“Alone?” Hugh’s brow arched to his hairline.
“Yes, alone, and she left upset,” Lash growled. “That is not important, what’s of greater import is finding her.”
Hugh leaped to his feet. “And why would my sister be upset after spending timealonewith you in the tower?”
“Does it matter?” Lash snapped. “Your sister is in trouble, I can sense it.”
“I am not sure what gypsy sorcery you are into, Ruthven, but I’m sure Honoria is fine,” Hugh said. “My orders were clear.”
Isla rose to her feet, her eyes filled with concern. “She asked you to take her to Edinburgh, did she not? And you declined. Is that why she left upset?”
Hugh’s head whipped to his sister and then back to Lash. “Is that true? She asked you to take her to Edinburgh?”
Lash gave a grim nod.
Hugh muttered an oath. “And you knew she wanted to ask Ruthven to take her to Edinburgh?” he demanded of Isla. “That’s what you were plotting all along?”
“Aye, she might have mentioned it.”
“Unbelievable!” Hugh snapped. He turned back to Lash. “Well, now we do have to find her. The lass does not take well to rejection.”
“Are you sure you are not sensing these feelings because she left the tower upset?” Isla asked. “She’s been wanting to go to Edinburgh for years.”
“Aye,” Hugh agreed, and added, “and you feel guilty for refusing her after she saved your life.”
“That’s not it,” Lash bit out. “And why the hell didn’t anyone take her? It seems like an innocent enough request.”
Hugh shrugged. “The many outweigh the few.”
“That’s idiocy,” Lash snapped, suddenly furious at Honoria’s family for not taking her wishes into account. But he’d have to deal with that later—they were wasting precious time. “But not important at this moment. We must find her.”
The Highlander clenched his jaw. “If she left the castle, she’ll be on her hill, sulking. You know, the one where she foundyou.”
“Hugh,” Isla chastened with a slight arch of her brow. She stepped up to Lash. “Do you get these feelings often?”
Lash wanted to growl for them to point in the direction of the hill, had he thought they’d act more expeditiously. He’d have to explain as best he could or they might dismiss his intuition as madness.
He forced his panic down deep, but could not keep the grim tone from his voice. “Only three times: right before I learned Syeira followed me, moments before my brother stabbed me, and the third—now. A sense of dread unfurls in my gut, warning something bad is about to happen to me or someone I . . .”
Love.
He pushed the astonishing revelation aside, forced his mind to focus and remain sharp, free of distraction.
“. . . I’ve formed a bond with.”
A weighty second stretched into another.
“Is that so?” The Highlander’s steely voice splintered the silence. “What sort of bond would that be?”
“Honoria saved my life,” Lash pointed out. “There is no greater bond than that.”
Find her.
The impulse tore the breath from his lungs. If anything happened to her . . . his future spread out before him like a lifeless void.
He shut his eyes against it.
He should have left MacCallan Castle the day Danior had made his appearance. He should never have stayed. But leaving Honoria behind did not feel right. It felt a thousand ways wrong.
A door slammed in the distance, followed by the rush of footsteps. Lash’s eyes snapped open.
“Honoria,” Isla murmured.
But no.
A dour Mr. Ross strode into the room, jaw clenched, eyes flashing fire. “Lady Honoria has been taken.”
