She found Moira in her chamber. “Isla…” Moira called in surprise once she saw her, “ye have returned?”
“The Laird is bleeding,” Isla announced without returning Moira’s greetings. “You must hurry.”
Moira did not ask any questions as she slid out of her bed and reached for a robe to put over her night dress. They ran down the hallway together after she grabbed a basket next to her bed and followed Isla.
When they reached Jack’s chamber, Jamie was still by his side, and Moira instantly began checking his wounds.
Isla stood in a corner, her hands in her hair, and her heart raw with pain. Her throat couldn’t form any words, the knots in her stomach squeezed until she felt it would bleed, and her worry rose with every passing second.
“He will regain consciousness,” Moira said after some minutes of checking his wounds and making sure his bleeding was not excessive. “His former wounds have been treated and I gave him something to help him sleep earlier, so he is only asleep.”
“Oh—” Isla gasped and dropped her hands to her sides. Her limbs shook like never before, so she found a chair and dropped on it before they gave way.
“I need an explanation of what happened here tonight,” Jamie asked once he rose to his feet.
Isla swallowed and hung her head low. He hadn’t noticed the body on the ground yet as it was on the other side of the bed, and she knew she had to show him, so she pointed.
“Aideen attacked Jack in his sleep, and I came back here to warn him.”
Jamie’s brows furrowed, but when Isla pointed at where Aideen’s body lay, he took a step toward it to check for himself.
“He came in here to kill Jack in his sleep since the assassins he sent did not complete their task. It was Aideen behind everything all this while and he was right under our noses.”
Thick silence filled the room. Neither Jack or Moira moved, and Isla could tell that the news also shook them.
“And Elliot?” Moira finally asked in a barely audible voice.
Jamie had his hands tightened into clenched his fists at his sides and hardened his jaw.
“He was also responsible for Elliot’s ambush and death.”
“Oh, Heavens,” Moira gasped. “How could he do this?”
No one would ever get over the shock of Aideen’s betrayal. They had all been completely blindsided by it and caught up in looking for the inside enemy when he was closer than ever.
Jamie left the chamber in silence after that, but Moira stayed to watch Jack with her and she didn’t leave until dawn broke, and Jack finally opened his eyes.
* * *
The resounding ache in his head blinded him as he slowly tried to sit up on his bed. Jack had the strangest dream. Isla was with him in it, and he had her in his arms and told he how much he loved her.
They had made passionate love, and he hadn’t wanted to let her go. The dream had felt so real, he did not want to wake from it.
Soft hands touched him and assisted him to sit on the bed. He groaned and put a hand on his forehead.
“Are you all right?” Isla asked, and her voice jerked him to reality. He focused on her and gaped for a second. To make sure she was real, Jack lifted a hand and touched her cheek.
“Yes, it is me,” she whispered. “How do you feel, Jack?”
“Ye are here? How… how are ye here?” he stammered as his brows squished together. “What about the gypsy? What about—”
Images of what happened the previous night slowly started to drift into his memory and as he remembered, the ache in his heart returned.
“Ye should have gone back,” he continued, still in shock that he was seeing her, and she was really by his side.
“You are all right… it is all over now,” Isla said to console him, and he met her gaze. Tears welled up in her eyes as she nodded, and Jack muffled back his own sob as they threatened to break free from his lips.
“Aideen—”