Page 22 of The Cruel Highlander (From Enemies to Marriage #3)

CHAPTER 21

“I never agreed; Valorie is my friend of all things,” Kenneth was explaining to Aiden. “But Tavish looked so completely crazed, so I acted as if I supported his goals to find out his plan and try to stop him.” Kenneth looked imploringly at Aiden before continuing.

Aiden did not nod or otherwise interact with Kenneth’s explanation. He was still reeling from the news that Valorie had been kidnapped.

Kidnapped right from Aiden’s castle! Aiden could feel his veins popping out the longer he stood here listening to this story and not rescuing Valorie. If he didn’t desperately need this information from Kenneth, he would have raced off ages ago. But Valorie needed him informed and at his best.

“I found out he was planning to keep her somewhere in the forest to the east of his castle. He was planning to stay on clan lands, but that’s all he told me!” Kenneth said. It was not a lot to go on, but Aiden knew the Highlands well, and he was determined.

“Why did ye come here?” Aiden asked.

“I didnae ken she would be in yer castle, so I came to warn her and her parents,” Kenneth still calmly explained. How the hell was he so calm during all of this?

Aiden’s heart had been beating out of his chest since the moment he arrived here and saw the castle in disarray.And since he learned Valorie was taken, he might as well have been hysterical.

Tavish had apparently approached Kenneth with a plan to get Valorie back. He wanted revenge before she humiliated both of them by marrying another laird, Aiden in this case. In Tavish’s unstable mind, he thought that he was owed a marriage with Valorie, and that he was cheated of it when she left him. Aiden couldn’t imagine ever thinking of a woman that way.

Valorie did not owe Aiden a single thing, and Aiden certainly didn’t consider her something that he owned. Maybe, if Aiden were lucky, he could have some of Valorie’s time and affection; he certainly wanted whatever she’d give him. But Valorie did not owe it to Aiden simply because he asked her father for her hand.

In the end, it seemed all of this really was about Valorie. The threat and everything that had happened since was all Tavish. He had apparently been at the tavern that night too. He could have just as easily followed Aiden home to leave his little threat with Willow.

Was Tavish watching them from the woods? Did he see the way Valorie was so thoroughly Aiden’s? Maybe that’s what set him off even further. Aiden could not stand the idea that another man had seen Valorie like that, especially one that now likely held her captive.

Aiden remembered Tavish’s words from the tavern. He had no respect for Valorie, and he was clearly unhinged. He could be doing anything to Valorie at this very moment.

In Aiden’s mind, Valorie’s capture began to merge with his own. He saw flashes of Valorie being attacked by wild dogs or beaten harshly. Valorie was the one being starved for days and forced to watch as Myles ate a feast in front of her. It was Valorie now who didn’t see the sun for years at a time. Aiden shook his head with his eyes tightly closed.

Nay, nay, nay! Aiden thought. Myles is dead. Myles does nae have Valorie. Myles cannae hurt us.

Aiden repeated the words like a mantra in his head. Tavish was not Myles, and at the very least, it seemed that Tavish wanted Valorie for himself, so surely, he wouldn’t harm her irreparably, right?! Aiden needed to believe that in order to get through this. So, it became his truth.

Still, Aiden could not stop seeing images of Valorie being tortured in his mind — he needed to find her!

“Clearly ye weren’t fast enough,” Aiden snapped, responding back to Kenneth finally. The other man had apparently come to warn Valorie, but it was already too late. “What happened to her faither?” Aiden added.

It was Valorie’s mom who answered now, her voice shaky, “Before Kenneth got here, Tavish showed up,” she paused looking to her husband. “He was crazed; Kenneth is right. He started screamin’ about how we needed to honor the terms of his betrothal to Valorie and give him the dowry he was owed.”

Grace gulped heartily before she continued, “He said that he would soon be our son-in-law, and we needed to show him respect. Duncan tried to subdue him, but he had a knife. They fought wildly before Tavish managed to…” Grace’s tears picked up again as she tried to get the rest of the story out.

“He managed to stab me,” Valorie’s father croaked from his spot on the ground. He seemed to be coming to now that Kenneth had stopped the bleeding. “That piece of shite stabbed me. While I lay here bleedin’, he turned on Grace.” Valorie’s father looked to his wife in apology, but she just waved him off, smiling through her tears now. “He forced Grace to write that letter to ye. Stole me carriage too.”

It was a masterful plan, honestly, and if Aiden hadn’t followed after Valorie, Tavish might have gotten away with it. But Aiden would do everything in his power to get Valorie back.

“Aye, well ye seem like ye’ll live,” Aiden said abruptly, scooping up Willow, “and I need to find yer daughter,” Aiden announced and stormed back out of the study and Castle MacCrimmon altogether.

Bluebell stood waiting right where Aiden had left him thankfully, and Aiden quickly hopped up on to the horse. He was infinitely grateful he had chosen Bluebell now because the horse raced off faster than Aiden could have hoped. Still not fast enough, but it was all he could do. With Kenneth’s vague directions to the forest Tavish had mentioned, Aiden raced through the wilderness.

He easily found Clan McLeod land and knew he was to the east of the castle, but otherwise, Aiden was riding blind. Aiden quickly made it to the area, but the forest was thick here, and it was blocking out the sun. Aiden had no other directions beyond the general area.

