Page 67 of Awakened By Time
There was no hesitation at all, Brenna was in his arms in a split second, her bright eyes and fresh face gazing up at him. How could he possibly help himself? He bent his head until his lips found hers and enjoyed the sweetest of kisses.
“Where’s the root cellar?” Zeke asked, coming up for air.
Brenna pointed to a door nestled into a rock wall.
He let her go, taking a moment to watch as she walked to the door of the root cellar before following her. A flash to Brenna’s right caught his eye and too late, he saw Nevil Munro at her side, holding a knife to her throat.
He unsheathed his sword.
“Stay where ye are.” Nevil ordered. Me men have surrounded the house. “I’m taking her back where she belongs. Her father will bargain with me or… well, I’m nae sure what will happen to her. I havenae made up me mind.”
“You won’t get away with this, Munro,” Zeke growled. “Let her go.”
Dougall appeared at his side, sword drawn.
Logan and Hamish came barreling around the side of the house drawing Munro’s attention away from Brenna long enough that she was able to spin out of his grasp and run.
“Go inside,” Zeke ordered, although he should have guessed she wouldn’t. Instead she stood far enough away to run if she needed to.
He advanced on Munro, while Dougall, Logan and Hamish engaged his men. They were outnumbered, but as Logan explained to Zeke, the MacKenzie men were the best swordsman in the highlands. They were easily defeating more than twice as many men. Zeke was focused on Nevil, who had taken his fighting stance.
All the work he’d done with the MacKenzie men and Duff back at Castle Treun, paid off. He knew exactly what to expect from Munro, but the opposite couldn’t be said. Zeke drew on his experience at the studio to throw Munro off his game. He remembered to breathe and to focus. This had the effect Zeke wanted. He was seeing everything as if it were happening in slow motion, giving him the opportunities he needed to exploit the holes in Munro’s tactics. The loud clang of sword on sword along with the grunts and groans of the men were the only sounds. Munro was tiring and Zeke knew he had him right where he wanted him. With one last parry, Munro found Zeke’s sword at his throat and he surrendered. Zeke disarmed him, being sure to take every one of his weapons in the process. The other men, seeing their leader had surrendered, did the same.
Cailin, Cormac and a dozen MacKenzie warriors arrived just in time to see Munro’s men forced to sit on the ground, their weapons in a pile at Zeke’s feet.
“I told Helene to take me horse and get help,” Hamish said.
“It doesnae appear ye needed it,” Cailin chuckled.
“Munro, back to the castle with ye. Laird MacKenzie will decide yer fate. He willnae be happy that ye thought to make a fool of him.”
The men all stood, appearing as defeated as they truly were and headed back to Breaghacraig. Logan and Hamish took up the rear to make sure no one made a run for it.
Dougall clapped Zeke on the back. “Good work,” he said, leaving him alone with Brenna.
The wound on Zeke’s leg opened again from the exertion of the battle. “I think it might need stitches,” Zeke noted.
“Let’s go inside and clean it up again,” Brenna put her arm around his waist and tucked herself beneath his arm. “Thank ye,” she said.
“For what?”
“For saving me again.”
“Brenna, you saved yourself that time. You took advantage of Logan’s arrival to get yourself away from Munro.”
“I did, didnae I?” She beamed a proud smile as they entered the kitchen.
* * *
“Ithinkye should see Dr. Ferguson before he leaves,” Helene said. “He can stitch ye up if need be.”
“I’m going to the castle. I’ll tell him he’s needed here,” Dougall said, exiting the room. They listened as his footsteps pounded down the stairs and the door slammed behind him.
“Put your leg up,” Sara said, placing a pillow beneath it as he lay on the bed.
“Do ye think he’ll be back,” Brenna asked, a slight quiver in her voice. “Munro, I mean.”
“He seems like a very determined man. I don’t think he’ll stop until he gets what he wants.” Zeke winced as Brenna pressed a wet cloth to his wound.