Page 27 of The Highlander’s Auctioned Hellion (Auctioned Highland Brides #4)

“Come, faither,” Moira said. “It is getting late, we should leave.”

Eilis and Amy looked back at them with wide, frightened eyes. Lydia had never felt so guilty in her life.

I do not know this woman, but already I can see that the children should not be with her.

Moira handed the girls to her father, and Amy and Eilis stood awkwardly beside him as she approached Callum.

She was tall, much taller than Lydia, and less curvaceous, her blonde hair falling down her back in soft waves.

Callum stiffened even further as she came toward him. Moira didn’t look at Lydia for a second as she smiled seductively at him.

He leaned away from her, his nostrils flaring as she stood on her tiptoes to whisper into his ear. She made no pretense at keeping her voice low. Lydia heard every word.

“If ye ever want to see the girls again, send yer little sassenach back to where she came from. Then we can finally show our love to the world.”

Callum looked down at her, disgust written on every part of his face.

There was the sound of a knife being taken from its scabbard, and every guard behind Moira stepped forward several paces.

“Dinnae dae anythin’ stupid, Callum,” McCarthy said firmly. “If ye try anythin’, ye watch yer family die. One would think ye would stay silent after what ye did to me daughter. We will be leavin’ now.”

Callum stepped away from Moira, the knife still held at his side. One swift swipe and the girls would have watched their mother murdered in front of them.

Moira smiled triumphantly and turned her back on them, heading toward the carriage.

“Hold on one moment!” Callum shouted, and McCarthy and Moira froze, turning to face him. “Ye willnae take the girls without an escort. They deserve to have people around them who they ken, and that isnae either of ye.”

“I am their maither!”

“Och, aye? And what time have ye spent with them in the last five years other than to drag them away from Angus when he wasnae payin’ ye attention?”

“Enough!” McCarthy pointed a quivering finger at Callum. “Ye willnae slander me daughter.”

“I willnae abandon me nieces. A maid of this house will accompany them, or I will kill every one of yer men right now. Dinnae think because they are more in number than me own that I willnae destroy them.”

Lydia glanced around, noting how several of McCarthy’s guards looked visibly uncertain now. Callum’s towering reputation evidently preceded him. “I will go with them.”

Lydia turned at the sound of the familiar voice behind her, astounded to see Hannah, traveling cloak already around her shoulders, coming through the soldiers toward her.

“Hannah?” she asked.

“I will not let you down, my lady,” she whispered.

“I know that,” Lydia said, gripping her hand. “But there are other maids we could send.”

“No. I want to look after the girls when you are unable to. I will make sure no harm comes to them.”

Lydia’s heart almost burst with gratitude. Her timid maid was no more. Hannah’s jaw was set, her gaze alert. There was fear there, too, but more determination than Lydia had ever seen.

“This is my home now, and those girls are part of yours,” Hannah insisted. “I will keep them safe.”

“Then it’s settled,” Callum said, nodding gratefully at Hannah. “Ye will take a maid and one of me own guards, or this is over, right now.”

Moira looked back at McCarthy. The tableau of guards behind them was utterly still as they waited for their decision, but the sun still glinted ominously from the blades in their hands.

“Very well,” Moira sniffed. “But they can ride on the rear of me carriage. The girls will be inside with me.”

Callum motioned to one of the guards beside him, who stepped up and held out a hand to Hannah, helping her to climb onto the footman’s board on the back of the carriage. “But what about Raven?”

Amy was staring back at the castle miserably, her lower lip trembling. Moira looked down at her.

“What is Raven ?”

“Our kitten,” Amy said, and the hope in her eyes almost broke Lydia’s heart.

“He has a whole castle to entertain him now,” Moira snapped. “You know I cannot abide cats. Get into the carriage.”

Moira plucked the girls’ hands from her father and pushed them inside. She did not give them time to bid Callum farewell, and as soon as the door was closed behind them, she drew the curtain.

