Page 27 of Saved by the Cruel Highlander (Lairds of the Loch Alliance #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

“ E lias?” she whispered. “Elias?” Her eyes closed again.

“I’m here,” Elias whispered back.

His heart beat slightly faster and with a little more rhythm. A wave of euphoria engulfed him. Cassandra spoke the truth when it came to matters of importance. She’d told him that if Holly woke up once, she would wake again, and he believed it with all his heart.

He squeezed her hand, fighting back the tears that sprang to his eyes. He was overjoyed even with the sight before him. Her arm was bandaged, and some of the blood had seeped into the bandage. The bruising on her neck was tinged with yellow, but she was alive, and she would live .

Elias felt his breathing quicken just as it had a few hours ago, but this was in reaction to her being alive and not dying. He struggled to catch his breath for a moment as he processed the enormity of it.

Cassandra was right. He hadn’t cared for Holly one bit when she first arrived at the castle, but now he cared for her deeply.

The door burst open behind him, and when he looked around, he saw a guard.

“Excuse me, Me Laird. I wanted ye to ken that we found nay one else in the castle.”

“Good,” Elias replied. “And the prisoner?”

“Cassandra is with her now to make sure she can talk,” the guard said. “Do ye want to talk with her, or do ye want us to…”

“Aye, I want to talk with her first. I want to make sure that it is really over this time.” Now that Holly had woken up and whispered his name, Elias didn’t feel as scared. “Stay with Holly until I get back. Ye’re nae to take yer eyes off her—do ye understand?”

“Aye, Me Laird.”

Elias strode into the dark, damp, cold dungeons and made his way straight to the open cell. Two guards stood outside the door, and inside, two guards stood over Cassandra as she looked over the prisoner.

The woman’s arms and legs were shackled, and her arms were pulled up over her head and attached to the large metal rings hammered into the wall. She sat on the bare earth, her head tilted to the side as Cassandra examined it, blood caked in her hair.

“Out of me way,” the Laird said.

The two guards at the door stepped aside to let him in, and the two guards in the room moved out to give him space.

“Is she awake?” he asked Cassandra.

“Aye, she is. Do ye want me to wrap her head first?”

“Nay, that willnae be necessary,” Elias said. “Ye can tend to her after.”

He made sure the woman heard him say that so she would believe there would be an after. He needed her to talk to make sure the danger was over, but she wouldn’t leave the dungeons with her life. Felix had threatened to poison Holly, and he had paid with his life. This woman had tried to kill Holly, and there could only be one punishment for that.

“I’ll send for ye when ye are needed,” Elias told Cassandra. He was about to add something, but he stepped out of the cell with her so the prisoner would not hear. “Holly woke up briefly.”

“Good,” Cassandra said with a smile. “That is fantastic news. I’ll go and visit her now and see what else I can do.”

“Thank ye,” Elias said.

He waited until Cassandra had left the dungeons before he went back into the cell. When he spoke, it took all his willpower to speak calmly. He wanted to wrap his hands around the woman’s neck and be done with her right there and then.

“How did ye get into me castle?” he demanded.

The woman spoke weakly, “Why should I talk to ye when ye’re goin’ to kill me nay matter what I say?”

“Aye,” Elias sighed. “Aye, ye are right about that. Ye dinnae need to talk to me, but I’d rather ye did. I willnae even threaten ye with torture or anythin’ like that. I willnae waste me time on ye. Yer life consists of minutes and seconds now.”

The woman laughed, then coughed.

Something about the smell of the cell, the same one Felix had been held in, triggered a memory.

“He was talkin’ about ye, was he nae?” Elias asked. “He said he loved her, and I thought he meant Holly even though he didnae make much sense, but he was talkin’ about ye, was he nae? Aye, ye dinnae need to talk to me. Ye were the one behind it all, and he was yer pawn, and it is over now.” He chuckled. “Ye’ve told me all I need to ken.”

