Enticing Eve: Scandalous Secrets, Book 2 (38 page)

Colin nodded, unable to trust his voice on this particular subject. Guilt gnawed at his gut every time he considered what Eve and her grandmother had endured. Sure enough, his time away ensured that he would be able to support them comfortably for the rest of their days. It was a great relief to him.

“Why didn’t you tell me she was betrothed to my brother?” Colin asked, placing his glass on the desk.

Logan offered a sly grin. “You would never have returned for her had you known. I am acquainted with your fierce loyalty. Admit it, I was right not to tell you, wasn’t I?”

“Your friendship means the world to me,” Colin admitted, his voice rough with emotion.

“I will always have your back, mate.”

That was one truth upon which Colin could always rely.
 

Eve’s love was another.

The overcast skies began to open, rain lashing against the window panes as a howling wind whipped around the stone edifice.

“Your trip home will need to be postponed,” Logan stated the obvious.

Colin shuddered. It was as if someone had walked upon his grave. Why did spending one more night in this damned estate send such chills up his spine?
 

Because Colin didn’t know his enemy and didn’t know what to expect.

He issued orders to his dear friend, who promised to protect Eve until they departed for England, even if it meant sleeping in the hall.

Together they made preparations with one goal in mind – protect Eve.
 

It would be a sleepless night.

Colin had grown accustomed to them. And he would be prepared for the intruder this time.

* * *

Eve wasn’t fond of being a victim, detesting anything that made her feel weak or vulnerable. So, these letters ate away at her soul … bit by bit, until she was prepared to retaliate.

Little did this person know that she now knew her husband’s secrets, and the letters were no longer frightening. No, what continued to disturb her was the notion of someone lurking about the manor, having full access to her bedchamber at all hours of the day and night. Who was doing this and would they stop once the MacAlistairs departed Scotland? Her intuition told her that he or she would not.

Eve had once suspected it was Logan. Though the man appeared sinister and downright unnerving, she had grown to trust him. A man like Logan would never go to such great lengths to hide his identity. Only a coward would do so.
 

The tight scrawl of the penmanship told Eve there was an abundance of anger behind the notes. Between that, the secrecy and the author’s desire not to get caught, Eve deduced that this person feared Colin. Perhaps this intruder was angry with himself. Perhaps he realized that he was too pathetic to do anything but sneak around in the dark and make threats via missives.

Colin and Logan had already made plans to be on guard throughout the night. Logan would be posted outside Eve’s door since they had determined that the culprit must have a key. Colin would patrol the wing, ensuring his wife’s safety.

Regardless of their plans, tonight she would be prepared. Donning a white shirt and breeches, Eve shoved her feet into her boots then placed a dagger in her right boot and a knife under her pillow. If the intruder managed to sneak past Logan, Eve would be prepared to strike.
 

It was her turn to set a trap, one that would protect her husband because Eve’s instinct warned that Colin was not safe as long as this person remained in the shadows. They must discover his identity; only then would Colin be safe.

Eve heard a faint click and squeezed her eyes shut. Then came an audible squeak, as if from an un-oiled hinge. Why had this noise never awakened her? It was loud, reverberating through the dark room. The only other sound her ears could discern was the high-pitched ringing in them as she clutched the knife.

There was someone standing over her. She could feel the unknown presence hovering above her. For the first time, Eve considered that this may be an unworldly apparition. The thought would have been comical if she weren’t so bloody terrified.

Stay calm
! She ordered herself in a silent attempt to control her taut nerves. So far, she’d succeeded until a callous hand brushed the side of her cheek.

Without hesitation, Eve struck the intruder with her blade as she bolted upright.
 

“Logan!” she shouted as the intruder groaned, clearly surprised as he stepped backwards, farther into the darkness.
 

Ghosts aren’t solid, at least none she’d ever heard of. Isn’t it odd the things that flash through your mind at the most critical of times?

“Who are you?” she yelled, impressed that she had even half a voice when her heart was lodged in her throat.

“Shush.”

It was his only reply. The figure, tall and spindly, walked toward the corner of the room and, for the first time, Eve noticed a faint light coming from what she knew to be a solid wall.

The person walked toward the light then disappeared through it.

“Logan,” Eve called louder as she ran towards the dim glow.

She peered through the illuminated gap in the wall. It was a hidden passageway, complete with torches. Quite clever, actually. Eve was certain Colin knew nothing about it, and this was his ancestral home.
 

How was the intruder aware?

Assessing the inner hallway as she took several steps forward, Eve’s eyes roamed the dusty corridor. Cobwebs draped across the wooden beams while several lighted torches hung from the walls.
 

“Logan,” Eve called again. When there was no response, she reached for one of the torches, clutching it tightly in her free hand, squeezing the knife in her other. They were her only lifelines as she entered the passageway, refusing to allow the intruder to escape, certain Logan would soon follow.

A mouse scurried along the stone floor, and Eve stumbled out of its path bumping into the wall.

Where did this passageway lead?

A cold breeze wafted past, the chill causing the hairs on her neck to prickle, as if they were standing upright with anxiety.
 

She turned, protecting her flame from the gust, before proceeding farther through the labyrinth. Upon reaching a bend in the corridor, darkness enveloped her.

Where was Logan? He’d been right outside her door, surely he heard Eve call him?

For someone who prided herself on being an intelligent woman, walking straight into a mysterious corridor wasn’t the most prudent course of action. A tinge of regret seeped into her consciousness.

