be mine to play with when I need amusement. In time you’ll be grateful for any attention I bestow upon you.”
“Never,” she lashed out.
He forced her face even closer to his, and then he kissed her. It was a bruising, punishing force that so repulsed her, she gagged. She tried to insert her hands between them, but fell short when the chains prevented her from reaching that far.
When he deepened the kiss and she felt the brush of his tongue over hers, she bit down, determined to put an end to the forced intimacy.
He thrust her away, rage in his eyes. He wiped at his mouth, and his hand came away stained with blood. This time when he struck her, he let her fall away, releasing her hair.
She fell to the floor, pain jolting through her limbs when the chains went taut, nearly yanking her arms from their sockets.
“Don’t touch me again,” she yelled with all the bravado she had left.
He stood over her, his mouth twisted into a sneer. “I’ll do a whole lot more than touch, Eveline. You belong to me now. Be a good lass and I’ll come visit you often. I’ll even try to remember to bring you food and drink on occasion.”
Then he reached over, took the torch from the sconce, and stalked away, taking the light with him.
Darkness settled over the small, airless room, and with it, despair so thick she choked. It overwhelmed her, seeping into her very soul.
Nay, she wouldn’t allow herself to lose hope. Graeme would find her. She had every faith in her husband. She would remain strong until he came for her.
CHAPTER 42
Dawn crept over the horizon and Graeme stood before his assembled clan, fury, impatience, and worry vying for control. They’d searched the keep, the river, and the surrounding lands. They’d left no stone unturned and there was still no sign of Eveline.
He wouldn’t accept that no one in his clan had seen Eveline or knew of what happened to her. There were no missing horses, and there was no way Eveline could have made it away on foot in her condition. Which meant that someone had to have taken her or aided her in some way.
He couldn’t dwell on the latter thought, because then he’d have to accept that she’d gone willingly. She’d given him no cause to believe that she would have left so abruptly. After standing by his side and protecting him so fiercely, why would she have left him the moment he was recovering?
Nay, it didn’t make sense, which meant that someone had her. Someone had taken her against her will and could be harming her even now. He had to push away the image of her frightened and hurt or he would lose all semblance of control.
“ ’Tis everyone, Graeme,” Bowen said grimly. “Every last woman and child.”
“Keep your eyes open,” Graeme said in a low voice. “I cannot judge them all. Someone is telling an untruth. We must find out who before it’s too late for Eveline.”
Bowen’s expression grew fiercer. He nodded and then motioned for Teague to go in one direction as he headed in the other, so they could better survey their gathered clansmen.
“Someone is not telling the truth,” Graeme said loud enough that his voice carried over the quiet courtyard.
His soldiers, those he considered among his most trustworthy, were spread in a wide circle, their arms crossed menacingly over their chests. They watched just as Bowen and Teague watched, their gazes sweeping the crowd.
“Eveline was last seen by Mary in the kitchens last eve. Eveline disappeared just after and yet none of you witnessed anything.”
“Maybe she went back to her own clan,” someone called loudly from the midst of the assembled gathering.
“Hush your idiocy!” Nora yelled, her face mottled and red with anger. “The lass did not desert our laird. ’Tis disloyal of you to say such a thing.”
“All I’m interested in hearing is who saw Eveline and if any of you have information on her current whereabouts. It will go far easier if you admit to such knowledge now. If ’tis found out later that you knew and something happens to Eveline as a result of your refusal to speak, the penalty will be death.”
As Graeme said the last, his gaze drifted over the group of women who’d made things so difficult for Eveline. Most of them looked genuinely worried, but it was Kierstan’s expression that drew further scrutiny.
She was pale, visibly nervous, and she kept glancing away and to the distance, as if she wanted to be as far from this place as possible. She wiped her hands down her skirts and tried to blend further into the crowd.
“And I promise, your death will not be quick,” Graeme said, pointedly speaking toward Kierstan, hoping for a further reaction. “For every hurt heaped upon my wife, I’ll exact equal measure from the person responsible. You’ll pray for death before I am done.”
Kierstan looked near to fainting. Desperation simmered in her eyes to the point Graeme was sure she must know more than she’d let on.
“You are dismissed,” Graeme called out, surprising his brothers. “Think on all that I’ve said. I’ll be willing to consider a more merciful punishment if you come to me now.”
Bowen strode toward him, clear question in his eyes. “What are you doing, Graeme? You did not even press them.”
Graeme held up his hand. “Bring Kierstan to me at once. Do not allow her out of the courtyard.”