The woman didn’t say a word, but she must have heard his laugh and known that Holly was still alive, or he would have been much more furious.

“It was yer maid,” she said suddenly, as if that information might save her life.

“Me maid?” Elias asked.

“Aye, Eliza,” the woman said. “She came into me tavern, and she couldnae stop blabberin’ about the new lady of the castle and how she had made some deal with the Laird. She had always talked about the secret passages in the castle and just about everyone who resides there. A drink on the house and she will tell ye just about anythin’ ye want to ken.”

“Why are ye tellin’ me this?” Elias asked.

“‘Because she’s the reason I could get to yer precious lass,” the woman said. “If it werenae for yer maid, I wouldnae have been able to try. She’s as complicit as I am, and now ye have to kill her, too. I might as well take someone down with me if ye are sendin’ me to the pits of hell.”

“Eliza,” the Laird muttered.

He shook his head. Would the prisoner have tried to kill Holly anyway, or was it really down to his maid? He would never know.

He didn’t need to know anymore. He was certain it ended with the woman they had imprisoned, and that was all that mattered.

He stepped toward the door of the cell and held out his hand. The nearest guard unsheathed his shortsword and handed it to him. There was no hesitation. He turned, stepped forward, and slit the woman’s throat so quickly that no blood stained the blade when he was done.

He went back to the door and gave the sword back to its owner.

“Unlock the manacles and get the body out of here,” he said. “I want the cell cleaned as if she were never here, and the body is to be wrapped ready for travel if need be. She’s to be returned to her family once I talk with Holly. If she has nay family, she’ll be buried in an unmarked grave. She might be a savage, but we arenae.”

“Please, Me Laird!” Eliza begged as she knelt on the ground before him. Tears streamed down her cheeks such that they would need a mop when they were done.

“On yer feet right now,” the Laird ordered. “Either ye leave the castle within the hour and never return, or ye face the same end she did down in the dungeons.”

Eliza’s face turned as white as a sheet. She had always been happy and often had a song on her lips, but her constant gossiping had been her downfall. Elias knew she had not meant any harm, but what had happened had happened, and there was no taking it back.

“The only reason I am givin’ ye the option of leavin’ is that I ken Holly would want it this way. If she wasnae here still, I would have had yer head already, and ye would be buried far from here.”

“Please!” Eliza reached out to take the Laird’s hand but then thought better of it. She dropped her hands to her sides, then brought them back up and wrung them in front of her. “Please, just let me apologize to Me Lady. It’s the least I can do.”

“Nay, ye willnae see her again,” Elias said. “She almost died because of ye, and I dinnae care if ye meant it or nae.”

“I didnae mean it, Me Laird. I wouldnae wish any harm on anyone. Ye ken that. Please, tell me ye ken that. What can I do to make amends?”

“I’ve already told ye what to do, and I willnae tell ye again, Eliza. If I dinnae see ye leavin’ the castle within the hour, ye willnae leave the castle ever again. Do I make meself clear, Eliza? Either ye leave or die.”

“Aye, aye, aye,” Eliza said, starting to scurry like a little mouse. “Thank ye, Me Laird. Thank ye for yer mercy. Ye willnae see me ever again for as long as ye live. Thank ye again, Me Laird. I really am sorry. Thank ye, thank ye.”

Elias sighed as he watched her run down the hallway. She was not a bad woman, but she had gossiped about the clan, and that was unforgivable. There had been too much gossiping behind people’s backs, and it had to stop.

Was it an innocent mistake? Elias didn’t know. The only thing he knew now was that it was finally over. That woman was behind it all, and Felix Grant had done her bidding because he loved her.

Elias smiled when he saw Cole approaching.

“Mornin’,” he said.

Cole rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes as he walked. “I was lookin’ for Mistress Holly, but I couldnae find her.”

Elias held out his hand to him. “Aye, she had a wee accident, but she’s doin’ fine. Let’s go and see her together.”