A little more than an hour later, they rode into the small hamlet of Duns Copse. The clattering of the horses’ hooves sounded like gunfire on the cobblestones, while the moon was halfway up to its full ascent.
“The priory is only a couple of miles from here, my lord,” Tanning said quietly as the stable hand pulled up alongside of him. Nicholas nodded and urged Zeus to follow the man. A short time later, the trees suddenly broke apart and the priory appeared before them. Shaped like an ancient fortress, the stone building’s dark, sinister form was illuminated by the full moon.
“It’s going to be difficult to hide our approach,” Sebastian said ruefully as he nodded in the direction of the moon glowing brightly in the sky. “I suggest we use the cover of the trees along the roadway to hide ourselves.”
“Agreed,” Charles said softly. With a nod, Nicholas turned in his saddle.
“Tanning, take two men and ride in the trees on the opposite side of the road,” Nicholas said as his gaze swung to the dense woods bordering the priory’s drive. “The rest of us will ride on this side. When we reach the priory, you’re to stay and watch the perimeter to ensure no one escapes. Understood?”
Tanning silently acknowledged the order then quickly selected two men and crossed the road and headed toward the priory. The remainder of the group followed Nicholas and his friends as they road forward. As they drew closer to the priory, Nicholas’ gaze swept over the building. It was in need of extensive repairs. One turret had buckled inward, and the moonlight highlighted places where the foundation was crumbling. Nicholas’ skin grew cold at knowing Victoria and Edmund were in a place capable of collapsing at any moment.
At the tree line, Nicholas instructed one of the men to remain with the horses. The remaining men he ordered to skirt the tree line and subdue anyone who emerged from the priory exits. With his friends following him toward the darkened building, Nicholas headed toward the only window that was illuminated. Their stealthy movements were deadened by the thick grass and weeds surrounding the priory, and Nicholas sprinted through a stream of moonlight to reach the wall of the structure. His back to the building wall, he took a brief look through the window.
The room appeared to be the kitchen, and one man lay asleep on the floor. A younger man sat in front of the room’s large fireplace watching the flames of a small blaze. Nicholas quickly pulled away from the window and waved his friends back. When they were safely out of earshot, they quietly developed a plan of action. Seconds later they rounded the corner of the priory and took up positions on either side of the door leading into the kitchen. As they cocked their pistols, Nicholas held his fingers up and counted to three, then crashed through the door. Surprised by the sudden assault, the man on guard stared at them with his mouth hanging open. His partner, obviously well versed in criminal activity, sat up with a pistol in his hand. Fury blinding him to any danger, Nicholas leaped forward to press his weapon against the man’s forehead.
“Hand it over or I’ll blow you straight to hell.”
The quiet menace of Nicholas’ voice punctured the older man’s bravado, and he handed over the weapon with a surly expression. With a sharp thrust of his weapon, Nicholas ordered both men to sit together.
“Where are they?” Nicholas demanded coldly.
“Who do you mean, guv? We’re just trying to catch a wink or two afore we head off to London. We didn’t think anyone would mind us taking a few winks in this crumbling down old place.” The older of the two men gave a nonchalant shrug.
Although the older man wasn’t intimidated by his anger, the younger man squirmed. Turning his head, Nicholas pinned his icy gaze on the man closest to the fire.
“I’m a very dangerous man at the moment, and if you want to see tomorrow, you’ll tell me where my wife and brother are.”
“They made me do it, guv.” His hands shaking, the younger man sobbed. “Me ma needed the money for the little ones. I thought this was an ‘onest job, I didn’t think they’d ‘urt ‘em none.”
“
Silas
,
ye fucking ass
.” The older man glared at his partner.
“Where?” The single word question roared through the room, silencing the older man.
“They’re in a cell in the dungeon.” Dazed by the fury in Nicholas’ voice, the young man’s trembling hand pointed toward a wooden door. With a gesture from his pistol, he ordered the two men to their feet.
“The keys,” he demanded.
“Downstairs near the cell.” Something about the way the younger man looked at his companion made Nicholas wonder whether the man was lying.
“If you’re lying to me, I won’t have a second thought when it comes to shooting either one of you dead where you stand.” The quiet fury in his voice made the younger man pale further, while the older man had become distinctly uncomfortable.
