The Rock Read online

  A few of the men exchanged glances, and Thom wondered what he’d said.

  “Well, that’s an understatement. I’d wager the English are still scratching their tails, wondering how we got in there.”

  Tail was a slur for coward, and Thom chuckled along with the others.

  The Highlander Magnus MacKay, who was leaning against a tree next to Thom, gave him a long look. “I have to admit I share Hawk’s healthy respect for heights.”

  “And for your wife?” Sutherland quipped.

  MacKay grinned; his wife, Helen, was Sutherland’s sister. “Aye, with her knowledge of plants, I’d better.” He turned back to Thom. “How do you get past it?”

  “The height?” Thom asked.

  MacKay nodded.

  He wasn’t aware Jamie had come up behind them until he heard him answer. “He doesn’t look down.”

  Surprised—actually, shocked as hell—at the easy reference to the day of their first meeting and what had solidified their friendship, Thom snapped his head around to look at him.

  There was something odd about Douglas’s expression. It took Thom a moment to pinpoint why: he wasn’t looking at him as if he was contemplating ways of sliding a blade between his ribs.

  “Can I speak with you for a moment?” Douglas asked.

  Thom nodded and stood from the rock he’d been sitting on. It wasn’t without some effort. His limbs ached from the long hours on horseback.

  He was sure Douglas noticed, but he refrained from making a remark. They moved a short distance away toward the small stream where they’d watered the horses. It wasn’t exactly a comfortable silence, but he waited for Douglas to break it. When he did, he said the last thing Thom expected.

  “Thank you,” Douglas said, stopping at the edge of the water and turning to face him. “I owe you . . .” His voice fell off, and when he spoke again, Thom could hear the emotion. “You saved my brother’s life.”

  Maybe he should have just accepted his thanks and left it at that. But too much had passed between them, and the past burned with too much resentment. “I wasn’t left with much of a choice, was I?”

  There was still enough light left to see the pulse below Douglas’s jaw tic, but it was clear he was making an effort not to lose his temper. “I couldn’t take any chances.”

  “You could have tried asking.”

  “You refused my sister, I didn’t think you would do it for me.”

  “That’s a pile of shite,” Thom said angrily. “You didn’t ask because you couldn’t stand the thought of lowering yourself to ask me for anything.”

  The anger and animosity were back, filling the air between them as they faced off in the semi-darkness.

  “Maybe because I knew how much pleasure you would take in refusing me,” Jamie snapped back.

  They knew each other too well—knew their weaknesses and the pride that was the source of the tension between them even when they were the closest of friends. Douglas was right. Thom would have refused, and after how they’d found Archie, the realization shamed him.

  The anger seeped out of him. He drew back and raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. “No matter how it came about, I’m glad that I could help, but I wasn’t alone.”

  Douglas gave him a wry look, apparently amused that Thom was seeking to share the credit. “Nay, but we wouldn’t have been able to do it without you.” His expression cracked, revealing the torment underneath. “Christ, if I hadn’t been so stubborn—if I’d listened to Ella and brought you in the first place we could have saved him two or three days of suffering. What he went through . . .”

  Archie had told them that they hadn’t had food in days, and the only water they had was from the rain that backed up from a drain in the floor. They’d been left to freeze every night, and the only time they’d seen light was when they were taken out to be beaten by the bored soldiers. Three of the men they’d arrived with they suspected had been killed.

  “MacKay said he will have no lasting injuries. He is fortunate nothing was broken.”

  Why the hell was he trying to give him comfort?

  “Maybe not his bones, but the spirit does not recover so easily. Christ, Archie told me they were planning to torture them. If we’d waited until tomorrow, God only knows in what state we might have found him.”

  Both men were silent for a while, staring at the slow-moving water before them. There wasn’t much that could be said. Finally, Douglas straightened and turned back to him. “Anyway, I meant what I said. You acquitted yourself well today, and we wouldn’t have been able to do it without you. For what it’s worth, you have my thanks.”

  Surprisingly, it was worth a lot. Thom nodded in acknowledgment, feeling as if an uneasy truce formed between them.

  “I probably should be thanking you,” he said after a minute.

  Jamie didn’t hide his shock. “For what?”

  “Giving me a chance to fight alongside the best warriors in Scotland—hell, probably in Christendom.”

  Only someone who knew him as well as Thom did would see the hint of wariness that returned to Jamie’s expression. But he needn’t worry; Thom wasn’t looking for confirmation. He didn’t need it. If these men weren’t Bruce’s illustrious Phantoms (and at least two were), then they might as well be.

  Perhaps recognizing that, Douglas relaxed. “Aye, they are that.”

  “They?” Not Douglas, too?

  Jamie lifted a brow. “If I didn’t know you better, I would think that was a compliment.”

  “And if I didn’t know you better, I’d think that was you being modest.”

  Jamie laughed, and Thom found himself smiling as well. For a moment, it almost felt like old times. The easy exchange, the jests, the prodding—he’d forgotten how it had been. It was probably why despite the danger he’d been enjoying himself so much the past couple of days. These men had a bond not unlike the one he’d had with Jamie all those years ago.

  He’d never let himself acknowledge how much he’d missed it.

  “What will you do now?” Jamie asked as they started to walk back.

  “Nothing as exciting as this. But thankfully not taking down any more castle walls—at least for a while. Although with the weeks of boredom ahead at Stirling during the siege, I might be wishing for an excuse to swing a hammer.”

  Jamie frowned. “I thought Ella said that you had something else to do first? Something about an engagement to the widow?”

  The reason for the frown became apparent. Undoubtedly, the knowledge of his betrothal had been met with considerable relief by Jamie—which might explain some of the easing of tensions between them—and he wanted to make sure what Elizabeth had told him was the truth.

  Thom nodded, allaying his fears. “Lady Marjorie Rutherford.”

  Douglas lifted both brows, clearly impressed. “I’ve met her before—you have done well for yourself.”

  Thom shrugged. “Nothing has been formalized.”

  “But it will be?”

  If the question was more intense than the situation warranted, Thom pretended not to notice. “Aye.”

  A broad smile spread across Jamie’s face, and once again, he was relaxed. “Well, then you have my congratulations. Jo will be beside herself with two betrothals to celebrate.”

  “Two?”

  Jamie stopped to stare at him, his expression recovering some of its wariness. “Ella didn’t tell you?”

  Thom heard the irritation in his voice. “Tell me what?”

  Sensing he wasn’t going to like what Douglas had to say, Thom braced himself.

  “My sister is to be betrothed to Randolph.”

  No amount of bracing could have prepared him for the blow. For the white-hot ball of pain that had shot into his chest and exploded.

  He flinched—maybe even staggered.

  Elizabeth was getting married.

  Why hadn’t she told him?

  Because he had nothing to do with it. She’d never looked at him as a potentia