Highlanders Collection. Ann Lethbridge

time made her heart go numb. She didn’t think she could bear it.

      No longer was he the boy she’d first fallen in love with. He was a man who’d experienced torture and darkness, almost losing himself to it. And though he might never love her in the way she loved him, it didn’t matter. She wanted whatever part of him she could have. She held fast to the hope that one day he would see her with different eyes. One day, she would mean more to him.

      If they survived this day.

      Callum took his position on the bank beside the fortress, an arrow already poised in the bow, but his hands were shaking.

      ‘Can he shoot?’ she murmured to Dougal.

      ‘I don’t know.’ The boy shook his head. And that wasn’t at all reassuring.

      Nairna knelt down in front of the ditch, holding infants while their mothers tried to climb out of the water. Her dog Caen rested at Dougal’s feet.

      The first group of soldiers came around the corner and Nairna’s heart seized with fear.

      Sweet heaven, she didn’t know what to do. She handed a baby to his mother before reaching for the crossbow. She didn’t know how to aim it, much less release the bolt. And she only had one shot.

      Before she could even consider aiming the weapon, Callum released an arrow that struck the soldier’s face. He followed up with a second shot that embedded within the soldier’s heart.

      Nairna stared at the man, struck speechless by what she’d seen. How he could have such skill after being locked away for so many years made little sense.

      But the look he cast towards Marguerite was a quiet promise that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. And the soft smile Marguerite gave him made Nairna’s heart ache, as the woman disappeared into the trees.

      Dougal cried out a warning and more of the enemy emerged from the other side. He tried to fire an arrow, but it struck the ground. Shaking, Nairna lifted her crossbow. She’d never killed a man before and she prayed she wouldn’t have to.

      The soldiers charged closer with their spears, calling out for more men to join him. But just as before, Callum’s arrows took the men down, some of the bodies crashing into the ditch water.

      Laren led her own children through the ditch, bringing up the middle group of women. They disappeared into the woods, and Nairna sent up a silent prayer that they would make it to safety.

      Only a dozen or so women remained, and the keep’s tower began to crumble, the wood groaning under the weight. Nairna set down her crossbow at Dougal’s feet, climbing back down into the ditch. She helped one of the mothers by picking up a three-year-old boy on her hip, ordering the others to get out.

      Bram and Alex came up around the corner at a full run. Blood covered her husband’s hands; Nairna didn’t know if it was his or another soldier’s.

      She was so relieved to see him, she passed the child she was holding up to his mother, who had already climbed up the bank. The remaining women got out of the ditch and Bram crossed through the water, helping her up. As soon as he emerged from the ditch, he pulled her into his arms.

      Nairna was shivering with cold, but feeling his arms around her made it easier to endure. She clung hard, and both of them saw at the same moment when the keep started to fall apart.

      ‘Callum, dive!’ Her husband roared out the warning, and his brother threw himself at the ditch. Callum hit the water, while behind him the wooden structure collapsed. Marguerite emerged from the forest, but Nairna let go of her husband and shoved the young woman back.

      ‘He’ll be all right. Take the women up to the ridge and I’ll send him soon.’

      Marguerite sent Callum a worried look, but she returned to the woods, hurrying with the rest of the MacKinlochs.

      Bram helped his brother out of the water, while Nairna turned to Dougal. The young man kept an arrow poised in his bowstring, but he looked terrified at the idea of facing more soldiers. ‘Go behind the women and take your bow,’ Nairna ordered. ‘We’ll follow you in a moment.’

      But just as Dougal disappeared, the soldiers came pouring around the corner from both sides. One archer fired several arrows towards the forest before Callum killed him.

      Nairna cried out a warning to Bram and Alex, who split off to meet the men, their shields and weapons ready. She picked up her crossbow, her heart stopping when she saw a soldier swing his sword at Bram’s head. A sound tore from her throat as she ran to her husband. Though she couldn’t do anything to stop it, she released the bolt and it struck a different man.

      Bram dived to the ground, skewering his attacker with his claymore. They were completely outnumbered and Nairna understood that she was not going to survive this attack. These men would show no mercy, not after all that had happened.

      She reached Bram and helped him up. He kept his claymore steady, but the soldiers simply closed in on them, waiting for the command to kill. Nairna wrapped her arms around his waist, as if she could hold on to these last moments with him.

      Callum held his bow steady, his eyes glazed as if he weren’t really seeing the soldiers. He didn’t move, nor did he speak.

      Lord Harkirk entered on horseback from the right, while Lord Cairnross joined in from the left. Bram’s arm tightened around her and he moved down to whisper in her ear.

      ‘When I tell you to, I want you to run hard towards the others. I’ll fend them off as long as I can, to give you an escape.’

      In other words, he would sacrifice his life for hers. Nairna’s eyes welled up with tears and she buried her face in his tunic. ‘Bram, if I leave, it will lead the soldiers to the other women. Their only chance at living is if I stay here.’

      He made no reply, holding her tight against him for a long moment. She let the tears fall and whispered, ‘I’d rather die at your side than live without you again.’

      Bram released her, his tone rigid. ‘I’m not going to let you die, Nairna.’

      He took a step away, raising his hands in surrender. Eyeing first Harkirk, then Cairnross, he said, ‘If word gets out of what you’ve done here this day, the clans will unite. The war will continue and you’ll have given them a reason for vengeance.’

      He paused, choosing his words carefully as he stared at Lord Cairnross. ‘I’ll return willingly, as your prisoner, if you let them go.’

      He’d once said that he would die before becoming a prisoner again. But it wasn’t at all true. He’d surrender his freedom, even his life, if it meant saving Nairna.

      He drank in the sight of his wife, afraid it would be the last time he saw her. Her brown hair was tangled, her green eyes filled up with tears. Even now, she was a balm to his broken soul. She was everything to him and they’d had so little time.

      The memories flashed before his mind, quiet pieces of the past that he tried to hold on to. And he realised then that leaving her was the hardest thing he’d ever have to do. He wasn’t worthy of her love or being her husband. He’d made so many mistakes, born of his hotheaded ignorance and, now, his carelessness.

      But he loved her. He hadn’t believed himself capable of it, but the emotions swelled up inside, his need for her overriding everything else.

      Cairnross gave a signal and two soldiers seized him. He went with them, hoping that they would agree to this. He didn’t care what happened to him, so long as Nairna and those he loved were safe.

      But once he’d given himself up, two other soldiers seized his wife. Cairnross rode forwards, his expression ruthless and coldhearted. ‘You took my betrothed wife from me. It only seems fair that I take yours in return.’

      ‘Don’t touch her,’ Bram ordered, the rage rising up inside. He could feel the anger clouding his judgement, transforming it into hatred.

      ‘Perhaps I’ll let you watch,’ Cairnross mused.