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“Nothing will happen to Josh,” Christian said firmly, knowing that this was another loss that he would never be able to bear. Josh was his brother.
“I hope so.”
“Prepare for the funeral rites of the laird, Harriet,” he informed her, and Harriet nodded, walking away while Christian quickly made his way towards Josh’s bedroom and entered inside.
He looked like his same old self, just slightly paler and worryingly sick. It was evident that the wound was truly very deep and was influencing Josh. His eyes opened the moment Christian walked inside, and he tried to sit up in bed, despite clearly being in pain.
“Are ye well?” Christian asked, worried for him too.
“I am… fine,” Josh croaked out, his words coming out in nothing more than a whisper, “Keira.”
“Where is Keira, Josh?” Christian asked, sitting down beside him. Josh was the one person after Keira who could see Christian’s vulnerable side. “We searched for her in the entire alley, but she was nowhere to be found. We instead found the Laird O’Donnelly. Dead.”
“Her faither?” Josh asked, his words muffled as if speaking was an effort.
“Yes,” Christian nodded, “what happened there? Do ye remember anything? Do ye ken where Keira could be?”
“We… we reached there and found out that it was all a fluke,” he said slowly, “we had been… been lured there by someone. Before I ken what was happening, someone… hit me over the head with a cudgel, and I fainted, and Keira was still… with me throughout that time.”
“So, she has been kidnapped?” Christian asked, trying his best to keep his anger under control. He had never been more scared in his life.
“Yes,” Josh nodded, gulping.
“Do ye ken who it was?”
“I do nae ken,” Josh said, “but right before I fainted, I think I saw… Eric.”
Christian only saw red.
CHAPTER23
Keira opened her eyes slowly,adjusting to the darkness around her as she realized where she was. The bedchamber she had stayed in while she had been at the Gilmor castle. The chamber looked the same, and Keira did not understand why all of this was happening to her again.
It is like nothing ever changed, and I was always caught up here.
The time she had spent with Christian suddenly felt like a long-lost memory, or something conjured out of fiction as she began to remember everything that had gone down here, in this very chamber. She curled up into herself, remembering the pain she had been subjected to in this room, the bruises, and the beatings. She remembered everything she had endured.
“Christian, where are ye,” she whispered, tears beginning to stream down her face. Eric had killed her father right in front of her eyes.
I just want to run away. Will I ever be able to get out of here alive?
She looked up as she heard the door unlocking, and a single ray of light filtered in just as Eric walked inside the room. He looked the same as he had always looked. Classically handsome with a face that could never be seen as that of an unkind man. Only if people knew the monster that was hiding underneath his charm.
“Ye are awake,” he said softly, walking towards her. Keira pushed herself against the wall, raising her knees to her chest to protect her body from his torture.
“Why have ye brought me here, Eric?” she asked, fighting against the tears that were begging to escape yet again. She knew she could not appear weak in front of him. She could not afford to.
“Ye ken why,” he replied, sitting down on a chair in front of her while Keira remained on the floor. The countless times they had been in this exact similar position came back to her, and she felt as if she would crumble. She knew she needed to stand up against him, but her mind and body were refusing to obey. She was terrified and upset.
“Eric, ye need to let me go,” she said, her voice gaining strength, “ye can nae keep me here against my will.”
“Keira, forget all of this,” he said, coming down on his knees to sit in front of her, “I first wanted to apologize to ye.”
She backed away further, not wishing for him to touch her. by had never been more repulsed by any man the way she was repulsed of Eric. He had her father’s blood on his hands, and that was something Keira would never be able to forgive him for.
“For what?” she asked.
“I never meant to kill yer faither,” he whispered, running his hand through his hair as if the prospect frustrated him, “I truly wish he had nae come in our way, and he had nae tried to fight me off to protect ye. If he had nae interfered, I would have left him alive, I promise.”
