Read Online My Daring Highlander by Vonda Sinclair - Free Book Online

was
not half as fearsome as a devil, he had a large force of men with
him. More than Haldane had. That was why he hadn’t succeeded in his
mission.
    He hungered for revenge so badly he
could hardly sleep at night. That bastard, Dirk, had murdered his
mother, and then taken the castle and chiefdom from his brother.
Aiden no longer wanted to be chief, so Haldane would take the
responsibility off his hands. ’Twas what his mother and father
would’ve wanted.
    He would not rest until Dirk was
dead.
    Glancing back through the dawn light,
Haldane saw only six of his men following. Donald McMurdo was right
behind him. Gil and Finlay followed, along with the others. Two
were missing. They must have been injured badly or
killed.
    Haldane paused, allowing the others to
catch up.
    “Where are MacLeod and Quinn?” he
asked McMurdo.
    “Nolan MacLeod got into the tent while
I was trying to kill Dirk. When he noticed Nolan making off with
his woman, he chased after him. That gave me a chance to get the
hell out of there.”
    “You didn’t kill Dirk. Furthermore,
you ran instead of helping MacLeod. I thought you were an
assassin.”
    McMurdo spat on the ground and
narrowed his dark eyes, looking as mean as ever. But Haldane was
less than impressed with him at the moment.
    “That bastard Dirk is big
and a fearsome fighter. I doubt you could take him down, laddie,” McMurdo said with a
smirk. “I’d wager Nolan MacLeod is a dead man about now. Dirk
didn’t want his woman messed with. If you think I’m risking my life
for that MacLeod whoreson, you’re wrong.”
    “Never mind him,” Haldane snapped. He
was no closer to achieving his objective than he had been
yesterday, and now he was minus two men. “What about Dirk? ’Tis
your job to kill him if you want payment.”
    “Aye. I’ll kill him.” McMurdo nodded
confidently. “We’ll catch up to them afore long. They’ll be out in
the open and exposed for many more miles now.”
    “I don’t want to follow too closely,”
Haldane muttered, still annoyed that McMurdo hadn’t done what he’d
promised. But Haldane couldn’t kick McMurdo out of the group. He
was more experienced than any of them. He’d taught them things over
the past few months. And he was the one who could most easily kill
Dirk, given his experience. “I’ve lost two more men. Only seven of
us left now. Dirk has almost two dozen.”
    “Aye, but we ken well how to be canny
and wily. Nobody said we had to fight fair.”
    Haldane nodded. “I like it.” He
couldn’t wait to see what kind of crafty ideas McMurdo had in mind.
The old highwayman had lived this long somehow, despite a life of
crime. Haldane wanted to be like him, wanted to learn everything he
could from him.
    “I say we head south again,” McMurdo
said. “Once the sun burns off the fog, one of the lads can climb
the hill just north of their camp to see if the MacKay party has
packed up and left. I’m thinking they’ll head out with all haste
because of the ladies.”
    The ladies. Aye. Haldane pictured Lady Seona and her lovely dark
blue eyes. If only he could’ve lopped off Keegan’s head, he
would’ve had Seona. She’d make a fine wife and lady of
Dunnakeil.
    Nolan had told him ’twas a long way to
Teasairg Castle, where the MacKay party was likely headed. Lady
Isobel had grown up there. Haldane and his men would have plenty of
opportunities to attack them again. Next time, they’d use a
different, more successful strategy.
    “I agree. We head south.” Haldane
glanced at the six men waiting around him, then kicked his horse
into a trot.
    Something jangled behind him as it
fell to the ground. Sounded like a purse of coins. He stopped and
turned to see McMurdo dismounting. He grabbed a leather purse from
the ground and shoved it into his ragged doublet.
    “What is that?” Haldane demanded,
riding back.
    McMurdo’s eyes narrowed and, for a
second, he looked ready to run Haldane through. The man was
intimidating, but Haldane