Chapter 18

 

 

Malcolm braced himself at the sight of Noah in the Guild House basement, his worst fears materializing before his eyes, but he couldn’t show his feelings.

Boyd grinned in his face. “Ye see? I’m no’ such a slouch as all that. This boy was the only person who kenned where we were and when we left Stornoway to intercept the Prometheus. He’s the only one who could have warned them we were on our way, and he’s the only one who could have alerted them we had Vic on board.”

Vic launched herself at him in a rage. “You bastard! You took me on board that ship on purpose to put me in danger. Don’t you dare blame this on him. He didn’t do anything except sail you over to Lewis in the first place, and this is how you repay him.”

“Calm yerself, lass,” Boyd fired back. “We ken who our enemies are. He’s one of those vermin, and there’s only one fate good enough for them.” He pulled out his dirk and turned on Noah.

Vic screamed, “Don’t you dare touch him! If you harm him, you can forget about me helping you find my friends. You can do your worst, and good luck to you.”

“Ye’ll help us.” Boyd leered at her over his shoulder, but he didn’t take his blade away from Noah’s helpless form. “Ye’ll help us, or ye’ll watch me cut out every scrap of flesh from his pretty young body, piece by piece. Which one shall we take first? A kidney, perhaps? How about the spleen? Shall I make ye a present of it, lass, as a token of my appreciation in advance for yer help?” He turned to Noah and jabbed his dirk into the prostrate boy’s flank.

Vic launched herself forward.

Malcolm slammed his arm in front of her just in time. “Stand down, lass,” he snarled in her face. “Dinnae interfere.”

“Don’t interfere!” she shrieked at him. “Are you out of your mind? Do you know what he’ll do?”

“I’d advise ye to start talking,” Boyd added. “Tell me all ye ken about yer friend Ree’s activities in San Francisco to create the Cipher’s Kiss, or I’ll start carving on our young guest here.”

He pinched out a section of Noah’s skin below the rib cage and laid his dirk against it, letting the edge dig in. A film of blood curdled around the blade and dripped down Noah’s side.

The boy lurched into consciousness with a terrified shriek. He jerked against the ropes holding him. His eyes flashed around the ring of faces, but he couldn’t break free.

“You son of a bitch!” Vic bellowed. “I’ll never forgive you for this. I never should have told you anything.”

“If you hadnae told me anything before,” Boyd snarled, “ye’d tell me now.”

“I already told you everything I know,” she yelled. “Let him go.”

“Ye’ve no’ told me everything,” he chided. “Ye’re hiding something, even now. Go on. Tell me all ye ken, or ye’ll watch me kill him before yer eyes.” At that, he jerked his dirk back and sliced into Noah’s skin, carving off a hunk and leaving a tattered hole in his side.

Noah let out an ear-splitting screech and struggled against his bonds as blood flowed into his kilt where his belt held it around his waist.

Vic rocketed forward.

Malcolm caught hold of her just in time and held her back. “No, lass!” he growled in her ear. “He’ll kill ye too.”

“I don’t care!” she roared. “You bastard! I hate you! I’ll kill you for this. I’ll never forgive you for this.”

Boyd took hold of Noah’s ear and rested his blade against the boy’s scalp. “Tell me the name of yer friend’s company that ye work for in the future.”

“It’s Primary Industries!” she shrieked. “We work for Primary Industries. Let him go, and I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”

“Ye’ll tell me everything I want to know either way,” he returned. “Now tell me the names of all yer competitors.”

Vic slackened in Malcolm’s arms. Her heart thundered against his sternum, but she gave in just a fraction of an inch. “We only have one competitor, and that’s Allied Chemical.”

“Now tell me the names of all yer friends,” Boyd ordered. “Who else works for the company besides Ree Hamilton?”

Vic tensed against Malcolm’s chest. The moment she paused, Boyd flexed his shoulders and sliced down hard, severing Noah’s ear off his head to expose the bare skull underneath.

Noah let out a shriek that shot to Malcolm’s brain. Blood poured down Noah’s jaw, and he convulsed against the ropes.

Vic screamed and flailed against Malcolm’s grip. “You bastard!”

Boyd flipped the disembodied ear between his thumb and forefinger. “Ye have no notion what a bastard I can be. If ye dinnae want to watch him torn to bits, ye’d best tell me what I want to ken and hold nothing back.”

Noah roared in agony and rage, “Tell him nothing, lass! Tell him nothing!”

Vic shook with sobs. “You son of a bitch! You stinkin’ son of a bitch! I’ll never help you again.”

