Midnight Shadow (23 page)

“Why did you run away from Kenric?”

At Kenric’s name, Bria’s eyes snapped up to Terran’s. “I didn’t feel it was Kenric’s place to escort me to my new home.”

“So now you see fit to tell me how my castle should be run.”

Bria’s scowl deepened and she looked away again.

Suddenly, he was beside the bed, her chin in his palm. He lifted her chin until she was looking into his eyes. “I will not have lies between us,” he said.

“Even if I would be punished for speaking the truth?” she asked.

He dropped his hand. Suspicion flared in his black eyes. “Is there something I would punish you for?”

The Midnight Shadow hung over them like a thick black cloud. She studied his face, his strong chin, his thinned and angry lips. But there was something gentle in his eyes. Most men would beat her for her disobedience, but Terran hadn’t raised a finger against her. She had to grant him that much. He made her feel things she’d never experienced. She wanted to be with him. She wanted him to kiss and touch her. She wanted him to... fulfill her.

Bria shook her head, looking away sadly. It would never happen if she didn’t reveal herself to Terran. “The Midnight Shadow is not my lover,” she said.

Terran sat beside her. “All right,” he said softly. His arm brushed hers, causing shivers to race up her skin to her shoulder. As if beckoned, she lifted her gaze to his.

He was staring at her, his dark eyes scrutinizing every aspect of her features. The sweep of his gaze was like a caress. Fire radiated from his eyes, warming her, reassuring her. And then he lowered his head to hers.

Bria closed her eyes, waiting for the kiss, anticipating the feel of his lips against hers. His hot breath fanned her lips. “Then tell me,” he urged, “who is the Midnight Shadow?”

Her body tingled with the remembered caress of his kiss. She opened her mouth to tell him something, anything so he’d kiss her.

His lips touched hers, demanding, coaxing.

“Tell me,” he whispered against her lips.

Bria wanted to tell him, but she’d tried before and he wouldn’t listen to her. Would he now? Would he listen to how Kenric killed Mary? Would he listen to how he was mistreating his people? Would he change so she wouldn’t have to become the Midnight Shadow? Tears rose in her eyes. She wanted to tell him. She wanted to give him everything he wanted.

His hot kisses moved over her chin, down her neck.

Her throat worked. “I can’t.”

He pulled back so fast cold engulfed her and she trembled. “You side with him,” Terran growled. “You side with your lover against me!”

Bria saw the fury in his eyes, the stark, vivid anger seething inside him. “No, Terran,” she pleaded, tears blurring her vision. “He isn’t your enemy. He takes the tax money and returns it to your people.”

Terran ground his teeth. “How do you know this?”

“Someone has to help them, since you won’t!”

“I asked how you know this,” Terran repeated.

Bria swallowed hard, but closed her mouth, refusing to answer him. She couldn’t tell him. And it was tearing her apart.

He grabbed her arm and agony flared up from her healing wound. “Tell me,” he snarled.

“I can’t,” Bria replied. “I won’t. What he’s doing is good.”

“He’s stealing from me!”

“If you wouldn’t overtax your people, he wouldn’t have to!”

“I won’t permit it!”

Bria stared into Terran’s eyes just as determinedly as he gazed into her own. Stubborn resolve warred on both sides. Suddenly he moved, dragging her across the bed, through the soft velvet covers. She almost tumbled, but Terran yanked her to her feet. He flung the door open so hard it banged against the wall.

He pulled her out into the hallway, where he paused to look left and then right. Then he started down the hall with Bria in tow. Bria stumbled and almost fell as he pulled her behind him, but his grip on her arm kept her on her feet. He moved to the spiral staircase, and Bria had to run to keep up, holding her long dress up so as not to trip over the stone steps. The wound in her arm flared again, but she bit back any protestations.

Terran did not pause at the bottom of the steps. He pulled her roughly down the hallway, stormed into the Great Hall, and paused in the doorway, scanning the room.

Bria had a quick moment to catch her breath, but it didn’t last. Terran started toward the hearth where a group of men gathered.

They turned as Terran approached.

Suddenly Terran shoved Bria to the ground. “If you will not tell me who my enemy is, I can only consider you my enemy as well.”

“Terran,” Bria cried, pushing herself up to a sitting position.

Terran’s eyes shifted to someone standing over her. “Find out who he is,” he ordered.

Bria looked up to see Kenric staring at her, a grin quirking his lips.

She scrambled to her feet. “No!” she shouted. “Please, Terran.”

Terran turned his back on her, moving out of the Great Hall. “No!” Bria screamed as Kenric grabbed her arm.

Chapter Twenty-Six

A
s Bria moved down a long set of stairs, the sunlight faded and then vanished altogether. The only light came from the few torches on the wall. Behind her, the footsteps of two guards echoed softly.

Down they went into the darkness, until they reached what felt like the very bottom of the castle. The air was cool and damp. Bria scanned the small room, which was illuminated by a lone flickering candle on a table in the corner. The stone walls were moist and speckled with a mossy growth. Ahead of her stretched a dark corridor, from which emanated occasional moans.

“Well,” a voice behind her said.

Bria turned to see Kenric emerging from the stairway. The flame flickered over the sharp ridges of his face as he approached. “Not exactly where you expect to find the lady of Castle Knowles.”

Bria’s skin crawled as he stepped near her. He studied her face, and she turned her gaze toward the darkness.

“You may leave us,” Kenric commanded the guards.

Bria snapped her gaze back to Kenric. Shivers of apprehension raced along her spine.

The guards turned and moved toward the stairs. Bria had a sudden urge to call them back, to beg them to stay, but she closed her mouth quickly.

