Highland Blessings (37 page)

Akira groaned and tried to move, but her hands and feet were bound. The gag between her teeth made her mouth ache, and although she knew her eyes were open, everything looked pitch black. She wiggled on her stomach against the stone floor and ignored the searing pain in her ribs. Someone gripped her hair and yanked her head back.

“Stop that squirmin, lass! Ye’ll scare the rats away, and I plan to feed ye to them.”

The burning in her scalp ceased when he let her go.
Rats!
her mind screamed. She silently prayed that the man lied and no rats would find her.

In the next instant, he hauled her up and over his shoulder. Her ribs pained her even more as he roughly jostled her along to who knew where. She wiggled forward, trying to move her ribs off his shoulder, but he tightened his grip and held her still.

“Keep that up and I’ll throw ye down the rest of the stairs,” a familiar voice roared. For a moment, she considered pounding her bound fists into his back, but decided to save her strength for a better opportunity to escape.

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to remember how she had ended up in this predicament. The last thing she remembered, Bryce had left her in the tower to go down and meet her father. She had no memory beyond that. She did remember that Elliot had been stabbed in the heart. At least she hadn’t killed her brother. She could take consolation in that knowledge. Akira vowed she would find out the truth of who murdered him.

Lord, help me. I don’t want to die,
she prayed in her heart.

An orange light glowed in the direction they headed. Akira lifted her head, trying to peer around her captor’s shoulder.

“Be still,” he ordered.

The voice sounded so familiar, but she couldn’t place it. The orange glow grew brighter, and her captor increased his pace.

“Did ye have any trouble?” a woman asked.

“Nay, of course not.” He threw Akira off his shoulder. She landed in a heap on the floor, gripping her aching hip from the impact.

“Oh!” the other woman exclaimed. “But Kian, ye didn’t cover her eyes.”

A fearful jolt shot through Akira’s chest. She glanced up to see if she heard them correctly. Kian stood proudly before her with his heavy arms crossed over his chest, grinning down at her as if he had just won a prize. Her cousin Odara stood by his side with wide, frightened eyes, holding her hand over her mouth, struggling to keep quiet.

“It doesn’t matter,” Kian said. “She’ll not live long enough to talk.”

Akira already accepted the fact that they planned to kill her, but what she couldn’t have known was that Kian and Odara planned her fearsome fate together. It pained her deeply to know of their betrayal. She would almost rather not have known. And Bryce thought it had been her?

“Did ye kill Elliot?” She dared to ask, but the gag prevented her from coherently forming her words so they could understand her.

Kian’s laughter boomed around them. He leaned back as if savoring the moment. “I’ve waited a long time for this.” He turned to Odara. “Remove her gag. I believe I’d like to hear what she has to say and to hear her beg for mercy.”

Odara took the knife Kian offered and bent to cut away the gag. Akira kept herself extremely still, giving her cousin no reason to slice her skin.

“What was it ye wanted to know, lass?” Kian put his hand up to his ear, teasing her.

“Did ye kill Elliot?”

“Aye.” He seemed to enjoy his sickening humor. “Does that make ye hate me?” He rubbed his hands together.

“Who dragged his body to the MacKenzie gates?”

“Full of questions, are ye?” He shrugged. “Are ye sure ye want to know it all? Mayhap ’twill be too painful.”

His blue eyes glazed over, and suddenly, he seemed to be in another world, but he snapped right back out of his momentary trance and grinned at Akira. “I met Odara halfway. I rode all through the day and night. Bryce occupied himself with so many other worries, he hardly missed me. With Balloch always running around to do his bidding, I slipped away unnoticed. Odara conveniently dragged his body to yer father’s castle gate.”

“Ye wanted it to look like I did it.”

“Elliot had two different wounds. I knew they would eventually figure it out, but using yer sword gave them more to consider. It brought a bit more confusion.” He seemed proud of all they had accomplished.

“How did ye manage to get Odara to go along?” Akira shot a scathing look at her cousin, who stood faithfully beside him.

