Mari shook her head. “Nay, ’twil no’ happen.”
LORD OF THE ISLES
75
Ali shrugged. “We’l see,” she said as she ripped the underskirt in half and draped it over Mari’s shoulders. “Now, do you think you’ve broken anything?” She knelt on the cold, damp floor, careful y running her hands over Mari’s legs. Mari drew the shawl closed with hands that were scraped raw. “Nay, I hurt is al ,” she whimpered. Ali blinked back tears and hugged Mari to her chest, knowing the young girl hurt as deeply in her heart as she did in her body. Ali vowed the priest would pay for what he’d done. Somehow she’d make sure of it.
“I’l have to wait until Cal um comes back before I can see to your cuts.” Scanning the dimly lit dungeon, she was thankful the lantern provided as little light as it did. She could hear the unmistakable sound of rats scurrying in the dark corners. Ali pushed herself to her feet and took a seat beside Mari. She pul ed the young girl into a tight embrace and leaned against the wal . She tried to ignore the slimy dampness that seeped through the fabric of her gown. Ali longed for the comfort and safety of her cozy apart
ment, the chance to curl up on her couch with a good book and a cup of coffee after a long, hot shower. She swal owed a heartfelt moan. If only she’d found that damn fairy flag.
She heard the door leading to the dungeon crash open and the thunder of footsteps on the stone steps. And then he was there, standing in front of her, big and powerful. His raven black hair was slicked back from his handsome face. His white shirt was open almost to his waist. Sweat 76
beaded on his sun-bronzed chest. She drew her eyes back to his face, to where a muscle pulsated in his clenched jaw.
“Open the bloody door,” he shouted over his shoulder. From amongst the men crowded behind Rory—Fergus, Iain, and Connor included—Cal um stepped forward and ducked his head. He fumbled with the key as he tried to fit it into the lock. Ali wanted to tel Rory not to be angry at the blond giant. If not for him, she didn’t know what would have happened to her and Mari. But the look in Rory’s eyes when they met hers stopped her cold. Anger reverberated from him as he strode into the cel , and Ali shrank away from him. He crouched in front of Mari and quickly took in her condition. “Let’s get you out of here.” He tucked the lacy fabric around her. Brow furrowed, he slanted a look at Ali, and something flickered in his piercing green eyes. He reached out and skimmed his knuckle along Ali’s cheek.
“Yer al right?” he asked, his voice gruff. Their eyes locked, oblivious to anyone else in the room. Her throat went dry, and she was unable to draw her gaze from his.
Rory quickly lowered his hand to his side, resisting the urge to take Aileanna into his arms, to run his hands over her soft, sweet-smel ing skin and see how badly she had been injured.
He scooped Mari into his arms and strode from the cel . He caught Iain’s eye and jerked his head toward Aileanna. Iain nodded and along with Fergus, escorted her from the cel , each taking a firm hold of her. Rory wasn’t certain if he did it to protect her, or the priest. Both Connor and Cal um had told him how she’d leaped into the fray in order to protect the young maid, without regard for her own safety. His admiration for her only served to inflame the desire he tried so hard to deny.
But it would be difficult to defend her against the priest’s charges if she went after him again, and Rory had LORD OF THE ISLES
77
no doubt that was exactly what would happen if the two crossed paths before he could intervene. He understood her anger. He’d been hard-pressed when he encountered the man not to beat him to a bloody pulp. Mari stiffened in his arms when the bel ows of the priest, coming from the tower above them, reached her ears. “Shh, he canna’ hurt you, Mari. I wil na’ al ow it,” he soothed the young girl. She seemed to relax, but his words didn’t have the same effect on the woman cursing behind him. He shook his head. Aileanna Graham was like no woman he’d ever known—more of a warrior than many of his own men. He only wished she hadn’t seen fit to strike the priest. She’d put Rory in an unenviable position. He had to find a way for al to save face. Somehow he would prove Mari was no witch, but was at a loss as to what to do with Aileanna. The priest demanded she be lashed, or at the very least sent to a nunnery to atone for her sins.
For a brief moment Rory had been tempted to send her away. After al , he stil had his suspicions where she was concerned, and the wel -being of his clan was his first pri
ority. But if he was honest, he’d admit what disturbed him most was her ability to stir him in a way no other woman had, not since he’d lost Brianna. Her resemblance to his wife was uncanny, and at first he was able to put his desire for her down to that, but no longer. Aileanna was as differ
ent from Brianna as night was to day.
He glanced over his shoulder and caught the angry flash in her blue eyes and the stubborn set of her chin as she argued with Iain and Fergus.
“Aileanna,” he said firmly. She looked up at him, a chal enge in her expression. “You’l have yer say, but no’
until you’ve calmed yerself.”
“Calm? You expect me to be calm after what that . . . that,”
she sputtered.
78
Rory sighed. “You’l see to Mari and yerself, and then we’l talk.”
