Highlander’s Wicked Desire (Wicked Highlanders Book 2)

by Fiona Faris

  “God in heaven preserve us from these demons!” A man came running down the stairs screaming. He ignored James and the soldier completely as he fled the onslaught of carnage.

  Smiling, James climbed the stairs. When they stepped foot on deck, it was a bloody grotesque scene of panic and human gore. “What in God’s name have you done?” the soldier asked in shock.

  “Whatever it takes,” James answered and moved across the blood-soaked deck toward the bow. Men ran screaming and yelling, attempting to escape it all. One sailor sat off to the side muttering to himself in what sounded like Welsh, a human femur bone protruding from his right shoulder. Another had been knocked unconscious by a chunk of human skull. James ignored it all, making his way as swiftly as he could to Elizabeth, using the confusion to his advantage. The soldier who had been escorting him stood dazed in the middle of the ship as he surveyed the disaster. “Elizabeth,” James called down to her from the railing.

  “James?” she called back. “Oh, James,” she sobbed, turning her eyes up to meet his. Being beneath the bow she had managed to mostly avoid the carnage above decks.

  “Hold on, love. I am comin’ for ye.”

  “Nay, ye are not,” Declan Carr replied from behind him, the sound of a pistol being cocked at his ear stopped James mid-step. James turned around to face his enemy. “Ye are mine now, Scotsman. Shall I kill ye now or wait and make ye watch as I ravish my bride.”

  “She is nae yer bride, she is mine,” James bit out, “and I would kill ye afore ye e’er had the chance.”

  Declan laughed heartily at that. “Ye would not have a choice.”

  “My Lord, I must protest. The Scotsman is to stand trial back in England. I have my orders and I must obey them to the letter,” the soldier attempted to govern the Irishman’s actions. “I would have no choice but to take Your Lordship into custody if you were to act otherwise.”

  Declan turned and shot the soldier through the head without a word, then turned back to James before he could do anything but watch. “Now, where were we? Ah, yes, I was attempting to decide whether to kill ye now or later.”

  “Ship, ho!” A sailor called down from the crow’s nest.

  “Whose colors?” Declan called back in question.

  “Ours, My lord.”

  “That will be my men joining us,” a man that James knew could only be Elizabeth’s father announced. He had apparently hidden himself in the captain’s cabin when the volley of blood descended, for he had far less damage to his clothing than anyone else.

  “Good,” Declan smiled. “We may not be able to wipe the devils off the face of their island; but we can certainly do significant damage with two ships worth of cannon fire and the sight of their laird hanging like a common criminal from the yardarm as we sail away. They will not always be so united. We can always return with a larger force at a later time.”

  “Nae!” James shouted. “Me people have done nothin’ tae ye.”

  “Nay, but I will enjoy the raping and slaughtering nevertheless.”

  “I will kill ye afore this is o’er,” James promised. He did not know how he was going to do it with the other English ship fast approaching, but he was determined not to leave the man alive to further harm Elizabeth or his people. He cursed the soldier for discovering him below decks and for dying without helping Elizabeth, as he had promised. Declan motioned for James to move toward the main mast and yelled for a sailor in the rigging to throw him down the end of a rope. The sailor did as bidden, and Declan had another man tie the noose. Two of the sailors stepped forward and placed the noose around James’ neck. James fought them off throwing them across the blood strewn deck.

  “Halt,” Elizabeth’s father roared from the bow of the boat, and the sound of a cocking pistol split the air. “Move again and I will shoot her,” he threatened, pointing the pistol at Elizabeth.

  “Ye wouldnae kill yer own daughter,” James argued in disbelief, his heart in his throat threatening to choke him.

  “You underestimate me, Scotsman. I would kill her thrice over if it served my purpose. However, I do not have to kill her to shoot her. There are many ways to make her suffer without killing her and every moment of her pain would be your fault. Perhaps I will first shoot her breast, then fingers, and toes. How does that sound? Is that something that you could live with?”

  “Nae, dinnae harm her. I will do as ye ask.” James stood still, looking toward Elizabeth in utter agony.

  “Do not hurt him!” Elizabeth cried out from the bow. He knew that she could not see what was happening, but it was clear that she could hear every word.

  “Quiet,” her father barked.

  “No!” She cried out in defiance. “Let him go!”

  “Silence or you will lose something far more precious than a finger!”

  “Elizabeth, dinnae put yerself in danger for me. Live. Live and God will deliver ye from these evil men. I swear tae ye that nae matter what happens tae me, ye will nae be abandoned. I swear it, me love.”

  “James,” Elizabeth sobbed.

  “It will be alright, lass; dinnae fash for me. Ken that nae matter where ye are, there me soul will be also. I will ne’er leave ye, life nor death can change that.”

  “Forever?”

  “Forever,” he swore and then felt the rope tighten around his neck. “Forever and a day.”

  Declan gave the order for the sailor in the rigging to heft up the rope. The Irishman chuckled. “So much for your promise to kill me.”

