Chapter Eight

Angelique dashed toward the break between the stones, the same one where she'd eavesdropped on Lachlan and Rebbie several nights ago. "Who is there?" She peered into the crack. No candlelight escaped.

Silence. Sickening shivers covered her.

"What the hell is going on?" Lachlan stood at her elbow.

"Someone was listening to us."

"How?"

"See the crack between the stones? It is wide enough to see and hear through. There is a hidden passage behind this room."

"God's blood! Why did you not tell me?" He turned a dark scowl on her.

"I... I'd forgotten." She had wanted to keep the passage a secret so she could eavesdrop on Lachlan again, but if a traitor was using it, that would no longer be safe.

"How does one enter the passage?"

"I shall show you when we have more time." She headed toward the exit and he followed.

"Aye. You must show me all the hidden passages and entrances to them. 'Tis vital to the safety of the clan. And our home."

"Who do you think was listening?" she whispered.

"'Haps Fingall, the treasurer, or any of their cohorts. I hate to say it, but we cannot trust our own clan."

***

After supper when the fiddler struck up a lively jig and most of the clan was busy watching the lasses dance, Lachlan escorted Angelique to her sitting room. He had to find out more about this secret passage and who had been spying on them. Their four personal bodyguards followed but waited outside in the corridor.

"Is it safe to talk in this room without anyone eavesdropping?" he whispered in her ear.

"Oui." She drew back and appeared to stifle a shiver. Her eyes were darker green when they met his. "I'll show you the easiest way to enter the secret passageway."

Carrying a candle, he followed her to his bedchamber. "You jest. My room?"

"Indeed. 'Tis the laird's bedchamber, after all." She barred the door from inside. "My great-grandfather had the newer section of the castle designed this way so he could keep an eye on his guests." She moved a stone from the base of the hearth, then pressed a lever. Metal clanged behind the tapestry.

He had not even thought to lift the tapestry to see what was behind it.

"Have a care with the candle." She burrowed behind the heavy tapestry. After lighting another candle on his mantel, he followed, holding the material out like a tent.

He had his sword sheathed at his side, as well as a small dirk, in the event they ran into the clan traitors.

She pushed open the door.

"Allow me to lead since I have the candle." He ducked his head and took a step down onto the steep stone stairs, barely wide enough for a man his size to squeeze through. Debris crunched beneath his boots. He enjoyed the feel of Angelique's hand lying lightly on his shoulder for support as she crept behind him downward into the depths of darkness. But that was the only appealing thing about the situation. Hell, he did not like this eerie place. He carefully unsheathed his sword and held it at the ready.

"Could someone sneak up this way and murder me in my sleep?" he whispered, imagining a horrid scenario.

"No." Angelique said quietly, close to his ear. Her warm breath fanning his hair sent a curl of arousal through him. "No one can open the door from this side... at least not without making a lot of noise. Which would wake you, no? We left it open and that is the only reason we can go back through. Only one of the passage doors opens from this side and it is in the armory."

"Ah. 'Tis a good thing then." On the next tread, his foot landed on something. He sidestepped it and lowered the candle. "What the devil is this? A fire poker?" He pushed at it with his toe to see it better. "Is that mine? I noticed it was missing and had one of the servants bring me another."

"I do not... know." Angelique whispered, sounding a bit unnerved.

"Careful you don't step on it." They reached the bottom of the stairs and the passage stretched ahead, how far he couldn't tell. Pitch blackness surrounded them beyond the candle's glow.

"The castle's finest guest bedchamber is on the other side of this wall," she whispered. "And here is the fissure to look through."

"Your ancestors spied on their guests in bed?"

"I suppose so. Several Stuart kings and queens have slept in that room, even our own King James many years ago. Dukes, an assortment of earls and other nobility have also stayed here. Did your clan have nothing like this to spy on guests?"

"Nay." 'Haps his clan was too trusting.

"Go a few yards more and you will be behind the library."

Lachlan moved forward. "Aha. Look at that." He had intentionally left a candle burning on the library mantel, and indeed near the whole room was visible through the horizontal opening.

"Further along and up more steps are the spy holes to the great hall. Hear the faint music?"

"Aye. But where are the other entrances to this passage?" he asked.

"As I mentioned, one is in the armory—an exit doorway concealed behind a weapons display. Another entry is in the treasury room, hidden behind a tapestry. This passage also leads to tunnels that run beneath the estate."

"Where do they come out?"

"I do not know. When I was a child, they had locked iron gates across them, and beyond was dark. Perhaps the exit is concealed from the outside and would only be used in dire circumstances for the chief and his family's escape. Almost no one had access to this passage back then, or even knew about it."

"Well, someone does now. We need to find out which entrance this person uses and try to catch him entering or leaving. If he listened to our earlier conversation, he knows I suspect someone of tampering with the books."

"Oui."

"Let's go back now. I'll investigate more on my own or with a man I know I can trust. I don't wish to endanger you further."

"I am not endangered." She sounded insulted. "I explored these often as a child."

"You're a brave lass. But there's a traitor about now." The passage was too narrow for him to maneuver around her. "You must lead on the way back. Take the candle." She moved along quickly and climbed the stairs. He took two steps up and accidentally bumped into her derriere. She gasped and dropped the candle. The flame sputtered out and cast them in absolute blackness.

"Merde!"

He laid a hand on her shoulder and caressed her neck. "Shh. Don't fash yourself. Stay calm."

"It is dark as a dungeon," she said in French, her breathing escalating.

"I can see that. Now, slowly take one step up at a time and we shall make it out."

"Très bien." She did just that, as did he, his palm flat against the rough stone wall for support.

A sound of metal against stone clanged behind them. They froze. He turned sideways, staring back, but saw naught, not even a glimmer of light. Silence followed. If he'd been alone, he would've crept through the darkness to see who was there, but he wouldn't jeopardize Angelique.

"What was that?" she said in a near inaudible whisper.

He faced forward again, his mouth and nose bumping into what felt like her cheek. She released a breath but did not draw away. That soft, smooth skin and the sweet woman scent of her made him forget where he was. He brushed his lips over her again, inhaling.