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He propped one leg on a rock and took out a small piece of parchment, then a thin stick of charcoal. “Secret tunnel found. Meet me in a sennight in the village.”
He didn’t trust the exact location of the tunnel to the bird. There was always the danger someone else would catch it. He attached the parchment to the pigeon’s foot. The birds from Dunollie have been delivered to Amhladh a couple of days ago, and this one would have no problem finding its way home.
He let the bird fly, and it quickly disappeared into the mist. He was lucky it was foggy, and the bird probably wouldn’t be noticed. And even if it was, no one would be able to shoot it down in this weather.
Last night, he’d poured more sedative into the guards’ mouths to buy himself more time to see where the tunnel led to and if it was safe to use. He’d had to walk and then crawl in the complete darkness, but had eventually come out on the other side of the moat.
He would finally be successful in his mission. Even his mistake with Lachlan hadn’t changed his plan much. Yes, he’d had to pay the red-haired woman almost all of his savings to keep her mouth shut. He’d smuggled her out while the debauchery was ongoing and the guards were distracted, then told her to go to France. With the money he’d given her, she could make a decent start. And he’d put the fear into her that if she ever told anyone anything, he’d come for her.
He'd known that threat would likely keep her quiet until he’d found the tunnel, at least—she didn’t know he’d never harm her. Soon he’d get the MacDougall reward and be gone, and no one would find him.
He wouldn’t harm the MacDougall lass, either. She hadn’t done anything wrong, and she wasn’t on Craig’s side. Hamish needed more information, but his hunch told him she wasn’t a threat. If anything, she could be useful to distract Craig if needed. It was clear to him now that the man had fallen in love with her.
In any case, she’d helped Hamish find the tunnel. Now he just needed to make it out of the castle alive when the MacDougalls came and Craig found out that Hamish had been to blame all along.
Chapter 29
One week later…
“I want ye to ken, Amy,” Craig said one morning at breakfast. “I decided to allow ye to go to the storeroom in the Eastern tower alone. The guards will let ye pass.”
Amy stilled with her spoon of oats in her hand. “What?”
“I said I love ye, but I didna behave like I did.” He cleared his throat, his eyes soft and light, the color of grass toasted under the summer sun.
The past week had been the happiest time of her life. She felt drunk with love and happiness, although the guilt of keeping something important from Craig weighed on her every second of the day.
But she couldn’t bring herself to tell him the truth. How could she deliberately break his heart? That’s why she hadn’t yet tried to leave again.
And now, he’d taken the last of his defenses down.
He would let her go there alone.
He trusted her completely.
And she was going to destroy him.
Her throat clenched, her airways closing. She fisted the material of her dress.
Breathe.
Breathe.
She sucked in the air.
Her own lies were trapping her.
“And ye said ye love me, too. So I trust ye to stay. I trust ye to be on my side. Even though all my instincts scream at me not to. But I will.”
Amy had to close her mouth to stop herself from saying, “You shouldn’t.”
Because she was still leaving. For Jenny. And because sooner or later, Craig and everyone else would find out about her true identity. And about time travel.
And, most importantly, how could she bear seeing the hurt in his eyes when he learned she’d lied?
So it was better to go now. Today. Now that the way was clear, she only needed to figure out how to activate the portal. She wondered why Hamish hadn’t suggested trying again.
“Thank you, Craig,” she mumbled.
