He gazed in wonder at the Fairy Flag. “How did ye—”
“I took it when Colin slept,” she said simply.
The implication that she had been beside Colin in bed made Lachlan feel ill. When he looked to her once more, he feared she had seen the revulsion on his face. She pressed her lips together, and once he had taken the flag and secured it to him, he reached for her again.
She shook her head. “I will follow ye,” she said, her voice choked with an emotion he couldn’t name.
There was no time to stop and ask now, though. He had to get them as far away as fast as he could so that Marion and Bridgette would be safe. As he led them down the stairs, Neil burst into the tower. “We were spotted,” Neil snarled. “All are dead but me.”
There was no time for shock or sadness now, either. “Graham has fallen into the loch,” Lachlan said, bending down to search for the hidden passage he knew was there. As he kneeled, something hard dug into his knee. He felt it with his hands.A handle!
He brushed away the rushes, grasped the iron handle, and yanked open the door. He peered down into the blackness of the tunnel and turned to Bridgette. He held out a hand and offered it to her once again, but she bit her lip and shook her head. His chest tightened in fear of what had happened to her, but they had to press on.
Lachlan led the way, followed by Bridgette, Marion, and Neil at the back, and they descended into the darkness, closing the door over their heads afterward. Dampness from the earth and the loch below permeated the air. The smell of soil filled Lachlan’s nose as he rushed them blindly forward over uneven ground and what felt like rock and roots.
He set his hand against the stone of the side walls as he ran, his fingers burning with the tiny cuts from the stone. None of them spoke, and the only sounds that filled the air were those of short, panting breaths and the thuds of their feet against the dirt. It seemed they were winding through the tunnel forever, but then he saw a shaft of light up ahead and he knew they were coming to an exit.
Thick overgrowth covered the entrance of the tunnel, and he had to cut through it with his sword, all the while certain that the enemy would be upon them before he could get them out. But with one last slice through the vines covering the entrance, there was just enough space to crawl through. He barreled through, then turned and grasped Bridgette rather than offer aid she would refute.
“Dunnae touch me!” she hissed, her body tensing and fighting against him.
Immediately, his mind tortured him with the horrors she must have endured, and his blood raged with a need for vengeance. Without a word, he tightened his grip, yanked her through the opening, and before he could even fully set her on her feet, she was shoving away from him, terror dancing in her eyes. As Marion climbed through the opening, Bridgette spoke. “I kinnae—” she started and then choked back a sob that twisted his gut into a thousand knots. He raised his hand toward her to brush away her tears, and she stepped back putting more distance between them. “I kinnae stand—” She took a shuddering breath. “I dunnae wish for yer touch.”
In the burgeoning light of the morning, he watched tears spring to her eyes and flow freely down her face. He wanted to take her in his arms and comfort her, yet that would not give her comfort by her own admission. Besides, they had to flee.
He jerked his head in a nod of understanding, and she let out an audible sigh of relief.
Once Neil was through the opening, Lachlan hurried them forward, smelling the water of the loch ahead. He knew the way to the horses from the water’s edge. They broke through the brush in short time and came to the water, where Lachlan came to a shuddering halt.
“What is it?” Neil asked, looking from Lachlan to the direction from which they had just come.
Lachlan knew he had only moments to make a choice: send Bridgette and Marion with Neil and go in search of Graham with the hope that he lived and Lachlan could rescue him, or get the women to safety first. Once again he felt torn as he stared at the water where Graham had to have fallen in.
“We away to safety for the women, then I’ll return for Graham.”
Bridgette slowly licked her cracked lips. “It is nae just Graham ye need to return for.”
“What say ye?” Lachlan asked, trying not to hurry her but feeling as if Colin’s men would be upon them at any moment.
Bridgette inhaled a deep breath. “Lena lives!”
Lachlan was sure he had not heard Bridgette correctly. He looked to Marion, who nodded. “Explain,” he quickly replied.
Bridgette recounted what Lena had told her in jerky, hurried words, and also told him of Atholl’s death.
Rage swept through Lachlan. “Atholl betrayed our family and helped Jamie take Lena? But why? And why would Jamie even do such a thing?”
“Perchance vengeance?” Marion suggested. “Did your uncle know by then that if your father died, he would not become laird?”
“Aye, he did,” Lachlan confirmed.
“Lena lived with a priest in England for years,” Bridgette said in a lifeless tone that made Lachlan’s gut twist. “She was taken from the priest by Jamie only a sennight ago and married to Findlay Campbell. She wishes to escape but has vowed to protect a boy who Jamie holds prisoner. She dunnae ken where in the castle he’s being kept.” The fearful look in Bridgette’s eyes as she talked made Lachlan want to bellow his rage. “Findlay is nae at the castle, which is a good thing since it seems he’s like his brother.” She drew her bleak gaze to Lachlan. “I pray that if Graham lives, Colin has died. Otherwise, Graham will likely soon wish he were dead. Colin is a monster, and I shudder to think what he will do to Graham.”
Marion released a sob at Bridgette’s dark words. Lachlan and Neil exchanged a glance. “Let us away quickly, then,” Lachlan said.
Without another word, they all turned and fled in silence to the destriers. As they ran, Lachlan tried to grapple with the knowledge that his sister lived and also with the painful certainty that he had been too late in rescuing Bridgette.
Once they were on the horses and racing away, Lachlan felt the smallest measure of tension drain. While he needed to know what had occurred with Bridgette, his mind shrank at the thought. The knowing would have to wait anyway. He turned his thoughts to Lena for a moment but realized that, too, would have to wait. The only one who would be able to answer his questions would be Lena, and even she likely only had so many answers. Jamie, his blackhearted uncle, and surely the Campbells—who had to know who Lena was, even if they had just learned the truth—would have answers, and Lachlan would get them and then gladly kill his uncle and the Campbell men after.