Page 111 of Highland Spy

She’d done everything right and ended up with nothing. She’d given her heart and seen it rejected. Her throat tightened against the rush of emotion and she squeezed her fists until her arms shook with the effort.

Years of obeying her parents and brother—all of it had been for naught.

There in the dark, with anger pulsing and swelling within her breast and thrumming in her temples, she lay wide awake, feeding the savage rage coming to life within her.

She didn’t need her parents or her brother or Connor. She’d survived a year in London, at court no less, on her own.

Her heart raced a little faster, frenzied at the memory.

Such freedom and independence. Granted, the life had been hard, but never had she needed to kill someone.

Never had she needed to guard her heart.

She could be on her own again. Her skills were uncommon. Surely she could find someone willing to hire a woman skilled at gleaning secrets. Finding the right clients would be almost too easy. Even the amount of coin she’d saved already would easily afford a small place to stay and enough food to eat. She could supplement with cheating at cards if need be—if clients were not found quickly enough.

Surely cheating at cards was better than having to kill, and being made to feel as unloved as she had with her parents. The hollow hurt of it filled her, empty and aching.

Liv would get stronger. She didn’t need Ariana anymore.

And then the word rose in her mind, floating to the surface of her dark, roiling thoughts of rage and unfairness.

Escape.

Chapter 27

Ariana woke to a sliver of sunlight jabbing into her eyes. She squeezed her eyelids shut and rolled over in her bed, desperate to slide back into sleep.

The desire for more rest pressed at her body, but her mind had already passed into awareness. Not hurt, not sorrow, but the raw, bruised anger left over from the night before, sore from overindulgence of thought.

She’d stayed awake late into the night, allowing herself to be haunted by rage while planning how she could escape and where she might go.

She would stay in Scotland, venturing into the Lowlands, where she could easily win secrets and cards and opportunities to spy for high-paying noblility. Last night, she had figured it all out. Everything seemed so possible.

Still, the meager sleep she’d scavenged had not been enough to clear the shadows from her thoughts.

The savory scent of oatcakes and some kind of salted meat edged its way into her conscience with an insistence she could not ignore. Perhaps food might improve her mood.

She dressed quickly and made her way to the great hall, where Liv and Isabel were already sitting.

Connor, she noticed, was absent.

What was also impossible not to notice was Isabel.

She wore the same drab men’s clothing for training as both Ariana and Liv, but she’d rimmed her eyes in kohl, lending them an unnaturally bold feline appearance, and her lips were glossy and red with carmine.

“I once made a man leap into the Thames for me.” Her voice was so silky smooth, it came out like a purr.

Liv cast her a skeptical look as Ariana took a seat at the large table beside her.

“It’s true.” Isabel’s eyes widened beneath the kohl.

“And how, pray tell, did you accomplish that?” Liv asked and cocked her head to the side, a slight tilt denoting her disbelief.

Isabel leaned forward and licked her lips before speaking. “Because men are malleable. They will do anything you want so long as you know how to ask.”

“And I take it you know how to ask?” Ariana interjected.

Isabel’s sky blue eyes slid toward her. “Yes, I do. And I can teach you as well.” She winked.