Cait and the Devil Read Online Free PDF

to—”
    “To what?” prompted Henna suspiciously.
    “To be sure she stayed out of his way,” said Mitchum . “He said to keep her out of his sight as much as I could.”
    “Really?” said Henna, her eyes narrowing. “He said that, did he? I wonder why. Well.” She would have a talk with him about that. What a thing to say about his new wife, and to her guard no less. It was absolutely churlish.
    “Do you think she’s sleeping?” Henna asked. “How long has she been within?”
    “An hour at least, perhaps more.”
    Henna knocked softly. There was no answer. She opened the door a crack to peek inside, then swung it open, looking all around. “She’s not here! She’s not here at all, Mitchum ! You’ve lost her already!”
    “Oh, holy God,” he said, leaping to his feet.
     
    * * * * *
     
    Duncan was going to kill that boy Mitchum . How difficult could it be to keep track of one mousy girl? He would deal with him later. For now, he had soldiers searching the castle grounds for Cait while he combed the woods around the keep. For God’s sake, he had plenty of important work to be doing besides looking for her. He tried to convince himself his agitated state was only frustration, but in truth his heart was hammering anxiously in his chest. He had enemies and so did the king, and there were bandits in the woods around Inverness just as there were bandits everywhere. The idea of someone taking her, of her in fright, in peril...
    He nudged his horse to a gallop and took off in the other direction. His men met him in a clearing.
    “Nothing. No sign of her, Lord Duncan. But she couldn’t have gone far. Mitchum said he’d seen her an hour before—”
    “ Mitchum is an idiot who’s not to be trusted. No sign of her in town?”
    “Perhaps we should search the castle proper again. Check in some of the unused rooms,” suggested Connor. “She could be hiding.”
    Duncan scowled at him. “Hiding? What the hell for? What are you trying to say?”
    “I’m not trying to say anything,” Connor hedged. “But many a bride wakes up from her wedding night confused and upset.”
    “Not my bride. She has no reason to be hiding. Believe me.”
    Still, the men wheeled their mounts around to return to the keep. Forget about Mitchum , thought Duncan. When he got hold of her , he was going to let her know exactly and in no uncertain terms what running away and hiding from him resulted in, and it would be very difficult for her to sit down after that lesson had been taught.
    “Any sign of her?” he asked Henna when he entered the courtyard.
    “No, my lord. Oh, dear, where could she have gone?”
    “You spoke to her this morning? What was her demeanor?”
    “Oh, she was just normal. I don’t know. She had little appetite, but I’d no thought she would go running off. I don’t think she’s run off at all. I think someone’s taken her!”
    “From the third floor of the keep? I doubt it. She’s hiding. I want her found.”
    He strode into the hall and up the stone stairs, Henna tripping at his heels.
    “What will ya do to her when you find her? You must be gentle with her. She never asked to come here and be your bride—”
    “Silence!” he said. “I will deal with my wife as I choose.”
    He took the stairs two at a time, leaving Henna behind him, and barged into his room to pick up the weapons he’d left behind. He was halfway back to the door when he stopped short, staring in disbelief.
    The lass every man in the castle was searching for was fast asleep on his bed.
    Not just on his bed. The blasted wench was in it, snuggled right under his blankets making herself at home. He strode to the door and yelled down the hall.
    “Did no one think to check my room? Call off the blasted search, you sorry lot of idiots!”
    He slammed the door and turned on Cait , who was now very much awake. She inched from the bed, hopped down to the floor, and at the look on his face, sidled around to the other side.
    “What