Free Return of the Highlander by Julianne MacLean Page B

been a long day and tomorrow will be more of the same.”
    She moved to her bedroll, lay down, and forced herself to close her eyes.
    * * *
    It took a while for her to fall asleep, and when she finally did, she slept soundly all night—at least until a hand covered her mouth in the pre-dawn hour. Her breath caught in her throat. Suddenly she found herself pinned to the ground, kicking her legs, and blinking up at a ferocious looking Highlander, silhouetted against the faint morning light in the sky.
    “ Shhh … Be quiet, lass,” he whispered, applying his solid, massive strength to hold her down while she struggled to make sense of his words. “You must trust me now,” he said, “and do what I say, or your father will surely die.”
    With eyes wide as saucers, Larena frantically nodded her head.

Chapter Eleven

    Larena waited for Logan to remove his hand from her mouth and explain himself. Swiftly, he surveyed the surrounding area, then slowly sat back on his haunches.
    “What do you mean?” she whispered, scrambling to her knees.
    “Do not panic.” He glanced over his shoulder again and held up a hand. He appeared to be listening to the sounds of the forest, which had gone silent as the grave. “We must leave here now,” he said.
    “Why?”
    “Because my brother doesn’t like you very much, lass. As you know, he’s held a grudge against the Campbells for a long time, ever since Sheriffmuir when we lost everything, and I fear he might do something impulsive.”
    “Like what?”
    “Like destroy the King’s pardon that you carry, or worse, escort you through the castle gates and unleash his vengeance on everyone.”
    “I don’t understand,” she said. “What are you saying? This is madness.”
    “Aye,” Logan replied, rising to his feet and gathering up her belongings. “But that’s my brother. Mad as a meat ax. You’ve seen him. You must know…”
    No, in fact, she knew nothing…nothing about the dark brother at all .
    Logan picked up Rupert’s saddle and carried it to where the horses were tethered in the woods.
    “But where is he?” she asked, her eyes darting to the empty bedroll on the other side of the fire.
    “Do not worry, lass,” Logan replied. “He can’t catch us. At least not for a while.”
    “But what happened? Tell me, Logan. I must know.”
    “We had another disagreement,” he explained as he quickly bent to fasten the cinches under Rupert’s belly. “This one was worse than the others. I didn’t tell you before because I didn’t want to worry you, but Darach’s been wanting to use you to exact some sort of revenge. I’ve been trying to talk him out of it, but he lost his patience this morning and stormed off. I didn’t know what he might do, so I followed him.”
    “Where?”
    Logan returned to pack up his own bedroll. “Into the woods. It seems a bit idiotic now, but neither of us wanted to wake you.”
    “I assure you,” she replied, “I would have preferred to be awakened so I could at least take part in the discussion. I still don’t understand what’s happening.”
    Logan flung a saddle bag over his shoulder, then turned to face her. “I’ll explain everything when we’re away from here. For now, all you need to know is that I clubbed him over the head and tied him to a tree.”
    Larena’s mouth fell open. “ You did what? But he’s your brother.”
    “Aye, but he wanted to burn your father’s pardon and use you as a pawn. I’m not sure what his plan was after that, but there was some talk about breaking into the armory, setting fire to the munitions, and blowing the whole castle to bits.”
    “That would be suicide,” Larena said, following Logan back to his horse while dozens of ghastly images of destruction flooded her mind. “Even if he managed to escape, he’d never get away with it.”
    “To be honest, lass, I don’t think he cares whether he lives or dies. Now pack up your belongings. We need to leave here and get you home where