The guards quietly disappeared up the stairs, and she was alone with Kenric. Fearful images of her childhood rose to the forefront of her mind.

She blinked her eyes, trying to erase the visions. She succeeded in pushing the terrible images from her mind, but those black, black eyes of Kenric’s still stared at her as if he read her thoughts. A smile curved his lips.

“Bria...”

Bria straightened slightly at the intended insult.

Kenric chuckled slightly. “Of course I meant ‘my lady’,” he said mockingly.

Bria swallowed. There was no sword strapped to his waist, so he would not run her through. What could he do?

He moved slowly around her until he was behind her. “Do you remember the bramble patch?” he asked.

Bria stiffened as his breath fanned her neck. He was right behind her, standing near her, taunting her, making her afraid. He loved to have people fear him. She had seen it as Bria and as the Midnight Shadow. She lifted her chin, but refused to be baited by his taunts.

“That was quite some while ago,” Kenric whispered. “Perhaps you’ve forgotten.”

Bria still said nothing.

“Who is the Midnight Shadow?” Kenric demanded.

What could she tell him? She could no more tell Kenric than she could Terran.

Terran. He didn’t care about her. He’d abandoned her to Kenric. A strange sadness came over her at his betrayal. She’d wanted to start the marriage out right, to try to make it work. But how could they make it work when he treated his people so horribly? When he left her standing alone on the stairs of the castle while he took his mistress inside the stone keep? When he let Kenric question her?

Suddenly Kenric’s hands were loosening the hooks of her dress. Bria tore away from his touch, demanding, “What are you doing?”

Kenric’s lips twisted in a grimace of dark amusement. “I’m questioning you.” He took a step forward. “Who is the Midnight Shadow?”

Bria stepped quickly away until she came up against the cold, wet stone wall. She opened her mouth to reply, but promptly closed it. What could she tell him? “You’d never believe me,” she said.

“Try me,” he ordered.

At her hesitation, Kenric reached around behind her, almost in an embrace, touching her neck with his hand and her shoulder with his arm. Bria slunk back, trying to protect herself by leaning into the wall. She fought back a shiver as the cold wetness of the wall began to seep inside her.

“Go ahead and scream,” Kenric whispered. “No one will hear you.”

Bria swallowed the scream that rose in her throat. She would never allow him to know the terror she was feeling, the sheer unabashed fear that froze her limbs.

“Who is the Midnight Shadow?” Kenric demanded again. He pulled away from her, having undone all the hooks of her dress.

Bria wanted to dissolve into a fit of sobs and become the frightened child lurking just below her consciousness. But she was an adult now, and she fought back the urge.

Kenric reached up to her shoulder and eased her dress down over her arm. All the while, a smile etched his lips. He was enjoying her humiliation, her terror.

Finally, she lifted her chin and met his glare. “I remember the bramble patch,” she retorted bravely. “And I am not that child any longer. You do not frighten me.”

Uncertainty flashed in his dark eyes and Bria knew a moment of victory.

But then the cruel anger etched its way into his slanted eyebrows. “I should,” he growled and pulled her dress roughly from her shoulders.

“Stop it!” Bria pushed at his hands, knocking them away. She grabbed at the dress, keeping it from falling any lower.

“Tell me who he is and I will stop,” Kenric urged, a tight smile on his lips. “But it would be much more fun if you didn’t.”

Bria couldn’t stop humiliation from painting her cheeks red. Fear ate away at her bravery. “Terran will never allow you to do this.”

“On the contrary,” Kenric said, wrenching the dress from her grip and sliding it down lower and lower. “He ordered it.”

Bria grabbed the material before it slid completely from her body. “Liar! He didn’t tell you to -- to hurt me.”

Kenric reached out to touch her fingers, sliding his flesh along the length of her knuckles to the tips of her fingers to pry them open. “All you need do to stop this is tell me who the Midnight Shadow is.”

The dress dropped to the floor, pooling around her ankles. “You bastard,” she hissed.

Her chemise was now the only barrier between his evil gaze and her flesh.

Kenric flashed her a grin, displaying sharp white teeth. His scorching look assaulted the flesh beneath the sheer fabric.

“If you touch me, I’ll tell Terran.”

“My dear,” he said silkily, “he already thinks you’re a slut. Who will he believe?”

Slut. The word rocked Bria. Was that how Terran described her to his men?

Suddenly, Kenric stepped away from her into the darkness and Bria knew a moment of fierce relief. She reached down for her dress, but he suddenly caught her arm and pulled her forward, into the dark corridor.

“I’ll let you think about it for a night,” Kenric hissed. “I’ll be back come morning to continue our discussion.”

In the dull light from the distant candle, Bria saw Kenric open a cell door.

She tried to pull away from him, tried to free her wrist, but his grip was relentless.

“And keep in mind you wear only a chemise now,” Kenric propelled her into the dark dungeon with a tug of his wrist. “It will be a short discussion.”

Bria landed on the floor, her hand skidding in some grime. A bolt of pain seared through the wound in her shoulder.

“I want the name of the Midnight Shadow,” he called, slamming the door shut behind her.

Bria rose and raced for the cell door. Through a small barred window, she could see the candlelight flickering on the table. Bria grabbed the bars and shook them frantically. He couldn’t leave her in here! He couldn’t leave her alone in the dungeon!

Then Kenric bent near the candle. The light disappeared with a quick puff of his foul breath. Blackness surrounded her. It was so complete and so thick she couldn’t see her own hands on the bars before her face. Utter despair swept through her. How had this happened? How had it come to this point? Overcome by fear, she began to tremble.

Something shifted behind her. Bria turned slowly, eyeing the darkness.

She wasn’t alone.