Free Highland Awakening by Jennifer Haymore Page B

sisters, and the two of them had been doing their best to help the men with their grief since they’d returned from Rohan’s house earlier this evening. Of course, both of them had been fond of Fraser, so they struggled with their own grief as well.
    “He’s lucky to have her,” Cam said.
    “Aye, that’s true.” Stirling lowered himself onto the edge of the bed. “But you dinna look so well yourself. And you haven’t any Grace for comfort.”
    The image of Esme pushed itself into his mind, and he tried to thrust it aside.
    “Aye, well”—he shrugged—“neither do you.”
    “True enough,” Stirling agreed.
    Cam sighed. “I need to find who did this.”
    Stirling nodded.
    “I feel like it’s my fault.”
    “Nay. It wasna your fault. You were with Pinfield.”
    “Aye, but I had Fraser’s pistol.” Cam swallowed hard against the lump in his throat. If he hadn’t insisted upon taking Fraser’s pocket pistol, would he have been able to protect himself? Would he be alive tonight, teasing Cam about his lack of fashion sense?
    “You couldn’t’ve known there’d be murderers lying in wait for him.” Stirling rose stiffly. When he turned back to Cam, his eyes were narrow and dark. “There’s too much evil in this world, McLeod. Too much death.”
    “Aye,” Cam agreed. Stirling didn’t take evil and death well. To this day, nearly a year after he and the other Knights had left the army, he suffered from horrible visions and nightmares. Since Waterloo, Stirling had been fragile, and the rest of the Knights knew it. There was something volatile in him close to the surface, which if ignited would certainly explode. None of them wanted that to happen.
    “We’re going to find whoever did this,” Stirling said.
    “How?” Cam asked, sitting up. “The damn trail is already cold.”
    “We’ll get to the bottom of it,” Stirling said. “We have to. Otherwise, none of us will be able to live with ourselves.”
    Cam was still for a minute, then he nodded, remembering Anna. He hadn’t been able to move on, to live again, until he’d taken care of the men who’d hurt her. It would be the same with Fraser.
    Anna! Oh, damnation.
    He raked a hand through his hair and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “Bloody hell. I was supposed to go to my sister’s house tonight. I’m late.” He glanced at the clock over the mantel and winced. “By over an hour.”
    “Will you still go?”
    “Aye.” He wouldn’t miss his weekly dinner with his sister, even though the food would surely be cold by now, and she’d probably given up on him. If it were anyone else, he wouldn’t bother. But this was Anna.
    Anna lived in Holborn, in a house of her own that Cam had purchased for her seven years ago. After the falling out with their father, he’d suggested she return to Scotland, but she’d been younger than Cam had been when she’d last seen her homeland, and she said she’d feel more comfortable, less conspicuous, in London.
    It was luck that the house assigned to the Highland Knights was only a ten-minute ride from her house. Cam exited into the mews, went to the stable, and quickly saddled his horse. The traffic wasn’t too bad this time of night, and he kept glancing over his shoulder to see if anyone was following him. He wasn’t keen on leading murderers to his sister’s home.
    For good measure, he made a few extraneous turns before arriving at his sister’s and securing his horse.
    “Cam!” Anna said, opening the door to greet him. “I was worried.”
    “Aye, well, it wasna a good day.”
    She
tsk
ed, a sound that reminded him of his mother, who’d died when he was fourteen years old. She’d loved them with all her heart. And Cam couldn’t help but think that if she had lived, Anna could have somehow avoided the terrible things that had happened to her.
    “Come. Martha kept dinner warm for you.”
    That brought a smile to his face. Anna had known he’d come, despite his