“Aye,” Kinsey said. “Ye do.”
Something in the way she said it, as if the weapon could not stop her, made her grip the hilt so tightly her fingertips pulsed. “Did ye send Ulric to take me and kill me because I would nae drink the wine?”
“Ye are so verra perceptive,” Kinsey said. “Finally.” She thumped at her head again. “If ye had only used yer brain a bit sooner and opened yer eyes, ye may nae have been here. Ye could have just driven Brodee to get yer marriage dissolved, and I would have let ye go and wed him myself. But the two of ye,” she said, disgust clear in her tone, “had to bed each other. Ye—” her eyes were like two sharp knives pointed at Patience “—have caused me a great amount of trouble. Now I will have to convince him that Ulric killed ye for vengeance against him. I will have tried my best to save ye, of course.”
Patience trembled. She did not want to stab Kinsey, but she was getting a feeling the woman may force her to action.
“I’ve set it up nicely, though,” Kinsey continued, almost as if she were talking to herself. “He hates ye now. I’m certain he thinks ye joined with William. Just as ye thought he had with me. Both of ye are too easy. I expected more from the Savage Slayer.”
Patience felt her lips part, and she sucked in a shocked breath.
“But I suppose a man in love is a blind fool easily led by jealousy,” she muttered.
A man in love?Patience’s chest squeezed. Did Brodee love her? Had he thought her untrue, even as she had thought him untrue? Had Kinsey truly orchestrated it all?
“When I return to the castle, I’ll lead him here, dunnae fash yerself. And then I’ll be there to comfort him. Wed him. Rule with him.” She flashed a wolfish grin. “I’m the perfect match for him. And ye, ye are in my way.”
As Kinsey leaned toward Patience, the dagger pierced the woman’s flesh, and Kinsey screamed. But before Patience could react at Kinsey purposely getting herself stabbed, Kinsey grabbed Patience’s arms, and swung her around, shoving her backward toward the ledge. It was too close. Patience tried to dig in her heels, crying out as she slid backward across the grass and dirt toward her death. Her arms were locked in Kinsey’s clutches, blood growing in a ruby circle at the woman’s waist.
The ground gave way under Patience’s feet. Her heart dropped. Fear twisted through her, and with a hard shove to her stomach, she tumbled backward, arms flailing, and watched Kinsey grin at her as she fell toward the rock below.
