Page 34 of Healing the Highland Sinner

“Ye need tae get out of here, Rosalind,” he said. “They’ll be back soon.”

“Who did this tae ye?”

“Sinclair,” he groaned. “And a few of his men?—”

“Why?”

“Tae send ye a message.”

“Message received,” she said as she dropped to a knee beside him. “If they find ye here?—”

“Then let’s be away before they get back, eh?”

She pulled a dagger from her belt and quickly cut the bonds from his hands then helped him to his feet. He was in sorry shape, looking like he’d been beaten by men with large, thick sticks.

“Ye look like hell,” she said.

“Stands tae reason,” he said in a harsh, grating whisper. “I feel like hell too.”

She chuckled and shook her head. “Dae ye nae take anythin’ seriously?”

“I try nae too. ‘Tis bad fer yer health, I hear.”

“So is being beaten by men with sticks.”

“Aye. That’s nae wrong.”

The sharp squeal of rusty hinges shattered the air around them and Rosalind felt a burst of panic, bright and hot, surge through her body. As the sound of footsteps approached, she felt her heart race and her body grow taut.

“Sounds like we’re nae gettin’ away clean after all,” Ellair said.

She pressed a dagger into his hand. “Are ye fit? Can ye fight?”

“Dae I have a choice?”

“Nay.”

“Then I’m fit.”

She pulled the second dagger from her belt and tried to quell her quivering heart. She was getting better, but she was still far from competent with a blade. She just hoped she’d learned enough from Ellair to at least make a good show of it.

The four large, gruff-looking men she’d seen out front came around a stack of crates, stopping when they spotted her standing beside the man they’d battered.

“I told ye I heard somebody in here,” said one.

“Aye. Looks like ye werenae hearin’ things after all.”

Gripping his dagger and standing as straight as his battered body allowed, Ellair grinned at the four men standing in front of them.

“Evenin’ lads,” he said. “I’m goin’ tae give ye one chance tae turn around and walk out. Take it and we all go our own ways. Take it nae and I’ll kill every one of ye.”

The men burst into side-splitting laughter, doubling over and clapping each other on the shoulders like it as the funniest thing they’d ever heard. Rosalind cut a glance at Ellair, who was staring at the men, stone-faced. She knew he had some swagger and bravado about him, but given his current condition, he had ascended to a whole new level of arrogance. One she never knew existed for it was a boast she knew he couldn’t possibly back up.

“Look at this one, lads,” the man said. “Didnae take beatin’ enough the first time. Looks like we need tae teach him another lesson, eh?”

“I’d be glad too,” said a second.

“Just remember, Laird Sinclair said not tae kill him.”