Eve’s lapse in judgment could have deadly consequences.
 

She should have waited for Logan. Surely he had entered the corridor by now but where was he? He should have caught up to her by now.

Looking behind her, she noted the dim glow of the torches growing murkier as the corridor filled her nostrils with the smoky scent of dying embers. The faint hissing of the fading torches was reminiscent of a snake coiled and prepared to strike, the dim glow fading before her eyes.
 

She turned, glancing forward once again, thankful for her torch remaining lit. Walking forward, one step at a time, she reached a dead end.
 

There was no exit, just a wall.

Panic pulsated through her veins. She was trapped! Just as the realization dawned, she felt the hot breath of her stalker upon her neck.

He had cornered her.
 

Eve spun around, knife in hand, hoping to catch the predator off guard once more. This time he expected it, slapping her hard across the cheek as the knife fell to the floor.

Thank God her torch remained lit.

Face to face with her stalker, Eve straightened, determined to face her fate with courage. A pale, ghostly visage stared back at her. If Eve hadn’t known this man was solid, she might have thought him a phantom with skin the alabaster white of a statue, red hair, and bloodshot eyes.

The man leered at her, his pupils dilated and alight with insanity. “You followed me just as I predicted,” his voice was high-pitched, his madness heightened with each word, “though I didn’t expect the knife.”

“W-what do you want with me?” she asked, fearing the answer.

“I’m going to use you against your husband,” he traced her cheekbone with a cold, spindly finger. “Colin MacAlistair is going to wish he’d never been born.”

The man began to laugh, a hollow, high-pitched sound, gradually becoming louder until it reached a crescendo.
 

Eve’s heartbeat quickened as she fought to remain calm.
 

Dear God, what had she gotten herself into?
 

She screamed as loud as she could. A lot of good it would do her as she was uncertain if anyone could hear, but she screamed nonetheless until the madman covered her mouth with his cold, calloused hand. She bit him and clawed at his hand with her fingers, digging her nails into his flesh, but her further cries for help were muffled.
 

A piercing pain cracked against Eve’s skull, her vision clouding as she sank into unconsciousness.
 

* * *

“Did you hear that?” Colin called over his shoulder as he ran down the hall to Eve’s suite.

Logan was quick on Colin’s heels. “It was muffled but it sounded like a woman’s scream.”

“It’s Eve,” Colin bounded into Eve’s bedchamber, which was unlocked and completely dark. Colin fumbled for the gas lamp on the mantel.

Once lit, he surveyed the room. Her bed was a mess, the bedding bunched haphazardly as if she had left it in haste, though there was no sign of a struggle.

Colin looked in her changing room, but she was nowhere to be found. His eyes rested on the mantel, where a note was rolled inside Eve’s emerald betrothal ring.

Somewhere, she is hidden, within this ancestral tomb. Find her before the flames do. Otherwise, she and Lachlan will have much in common.
 

Your wife will suffer for your sins.

Keir, the true first-born son.

“God Almighty,” Colin whispered, shoving the note to Logan as he ran out the door.

He bounded down the main staircase, two steps at a time. Where had the madman hidden Eve?

“Colin!” Logan shouted, fast on his heels.

“Wake the servants, have everyone evacuate,” Colin ordered. “He’s going to burn this place to the ground.”

“How do you know that?”

Colin shouted over his shoulder. “The note, references flames – Lachlan died in a fire. The inn burned to the ground. Get everyone out of here. Now!”

Logan kept pace with him. “What about you?”

“She’s here, somewhere,” Colin headed towards the turret. “I’ve got to find her.”

“What is all the commotion, sir?”
 
Norris asked, his eyes hooded from fatigue.

“Evacuate all of the servants, Norris. No one re-enters the house until I say so.” Colin ordered.

Norris nodded then shuffled off to the servants’ wing.

“Wait!” Logan grasped Colin’s arm, turning him around. “You’re not thinking this through. What are you looking for?”

Colin yanked free from his friend. “He’s hiding her in the house … probably in a hidden room, corridor, something similar. It must be how he’s been able to skulk around undetected. Her muffled cry sounded as if it came from inside the walls.”

“I’ll search her room again then work my way down,” Logan turned back towards the stairs.

“No!” Colin yelled. “Get out of here.”

Logan paused on the bottom stair, wearing a smug grin. “I never run away. You should know that by now.” He then bounded up the stairs two at a time.

Colin proceeded towards the turret. He had no time to argue. He had to find Eve immediately. His intuition told him that Keir would head towards the turret, as he had spent so much time in the original one with Lachlan. It meant something to him.
 

Keir.
 

The fact that the man identified himself in his last note meant that he was closing in upon the end of his sick game.
 

With nothing left to lose, he was at his most dangerous.

Please God, help me find Eve,
Colin prayed, fearing that he was looking for a needle in a haystack.

* * *

Eve awoke with a horrible headache. She mumbled and tried to reach for her head, yet she was unable to move her arms. It took several seconds to open her eyes and several more to focus them. Eve’s vision blurred. She blinked until she could focus and the sight she beheld sent a shiver of fear straight up her spine.

The madman knelt in front of her, not two feet away, staring into her eyes.

She tried to move again, but her arms were tied behind her back. He’d tied her to a chair, she realized, unable to move her legs.
 

With the dawning of understanding came heightened fear.