“Of course I knew,” he replied with a loud mocking laugh. “I heard ye in yer study the other night with Jamie… ye are indeed somethin’, Jack. Nay one would have believed ye could come up with such an amazin’ plan to wed a witch. Either way, once I end ye tonight, she will be mine.”
Jack saw Isla’s lids close, and she squeezed her eyes shut tight, swallowed hard and released a deep sigh as a tear slid down her cheek.
He couldn’t stand seeing that blade near her skin. It made him lose his restraint and forget all about the pain that plagued him earlier.
Blinded with fury and swift as a wind in the air, Jack clenched his jaw hard, took out the dirk attached to his side, and threw it at Aideen. The dirk pierced his chest and made him lose his balance.
Isla whimpered and he saw blood on her neck as she fell to the floor and put her hand there. Aideen advanced toward her, but Jack leaped forward and attacked him first.
This time his sword pierced into Aideen’s side, but he didn’t relent. He raised it in the air, clashed it to Aideen’s, and met his gaze before thrusting it forward one last time to pierce his abdomen.
His cousin’s eyes widened but narrowed at the corners, blood spilled out of his mouth, and he coughed before dropping to his knees.
“This is what betrayal feels like,” he said in a thick voice as his own eyes burned with the that of his tears and his heart ached more than ever.
How could it be Aideen? Of all people? How could his cousin betray him?
Aideen tried to speak… the veins on his forehead and the sides of his face popped out, but the words didn’t form and he groaned and dropped to the floor.
Relief flood Jack once he saw Aideen’s limp body on the floor. He hurried to Isla at the same time she rose to her feet and came to him. Jack ran his hands down her sides and checked to see if she was hurt anywhere.
Besides the tiny cut on her neck from Aideen’s blade, she wasn’t hurt anywhere else and that eased his worry a bit. Jack could not stand to see her hurt, or even bear the thought of losing her.
“How are ye here?” he asked, ignoring his own pain as he stared deep into her eyes. “I thought ye returned to yer time?”
Isla shook her head and he saw her throat bob as she swallowed hard. “I could not leave… I had to come find you,” she said amid tears. “I returned and I found out about Elliot, then I overhead some guards speaking about you and what would happen tonight, so I had to come find you.”
“There was no guard standing by my door?” he asked as his eyes searched hers.
“No one,” she replied. “It’s like they are all loyal to Aideen and they were dispersed before he came up here. It was all part of his plan. The guards I overheard said they would be rewarded for leaving your door unguarded. Aideen had planned to pass your death off as the work of an unknown assassin after he killed you.”
Jack gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes tightly shut for a long time. He didn’t need to hear more. He was just glad that she was safe, so he pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight. When her soft hands wrapped around his body, he felt her warmth and it seeped into the cold parts of his body.
Jack smoothed his hand down her back and molded her closer to his body so he could enjoy her nearness one last time.
Now that she was here, he didn’t want to let her go ever again.
“I’m glad ye are here,” he whispered as his dizziness clamped over his mind again and began pulling him in the abyss. “I wanted one more chance to tell you that—”
His voice trailed off. Jack felt his knees gave way and in the next second, he was battling to stay awake so he could tell Isla the words that he longed to say out loud.
I love ye, Isla… ye should ken that before ye leave.
37
Isla yelled for help when Jack collapsed in her arms. Jamie was the first that burst into the chamber, the panicked expression and pale look on his face instantly told her that he had no idea what had been happening.
“What has happened?” he asked in a shrill voice as he hurried to her and took Jack’s body from her arms.
Once Jack was on the bed, she said in a panicked voice, “I will go find the healer.”
Isla hurried out of the chamber and ran to Moira. Her heart kept pounding in her chest as she feared that Jack was badly hurt from the fight with Aideen.
What if something happens to him?
She had given up her chance to return home to come save his life… it didn’t matter where she was from anyway. Her heart was with Jack, and if she returned now, she would be miserable for the rest of her life.
That was not the life she wanted.