Alex’s knees felt wobbly with relief. Tormond must have had time to send the women to hide in the hills. Slowly, Alex let his breath out.
Before the boat scraped the bottom, he was over the side and running to shore. The women surrounded him. None seemed hurt, but they were all talking at once. “Pirates! Pirates were here!”
Neither Glynis nor Sorcha were with the women, so they must be up at the castle. Several of his men were coming down the rock steps. Tormond, who was in the lead, was limping and had a long gash down the side of his face and a bloody sleeve.
“Ye did well to get the women out,” Alex greeted him. “Did we lose many men?”
“We fought as long as we could, but it was clear we couldn’t hold the castle,” Tormond said. “Once I thought the women were well away, I surrendered in the hope of saving as many men as I could.”
“Ye did right.” Alex started up the steps. He was anxious to see with his own eyes that his wife and daughter were safe.
Tormond followed behind him. “The pirates locked us in one of the storage rooms along the wall while they looted the castle.”
Alex reached the top and saw the smashed gate. Getting oak boards to replace it would take a long time, but there were worse things. He stepped through the gaping hole into the castle yard.
“How many attackers were there?” Alex asked, but he was wondering why Glynis and Sorcha were not running out to meet him.
“There were three ships, each full of men.”
“Three?” Alex asked, turning back to Tormond. “Who were they?”
“Two belonged to Hugh Dubh and his brothers,” Tormond said. “The third was Magnus Clanranald’s.”
“Where is Glynis?” When Tormond did not answer right away, Alex grabbed him by his torn shirt and shook him. “Where is my wife?”
“We’ve searched everywhere.” Tormond could not meet Alex’s eyes. “But we couldn’t find her—or your daughter.”
* * *
Glynis’s spirits sank lower the farther they sailed into Loch Eyenort. God protect her, for it could be weeks before Alex found her. Loch Eyenort had so many bays and islands that even if Alex came here on his search, he could easily miss her.
Glynis rubbed the blood on her forehead with her sleeve. At least she was not on the same boat as Magnus.
“If ye leave that cut alone, it might stop bleeding.”
Glynis looked up to find Hugh Dubh standing over her. Though Hugh’s weathered face made him look older than his thirty-odd years, he had the powerful build of a man in his prime.
“If ye are worried I might die on ye,” Glynis snapped, “then ye should give me something to bind this wound.”
All she’d suffered was a nick—and a long moment of terror in which she believed she would die at Magnus’s hands. Hugh had pulled Magnus off of her just in time. In the argument that ensued between the two men, Hugh had taken the position that a live hostage was of greater value than a dead one.
“Ye could show a wee bit of appreciation after I saved your life,” Hugh said, giving her what he must have believed was a charming smile.
“Ye didn’t do it for me,” she said. “Ye did it for the gold my husband and father will give ye for my return.”
“I’ll be getting more than gold for ye, lass,” Hugh said, as he leaned back against the rail and folded his arms across his broad chest.
Hugh was baiting her. Glynis knew it, and yet she had to ask. “What else?”
“I want vengeance, just as Magnus does,” Hugh said. “But Magnus is a simple man, sorely lacking in patience. Unlike him, I’ll enjoy the game, get my revenge on my nephew, and end up with the gold as well.”
Hugh was vain. If she could prick his pride, he might tell her what this game was.
“Ye believe ye can get the better of Connor?” Glynis asked. “They say he is verra clever.”
“He is that, but Connor also has a great weakness.” Hugh nodded to himself as he looked off into the distance. “Connor would give his life without hesitation for any one of those three—Alex, Ian, or Duncan.”
That was true of each of the four men. Glynis wondered how Hugh intended to use Connor’s loyalty against him.
“Everyone in the isles knew of Alex’s vow never to wed,” Hugh said. “So when I heard he’d taken a bride, I knew it could only be because Alex had found a woman he simply had to have or die.”
“It wasn’t like that.” Glynis said, giving him a sideways glance. “Alex needed a mother for his daughter, and I was close at hand.”
Hugh barked out a laugh. “‘Tis usually men who are the fools.”
Glynis had been a fool, but she wasn’t admitting it to Hugh. “The opinion of a thieving pirate means less than nothing to me.”
“Alex must like a sharp tongue.” Hugh was drumming his fingers on the rail, jarring her nerves. “I believe he’ll do anything to get ye back. And my nephew Connor would do anything for Alex.”
