Return of the Highlander Read Online Free PDF Page B

thing,” Angus jauntily replied. “You are not yet recovered from your wounds. You must allow me to offer protection.”
    “I don’t need protection.”
    She was not surprised when Darach interjected. “Perhaps another clansman would be more suited to the task. Clearly the lass is not fond of me.”
    “I can see that, plain as day,” Angus said. “What did you do to her, Darach?”
    “Nothing,” he replied defensively. “I didn’t harm a single hair on her head, not even when she tried to brain me with a rock.”
    Angus faced her. “Is that true, lass? Did you try to brain my scout?”
    A sickening lump formed in Larena’s belly and she prayed he would not retract his earlier offer. “Aye,” she replied, “but only because I thought he was one of the attackers who killed the English soldiers. I had been unconscious. I didn’t know where he had come from.”
    “So it was self-defense, then,” Angus concluded, “and a misunderstanding. In that case, I see no reason why you cannot be friends.” He gave Darach a look. “I’ll hear no more arguments. Go and make preparations. You will leave tonight. Good-bye Larena Campbell. If we meet again, I hope it will be under improved circumstances.”
    “As do I. Thank you, sir.” She curtsied and walked out, but stopped for a moment outside the door to close her eyes and let out a deep breath of relief. Thank the Lord.
    She started off again and Darach followed. As soon as they reached the top of the curved staircase, she turned to face him. “Do you still have the pardon?”
    He patted his sporran. “Aye, it’s right here.”
    She held out her hand. “Then I will have it now, if you please.”
    A slow, intimidating grin curled the corner of his mouth, but he shook his head. “Nay, lass. I am assigned to protect you until we reach Leathan Castle. So I’ll protect this document as well.”
    “I am perfectly capable of guarding that document myself,” she told him.
    “Like you guarded it on the road with the Redcoats when musket balls started flying and your horse took off with it?”
    She lowered her hand to her side and thought of how Rupert had bolted. She had never seen him so terrorized. “Where did you find him?”
    “He found us ,” Darach explained. “He was in a mighty hurry, too. It wasn’t easy to calm him. It took some careful finessing and a few soft words.”
    Larena scoffed. “Then it must have been your brother, Logan, who accomplished that feat.” She picked up her skirts and descended the stairs. “Because finesse doesn’t seem to be one of your finer qualities.”
    Darach followed her down. “I can be charming when I wish to be, lass. I just haven’t felt the inclination around you—not since I learned you were a Campbell.”
    Her feet tapped lightly down the stone steps. When she reached the bottom, she stopped and looked left and right. “Where are we going? I have no idea.”
    He took hold of her arm and led her down a vaulted stone corridor. “Back to your cell until it’s time to leave.”
    “Surely you don’t intend to lock me up again,” she said with exasperation, hurrying to keep up with his brisk, long-legged strides. “Your chief said you were to be my protector, not my jailor.”
    “That’s the thing, lass. I don’t trust you not to bash me over the head again to get your hands on this pardon, and I certainly can’t protect you if you ride off alone into the night.”
    “Would it really be so bad if I did?” she challenged. “Wouldn’t it spare you the unpleasantness of having to endure the next few days in my company? I am a Campbell, after all, and clearly you are not fond of the name.”
    They descended another set of stairs that led to a narrow, torch-lit corridor below ground level.
    “But then my chief would be displeased with me,” Darach replied, “and I cannot have that. I took an oath, lass. I owe him everything.”
    “Yes, yes,” she said, “I understand. You’re a MacDonald and