The Condemned Highlander (Highland Intrigue Trilogy 2)

His arm went around her carefully, waiting to see if she winced and when she didn’t, he eased her against him.

“She told me Bliss is safe for now. She said again it is not time, though she did not say when it would be time. She told me we would speak again, that she would summon me when she wished to speak with me. She also told me she did not know if I was foolish or courageous.”

“You are both,” he said hastily and continued to walk, keeping her tucked in the crook of his arm.

Annis smiled. “You have come to know me well.”

“I believe I knew you when we first met, and you fainted.” He laughed. “And when you came to, your tongue was sharp and unafraid.”

“You were—”

“My charming self,” he finished with another laugh.

“Concerned,” Annis corrected. “Your charming nature distracted from the concern you had for me. It did not allow me to see your kind soul.”

“It sneaks out every now and then,” he whispered as if no one was to know. “Tell me more about the witch.”

“She told me there is far more danger to the curse than I know but said no more on it.”

Brogan did not like that, not at all. “I will not see you placed in danger for the sake of the curse.”

“We must do what must be done or many will continue to suffer. Besides, I have you to protect me,” she said with a playful poke to his side.

“Aye, you do, and I will protect you, but I have not the knowledge nor skill to keep you safe against the witch,” he admitted to his own annoyance.

“I cannot say if she wishes me harm. I believe she is here at this time for a specific reason and that somehow, I am part of that reason. We can only wait and see what that might be.”

“I am not a patient man when it comes to your safety. Did she say anything that made you feel you could be harmed?”

Think wisely of what you seek. The cost may be deadly.

Her warning rang in her mind.

“Tell me,” Brogan insisted, halting after seeing something had upset her. “And I trust you will not lie to me since I have my eyes on your nose.”

Annis chuckled and covered her nose.

Brogan smiled and brushed her hand away, and said softly, “Tell me, mo ghràdh.”

She repeated her exact words since they continued to toll in her mind. “Think wisely of what you seek. The cost may be deadly.”

13

Brogan watched Annis instruct the men in the various repairs that continued to be made to the existing dwellings and also discussing the new ones planned. At first the few men his father had sent with Brogan seemed annoyed at being here, and that a woman instructed them had ignited some tempers, but after barely three days that had changed. He had thought to warn the men, order them if necessary to follow Annis’s orders. It had not been necessary. Annis handled the men well, having learned from the last time she had been given an opportunity to instruct men and it not going well. This time, she had taken charge without the men realizing it. He noticed the men began to smile and laugh often, as if both had been foreign to them and now were becoming more commonplace.

It also was not lost on Brogan that the men had realized he was not the hard taskmaster his father was and that discovery had made all the difference.

“A word, my lord,” Rudd said.

Brogan stepped away from the tree he had been leaning against. “What is it, Rudd?”

“The men worry about the raven that shows up now and again to perch on a branch and watch them. They believe the bird is a bad omen.”

“I cannot say I blame them,” Brogan said, having caught the beady-eyed bird staring at him a few times. “But there is not much that can be done about it. The bird is free to fly where it wishes.”

“The men had thought of—”

Brogan did not let him finish. “If they think to harm the bird in any way, they will suffer harm themselves—at my hands. The raven is not to be touched.”

The screech of a bird had them both dropping their heads back to look at the overhead branches and see the raven sitting there staring down at them, issuing his own warning.

“I will make sure the men understand, my lord,” Rudd said and could not depart fast enough.

Brogan ignored the raven, since he had little other choice, his glance going to Annis. He was not surprised to see her looking to the hills. Three days and no word from the witch had Annis concerned. He was more worried about her meeting the witch again. How did he protect her when he was not able to see her through the mist? And how did he fight against a witch?