Bitter anger twisted my insides, shredding my righteous control.
How dare she?
Not only did she hide, not only did she turn her back on me, but she rushed back to him. Stayed with him. Kept out of sight inside that infernal castle.
They were lucky I hadn’t torched the place overnight.
Lord knows I wanted to.
I strapped on my knife belt, sliding the blade into the leather sheath. The cruel-edged hunter’s knife gleamed in the morning light, then sat snug in its home. In the empty cottage, I stood and collected my other, arguably more important, weapon and checked it over.
The large window, devoid of curtains, reflected back my image, and I grinned, posing. Quite the Rambo today.
But my levity was short-lived.
The anger rose and crashed over me in a wave.
I couldn’t handle this any longer. I’d been so patient, intending to take a gentler path with my courtship, but that was over.
She’d done this. Now she’d pay the price for the action she’d forced me to take.
Stowing the shotgun, I picked up my phone and cleared my throat, gazing out on the Highland glen.
Heavy clouds loomed, snow already falling in light scatters, adding to the thick drifts.
The call connected, the signal weak.
“Hello?” I said, my voice a perfectly pitched older woman. “Help. I need help. Please. I’m on Mhic Raith. The east side, just beyond Hill House. My husband has fallen, and I tried to get to our car but I’m lost. It’s so cold out here.”
The call handler started their same old spiel, but I hung up.
It was time to go.
With a flourish, I armed the explosive and set my trap—it was truly amazing what you could buy online—pulled on the too-tight coat, and set out to do what I should’ve done months ago.
Today, I’d take what was rightfully mine.