“I’m telling you the truth, my lord.”
“You’d better be. Now take me to my wife and brother. And if anything has happened to them, you’ll suffer the consequences,” Nicholas said menacingly. “Charles, stay here to ensure no one else gets through that door. Sebastian, I’ll need you to watch these two while I release Victoria and Edmund.”
Taking a lantern off its hook near the wooden door, Nicholas ordered the two criminals to lead the way. Eerie shadows from the lantern danced across the walls as he followed the kidnappers down the darkened corridors. Sebastian drew up the rear with a second lantern as they moved deeper into the Priory and descended the stairwell into the dungeon.
The rancid, dank air made Nicholas cough and served to incite his fury even more at the knowledge that Victoria and his brother had been subjected to this hell hole. The moment the older criminal slowed his pace in an obvious attempt to stall, Nicholas jabbed the man’s shoulder with his pistol.
“Unless you want a bullet in the back of your head, I suggest you keep moving.”
The kidnapper glanced back at him, a cold look in his eyes, but he obeyed the command. At the foot of the long, brick stairwell, a dark corridor ran at a forty-five degree angle downward. Light flickered at the bottom of the corridor from torches, and the young man spoke up.
“They’re in a cell at the end of the corridor. The keys are here.”
Nicholas snatched the large ring of keys off the wall to his left before giving the men a push forward with the barrel of his pistol.
“Keep going,” he growled.
The intensity of his wrath grew as the fetid smell of the dungeon grew stronger and assaulted his nostrils, and he gritted his teeth against the urge to kill the two men in front of him. When they reached the last cell in the corridor, Sebastian stood guard over the two kidnappers as Nicholas unlocked the cell door.
Throwing the bolt back, he threw the door open enraged by the thought of what his wife and brother had endured in this place. Nicholas heard a muffled scream the moment the door opened with a loud screech of protest, and his nose rebelled at the odor emanating from the cell. Lifting his lantern high above his head, Nicholas saw Victoria huddled against the wall, bravely trying to cover Edmund’s body with her own. It took every ounce of control he possessed not to turn around and shoot dead the men behind him.
“Victoria. Edmund,” he called out softly as he stepped into the cell.
“
Nicholas
.
Oh thank God, Nicholas
.”
The sob of joy in her voice made his heart swell with a fierce relief. Victoria scrambled to her feet and raced forward to throw herself into his arms. He caught her soft form in his embrace and shuddered with the release of the emotions of fear and horror that had held him in their grip since the moment he’d heard she was missing. Unable to let her go, he held her tightly in his arms for a brief moment.
Holding her close, he lifted his head to look at his brother who had come to stand at their side. His hand reaching out he grasped Edmund by the neck and pulled him into a quick embrace. Nicholas felt his brother trembling, and he patted him on the back in a comforting gesture.
“It’s all right, Edmund. It’s over. We’re going home. All of us.” He pushed Victoria away from him slightly. “Are you hurt? Either of you?”
“No,” she said with a shake of her head. “Just scared, but Edmund was very brave. You should be very proud of him.”
Nicholas squeezed his brother’s shoulder and winced at the terror darkening his brother’s eyes. Edmund, his cheeks glistening with tears flinched at a scraping sound close by. A raw fury filled Nicholas as he saw a rat scurry through the light of his lantern and back into the darkness. Pulling Victoria and Edmund out into the dimly lit corridor, he glared at the kidnappers then nodded toward the cell.
“Get in there.” The cold command caused a look of terror to settle on the older man’s face. No longer showing any bravado, the kidnapper raised his hands in protest.
“Now, guv, we were just doing what Reardon paid us to do. We don’t care none about his politics. We wouldn’t ‘ave ‘armed the lady or gent—”
“Get in there before I shoot you where you stand, you bastard.” Ice could not have been colder than Nicholas’s voice, and the two men shuffled forward. The young man entered without any protest, but the older man hesitated in the cell doorway and looked at Nicholas in terror.
“Please guv, I don’t like dark places none.”
Without warning, Edmund launched himself forward and shoved the man into the cell, an expression of rage and hatred on his normally gentle features. The man shouted for mercy, but Nicholas ignored his pleas and slammed the door shut.