She will not even let them wave goodbye to their uncle.

As the carriage moved off and the McCarthy guards mounted their horses and followed it on its way, a sense of acute despair lowered over Lydia.

She wanted to run after the carriage, wrench open the doors, and drag the girls back into the castle where they belonged.

What have we allowed to happen?

Callum stood before the castle gates for a long time, watching the dust rise into the air as the horses thundered away. He could hardly believe it. The girls were gone. Gone.

After all the years that had passed, Moira looked the same. Her smug, hateful face had been just as he remembered it. She had abandoned her children and then returned to collect them as though she had every right to do so.

He turned, expecting to find an empty courtyard behind him, but the guards were all still there, awaiting their instructions.

“Back to your posts,” he thundered, and they all scurried to obey.

Turning to Lydia, he was about to extend a hand toward her to lead her inside, but she was not looking at him. Her eyes were fixed on the carriage as it faded into the distance, and her cheeks were wet with tears.

“Lydia?” he asked, a knot forming in his chest, as she turned her glistening eyes to him. A sob broke free, her body convulsing forward, and then she covered her face with her hands and ran into the castle as another sob rent the air.

Callum set off in pursuit, passing the guards, making their way back to their posts.

He ran through the cobbled courtyard and up through the rear passages. Lydia was always one step ahead, flitting round corners, the billowing remnants of her dress just whisking out of sight every time he thought he had gained some ground.

Finally, he reached the base of the long staircase and watched her sprint along the corridor to her room.

Taking the steps two at a time, he pursued her, but as he reached the door, he heard the key turn in the lock.

“Lydia!”

All he could hear inside was her sobbing as the bed springs creaked. Callum pounded on the door.

“Lydia, open the door,” he demanded. He did not like being separated from her.

The distance should have been a good thing, but Callum was beginning to realize that any separation between them made his skin itch.

He knocked again, reducing the strength of his fists to gentle the thudding sound. He waited, listening for the click of the lock, but all he could hear were her sobs.

If he so chose, he could have made his way in through the adjoining door, but he did not wish to enter the room without her consent. Having her mother and brother leave less than an hour before the girls left must have taken a heavy toll.

Sighing, he made his way along the corridor to the girls’ room. Opening the door, he stepped inside, the pain of their absence hitting him full in the chest. He hadn’t expected to care for them as he did. They were not his children; he had not known them well until he had arrived here.

Yet, in the small space of time that he had spent with them, Eilis and Amy had got under his skin.

They were sharp, intelligent young girls, and despite his suspicions that they might turn out exactly like their mother, they were beginning to remind him more of his brother day by day.

Angus was moral, wise, and fiercely loyal. Both girls had those traits, especially Amy.

Callum rubbed his palm against his forehead, the silence of the room eating at him.

Why did I nae fight her? I could have fought them all off, and then the girls would still be here.

But Lydia had been right to hold him back. Goodness knew what the girls would think if he had sliced off their mother’s head in front of them.

Looking to his right, he found what he was searching for.

Raven was a sleeping black ball in the center of a golden cushion on a chair. The little cat had a new red collar that looked as if it had been handmade. Callum recognized Kristen’s handiwork in that.

Those girls have got the whole castle wrapped around their little finger… or at least… they did have.

He stepped up to the cat, Raven looking up at him and blinking sleepily as he bent down and picked him up.

Holding the cat in front of him, Callum was amazed to find that the kitten was so small that he fit inside the confines of his hand. It tucked its little feet beneath its chest and went back to sleep.

Frowning at it, he huffed out a frustrated breath.

“Dae ye nae miss the girls who have been carin’ for ye? This is why I prefer dogs,” he muttered.

Stepping back out into the corridor, he made his way back to Lydia’s room, holding the kitten close to his chest.

The sobs seemed to have subsided somewhat, and he could hear nothing from within.

“Lydia,” he murmured, one hand on the door. “Raven isnae well, would ye come and have a look at him?”