  “Oh, I will keep me promise, Irishman, e’en from the grave. Yer blood will be ended by mine.” James promised, smiling at the thought of what Robbie would do to the man that killed his brother. “I will have me revenge.” The rope closed tight around his neck and lifted him onto his toes cutting off his breath.

  “Not before I have mine,” Declan growled and motioned for the sailor above to finish the job.

  James felt himself being lifted off the ground, but his neck did not snap as it was a slow progressive process. Instead he would die for lack of breath. James kicked and fought against the pull of the rope as the blackness enveloped him. The crack of a gun nearby caused his heart to cease beating. Elizabeth!

  Chapter Thirty-One

  “James!” Elizabeth screamed, pulling James out of the darkness. To his surprise he was lying upon the deck, alive and breathing. He sat up and looked about him. The sounds of battle were all around him, and he attempted to sort through the confusion.

  “Are ye alright there, James? Still among the livin’ I see and nae a moment tae soon.” James looked up into the man’s face above him in shock.

  “Duncan?” he croaked out in shock.

  “Aye, me friend. ‘Tis time that I repaid me debt tae ye.”

  “How?”

  “Ian.”

  “But where did ye get the English soldiers? How?” he was confused as he saw Sassenachs fighting against Sassenachs all around them, intermingled with the occasional Scot.

  “Ian found proof that both of the Earls played a role in the murder o’ a noblewoman. It didnae take much tae convince the king’s men tae intervene when they discovered the truth.”

  “Elizabeth?”

  “I dinnae ken where she is. I heard her cry out, but I have nae seen any lassies.”

  James scrambled to his feet and stumbled over to the bow of the ship. He looked down at her and found that she had passed out. “Duncan, help me!”

  Duncan moved to lean over the side of the ship and see what he was looking at. “Och, man. How did she get there?”

  “Her own faither.”

  “The bastard,” Duncan growled in disapproval.

  The two of them crawled out and cut Elizabeth free and drug her back onto the ship’s blood-stained deck. She fell to the wooden floor and James scooped her up in his arms, kissing her face over and over again. She roused from her faint and opened her eyes. “James,” she whispered. “I thought ye were dead.”

  “So did I,” he whispered, his voic
e hoarse from the rope bruises around his neck.

  Elizabeth wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest. “Oh, my love,” she sobbed.

  “Dinnae fash, lass; we are alive and together. That is all that matters.” He soothed them both with his words, touching every part of her body that he could reach.

  Duncan stood in front of them and parried a blow from an attacker. James rose and placed Elizabeth behind him, using his body to shield her. He picked up a sword from the fallen man nearest him and moved forward to stand at Duncan’s flank. The two of them fought side by side with such ferocity that those they faced could not hide the fear in their eyes. Together they were an unstoppable force, felling men as they advanced forward, protecting Elizabeth. James saw Ian fighting not far from where they stood and nodded in gratitude when their eyes met for the briefest of moments. Ian nodded in return then continued to fight on. Hot blood sprayed across James’ face, reminding him that he was still alive. The thought gave him a surge of energy that allowed him to cut down his enemies with such force that two of the men turned and ran away instead of facing his fury.

  When the battle ended, there were many men who lay dead upon the deck, with many others taken prisoner. Among them was Elizabeth’s father. James scanned the faces of the dead and the living, looking for Declan Carr but did not find him among either. “Where is the bastard Irishman? Where is the Earl o’ Shea?”

  “Is he nae among the men?” Duncan asked coming to stand beside him.

  “Nae, the bastard is nae here.”

  “Some o’ the men jumped ship and were met in battle by yer men on the island. Perhaps he is one o’ them.”

  James turned to Ian. “Search the ship. Dinnae leave a single board unexplored.”

  “If he is here, I will find him,” Ian promised.

  James nodded and turned back to Elizabeth. Lifting her up into his arms, he carried her over to the rope ladder leading down to the waiting dinghy. Duncan climbed down ahead of them and then James handed Elizabeth down to him in the boat. An officer from Duncan’s ship walked over to James stopping him from climbing down after her. “I offer you the assistance of my men in apprehending the Earl of Shea.”

  “Nae, but I thank ye for the offer. If the Earl is on the island, we will find him.”

  “Very well,we will wait here for you to bring him to us; but let me be clear, Laird MacDonald, the Earl will face English justice for his crimes, not Scottish retribution.”

  “O’ course, Captain. I wouldnae dream o’ anythin’ else,” James half mocked the soldier, but knew it would be best for all concerned if he did as he was asked. He turned and climbed down the ladder.

  “Will ye really turn the bastard o’er tae the English?” Duncan asked.

  “I will do whatever it takes tae keep the redcoats off o’ me island,” James answered, gathering Elizabeth into his arms once more. “Are ye ready tae go home, wife?” he asked tenderly.

  “Yes, please,” she whispered and turned her face up to meet his kiss. “Husband,” she added with a smile. James smiled back and held her to his chest, as they both turned their eyes back toward Skye.