“Odara and I have something in common. She despises ye an’ so do I.”

Akira always knew her cousin disliked her, but she never realized to what degree. Somehow that didn’t seem to bother her half as much as Kian’s disloyalty to Bryce. “I thought ye liked me, Kian.”

“He never did,” Odara declared.

“Hush.” Kian glanced in Odara’s direction, shaking her off his arm and moving to bend toward Akira. “Oh, I like ye just fine for a woman, but not as a MacPhearson or the chieftain’s wife.” Kian gave her a level stare. “What else do ye want to know?”

“What about Bryce? Where’s yer loyalty to him?”

A grin broadened his face. “Well, Bryce has always been there for me and that’s why I’m here for him now, when he can no longer make the best decisions for our clan.”

“Why do ye believe that?” She moved to sit on her bottom, unable to lean her sore elbow into the stone floor any longer. She grunted as she swung her bound feet around and pushed herself up.

“’Tis simple. ’Tis all because of ye.” He looked at her pointedly. “’Twould have been okay to wed ye, so long as he didn’t fall in love with ye, but he had to come to care for ye, and that ruined all his plans. ’Twas only supposed to be for convenience.” Kian laughed again. “But then, our dear Bryce always believes peace is the best way, and he isn’t always right—at least not where the MacKenzies are concerned.”

“What about her?” Akira indicated her cousin, who still pouted behind him. “She’s a MacKenzie, and yet she’s helping ye.” Akira could not understand his illogical thinking.

“Aye, and she’s only here because she serves my purpose and is a convenience.” He paused. “Mirana was convenient as well, until she began to feel guilty, and then she became a threat to my plans.”

“I see,” Akira murmured, realizing how much imminent danger both she and her cousin were in at the moment. She looked up at Odara and noticed her face had gone quite pale. She clutched her throat and then her stomach. “What’s wrong, Odara?”

Kian laughed. “Odara has lost her usefulness to me as well. She’s beginning to feel the effects of the poison I slipped into her food earlier.” Odara slid to the floor with a hard thump.

Akira tried to hide the panic running wildly through her heart. She stared at Kian, wondering how he could be so cruel. His hair wasn’t as dark as Bryce’s, but it fell in the same intricate waves to his shoulders. They both had the same square face, but there the resemblance ended. Kian’s dark blue eyes bore through her hatred.

“Bryce believes I betrayed him.” Akira tried to distract him. If she could prolong their conversation, mayhap Bryce would have time to find her.

Kian lifted her chin. “And ye hate me for making him believe it?”

“Nay,” she answered honestly. “I’m angry and hurt that he would believe it so easily.” Her heart felt so badly bruised by what Bryce had said that she wasn’t sure what she felt anymore. Numbness claimed her feelings; only the physical pain bothered her now. Maybe she could survive this whole ordeal if her body would stop feeling and just go as numb as her heart.

“Why do ye hate my clan so much?” She cocked her head to the side, studying him as he considered her question.

“Do ye know where we are, Akira?” He waved his arms and moved them in a circle, ignoring her question.

She scanned the dingy surroundings and noticed the decaying bars, old clothes lying here and there, scattered rocks, broken cracks, and crevices dancing in the torchlight. The darkness and coldness seemed to enter her senses more than anything—that and the foul smell filling her nostrils. “The dungeon?”

“Aye.” Kian grew anxious. “The west wing dungeons are nearly thirty feet below ground. Not even Bryce has been down here since we were children. He’s probably forgotten about them.”

“Why do ye plan to kill me? I thought Bryce was yer friend?”

“Bryce and I have been close friends since we were small lads, but he’s forgotten that MacKenzies canna be trusted. Evan isn’t here to remind him of that. Sim canna speak and lend him support. So in a sense Balloch and I are his only family. I’ve taken matters into my own hands. I intend to exact revenge against yer family.” He leaned forward.

Disliking his closeness, Akira forced herself to continue facing him. “Killing me is yer revenge?” She swallowed a lump in her throat and hoped he would have some compassion for her.

