In another moment, a dozen MacKinnon men surrounded them.
“He’s a brave one,” one of the men said with a laugh, as they dismounted. He jumped back, though, when Niall swung his claymore within an inch of his chest.
“Come, laddie, there’s no need for ye to die today,” another man said, “but the lass belongs to us.”
The men moved aside as Murdoc pushed through them on his horse.
“Ye have a lot to answer for, Sileas,” he said in a hard voice, as he looked down at her. Glancing at Niall, he said, “Who’s the foolish lad ready to die for ye?”
Before she could think of a lie, Niall said in a defiant voice, “I am Niall MacDonald, son of Payton and brother to Ian.”
“Take him,” Murdoc said.
Sileas screamed as the men closed in on Niall from all sides. Niall sliced one man’s arm and nicked another, but there were too many of them. It wasn’t long before they held him.
“He’s yours,” Murdoc said, turning to Angus.
Panic pounded through Sileas’s veins as Angus dismounted from his horse. It was no use pleading with him, for Angus enjoyed hurting people and wasn’t one to think about the consequences. Murdoc was the calculating one. Killing Niall was not important to him; she needed to give him a reason not to do it.
“Ye will regret it if ye hurt him,” she shouted.
Murdoc raised his hand, signaling Angus to halt. “And why would I regret one less MacDonald in this world?”
“Ian MacDonald is a stubborn man,” she said. “Ye must have heard he stayed away for five years just because he was forced to wed me.”
“I’ve heard he’s even refused to bed ye.” Murdoc laughed and the others joined in. “Luckily, Angus here is no so particular.”
Sileas could not let herself look at Angus for fear she would lose her nerve.
“ ’Tis true Ian doesn’t want me.” She stretched out her arm, pointing at Niall. “But this lad is Ian’s only brother. If ye harm a hair on his head, I can promise ye Ian will come after ye. No matter how long it takes, one day he will catch ye unawares. He’s that stubborn.”
“Enough talk,” Angus said, pulling his sword.
Fear seized her heart as Angus started toward Niall. “Murdoc, ye gain nothing by harming him.”
“If Ian has treated ye so poorly,” Murdoc asked, narrowing his eyes at her, “why do ye care what happens to his brother?”
“Because he’s like a brother to me as well,” she said, letting the truth of it show in her eyes.
“If your mother had not been so useless,” Murdoc said, his anger flashing, “ye would have a true brother.”
Sileas felt for the dirk up her sleeve. If Murdoc didn’t stop Angus she would have to stab the brute as he walked by her. She’d have only one chance, but she didn’t know where best to stick him. Her heart raced as she tried to think. Angus had too much belly—if she stuck him there, it might not stop him. No, it had to be in his thick neck.
“Angus, we’ve got what we came for,” Murdoc said, then turned to the other men. “Tie the lad to a tree. If he rots before he’s found, so be it.”
Sileas’s limbs felt weak from the relief surging through her.
“Come, Sileas. We’ve no more time to waste,” Murdoc said. “Ye will ride with Angus.”
It wasn’t easy to keep her courage up when Angus smiled, showing his brown and broken teeth, and crooked his finger at her.
“Let me say good-bye,” she blurted out. Before anyone moved to stop her, she ran to the tree where Niall was tied and threw her arms around his neck.
“Tell Ian I’ll be waiting for him,” she said in Niall’s ear, as she dropped the dirk behind his back.
An instant later, Angus’s rough hands jerked her to her feet.
CHAPTER 33
Connor lay so still that Ian watched for the shallow rise and fall of his chest as he guided the boat in to shore. Connor was still alive, but not much more.
He and Alex exchanged a worried look, but there was nothing to say. As soon as he hauled the boat onto the beach, he lifted his cousin’s limp body in his arms. His stomach tightened; it was hard to see Connor like this.
Leaving Alex to watch over Duncan, he started up the treacherous steps of the sea cliff. He thought of all the times they had raced up and down these steps when they were lads. As men, the two years between him and Connor made no difference. But as a lad, Ian had looked up to his older cousin. Though as brave as anyone, Connor had always been the most sensible of the four of them. They lived to manhood only because Connor managed to discourage their most foolhardy adventures—or at least some of them.
When Ian neared the top of the bluff, he looked up to see Tearlag and Duncan’s sister Ilysa clutching their arms against the wind and peering over the side.
“I saw ye coming,” Tearlag called out, and he knew she was referring to the Sight for which she was well- known.
The women rushed him inside and directed him to lay Connor on blankets they had already laid out before the fire. Ilysa went almost as pale as Connor when she saw the condition he was in.
“Go fetch the others,” Tearlag said, waving him off.