  When they reached the shore, they were met by Robbie who came running as soon as he had seen them. He was covered in blood and there were more than a few bodies littering the water’s edge. “The Irishman among them?” James asked gesturing toward the bodies.

  “Nae. Is he nae on the ship?” Robbie answered.

  “Nae, he disappeared sometime during the fight.”

  “I will send out men tae search for him immediately.”

  James nodded, and then turned to lift Elizabeth out of the boat. He carried her up through the rocks and into the courtyard. William met him at the gate. “’Tis good tae see ye both alive,” he greeted, grinning in relief. “We feared the worst.”

  “Aye, so did we,” James admitted. “Thanks be tae Duncan and Ian that we were saved at the last possible moment.” He could still feel the rope around his neck and suspected that he would continue to feel it for some time to come. “Declan Carr is still free. He is nae longer on the ship, and I suspect that he is somewhere on the island.”

  William’s jaw tightened in determination. “We will find him,” he swore and immediately began barking orders to the men closest to him. “Search every corner o’ the castle and the surroundin’ buildings! Leave nae stone unturned for that Irish bastard tae hide under!”

  James carried Elizabeth into the castle. “Make yerself at home, Duncan, while I see tae me wife.”

  “Aye, do what ye must. I will be here when ye are ready.”

  “I thank ye, me friend, for all ye have done.”

  “I am merely repayin’ a debt that is long overdue.” Duncan smiled and waved him off.

  James carried Elizabeth up the stairs to his chamber and laid her down upon the bed. He helped her to undress and then washed her naked body from the bowl of water on the washstand. Once she was clean, he tenderly tucked her beneath the blankets. Kissing her forehead, he moved to clean his own body of the blood and grime of battle and dressed in clean clothes. He wished more than anything to slip beneath the blankets with Elizabeth, but he would not rest until Declan Carr was found.

  James left Elizabeth sleeping in the kind of exhausted slumber that only comes to those who have faced death and somehow made it out alive. He met Duncan in the hall. “Where do ye want tae begin?” Duncan asked.

  “I dinnae ken, where would a rat go tae hide?”

  Duncan chuckled. “I dinnae ken; I would say England, but…” Duncan shrugged his shoulders as if to say they knew that that was not where he was hiding.

  “Aye, a good guess at any other time tae be sure.” James scanned the bustle of the people around them, every man searching for the escaped Earl. “He could be anywhere.”

  “Aye,” Duncan nodded. “If ye were him, where would ye hide?”

  “An abandoned croft, a cave,” James shrugged. “But he does nae ken the island as I do. E’en if his spies reported the lay o’ the land back tae him, ‘tis doubtful that he would have made it much past the water’s edge. Every man available is searchin’ the coast.”

  “Yer grandmaither’s auld croft is where ye killed that man o’ his, is it nae?”

  “Aye, and ‘tis nae far from the coast. Samuel and Agnes’ croft is also empty as I sent them tae Jura with Ian.”

  “We’ll start there then. It stands tae reason that if the spy knew o’ the croft, that the Earl may ken it as well.”

  “Aye,” James nodded. He and Duncan moved to the stables, saddled horses, and rode out. As they passed under the archway leaving the courtyard, James called up to William to tell him where they were going and that Elizabeth lay asleep within the castle. “Guard her with yer life.”

  “Aye, Laird, with me last dyin’ breath,” William swore meeting James’ eyes in earnest. James held his gaze for a moment of understanding between them, then he urged his horse forward.

  James and Duncan searched every abandoned croft, every cave, every rock crevice that James could think of that could have been traveled to by foot within the time that Declan had had to escape. They found no sign of him anywhere. Exhausted from his near-death experience at the end of a rope, followed by the battle aboard the ship, James turned his horse back towards Knock Castle. “Could he have drowned do ye suppose?” Duncan offered.

  “Nae, that bastard is tae evil by far tae die by a simple drownin’. I am beginnin’ tae believe it would take the fires o’ hell itself tae kill that man. He is as slippery as an eel, runnin’ away in the midst o’ battle like that.”

  “He is certainly a man without honor,” Duncan agreed.

  “I cannae escape the feelin’ that he has a plan. He is nae a man tae give up. He kens that he failed tae kill me and tae have Elizabeth. E’en if he did manage tae make it off o’ the island, he will return.”

  “Then we shall be ready for him,” Duncan answered in reassurance.

  “Will ye
stay at the castle tonight?”

  “Nae, I should return tae the ship and see that Ian has nae met with difficulty. I dinnae care tae leave him in the company o’ nae but Sassenach soldiers.”

  “Aye, I cannae blame ye there.”

  The two returned to the castle just as darkness began to fall across the land. The blood-red of the sun’s dying light was befitting of the day, as if in tribute. When they reached the castle, James dismounted and bid Duncan a temporary farewell. “I will return upon the morrow,” Duncan promised.