Page 25 of Saved by the Cruel Highlander (Lairds of the Loch Alliance #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“ W ho do ye think ye are, Holly?” the person hissed in her ear.

Holly’s eyes snapped open in fright, but no one was there. She bolted upright, the fear in her heart intensifying. She didn’t know why, but she knew she had to find Elias.

Before she could move, there was a flash of color before her eyes as fabric was thrown over her head and then pulled tight across her neck. She opened her mouth to scream, but all that came out was a gurgled gasp.

She scratched at her neck as the fabric was pulled tight, trying to get her fingers under it. Her heart went from resting to beating furiously in an instant, and her breathing went in the opposite direction—from regular breaths to nothing. Her eyes bulged as she struggled to do something, anything, and a vein in her forehead felt like it was going to burst. She wanted to throw up.

Then, there was pressure on her back as her attacker pressed a knee there to gain more leverage. The noose around her neck tightened.

The last time she felt a breath on her ear, it was the Laird’s. A warm breath fanned her ear again, and it terrified her.

“It’s time for ye to die, Holly,” the person hissed in her ear.

Her surprise at hearing a feminine voice was only second to her surprise at being strangled.

“Pl—” It was all Holly could get out while being strangled.

“Ye thought he could save ye?” the woman asked. “Ye really thought ye could get away from me? After everythin’ I’ve put into this? Ye should have done as ye were supposed to and married him, Holly. Ye should have married him and died as ye were supposed to. But ye didnae, did ye? And what now? Now, I have to kill ye with me bare hands, and then I have to find a way to get what I deserve. Do ye ken what that means, Holly?”

Holly scrambled frantically, kicking at the bed sheets, her face becoming as purple as a beetroot. Her vision blurred as the oxygen was drained out of her body. Her strength and resolve were weakening, and she was unable to get any leverage under the fabric.

“It means I will have to kill the people ye love and then take advantage of the confusion. The Laird, yer maid, the bairn.”

Holly almost exploded at the mention of Cole.

Ye willnae touch a hair on his head!

She couldn’t see, she couldn’t breathe, she could barely feel. All she knew in the world was that she was moments away from death, and as soon as she was dead, the woman strangling her would walk down the hallway and kill the boy she loved, and there would be no one around to stop her.

Holly pulled up her feet as far as she could and used her last ounce of strength to kick with as much might as she could, slamming herself and the woman behind her into the wooden headboard.

There was a grunt, and the fabric around her neck loosened. Tears filled her eyes. She still felt like she was underwater, unable to take a breath. She grabbed the fabric and pulled it off her neck, holding it in her fist. Then, she rolled over on the bed, trying to make a dash for the door.

“Dinnae!” the woman warned.

Holly gulped down a large lungful of air, her chest burning. Her vision slowly focused as she gulped down the air like someone drinking water at an oasis in the desert.

“Nae a sound!” the woman warned.

Holly’s vision cleared enough to see three things—a glinting blade pointed at her, the outline of the woman holding it, and the ribbon in her hand that had almost been the end of her. She looked down at the ribbon one more time and then up at the woman.

“Alice?” she asked.

She recognized the ribbon. It was the one she had gifted Alice in the tavern.

“Nae another word,” Alice warned. “I’m here to kill ye, and if ye scream, I’ll kill ye and have enough time to kill yer boy. If ye keep yer mouth shut, I’ll only kill ye.”

“I dinnae understand,” Holly croaked.

She had no strength now; she only had her words. She could barely move, let alone overpower Alice with a knife.

“What dinnae ye understand?” Alice scoffed. “Ye dinnae understand that yer faither killed mine when he hadnae harmed a hair on yer head?”

“What?” Holly managed. “He kidnapped me. He meant to sell me into prostitution.”

“Aye, well, that’s yer fault for wanderin’ off at the market.” Alice shook the knife. “Yer faither didnae need to kill mine, and I suppose I dinnae need to kill ye, but life works in funny ways sometimes, does it nae?”

Holly shook her head, still trying to understand. She had heard what Alice said, but the lack of oxygen made her head swim.

“Ye want to kill me because me faither fought with yers?” Holly asked.

“ Killed him,” Alice hissed. “Yer faither killed mine. So, aye, ye deserve to die at me hand, but ye have made it hard. Instead of poison, I’ll slit yer pretty throat.”

“Ye were behind it?” Holly said, half a question.