Where are ye, Val?! Aiden thought desperately; he felt like he was riding in circles through the woods at this point, but he needed to find her! It was Aiden’s job to protect her, and she was stolen from him before he ever really had her in the first place.

Aiden’s eyes scanned the forest desperately, but in his mind, he was thinking of all the ways he had already failed Valorie, all the actions he regretted. From that very first evening, he had known she was special. No one had ever captivated Aiden that way, and yet he still kept her at arms-length.

Even when Aiden’s body was screaming out that this was the woman for him, he shut Valorie down. Time and again he pushed the lass away when all he truly wanted was to hold her close. Would he ever get the chance to do so again? Aiden had to believe he would; he didn’t think he would survive it if something happened to Valorie.

When Aiden’s thoughts threatened to overtake him, Willow started barking and crying from his arms. She was trying to wriggle her way out of his arms.

“Willow, hush,” Aiden said to the puppy. He was still racing through the woods, but he tried to calm her down with soothing pets and murmuring. Nothing was working. The dog was getting increasingly agitated and tried to escape Aiden’s arms.

Not wanting the puppy to hurt herself by jumping off the horse, Aiden dismounted and placed Willow on the ground. He really did not have time for this, but Valorie would kill him if he let anything happen to the pup, and Aiden was operating under the assumption that he would be seeing Valorie again very soon.

The moment Willow was on the ground, she darted off into the woods.

“Willow! Come back here!” Aiden chastised as he took off after the puppy.

God damn it, Willow!

Willow was just as skilled through the woods as Valorie because Aiden struggled to keep up with the little thing. Every once in a while, he’d catch the flash of her brown and white fur and know he was still on track.

Ultimately, Willow brough them to a small wooden shelter in the woods. House was a strong word for the dilapidated structure in front of them.

“Willow,” Aiden whisper-shouted, “Is Val in there? Can ye smell her?”

The dog simply looked back at Aiden, wagging her tail and whining a little more. Had they found Valorie?!

“Ye shouldnae be here,” a voice said from behind Aiden.

* * *

From inside the cabin, Valorie sat with her head hanging down. She was exhausted. The fear and uncertainty of sitting alone in the cabin was fraying Valorie’s already low energy. She was losing sense of how long she had been here. Had it been hours already, or was her mind so warped from the stress that it only seemed that way?

Valorie felt her stomach gnawing at her a little, but she had missed breakfast when she raced out of Aiden’s castle, so that wasn’t definitely proof of the time passing. The sliver of light into the cabin was so minor that it wasn’t helping Valorie tell the time at all, but at least it was still daytime.

Valorie’s overwhelming feeling now was exhaustion. If she had known she was going to be kidnapped today, she would have tried to get more sleep last night.

Last night. Was it really only last night that Valorie had been with Aiden in the garden? She felt like she’d lived ten different lives since then. And this one, here in the cabin, was definitely the worst of them.

When Tavish had first left her here alone, Valorie was desperate to escape. She would not marry that man! But she was weary now, her limbs felt heavy, and all she wanted was to close her eyes. Just for a few moments.

A soft cry woke Valorie from her dozing. Disoriented still, she shook that off as wishful thinking until she heard it again!

Willow?! Valorie thought. Could that really be Willow?

With the possibility of her puppy out there, Valorie renewed her efforts at escaping.

Rubbing her wrists nearly raw against the rope, Valorie tried to get the strands to loosen, even the smallest amount. Her hands were tied together behind her back, and with just a little more wiggle room, Valorie thought she would be able to undo the tie with her fingers.She just needed to stretch the rope a little further, but each motion rubbed the ropes painfully against her skin.

“Come on, just a little more!” Valorie whispered to herself; she was so close, but her wrists were aching, and she thought she felt a few drops of blood fall into her hands.

Finally, she had just enough room to get one finger through the knot and start to loosen it.

Aye ! Valorie cheered in her head.

The whole while, Valorie was watching the door. She had no idea how much time she had or what was going on outside that door. Was Willow alone out there with Tavish? And when would this priest arrive? Valorie was racing against some clock that she couldn’t see, and the stress had her heart racing.

“Please, come on!” After what felt like years, Valorie was able to loosen the knots enough for the rope to fall off of her wrists.

“Aye!” Valorie exclaimed behind the gag, a little too loudly, “Shite,” she said a lot quieter. The words were distorted and muffled, but still, she waited with bated breath for several long seconds to see if Tavish had heard her shout.

When she remained alone in the dark cabin, Valorie breathed a sigh of relief. With her now free hands, Valorie removed the gag from her mouth and made quick work of the ropes around her ankles.Thankfully, the rope burn on her ankles was much less, and she was able to comfortably stand from the chair.

“Willow?” Valorie shouted, “Help!” She rushed to the door, flinging it open wildly. The sun momentarily blinded her after being held in the dark cabin, but when her eyes cleared, she struggled to take in the scene in front of her.

Tavish, still with his bloody knife, was threatening a man that Valorie assumed was the priest. Somehow Tavish had convinced him to come out here to the middle of nowhere under the pretense of a wedding, but the priest seemed to be protesting now finally.

Tavish was becoming increasingly crazed as Valorie watched — he shouted profanities and threats while waving around the knife. He was pointing it back and forth between the priest and someone else.

“Aiden?” Valorie cried out.