The Viper Read online

  Mary gave her a look that suggested she was not as believing as her cousin, but neither of them pointed out the day was quickly fading. That it was the heart of summer was one of the only positives about their bleak situation. Unlike her last journey, there was little rain, and the nights in the mountains were cold but not unbearable.

  The sound of approaching hooves forestalled any more conversation. For a moment she wasn’t sure whether it was friend or foe. Her heart drummed in her frozen body. The remaining warriors fanned out in front of them to provide a barrier. But with only four of them, Bella knew their journey could well be at an end.

  Dear God, what will become of us?

  When three men rounded the bend ahead of them, Bella’s eyes immediately landed on the one who rode in front. She closed her eyes, relief crashing over her.

  The intensity of her emotions proved just how much she’d come to rely on him. No one was more surprised than she. Lachlan had gotten them this far with more skill and determination than she’d thought possible.

  For a man who shirked his duty as chieftain to his clan, he was a surprisingly competent leader. Not just competent, she admitted, strong. The other men might not like him very much—except for William—but they followed his orders without question. He might be cynical and opportunistic, but he was also clear-headed, confident, and efficient. He’d led them through seemingly impassable terrain and had managed thus far to evade the countless parties who pursued them.

  He’d kept them safe.

  But as much as she’d come to rely on him, she knew that he’d come to rely on her as well—which she suspected was a rarity. They were alike in that regard, she supposed.

  As decisive and efficient as he was at managing the men, he had little experience directing women and children. Sensing his frustration, she’d taken pity on him the first day, and in the intervening days they’d formed a silent partnership born of necessity—he took charge of their safety and she took charge of their spirits.

  She didn’t care if that was the only reason he talked to her. But telling herself that didn’t make her believe it. She was drawn to him, whether she wanted to be or not.

  She blanched as the men drew closer. Dirty and disheveled, covered with dust and dark red stains that could only be blood, they were peppered with cuts and bruises of varying degrees of severity. Thankfully, however, none of the injuries looked serious.

  “What the hell happened?” Robert—or Robbie, as the men called him—Boyd asked, before anyone else could.

  “An ambush,” MacRuairi said grimly. He waited for the frightened cries and gasps from the ladies to fade before he explained. “They were lying in wait in the pass a few miles ahead.”

  Were, she noted.

  “How many?” MacKay said.

  Lachlan shrugged, but Douglas answered proudly. “A score. Maybe a few more.”

  Bella’s heart rose to her throat. Good God! They should have been killed.

  “They’re taken care of?” Boyd asked.

  “Aye,” Douglas said. “I killed five myself.” The young knight pointed to Atholl. “The earl here took down almost as many.”

  Bella could guess who killed the rest.

  “Who were they?” Magnus asked.

  “Comyn’s men.” Lachlan glanced at Bella, almost as if to make sure the news that her husband’s men were looking for her did not distress her. “Someone will eventually come looking for them. We’ll have to take a different road.”

  Bella bit back her groan, knowing that couldn’t be good. The “roads” through the mountains were scarce, and anything off the main one was sure to be rough.

  Rough turned out to be an understatement. By the time MacRuairi gave the signal to stop for the night, they were all ready to collapse.

  Bella drew her horse to a halt and waited to be helped down. Like Bella, Margaret had been riding alone and was waiting as well. Unlike Bella, however, she didn’t have to wait long.

  Bella glanced over just in time to see Lachlan reach up and slide his hands around her cousin’s waist to help her down. It turned out the brigand could be quite solicitous—to everyone but her, that is.

  When he looked at her cousin, there was almost a hint of reverence in the brigand’s gaze. It was nothing like the hot, lusty way he looked at her. As if he were seeing her naked all over again.

  Her chest pinched. She quickly looked away. But the hurt wasn’t so easily dismissed.

  Just once she wished a man could look at her like that.

  It wasn’t Margaret’s fault. Her cousin was as sweet and innocent as a postulate. MacRuairi’s reverence was deserved.

  Bella was neither of those things.

  Magnus helped her down after he attended to Lady Mary, whose exhaustion had convinced her to ride with him. But it hadn’t deterred the girl’s interest in their leader. She seemed even less pleased by his solicitousness toward her cousin than Bella.

  “Your cousin is very sweet.”

  Bella almost smiled. She doubted Mary realized she was frowning. “Yes, she is,” Bella agreed.

  Mary looked as if she were trying to work out something in her mind. “Do you think what they say about him is true?”

  The spark of excitement in her eyes made Bella nervous. She knew some women found dangerous men irresistibly attractive, their naughtiness the very heart of their appeal.

  Who would be so silly and foolish? she thought glumly.

  She thought about how best to answer her, not wanting to pique the girl’s curiosity. Though she suspected from her own example that it would prove impossible. Men like MacRuairi made women curious. They made a woman want to dig down deep and find the kernel of good amongst all the bad, even knowing very well it was probably all rotten.

  It was intrigue and curiosity at work, nothing more—at least that’s what she told herself.

  “I suspect some of it is true and some exaggerated,” she hedged.

  Mary’s gaze flickered to him and back. “Do you think he killed his wife?”

  Bella quickly covered her shock and gave the girl a stern look. “You shouldn’t repeat such things. Of course it’s not true.” She conveniently ignored that she’d wondered the same thing. “Do you think your brother would put a man who’d killed his wife in charge of his family?”

  Mary had the good grace to blush, but the girl was not easily cowed. “I didn’t make it up. I’m only repeating what I heard.”

  Bella raised a brow. “How do you think he would feel if he heard you repeat such a thing?”

  Actually she doubted he would care, but Mary didn’t know that, and importing the lesson was what mattered.

  Mary’s eyes widened. “You won’t tell him?”

  Bella pretended to think about it. Her mouth quirked, trying not to laugh at the girl’s horrified expression. “I won’t if you promise to go to sleep right after the evening meal tonight. No more listening through the tent to the men’s conversation.”

  Rather than be embarrassed, Mary only giggled. “I find them very … instructive.”

  Bella tried not to laugh. No doubt very instructive. “Promise?”

  Mary nodded. “I’m so tired tonight, I doubt I could stay up if I wanted to.”

  Bella knew exactly how she felt. She couldn’t wait to collapse on her makeshift pallet of animal skins and thick woolen blankets. Tonight, she might even get some sleep.

  Lachlan sat alone in the dark, listening to the sounds of the forest. It was the dead of night; two, perhaps three hours after midnight. It was his favorite time of day. Everyone else was sleeping.

  Usually the sounds calmed him, but nothing could ease the restlessness teeming within him tonight. He’d volunteered for the watch, knowing he wouldn’t be able to sleep. Not with the battle lust still coursing through him.

  His mind went to one of the three tents behind him. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only kind of lust coursing through him.

  He got up angrily from the log he was sitting on and started t