“Of course, I was,” Alice said, with a malicious smile. “Do ye really think Felix had the intelligence to think up somethin’ like that by himself? It was hardly a chore to get him to do it, and I suppose the sex with him wasnae bad. It’s amazin’ what a man will do for ye when he thinks ye are in love with him—and especially when he is in love with ye.”

“So what?” Holly asked, her strength coming back in dribs and drabs. “Ye concocted this plan, and ye would have Felix marry me, kill me, take me money, and then be with ye?”

“Aye, but ye make it sound overly simple when ye put it like that,” Alice said in frustration. “He would have been the perfect husband to ye, and I would still have made him sleep with me, just to keep him under me thumb. Ye are a bonny lass, Holly, and I cannae take any risks. And it would have been slow and subtle. He would have poisoned ye over time, and when ye were dead, nay one would have suspected a thing.

“Of course, ye had to go runnin’ to the Laird, and ye threw yerself at him. What did ye do to him to make him protect ye and go out and kill Felix? Did ye give it up to him before ye were married?”

“Like ye did with Felix?” Holly shot back.

“Aye, ye have a point there,” Alice said. “Us women have to use what we have at our disposal.”

Holly had slammed Alice into the headboard, but it had not been enough to alert anyone. They would have arrived by now. She wondered if screaming would be enough to save Cole when she couldn’t save herself.

“Did ye plan to murder Felix once ye were with him?” she asked.

“Of course,” Alice said with a smile. “It wouldnae have been like what he did to ye, though. It would have been much more spectacular and heartbreaking, and nay one would have suspected anythin’.” She let out a long sigh. “I would have been happy, Holly, but ye had to go and ruin everythin’. I hope ye are happy. I really hope ye are. There’s nothin’ better than bein’ at the end of yer life and dyin’ happy. So, this?—”

“He didnae give ye up,” Holly said, stalling.

“What are ye talkin’ about?”

“Even at the end, he didnae tell Laird McAllister that ye were behind it,” Holly said. “He must have really loved ye, Alice. He could have given ye up and maybe saved his own skin, but he didnae say a word about ye. He was better than ye give him credit for.”

“Och, I give him credit for nothin’,” Alice replied. “He was a fool who was in love, and if he couldnae think of a way out of his death, then pity on him.”

Holly’s eyes widened. “Ye poisoned Ollie, did ye nae?”

“Ye’re nae as dumb as ye look,” Alice said. “Aye, of course, I did. Who else did ye think could have done it? It was easy to sneak in and give him a dose of poison. It would have been poetic for them to find both yers and his body in the mornin’, but ye had to go snoopin’, did ye nae? Ach, what’s done is done. Nay more stallin’. Dinnae worry, I’ll make it quick.”

“I gave ye this,” Holly said, trying to stop what was coming. She held up the ribbon. “I felt sorry for ye and wanted to be yer friend. I would have helped ye.”

“Then ye are as foolish as he was. He thought plenty that was all in his head. Ye dinnae get anywhere in this world by helpin’ people. Ye get what ye want in life by takin’ it.”

The stalling was done. Alice moved, diving forward with the knife, and at the same time, Holly tossed the ribbon at her, for what little good it would do. She had enough time to dodge to the side, so the blade didn’t stab her in the heart, but she was not quick enough to avoid it altogether. It sliced the top of her forearm, which immediately felt numb and warm.

Holly rolled to the side as the knife came down a second time, and the pain came rushing to her arm so quickly that she screamed out in pain before she knew what she was doing. The knife sank into the mattress, but Alice was on top of her.

Holly reached up and grabbed Alice’s wrists to stop the knife from coming down and killing her. Her scream must have alerted someone.

All Holly could think about now was Cole. It didn’t matter whether she lived or died; it only mattered that she lived long enough for someone to get there before Alice could get to Cole.

Her chest burned again from the lack of air, and her arm shook. She couldn’t see in the darkness but could feel the blood pouring out of her wound. Her body was tired, but she would not give up the fight.

Alice shifted, keeping one hand on the knife, poised dangerously above Holly’s head, and brought her other hand down to Holly’s throat, and it felt like a fire rekindled. Her flesh sparked, and then she couldn’t breathe again.

Instinct told Holly to bring one hand down and pry Alice’s hand off her neck, but to do that meant not holding back the knife with as much strength.

So, she lay there, being slowly strangled, both hands clamped around the hand holding the knife. She only hoped she could hold out long enough.