Betrayed by Claire Robyns Read Free Book Online Page A

knew it or not, the dale made by Wamphray Water was the only feasible road home to Spedlin.
    The daylight was almost gone, the spongy moss and sinking mud more treacherous on horseback than foot, but Krayne knew the tracts through the morass like the back of his hand. The most likely danger that Amber faced was stumbling into the reeds and exposed roots that crowded the water’s edge and getting sucked into the muddy pools. He rode the bog systematically, keeping to the firmer tracts of ground, calling her name and yelling warnings of the dangers.
    Moonlight slithered through a zigzag in the dark clouds to shimmer silver over the water. His men joined him, then later split up to search the wooded hills that bound the north and east walls, and to scour the dale in case she’d slipped past the gatekeeper. A terrible fear kept finding Krayne, no matter how determinedly he pushed it back. Blood pounded his temples as he shouted, “Amber! Ye canna know this bog land. Ye’ve scant clothing and the night grows ever colder. Come ta me, woman! Damn all saints, I weary of this business.”
    Nothing. Not a sound or movement.
    Once again, Krayne rode to the spot beside the wall where she would have landed. Horse and rider went absolutely still, listening for noises that didn’t belong. With little time to think, she would have headed straight into the cover offered by the bog. He was certain of it. Just as he knew her instincts would be to run rather than hide.
    Unless…Krayne tossed his head back with a fierce shake. How could he have ignored the obvious? He dismounted with a curse and ordered Cronus to wait.
     
    Amber held her breath as the rustling vibrations stopped directly beneath her. She should have run. In spite of her twisted ankle, every instinct had screamed for her to run and not look back.
    From the height of the branch she’d chosen for its dense foliage, she’d watched with increasing alarm as Krayne kept returning to the scuffle marks by the wall. When he’d finally dismounted, she’d had no opportunity to scale down the gnarled and knotted trunk. He’d followed her clumsy trail, as blatant as that of any wounded animal, she supposed, in a direct line without pause.
    “Come down.” The command was a low growl.
    Amber bit her lip. He hadn’t even looked up. They were so unevenly matched, it just wasn’t fair.
    “I mean it, lass.”
    The top of his head was at least five feet below her. Mayhap if he were forced to climb up after her…she clamped her eyes shut to hold tears from escaping. What was the point? She’d never get away. She had never stood a chance.
    “I could wait here all night.”
    There was a rustling sound of movement at her feet. Her eyes snapped open and she looked down. His head was no longer visible. She stretched her neck, peering through a cluster of leaves close to the base of the branch and groaned silently. The arrogant man was leaning against the tree, arms folded, one knee raised with his foot pressed flat to the trunk. It wouldn’t surprise her if he started whistling a merry tune.
    He continued in a bored tone, “But my men are weary and they’ve been kept from their pleasures. Mayhap they’ll enjoy the chase of climbing up after such a tasty morsel, but then I might feel inclined ta reward the man—” He cut off, moving with deadly accuracy into position as she tumbled straight into his arms.
    So much for jumping on top his head and laying the brute flat. Will I never learn?
    “Do ye never learn, lass?”
    How does he do that? “Put me down.”
    “Nay.” Holding her close to his chest, he strode through the undergrowth and muddy bog with a sure foot.
    “I’m perfectly capable of walking,” she hissed.
    He stepped out from the continuous wooded canopy into a pool of moonlight and stopped. Her cheek was pressed to his shoulder, and all she could see was the underside of his clenched jaw. She felt his chest swell with a deep breath, then slowly release. She was