Read Online Highland Hawk: Highland Brides #7 by Lois Greiman - Free Book Online

grin perked up a scant quarter of an inch. "She is rather... bonny. Is she not?"
    Haydan sharpened his glare. "I had not noticed."
    "Truly? Then let me inform you, sir: Lady Catriona is, without a doubt—"
    "Not for the likes of you."
    "What?"
    "You will not touch her," Haydan said. "Do you understand me?"
    Though Cockerel struggled to conceal his surprise, he was not so judicious about his grin. "I believe I do, sir," he said.
    Haydan glowered for a moment. " 'Tis good." Turning abruptly away, he cursed the pain in his knee and his own grinding foolishness.
    He walked for some time down the endless maze of hallways, but the castle seemed to hold no air, no freedom, no peace. He finally strode for the ramparts, hoping the wind would blow the moldering worries from his mind.
    They were foolish worries. After all...
    He stopped, aware suddenly of a small scratch of noise.
    It was probably nothing more than a rat looking for a meal, but his nerves had already been on edge and now they were cranked as tight as a readied crossbow. Turning quietly down a darkened hallway, he followed his instincts, hoping he was heading in the right direction. Hoping—
    There! A shadow just ahead, hovering in front of a door. Hawk paused, ready to jerk back into a hidden alcove. But already it was too late. The shadow turned toward him, the face pale in the darkness.
    "Who goes there?" he asked.
    There was a squeak of surprise and suddenly, like a skittish colt, the shadow turned and fled.
    "Halt!" Hawk demanded. But the other was already fading into the gloom.
    Haydan slammed into motion, straining to see in the darkness as he thundered along in pursuit.
    Gone! He was gone! A hallway opened at each side. Hawk glanced in both directions. There!
    He shot into action, leaping after his quarry like a hound, eating up the distance between them. The stairs! He saw the shadow turn, saw him lunge up the stone steps, but Haydan's stride was longer. He leapt after, swallowing several at a time. Close now. So close. He reached out to snatch the intruder back to him, but his fingers just brushed his tunic. There was a squawk of dismay. His prey burst up the last stair and around a corner.
    Haydan leapt after, ready to drag him to the ground. But the ramparts were empty. He flew to the parapets and glanced down. The bailey was a hundred feet below. Had the scoundrel jumped? But no, he couldn't have!
    He was hiding in a crenel. He had to be!
    Haydan leapt on, peering into each gap of the stone battlements. But there was nothing. No one. He had disappeared—like smoke, like magic, like a wild figment of his imagination.
    The next morning, Haydan's head groaned a complaint as he sat up in bed. His knee ached as he swung his feet onto the floor. He had spent most of the night pacing. After his frustrating chase, he had returned to the king's quarters. But one quick glance had assured him all was well. He had then hurried back to the spot where he had first seen his quarry and swept the door open without knocking.
    A sleepy "What the devil are you about?" was hurled at him from the bed. It was obvious there was no trouble afoot there.
    After a half hour or so of fairly aimless wandering, Haydan had finally returned to his own room. But sleep was a fickle mistress, and refused to lie with him. Thus he had paced until the wee hours of the morning, until fatigue had finally pulled him under.
    Belting on his plaid, he slipped the blade of his sgian dubh, his black blade, into his boot so that only the antler hilt showed. These simple rituals made him feel better, and in a matter of minutes he sat in the great hall, trying to concentrate on his breakfast and ignore the knot of men that hovered near the corner of the noisy room. He knew why they congregated there; knew that hidden behind them was the lass called Catriona. But he would not care. If he had learned anything last night, either from his time in the infirmary or his time in the chase, he had learned that he