“Not even yer life is enough to exact revenge for what the MacKenzies have caused.” His voice lowered to a dangerous pitch. How could a person be so crafty at hiding their true inner self as Kian had done? And how should she deal with him?

“Kian, I don’t want to die. Why not accept peace between the MacPhearsons and the MacKenzies?” She searched his blue eyes for a sign of the Kian she thought she had known.

“Birk MacKenzie killed my da in battle. I saw it. ’Twas my first time in battle, and I’ve never forgotten it. I’m taking ye because I want Birk to pay, and that’s why I killed Elliot. Gavin will be next.”

“I’m sorry about yer father,” Akira said sincerely. “But, there is naught ye can do that will bring him back or change what happened.”

“Birk will come for ye,” he persisted. Akira dared to breathe and licked her dry lips.

“Nay.” She shook her head. “If that were true, then he would have come for me when Bryce took me. He’s only here now because of Elliot. ’Tis no secret that a son is worth much more to a father than his daughter. Yer the one that reminded me of that just the other day.” Her heart wasn’t as numb as she had hoped; the truth in her words pierced her soul. “Ye know that as well as I.” She hated the trembling in her voice, but the encompassing pain and fear overwhelmed her ability to remain calm. Her chest constricted, and she bent her knees, determined not to concentrate on that pain right now. She had more immediate problems to deal with—like how to survive this madman. Akira blinked back the tears, summoning the inner strength she prayed still existed inside her.

Kian released her with a sigh and rose, pacing the small area. “Hush, lass. I don’t have much patience for weeping women.”

He turned away, but not before she glimpsed the tenderness he desperately wanted to hide from her. She half-crawled and half-wiggled over to him.

“Kian, look at these hands.” She thrust her palms out to him. “These hands have never harmed a soul. I canna say the MacKenzies are angels, and I won’t say that I’m one, but I can say I’ve never harmed a MacPhearson. I’m sorry for what my father did, but these hands are not responsible. Making these hands bleed or cease to exist will not bring yer da back, and ’twill not make ye feel any better.”

He took her trembling hands in his and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. For several moments he didn’t say anything as he stared at them. Akira watched him closely, still unable to read his expression. If she must die, she wished for a quick death.
But Lord, I’d rather live. Please help me
, she pleaded silently.

Without warning, Kian pulled a knife from the belt at his side and brought it down to her hands. Akira winced, thinking the blade would slice right through her skin. She held her breath as the blade slid through the bonds around her wrists. Akira glanced down at her feet still bound by the rope.

“Yer feet will stay bound.”

One victory at a time, she reminded herself. Gain his confidence and trust, and then use it against him.

“Ye know too much, and I still don’t trust ye,” Kian said.

“We’ve been gone too long for Bryce not to have noticed. He’ll come looking for us. What do ye plan to do then? Will ye fight Bryce as well?”

“I’m loyal to Bryce. ’Tis for him that I do this. I only need ye to lure Birk MacKenzie down here.”

“Do ye honestly think that Bryce will not be involved? He’ll try and stop ye.”

“Aye, I’m aware of that. I have a plan for Bryce if all goes well.”

Kian moved to pick up Odara’s lifeless body, as if she were nothing more than a rag doll. He carried the corpse to the wall on the other side and dropped her on the hard stone floor. He pushed on several stones, loosening them one by one, until they revealed another room.

Akira’s curiosity grew, and she hopped over to him. “What’s back there?”

He pulled another stone loose. She leaned forward. Did he plan to put her back there with Odara’s body?

“What will ye do?” Her whispered voice sounded childlike to her ears as she swallowed, trying to keep from fainting.

“This is where we’ll bury Odara.” He turned to her with an evil grin. “This castle has many secrets.”

Her pale face probably glowed in the torchlight. She couldn’t possibly hide her growing fear.
God, please help me,
she thought, trying not to panic. Akira took several deep breaths to steady her racing heart.

Kian grunted as he pulled another stone loose. “These stones are heavy, but sturdy and very useful.” He chuckled.