Throwing the bolt back into place, he locked the door then tossed the keys on the floor nearby. Sebastian immediately set off back the way they came, pulling Edmund along with him. Nicholas quickly examined Victoria’s physical condition in the light, and she smiled bravely.
“I’m fine. Edmund is the one to worry about. He’s going to have nightmares for weeks to come. He was terrified,” she whispered as a tear slid down her cheek. Despite her courageous attempt to make light of her own fear, Nicholas knew Edmund wasn’t the only one who’d be traumatized by their experience.
That they could deal with as long as she’d not been hurt or violated in any way. The thought sent ice crashing through his veins at the thought of another man touching her. His grasp rough, he raised her face to his and captured her mouth in a hard kiss. The salty taste of her tears mingled with the sweet taste of her lips, and Nicholas trembled to think he might have lost her.
“Come. Reardon is apt to arrive any minute, and I want the two of you out of harm’s way before anything happens,” Nicholas said urgently.
“For once, I’m more than willing to do exactly as I’m told.” Victoria squeezed his hand and sent him a brilliant smile.
Nicholas gave her another hard kiss before leading her away from her prison cell. It took them very little time to move back up the corridor with Sebastian lighting the way. They hastened up the dark stairwell, and the small party emerged into the kitchen. The fire and lantern light made the room brighter than the darkness they’d emerged from and Nicholas saw Sebastian stumble over something on his way toward the closed door. A warning went off in his brain as he stared at the door. He was certain they’d left it open. Where was Charles?
“
Fuck
,” Sebastian rasped as he knelt beside the body he’d tripped over.
“Is he—” Nicholas never got to finish his question as the quiet click of a cocked pistol behind him brought him to an abrupt halt.
“He’s still alive, if that’s what you’re asking, Guildford.” Reardon’s words slithered through the air, and Nicholas looked over his shoulder to find himself staring into the barrels of two pistols. “Now place your weapons on the table, gentlemen.”
Nicholas gently pushed Victoria to one side then hesitated. Reardon immediately pointed one of the pistols in her direction, and Nicholas’ heart slammed into his chest with a fear he’d never known before.
“Don’t question my resolve, Guildford,” Reardon said softly, a malicious expression on his features as he nodded toward the table. “Over there, if you please then kindly step back. We don’t want any accidents.”
Slowly, Nicholas laid his pistol on the table Reardon had pointed to. Sebastian obeyed the command as well, but Nicholas knew his friend was waiting for the right moment to attack. With the weapons out of his and Sebastian’s reach, Reardon motioned both men to stand in a spot even further away from their weapons.
“I’ve waited a long time for this. If your…wife had handed over my book, I imagine my wait would have ended sooner, so I intend to savor this moment.”
“Murder will earn you the hangman’s noose, Reardon,” Sebastian growled.
“Tch, tch, tch.” The other man shook his head, his mouth curved in a cruel smile. “Murder, Lord Starling? I don’t intend to murder anyone. Guildford on the other hand will stand trial for murdering his wife and his best friend who have been in a liaison for months now.”
“Won’t that be rather difficult to prove?” Nicholas folded his arms in a nonchalant gesture as he struggled to keep his features unreadable.
“Not at all. Surely you know by now that Darby and your countess were lovers. It wasn’t a secret, so a new lover and the triangle it creates will simply be food for the gossip mill.”
“I’m well aware of my wife’s past transgressions. I’ve forgiven her, but what about Charles and men outside? Surely, you can’t expect to get away with murder without being caught.” Nicholas’ bored drawl made the other man’s thin mouth curl in a smile.
“There’s a secret passage out of the priory that bypasses your men. It will be as if I was never here.”
“It appears you’ve thought of everything, but the question remains. Why are you so obsessed with my wife’s behavior?”
“Because the bitch tried to betray me until she had an…accidental fall.”
“I’d advise you not to insult my wife again, Reardon. As for her fall, I can assume it explains why she returned with a head injury?”
“The real countess is dead, Guildford. I was forced to bury the woman alive.”
The cruel satisfaction in Reardon’s voice made Nicholas stiffen with horror. He glanced at Victoria and flinched at the white sheen of her cheeks. He turned his gaze back to his enemy.