For a little time, there was silence from inside, and then the bed springs creaked again, and he heard soft footfalls approaching the door.

Finally, it opened, and Callum’s throat constricted as he saw the red rims around her beautiful eyes.

He realized in that moment how open and happy her expression usually was. Even when she was unsure, she always welcomed him with a smile.

Now, she looked lost, afraid, and miserable.

“He’s sick?” she asked, holding out her hand to the kitten.

“Nay, I just wanted ye to open the door,” Callum said, and she grimaced at him. Taking the kitten carefully from him, she attempted to slam the door in his face.

Callum had anticipated that, however, and had his foot wedged in the gap and raised his eyebrows quizzically as she tried to push against it with all her strength.

“Ye might as well give up, lass. Feels like Raven is the one tryin’ to close this door. Ye have nay strength to speak of.”

Lydia glowered at him, releasing it and walking back into the room. She headed to the window, stroking Raven and staring out at the lands beyond without saying a word.

Callum closed the door.

“We will get them back,” he said, with more confidence than he felt.

“At what cost?” she asked.

“At any cost. Ye ken they dinnae wish to be with their mother.”

“No,” Lydia said, turning to face him. “No, they don’t wish to be with her, but then, perhaps they do not have a choice if she wants them back. Moira is their mother. And what will you do to retrieve them, start a war?”

“I will dae whatever is necessary.”

The tears were falling again. Callum frowned at her. He knew the situation was difficult, but he didn’t see why Lydia was so hopeless.

He would go to the castle the next day and bring them back.

“We should give Moira what she wants.”

A chill ran down his spine. “What did ye just say?”

“We should give her what she wants. She used her own children against you, and she clearly still believes that there is something between you.”

“Well, there isnae. There never was.”

“I know that. I believe that you never wanted her, but she wants you. She barely looked at the girls when she arrived. She only had eyes for you.”

“Well, that is her own problem.”

“She is dangerous, Callum. You cannot afford to start a war for her children. She has every right to ask for them to be returned to her.”

“What are ye sayin’?” he asked.

“I’m leaving.”

The world shifted, as though the floor had tilted beneath his feet.

Her resolute expression was hard to discern with the light behind her, but Callum could tell she was quite serious.

Lydia walked to the bed and placed the kitten gently against the blankets.

“The girls love you, Callum. I can see it in every interaction you have with them. You can care for them yourself now, just as I believe you always could have. With me here, Moira will never give up on you. She is going to fight to claim what she believes is hers. You heard her yourself; if I am no longer here, she will return Amy and Eilis to you. That is where they belong.”

“We have nay guarantee of that.”

“But I can’t be the reason you lose them. If there is any chance that my absence will make a difference, then that is what must happen.”

“Ye’re not goin’ anywhere,” he growled, closing his eyes in frustration.

He had not meant to say that.

“And what will you do? Keep me here against my will? You once told me that if I said I needed to leave, you would allow it. Have you changed your mind?”

“I am sayin’ that ye dinnae need to leave for that . Moira is a duplicitous witch. Even if ye dae leave, there is nay way to tell she will follow through on her word.”

“But if I stay…” Lydia’s voice was small. “We both know she will not give up the girls willingly.”

Callum stared at her, the despair in her eyes plain to see. She swallowed, wringing her hands in front of her.

There were many things that Callum intended to say.

Please dinnae leave me… I cannae dae this without ye… I am sorry this has happened to us….

But instead, he said something quite different.

“Are ye really goin’ to abandon those girls when you promised to care for them?”

Lydia’s spine straightened, her eyes turning cold.

“I am doing what I can to save them,” she said, her voice devoid of emotion. “And you have made it clear that you do not need a wife. You don’t really want me here. I was just a convenience. I’ll leave, and then you won’t have to worry about me anymore.”

That was it, then. Callum spun on his heel, wrenched open the door, and slammed it closed behind him.