Read Online Highland Hearts 03 - Crimson Heart by Heather McCollum - Free Book Online Page B

stretching. Aye, ’twas time to leave.
    Could Cheò break in through the front door with his heavy frame? He knew his friend was nearby, had seen him among the trees when he bathed. Searc hadn’t heard the click of a lock turn on the front door when the constable had left him. Perhaps he expected the bars to keep Searc contained for the night.
    Searc gripped the rusty iron bars before him and shook. They wobbled but didn’t break as he’d hoped. If he could escape during the night, then he wouldn’t be responsible for another’s death. He should have killed Geoff for trying to take Elena in the forest. The bloody bastard would have raped her, possibly killed her, treated her like a slave and sold her off as one. Searc’s magic churned at the thought of killing the man, his hands casting a red glow in the darkness.
    “Searc?” came a whisper beyond the window bars and he pivoted, reining in the churning magic. “Are you there?” Elena.
    In one stride he was at the window. Wack! A stone hit him in his forehead, making him grunt. “I’m here, lass.” He rubbed the spot where a knot would appear. “No more stones.”
    “Sorry,” she whispered.
    “What are ye doing here?”
    “Breaking you out.”
    His frown relaxed at her proud tone. “Ye should be sleeping back in the inn, safe and snug, lass.”
    “I won’t let them arrest you for something you didn’t do. I know you didn’t harm that girl and the man, well, ’twas my fault you killed him.” Her voice had grown small, but then rallied with purpose. “So I’ve come to free you. I have your horse in the woods with our satchels attached. I left money in the room to pay Finny and Maude.”
    He spied her outside the window, the moon shining down on her hair. She tipped her head back and the picture of her lovely face tugged something in him. “It sounds like ye thought of everything. I’m lucky to have ye here, lass.” The words seemed to absorb into her, changing her face from perfect to exquisite with her gentle smile. Her eyes shone merry to match her curved lips.
    The lass had already incriminated herself by leaving during the night. She seemed gloriously happy at the thought of helping, and she was damn beautiful when she was happy. So he’d take her help. “If ye’re bent on rescuing me, ye could see if there is a key to my cell near the door.”
    She nodded and slid into the shadows. Just as Searc thought, she pushed easily into the corridor from outside. The constable hadn’t locked the front door. Inky darkness made it hard for her to find the key. She gasped and stomped as a squeaking beastie scurried away from her. Hopefully she was wearing the boots she’d commissioned.
    “It should be just beside the door,” Searc advised and heard the clink of iron on the stone floor followed by “God’s teeth”. A shuffling of straw was followed by her heels tapping toward him. The light from the window sent stripes across to the opposite wall, painting her black and pearl.
    “I’ve got it.” She thrust the key into the lock, turning the iron with two hands.
    “Now ye’ve done it.” Searc waited as she pushed the door in, making the hinges squeak.
    “Done what?” She walked close, her concerned face tipped up to his.
    He looked down into her eyes, the moonlight playing so beautifully against her skin there in the darkness, as if they stood alone by a window of his small bedroom at home. “Ye’ve broken a law, helping a criminal escape.” He let his grin cover the intensity gripping him at her nearness. “There’s no going back now.”
    The furrow in her brow smoothed. “I have nowhere to go back to. Forward only.”
    He raised his thumb to her cheek, hesitating, but then let it touch along her skin. So soft and creamy white in the splash of moon and her entire body was made of it. Would she welcome another kiss when her head was clear of wine?
    A slight movement outside the window caught his ear. Most likely Cheò. Elena turned her