Quinn: A Scottish Outlaw (Highland Outlaws Book 2) by Lily Baldwin Read Free Book Online Page A

instead of the hard, sinister stone walls, which seemed to ebb inward whenever she looked up, the tunnel becoming narrower and narrower.
    “’Tis a trick of the mind,” Brother Augustine had told her when she first accused the walls of shrinking. The warm lantern light had softened the lines of his strong jaw. “I will lead us to safety. Ye think only of yer breathing and the babe asleep in yer arms. The rest ye leave to me.”
    The tunnel began as a narrow stairwell and eventually leveled off, sloping and turning now and again. Stones and tree roots broke the surface of the ground, signally they had breached the keep itself. Given how far they had walked, she knew they likely had passed beyond the outer wall, and still the tunnel continued. For the briefest of moments, she glanced down at the baby asleep in her arms and to her surprise she smiled. Her husband had been murdered, her dignity and life threatened, and now she was escaping her home, her safe haven with nothing but the ruined dress on her back and a lone monk for protection—and still, she smiled. And the sole reason for the warmth that filled her heart was James. Since first she pushed his little body from hers, she had never once been allowed to hold him for so long. 
    Brother Augustine glanced back, a frown marring his handsome features. “The tunnel stops up ahead.”
    Her heart started to race, her breathing forgotten. She pulled James closer, not daring to take another step. Her eyes remained fixed on the path ahead. Brother Augustine hastened forward, but the lantern light reached the solid wall first. She gasped. “Our way is blocked.”
    “It can’t be,” Brother Augustine said calmly as he set down the bundle and lantern. His hands splayed wide against the stone, feeling the surface, then moving to the periphery. He dug his fingers into the edge, disturbing bits of stone and dirt. Then, planting his feet one in front of the other, he bent his back, leaning into the stone and started to push. She held her breath, listening to his sustained groan and the pounding of her own heartbeat. Her eyes darted around her. The walls of the tunnel were closing in. The crushing weight of the earth above threatening to flatten them where they stood. 
    “Do not panic,” she said out loud.
    He turned, threw back his hood, and flashed her a smile so exquisite that it somehow expanded the tunnel in her mind and made her legs feel even weaker. “I never panic,” he said. “I promise ye that.” Then he turned and renewed his battle. The rock shifted. A torrent of dirt and stones rained down his back as the wall gave way to his strength. She breathed deep the fresh air. “I see the night. It is working!”
    His hands shifted from the wall to his knees while he caught his breath. “Just a little more,” he said, glancing back. With a growl, he put his shoulder into it. Slowly, the opening grew wide enough for him to pass through.
    As if to mark the occasion, James roused in her arms and started to fuss.  Stepping out into the night, she inhaled deeply and let her head fall back, savoring the cool air on her face. She did not wish to move. She wanted to savor that moment, the sweet relief of it all, but James’s fussing erupted into woeful tears.
    Brother Augustine cupped the babe’s head. “’Tis a wonder he slept this long.” 
    Catarina nodded and pressed kisses to James’s forehead and cooed, trying her best to calm him.
    ~ * ~
    Quinn stepped back, giving Catarina space and time to soothe her baby, but after a while, he realized the babe’s sobs only worsened. Drawing close, he tried to decipher exactly what she was doing. She kissed his forehead again and again and hummed a gentle tune, but she barely rocked him nor had she fixed his blanket. The unshed tears gleaming in her eyes were all the encouragement he needed to offer his aid.
    “His arms have come free from the swaddle,” Quinn said.
    She looked up at him, her eyes wide, and nodded