Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 36428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 182(@200wpm)___ 146(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 182(@200wpm)___ 146(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
“You idiots,” the short, wiry man said, then pointed to Dawn. “Do you have any idea who you abducted?”
“One of them is the one we were supposed to abduct,” one of the four men who had taken Lynall and Dawn said with a smug grin.
“So, what if we got an extra one, Larkin? We can enjoy her, then sell her. Besides, she’s a quiet one. Hasn’t said a word since we took her.”
“Is that so, Penn?” Larkin said, his nostrils flaring as he nodded his head. “Tell me, Penn, what lord in the Highlands has a wife with no voice?”
“Everybody knows it’s—” Penn muttered several oaths beneath his breath.
“Good, Lord! We abducted Lord Cree’s wife,” one of the other men said.
“He’ll kill us, every one of us, but not before he tortures us,” another man said. “I’m out of here. I want nothing to do with Lord Cree.”
“Too late,” Larkin snapped. “He’ll hunt you down no matter where you go.”
“What do we do?” the man asked.
“We leave her,” Penn said. “Lord Cree will be happy to find her and won’t bother with us.”
“You are an absolute idiot,” Larkin said. “I don’t know why I brought you with us.”
Penn stuck out his thin chest. “You brought me along because I’m a fog man, born and bred in it. There isn’t a fog I can’t make my way through. We take Lady Dawn with us and once we’re beyond the fog we leave her someplace safe where Lord Cree can find her.”
The other men there nodded, agreeing with Penn.
“That sounds perfect,” Larkin said with a forced smile and Penn and the other three men smiled along with him. “Except for one thing,” he snapped. “Lord Cree is probably searching for her as we speak.”
“No one can get through this fog except for me,” Penn said.
“You really think a fog will stop Lord Cree from finding his wife?” Larkin asked and watched as the men’s smiles faded and they stared past Penn to Lady Dawn, who stood by the cold hearth shaking her head.
“We’re dead men,” one of the men said, and shivered.
Dawn kept her arm snug around Lynall. She hadn’t stopped shivering since they were abducted. She wished for the warmth of a fire but knew they wouldn’t get one, the smoke too easy to scent. She was relieved that they had at least taken shelter in an abandoned home, away from the fog and chill. She hoped the men would continue to waste time arguing, giving her husband more time to find her.
“We leave her here and get moving,” one man said.
A lone howl sounded, and every man’s hand went to the hilt of their sword.
“We need to get moving,” Larkin said. “Lord Clouston has probably grown impatient with us being late in delivering his niece to him.”
“What about her?” Penn asked with a nod at Dawn.
“We take her with us and drop her at that small abbey we passed on our way here. The nuns will look after her until Cree finds her, and he may look kindly on us that we left her in a safe place,” Larkin said, hoping it would be so. “Now let’s go before the wolves find us.”
“We have a better chance surviving the wolves than Lord Cree,” one of the men said and the others mumbled, agreeing.
“I cannot let my uncle get me,” Lynall whispered to Dawn as the men began to file out of the shelter. “He intends to wed me to a cruel man in exchange for more influence and power. But I am already wed,” —her hand went to rest on her stomach— “and with child barely two moon cycles now, and I have yet to tell Sim.”
Dawn wrinkled her brow.
Lynall understood Dawn’s expression. “You thought Sim was wed to Brigid. Brigid’s husband Gillean is away, though due back soon. He and Sim are longtime friends and he watches over Brigid and Tade for him while he is gone.”
“Move!” Penn ordered the two women and gave Dawn a shove in the side to get them moving.
She cringed and Lynall tightened her hold on Dawn’s arm and whispered, “He disturbed your wound.”
Dawn nodded, the pain still radiating through her.
“Lean on me, walking will not be easy for you now,” Lynall urged.
Dawn nodded again, praying that Cree would not take long to find them.
Once all were gathered outside, Larkin ordered. “Stay close. The wolves cannot find us with our scents masked.”
“Are you sure the women’s scent is masked enough?” one of the men asked.
“Aye,” Penn said, “that Ulfr warrior left enough for us to use on them.”
After walking for a while, Dawn wondered how Penn could make his way through the fog so easily. He didn’t hesitate or falter in his steps. He walked as if the path was clear to him.
Werewolf.
She was being foolish. She was seeing werewolves everywhere since lodging at Clan MacMadadh. But what other than being a werewolf could explain his ability to navigate the fog so easily?