Highland Thirst Read Online Free Page B

alive.”
    “He
will be worth it only if he begins to tell us what we need to know.”
    “True.
Mayhap if the arrogant bastard realizes that he is now the prey and nay the
predator, he will start telling us all his secrets in some vain attempt to save
his worthless hide. And now let us speak of Brona.”
    “Ah,
aye, my sweet wee cousin whom ye have been sniffing around for years. Are ye
sure ye still want her?”
    “Aye,
I do and I want her soon. She is two and twenty now and ripe for a mon.”
    “She
doesnae seem verra interested in ye, Angus.”
    “She
will learn to be. She just needs to be ridden hard a few times. So? When can I
marry her?”
    “Soon,
my friend. Verra soon. Just allow me to finish with the MacNachton first.
Either the blood will hold the answer I seek or he is useless to me and I will
be rid of him.”
    Angus
cursed. “What does that business matter? How does my wedding Brona possibly
affect that?”
    “Because
I think my cousin willnae come to the marriage willingly and we will need to be
able to watch her verra closely until the deed is done. Come, dinnae look so
fierce. Ye ken that I want ye to wed with her. ‘Tis the perfect answer to both
of our problems. Ye will get the woman ye have been lusting after for years and
I will get her dowry to fill my empty purse. I dinnae think ye will need to
wait too much longer. MacNachton will soon be dead or he will become our own
source of the potion that will bring us superior strength and long lives.”
    Brona
heard the clink of two tankards knocking together and knew the men were giving
each other a silent toast to the success of their plans. Numb with shock, she
decided she had heard all she could stomach for now and she started on her way
back to the solar. It was not only MacNachton she needed to worry about now.
Her own life was in danger for she had no doubt that marriage to Angus Kerr
would kill her, if not in body, certainly in mind and spirit.
    She
reached her bedchamber without anyone seeing her, much to her relief. Brona was
sure that anyone meeting her would have immediately seen that something was
wrong and she doubted she could have given them a plausible excuse for her
obvious upset. Washing up and changing into her night shift, she crawled into
her small bed. Thor immediately curled up on the sheepskin rug by the side of
the bed and Havoc sought his usual place at her feet, but she did not find the
comfort she usually did in their presence. She needed to think about all she
had heard and make some very hard decisions.
    Sir
Heming MacNachton concerned her first. He truly had drunk Peter’s blood. It was
hard to believe that a man would do such a thing, but she doubted Angus and
Hervey were mistaken. They had obviously expected MacNachton to do just what he
had done. And yet they did not think MacNachton was a demon. Despite hearing
what he had done, Brona could not make herself believe it either. But what
could he be if not a demon?
    She
thought of the man she had seen in the cage, of his wild beauty, and hoped she
was not being swayed by his appearance. It was said that the devil tempted men
and women with all they desired and any woman would desire a man like Sir
Heming MacNachton. Brona knew she should be horrified that he had fed upon the
blood of a man, and a part of her was, and yet she could not bring herself to
condemn him for it. All she could keep thinking of was that he had not killed
Peter, that he had not even sought out the man for his blood but had it forced
upon him. If Sir Heming needed such sustenance then having a bleeding Peter
shoved under his nose in the time of his greatest need must have been no more
than another torment. She sincerely doubted the man had wanted others to see
him do something like that.
    As
if sensing her agitation, Thor sat up and rested his head on the edge of the
bed. A moment later she felt Havoc curl up against her back, his deep rumbling
purr sounding quite loud in the silent room. Brona