Bowen’s eyes widened, and he glanced in the direction of the group of women who were moving with the crowd as they made to exit the courtyard. Without another word, he beckoned to Teague and they stalked quickly in Kierstan’s direction.
A moment later, Bowen grasped Kierstan’s arm, and she turned in alarm, fear radiating from her in waves. She didn’t fight Bowen, however, and she allowed him to lead her over to where Graeme stood.
Bowen and Teague flanked her, looming over her, their scowls enough to frighten the toughest warrior.
“Y-you wanted to s-see me, Laird?” she stammered out.
“I’ll only give you one opportunity to tell me the truth,” Graeme bit out. “If you do not tell me what you know, your sentence will be death.”
She went so white that Graeme feared she’d faint and be utterly useless.
“If I tell you what I know, do you vow to allow me to live?” she asked in a hoarse voice that cracked with fear.
“You do not bargain with me,” Graeme roared. “I make you no promises, but you had better pray Eveline is returned safely to me or you’ll sorely regret the mischief you’ve wrought.”
“I already do,” she said shakily.
She closed her eyes and swallowed deeply. When she opened them again, tears shone brightly.
“Ian McHugh has her.”
“What?” Graeme bellowed. “What have you done?”
“Please,” Kierstan begged. “I did not realize …”
“Do not lie,” Teague spat. “You realized exactly what would happen to Eveline. You bargained with the devil. ’Tis time to pay the price. Tell him all or I swear I’ll make you sorry.”
She looked away, tears shining on her cheeks. “I had help from three Montgomery warriors. They were angry, as was I, that we were being forced to accept an Armstrong into our clan. One of them brought word of a bargain he’d struck with Ian McHugh. I met with Ian and told him that Eveline had played the simpleton to avoid marriage to him. He wanted to take her away so that you would be blamed by Eveline’s kin. He intends to start war between you and the Armstrongs.”
Fear and rage knotted Graeme’s gut until he wanted to lay waste to an entire garrison of warriors. In that moment he had the strength and fury to be an unstoppable force.
Eveline, his precious, loving wife, was now in the hands of her worst tormentor. A man who’d described in exacting detail all that he’d make her suffer. His very blood froze in his veins, and suffocating dread made rational thought impossible for the space of several moments. All he could think was that he had to go to her. He had to save her.
“Laird! Laird! The Armstrongs approach!”
Graeme swiveled and looked up to the guard tower where his watchman was yelling out over the courtyard.
“They bear the entire might of their army!”
Graeme swore long and hard. Not now. Not when Eveline needed his complete attention. He turned the entire force of his rage on Kierstan.
“See what you have wrought? You’ll be the death of us all.”
Kierstan swayed unsteadily, her face completely devoid of blood.
“Don’t you dare faint,” Bowen hissed. “You’ll tell us what is left and I’ll have the names of the warriors who betrayed us.”
“Ian took her,” she blurted hastily. “I led her around the side of the keep where Ian waited. Shamus, Gregory, and Paul assisted Ian in leaving undetected.”
Graeme swore. Gregory and Paul were two of the men responsible for border patrol. It explained why Ian McHugh could have come and gone on Montgomery land without being apprehended.
“Have them imprisoned immediately,” Graeme said to Silas, who stood next to Graeme.
“ ’Tis my fault, Laird,” Silas said, his head bowed. “I should have known what was happening. They are under my command.”
“ ’Tis no one’s fault save their own,” Graeme snarled. “Find them. Imprison them. And her,” he said, gesturing toward Kierstan.
“Nay!” she cried out. “I told you all!”
“And think you that speaking freely of your betrayal pardons you from responsibility for your actions? You’ve betrayed us all, Kierstan. Not just Eveline. Not just me. You’ve betrayed all of your kin. If so much as one man, woman, or child loses their life in battle with the Armstrongs, it will be a mark on your soul.”
Kierstan burst into tears. “I did not know! I swear it, I did not know what would happen.”
“Save the tears,” Teague growled as he herded her toward one of the soldiers standing by Silas.
Graeme shouted up to the watchman. “How close?”
“They’re coming over the rise!”
“Come,” Graeme directed his brothers. “We’ll ride out to meet them.”
“Are you mad?” Bowen demanded. “We cannot ride alone to meet the might of their entire army.”
“I cannot ride with the whole of my army,” Graeme ground out. “It will be seen as an act of war. I can only hope I’m granted enough time to explain. Alert the others. Have them standing by to defend the keep. Let’s hope that Armstrong is a reasonable man and will listen to all we have to say.”
