Page 79 of Highland Spy

Like usual.

For Cora. For Urquhart.

For his people.

The tension in his chest was squeezing, squeezing, squeezing.

He was at the base of the stone wall with the golden glow of the window above like a beacon.

One hand over the other, he began to climb the wall in the concealing cloak of darkness and heavy fog.

Tonight, he would kill.

• • •

Time stood breathlessly still.

Ariana semi-rose into a poised crouch, her gaze darting between Connor’s dark form against the castle wall and the figures shadowed in the thick veil of fog.

Connor moved with the incredible grace she’d come to expect from him. He had been almost invisible in his sprint up the grassy hill and though he’d only just begun the short climb toward the window three man-lengths high, his movements were nimble and silent.

Something showed through the fog to the right of where Connor climbed.

Ariana’s heart skipped, a quick thudding in her chest. She strained her eyes against the wispy gray fog.

A man.

Someone was approaching.

She hastily stood on legs grateful to be straight once more and made her way toward the man.

“Sir,” she called in Gaelic. “Sir, can ye help me?”

The man stopped and turned toward her. “I’m sure I can do something to help ye,” he said.

Their exchange had not impacted Connor’s steady pace.

“What’s a bonny lass like yerself need on an awful night like this?” The guard stopped just under Connor’s feet and looked down the gentle sloping hill toward her.

She did not make her way to him, hoping to lure him down. “I canna find the entrance to the manor,” she said.

“Ach, ’tis easy. Ye go back that way.” He pointed to the left. “It’ll be right there.”

Connor was near the window now.

So close.

The guard’s neck craned upward ever so slightly.

“What if I stay here a moment longer?” Ariana asked hastily, perhaps too hastily.

But the guard returned his attention to her with a quirked eyebrow. “Surely ye’d rather be inside with all the young men.”

She walked up the sloping hill toward him then and slipped her fingers through the open pocket of her dress, where her dagger was strapped to her thigh beneath.

Just in case.

“Perhaps I’d rather be here,” she said in a low voice.