Boyd spun around and stabbed his dirk into Noah with all his strength. The speed and force of his movement shifted his blow a few inches to one side, and instead of slamming into Noah’s heart, it drifted to the left and embedded in his side. It thunked into the flesh up to the hilt, and the blade stuck out of Noah’s back just above the scrap of flesh Boyd had carved off.

Noah collapsed. His shoulders yanked the ropes when his legs gave out, and he hung unconscious by his wrists again.

Vic buried her face in Malcolm’s chest and convulsed with sobs. Her tears soaked through his shirt as he hugged her head close to his heart. If only he could find a way to protect her from this, he would gladly die to do it.

Malcolm stared at the fallen figure of his friend, but he had to stifle his own feelings. He’d seen more than one of his brothers cut to pieces, and the sinking anguish didn’t get any easier with the passing years. One of these days, he himself would hang from that bar. He’d prefer to die there himself than stand aside and watch one of these glorious immortals fall to their bitter enemies.

Boyd tossed the ear at Noah’s feet and waved his bloodstained hand. “Get her out of here.”

Malcolm didn’t wait for the Gunns to take her away from him. He steered her shaking form up the steps and down the hall, upstairs to her room, and sat her down on the bed. She covered her face with her hands and gave vent to her sobs.

Malcolm drew in a shaky breath. He had to hold himself together for both their sakes. At least she could cry for Noah. That was a lot more than he could do. He crossed to the washstand and wet a towel. He brought it back to her, but she wouldn’t take her hands away from her face.

He dropped to his knees in front of her and pried her hands down. “Now, now, lass,” he murmured. “Dinnae take on so.”

Her swollen face twisted all the wrong ways. “He’s dead! He killed him, and for what?”

“He’s no’ dead, lass,” Malcolm whispered. “He was still breathing when we left. Boyd’ll keep him alive a while longer before he puts an end to him.”

“What are we gonna do?” she moaned. “If he finds out about you, he’ll do much worse to you. You know that, don’t you?”

He wiped the wet towel over her forehead and down her cheeks. “Wheesht, lassie. I’m no’ dead yet.”

Her eyes popped open wide. “You have to get out of here, Malcolm. You have to escape while you can. I’ll distract him. I’ll tell him what he wants to know while you make a run for it. It’s the only way.”

“Och, lass,” he chided. “I cannae leave ye here with him to save me own skin. That’d no’ be the gentlemanly thing to do.”

“I mean it, Malcolm. I can’t let this happen to you. You have to run for it. Your friends will take you to America. You have to get out while you can,” she pleaded.

He laid the cool towel against her burning skin. “Och, lassie, if I left now, ye’d be stuck here for life. Ye’d no’ get back to yer home—ever. Do ye no’ understand that? Ye’d be Boyd’s prisoner in me place. I cannae allow that.”

She wiped away tears and smoothed back her hair, trembling as she struggled to quell her tears.

Just for an instant, he found himself gazing up at the woman he’d held in his arms in that crate. God, she was precious to him beyond words! He could never let any harm come to her, even if it meant dying in this house.

“You…you know how to send me back?”

“Aye, lass,” he breathed. “I ken how to send ye back. I ken the spell.”

“Then it could have been—” She halted.

They gazed at each other in silent understanding.

Malcolm looked away first, not wanting to say it out loud. He didn’t even want to think it.

There weren’t many people in the world who could have sent her back here unawares. He might be one of a handful of highly ranked Falisa who knew that spell. He couldn’t guess how many remained in 2018, but he could have been the one who sent her back.

Looking at her tear-streaked face right now, he could understand why he would have done it, and it didn’t have anything to do with the Cipher’s Kiss. He wanted her for himself. He wanted this one piece of contentment and happiness in compensation for centuries of service to his people. Why couldn’t he have that? Didn’t he deserve it?

He got to his feet. He didn’t want to leave, but he couldn’t stay here. He couldn’t let Boyd suspect there was anything going on between him and Vic. He laid his hand against her cheek. “Try to rest, lass. I’ll see what I can do for Noah later. Ye must reserve yer strength before Boyd makes another try at getting what he can out of ye.” He turned toward the door.

She called after him, “He’ll try to find out what other Angui I know about. You know that, don’t you?”

He stopped in his tracks but didn’t trust himself to turn around. He dreaded seeing the expression on her face. Of course he knew. Boyd would stop at nothing to force Vic to reveal everything she knew. If he succeeded, if he managed to break her great spirit, he would find out about Malcolm. The jig would be up, and Malcolm would be just as finished as Noah was downstairs.