Highland Savage. Hannah Howell

impossible. The night can hide a great deal. I walked into Ranald’s hands, foolishly thinking my disguise was good enough to hide me. This time we all ken that our enemy may be there.”

      “True, but so will many of his men, I suspect.”

      “Is there any choice?”

      “Nay, there isnae. I but wonder about Annie. Hilda didnae say Annie was in trouble, but if Ranald cannae get his hands on Thomas—”

      “Then he will grab Annie and use her to bring the boy to him.”

      “That is what I am afraid of.”

      “It is probably just what will happen,” said Patrick. “I can get Annie if the rest of ye go after Thomas.”

      “Ye can get into the inn unseen?” Katerina’s eyes widened with surprise when Patrick blushed.

      “I can. I used to be verra friendly with Morag ere she ran off with that traveler last spring. I ken just how to get into the inn without being seen.” He shrugged. “She didnae want anyone to ken that she had lovers so she always made the men she bedded down with creep about like thieves. Sorry, m’lady,” he mumbled.

      “Dinnae apologize. I kenned what Morag was. I just didnae ken ye were one of her lovers. Weel, it will serve us weel now. Ye get Annie out of there and we will do what we can to get Thomas.”

      “Ye dinnae think we should wait until more of our men return?” asked William even as he collected his sword.

      “I dinnae think we can afford to waste any time e’en in such a good cause. Ranald is going to be enraged o’er the fact that he lost the chance to kill Lucas again.”

      “And he will be eager to take that rage out on someone.” William sighed. “Ah, weel, Thomas has been a great help, as has Annie. We cannae let them suffer for it.”

      “Agreed. So, ’tis back to the village, only this time we cannae make such a fine show of it.”

      “I hope ye arenae suggesting we walk to the village.”

      “Nay all the way.”

      Katerina actually found herself smiling when she heard the three men groan, but it was a fleeting moment of lightheartedness. Her heart felt as if it was cramped with fear for young Thomas and his sister. Until she got them safely out of the reach of the brutal Ranald she doubted she would be able to breathe easily. Too many had already paid dearly in this battle with Agnes and she refused to let her half-sister and her lover claim another life.

      Chapter Five

      Katerina watched Patrick slip away into the shadows near the inn and bit back the urge to call him back. This was dangerous, more dangerous than anything they had attempted before. She had to keep reminding herself that it would be much more dangerous if they had to try and rescue Thomas or Annie from Dunlochan keep, perhaps even impossible. The storerooms and a few hidden passages she had discovered as a child were the only places she could reach unseen. Beyond that, moving about Dunlochan keep became very perilous indeed.

      The hardest thing about being a warrior, she decided, was trying not to fear for each and every man under her command. Katerina knew she was going to be happy beyond words to give up that command. William could take full control of such things once she regained possession of Dunlochan and do so with her full blessing. She did find some strength in the knowledge that, if he was the one giving the orders, he would be doing just what she was doing now. No one with any conscience could allow Thomas and Annie to fall into Ranald’s brutal grasp.

      “If Patrick says he can slip in and out of the inn without being seen, then he can,” William said quietly.

      Smiling fleetingly over his attempt to soothe her, Katerina nodded. “I ken it. It doesnae stop me from fearing something could go wrong, however. But, now, ’tis best if we turn our attention to the matter of getting into the stables unseen.”

      “And getting out with Thomas the same way.”

      “Aye, that would be best.” She glanced at Lucas, who crouched next to her, pressed a little too closely on her right. “Can ye run fast, Sir Murray?”

      Lucas winced, even though every instinct detected no mockery or contempt of his limp in her tone, just a need for facts as she planned her next move. “For a short distance and with little grace,” he answered bluntly.

      “A short distance will do, Sir Murray.”

      The way she kept calling him Sir Murray was beginning to make his teeth hurt from clenching them in rising aggravation. It was an attempt to make him feel a complete stranger, and, perhaps, to make her feel that he was as well. Lucas knew it should not trouble him if she wanted to play that game, but it did. Worse, it stung in a way he did not feel it ought to. He could all too clearly recall the way she had spoken his name when desire held her tight in its grip and he wanted to hear it again.

      He inwardly shook his head as if to cast such thoughts aside. If they did become lovers, Lucas was determined to keep it all a simple matter of a man scratching an itch. Thoughts of how she had once breathed his name against his skin, how that had warmed his blood nearly to boiling, would make that impossible.

      Forcing his thoughts back to the matter at hand, he asked, “Are ye expecting Ranald to come soon?”

      “Aye,” Katerina replied. “He has become more persistent in trying to track us down, but his temper makes it hard for him to be truly patient. If he hasnae already given up the chase, he will soon. Then he will be after Thomas. Usually he and Agnes agree on what must be done, or she orders it done, but I dinnae think we can count on that now. Ranald must ken that he is losing his place in Agnes’s plans, that every time he lets the reivers escape, she doubts him even more. He will be eager for something to help him hold fast to his place in her plans, anything, nay matter how small or what crimes he might have to commit to get it.”

      “Then let us hurry and get the lad out of danger.”

      Silently they crept through the shadows toward the stables. Katerina prayed this was not one of the few nights Thomas decided he did not want to sleep with the horses. Despite their dark clothes and staying in the shadows, Katerina felt as if they were in clear view of anyone who wished to look their way. She could feel a thin line of sweat trail down her spine and was heartily grateful when they finally slipped into the stable without anyone crying out in recognition or alarm.

      “Since the two of ye are far better with a sword than I, I will go up into the loft and get Thomas,” Katerina whispered. “Ye can guard my back.”

      Lucas watched her nimbly climb the rough ladder to the loft. His body tightened with desire as he watched the way her taut, nicely rounded backside moved with each step. He was glad of the robes he still wore as they hid the blatant evidence of his desire. No matter how often he considered the risks of becoming involved with Katerina in any way, his body continued to make its interest painfully clear. If he was going to stay with her and her men for any length of time, he knew he had better come to some decision about her and his attraction for her or he would undoubtedly do something foolish.

      Katerina heard Thomas before she saw him. The boy snored softly and she crept toward the sound. Cautiously placing a hand on his shoulder, knowing how some people could wake from a sound sleep with fists flying, she gave him a little shake. She almost smiled when he opened his eyes, stared at her blindly for a moment, and then blushed. Since he was obviously fully dressed beneath a thin blanket, she suspected he had been pulled out of the sort of dream he did not want her to even guess at.

      “M’lady, what is wrong?” he asked as he sat up and pushed his thick, fair hair out of his face. “Is Annie hurt?”

      She knew he had long feared that Ranald or one of his men would rape Annie as they had other women, and Katerina hurried to reassure him. “Nay, but ’tis time for ye and your sister to hide away, Thomas. Ranald has become suspicious of you.” Although his only response to that was to grow very pale, she nodded as if he had spoken aloud. “Naught was said about