The knife point pressed against her throat. Leana held herself stiff as Kam hauled her down the stairs and into the bailey. She blinked up at the lit braziers on the walls. Why were the braziers aflame?
Aware of Tavish following behind while Kam used her as a human shield, she stumbled through the snow. If she could just ease her hand down to where her knife was concealed...
Kam’s grip was firm though, pressing her hard against him. With every movement, she remained tense, waiting for the blade to pierce her skin. It might have already. She couldn’t tell if the damp on her neck was blood or flecks of snow.
“Uncle, release her,” Tavish ordered, shadowing their steps with his blade held aloft.
“Turn yer attention to yer walls,” Kam said. Leana heard the grin in his voice. “Ye have company.”
Scowling, she scanned the walls. She’d heard shouted orders when she’d entered the laird’s chambers but had little idea what was occurring. Kam had been upon her with his blade before she could so much as scream out. But at least he had not done the deed—he hadn’t plunged his knife into the laird. She’d prevented that.
Men gathered on the walls and in the bailey. Shouts rang out and she heard the clang of metal upon metal. It was only as they neared the gate, did she realize they were being attacked. A handful of men pushed their way into the courtyard.
She recognized one as a Campbell.
God Lord, the Campbells were attacking.
A man hastened up to them. “The gates were open,” he panted. “We couldnae shut them—” He stilled, his gaze fallen upon the knife at her neck. “Kam?”
“Move,” Tavish’s uncle spat.
“Do as he says,” Tavish barked. “And dinnae let those intruders near the keep.”
The man moved away and Kam dragged Leana along for another few steps toward the battle. Her heart beat a sickening thud.
“Ye opened the gate,” she said. “Ye let the Campbells in.”
“Aye,” Kam said in her ear. “They’ll finish the job for me, and I’ll take my rightful place.”
“Release her,” Tavish demanded, his voice growing in desperation.
Leana eyed the tangle of bodies ahead of them. Several men split off, slipping past the blockade of Maclean men and heading toward the ramparts. One grabbed a torch and bile rose in her throat. Had it not been for the knife flat against her skin, her legs would have given way.
They intended to burn the castle.
She couldn’t let that happen. Not again. Not to Tavish’s clan.
She faked a slipped step, her eyes closed briefly as she prayed Kam had enough control over the knife not to slice her then and there. As she stumbled, she reached into the fold of her plaid and closed her fingers about the cold metal handle of the blade. She drew it out and sliced hard.
Kam released her with a howl of pain. She darted back toward Tavish and he grabbed her plaid, hauling her behind him. Kam clasped his arm, blood seeping from between his fingers. His gaze, wide and wild, darted about. He threw down the dagger and pulled out his arming sword, gesturing toward Tavish.
“If ye want to fight me, Nephew, I dinnae mind. I’ve bested ye many a time.”
“Not in the past ten years, Uncle, if ye recall.”
Kam took several steps back, his heel connected with the steps up toward the ramparts. He stepped back and up and Tavish shadowed his movements.
Leana gripped Tavish’s arm and motioned to the man with the lit torch. “The Campbells...they’re going to burn the castle.”
Tavish glanced up at the men on the walls. “Aye,” he said grimly.
She scanned the area but there were no weapons and no way of her getting to the man while Tavish’s uncle stood between them and the men. The fight at the gates had grown less frantic, with several of the intruders being pushed back. She suspected they intended to set the fire and escape rather than try to take over the castle. She considered Maggie and Tavish’s mother and the other innocents inside the building.
She couldn’t let this happen.
Moving away from Tavish, she watched the path of the man with the torch. He was heading for the roof, where the timbers would light easily and burn down. She knew all too well what it was like to be trapped in a building with the fire raining down scorching heat upon the innocent occupants.
She hastened over to the wall and pressed a hand against the stone. She could climb it. Perhaps.
Leana glanced around and her gaze landed upon a nearby barrel. With a grunt, she pushed it into position and climbed on top of it. If she stretched, she could almost reach the top of the wall. She pressed her fingers into the crack between the stones and found a foothold on an uneven stone. Her arms shook and her muscles strained as she hauled herself up and over the wall.
Leana rolled over and stood up swiftly. Only one man remained, the rest being fought off by Maclean men.
He held the torch aloft. A scream tore from her throat and she barreled forward, using her full weight to knock him off his feet. The torch dropped harmlessly over the side, ready to be swallowed by the sea. The Campbell man grunted and shoved her away, scrabbling to his feet.
Before he could curl his hands around the pommel of his sword, she lunged forward with her blade. Flesh gave way and he issued a soft moan. He staggered a few steps back and collapsed against the wall.
✽✽✽
TAVISH SURGED FORWARD with a yell. A beast of a man stepped between him and his uncle.
Tavish smelled the acrid stench of his breath and viewed the wild bloodlust in his dark eyes. He gritted his teeth. No one would stop him from making his uncle pay.
The man swiped at him, but his movements were slow and clumsy. When the sword struck stone, Tavish slammed his sword forward and was rewarded with the yield of
