Page 103 of Her Reluctant Highlander Husband

Feeling the dirk still sheathed at her side, she devised a plan. It would take quick work on her part, but her need to see Bryce drove her up to her feet.

In a flash she kicked out, hitting the man holding her horse in the leg, causing him to crumble in pain. Grabbing the reins from her brother in one hand, she came up with her dirk in the other and slammed the blade into his chest.

He gasped and stepped back, a look of shock on his face. She’d spent the last years at Baehaven being as quiet as a mouse. But now she had something worth fighting for. A new, happy life. She’d not let the McCurdys take another minute of it.

“I want to thank ye, brother.” She said the last word with a sneer. “Ye married me off to the best man possible. I’m now part of a family. I’m loved. And you and your ill-begotten sire will soon be dead and forgotten.”

He slumped to the ground and she lifted her leg to mount. He grabbed her ankle, hissing a curse and tugging at her. But he was weakened from his injuries, and she was able to kick at him to gain her release.

Once mounted, she hissed at the pain in her arm. She hadn’t even noticed her brother had cut her while she was fighting him. Blood flowed freely from a cut on the inside of her arm and dripped from her fingertips.

She wanted to leave immediately, but she needed to see it done. She waited the few moments it took to see Wallace’s chest stop moving with breath.

Then leading her horse away, she hurried toward Baehaven.

…

“Bryce, come in here,” Lach called from the upper corridor in Baehaven.

When he entered the dim, shabby room he found Dorien weeping. The man brushed by Bryce’s shoulder as he fled. Lach wrenched the boards from the window, letting light into the space. Seeing it fully didn’t help. Quite the opposite. A broken bed had been pushed in the corner. A small pile of well-worn books sat next to it. The only other object in the room was a wash basin on a stand in the opposite corner.

Cam squinted at the wall. “What the bloody hell…?”

Bryce gasped when he turned to see what Cam had noticed. Thousands of small lines covered the wall beside the door.

Lachlan came to stand next to him. “This room had been barred from the outside. I think this is probably where Dorie was kept prisoner.”

“For this long.” Bryce stepped closer, noticing the clusters of lines where his wife had kept track of the days, months, and years of her empty existence as a captive in this castle. She’d told him it had been nine years, but knowing that and seeing it broken out by days like this put it all in a different perspective.

He noticed how the lines started a vibrant black but later turned to a russet brown. “Christ,” he whispered. “She ran out of ink and started marking the days with her own blood.”

Bryce thought he’d be ill. If the McCurdy weren’t already dead, he’d take his time punishing him for this. Even if the old laird hadn’t known, he should have. And he should have saved her.

Bryce swore he would track down Wallace and end him.

“She’s safe now,” Lach reassured him. “She’s free to live a happy life with you. She’ll never have to live like this ever again. Thanks to you.”

Guilt over the way he’d treated her at first made his stomach twist even more, but he promised himself he would make sure the rest of her days were spent happy and loved. He knew well enough how memories faded, even when one tried desperately to hold on to them. He would give her better memories so the ones of this place would fade quickly into nothing.

Bryce found his father-in-law outside. The tears were gone but the viscount still looked distraught.

“Are you well?” Bryce asked.

Dorien offered him a strained smile. “My life wasn’t the way it should have been. I should have brought her with me. We could have raised Dorie together. My daughter never would have been punished for having my blood and held prisoner in that wretched room.”

Bryce sighed. “My life isna the way it should have been, either. If Maggie and Isabel had lived, my daughter would be almost fourteen years. We would have gone on rides, talking of her dreams.” He smiled and let that life drift off in the breeze. “But this life is going to be great as well. I have Dorie. She makes me happy. Mayhap we’ll be blessed with children. I’ll never forget the ones I loved before, but I’ve been given a second chance for happiness. I’ll not let it get away.”

“I married Harriet while my heart was still here in Scotland. It was impossible not to notice all the ways she wasn’t like the woman I’d loved. It wasn’t fair to her. She’s an amazing woman who’s borne me four wonderful children. I do love her. I see that now. I wish she were here now to ease my sorrow over Dorie. Harriet deserves better. I vow to do better by her.”

“There’s still time,” Bryce said. “Not many people find happiness at all. We should be grateful for finding it twice.”

They stepped out into the sunlight. A beautiful day for new beginnings.

At first Bryce thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. It would explain the reason he saw Dorie riding toward them on a horse, her gown covered in blood. When Dorien gasped next to him, Bryce realized the viscount saw her, too.

“Is she really here?” Bryce asked.

“Dear God, let her be all right,” Dorien said, then took off running with Bryce right behind him. Bryce passed Dorien and got to her faster. Just in time for her to topple from her horse into his arms.