The Lady and the Earl (57 page)

Declan
stared at him
,
wanting to ask questions, but knowing there wasn’t time.  He glanced in Connor’s direction to see him thrust his sword into the larger man’s gut. 

“Don’t worry about your friend
.  I will take care of him.  Now go,” the man said,
urging
Declan
on his way. 

Declan
hesitated before nodding
and dashing toward the hallway where Lucas had last
been seen.  It was the same hallway which led to the kitchen and down to the cellar.  Lucas was trying to escape
through the
underground tunnel, and if
Declan
wasn’t fast enough, he could lose Allana forever.

Garret Meredith dashed down a different corridor than the one Lucas
had taken the
woman
down.
  He wanted to cut them off, and with the way
she
was fighting, Garret was sure he could beat Lucas to the kitchen if he went through the dining room.  He was right.  He burst into the kitchen to find only the cook and a few other servants there.  Quickly, he ushered the women out the back door and waited for Lucas.  He
didn’t
have to wait long before Lucas came crashing through the side door carrying the woman on his shoulder.  He must have hit her hard this time to make her stop moving.  Anger seared Garret’s soul as he thought of this man’s brutality toward women.  He had no respect for them; beating this one unconscious and defiling others like Garret’s sister, Josephine.
  Justice needed to be served.
   

*
             
*
             
*

Lucas stopped short when he spotted the sleek, muscular man standing across the room with his sword drawn.   

“Put the
woman
down,”
the man
ordered.  He watched Lucas coldly, slowly approaching him like a cat trying to corner his prey.  “I have a score to settle with you.”

“
Doesn’t everyone
?
” Lucas said
dry
ly.  He stepped sideways, not putting Allana down.  He didn’t have time to deal with this
fool
. 
Declan
would be coming any time now, and Lucas did
not
want to have to kill
him
since he was his only leverage over Allana.

The other man
stepped with Lucas, keeping his sword poised for action.  “I will cut you to shreds if you
don’t
put her down and defend yourself.  And I will do it without hurting the
woman
.” 
He
sliced his sword across
Lucas’s
left arm to prove his point. 

Lucas eyed the man dangerously.  It looked like he was going to have to fight after all.  “Fine,” he said irritably, laying his prize down in a corner.  “I
ha
ve never lost, so prepare to die whoever you are.” 

“
We’
ve met before, Hoffman. 
My name is Garret Meredith. 
You defiled my sister, and left her with child
,”
the man
said icily
,
lunging
at Lucas.

They
both
fought with anger and skill, neither gaining any ground on the other.
  Lucas eyed the man.  He did look familiar, but he
couldn’t
remember when he had met him.
 

“Your
sister
, eh?”
Lucas asked as he parried another blow.  “I’ve never met a woman who
didn’t
want what I could offer,”
he finished
wickedly, receiving several fierce attacks in return.

“
Don’t
talk about Josephine that way.  She was innocent until you,”
the man, Garret,
panted.  “She was the most beautiful…kind person…
Y
ou destroyed
her life, stripped her of happiness and love
!” 
He was angry and that made him vulnerable.  He
continued to cut at Lucas v
iciously, though.

“Like I said before
,
I
’ve never known a woman…who
didn’t
want…what I gave her,” Lucas said as he sliced Garret’s arm. 

Garret roared as he lunged at Lucas, successfully cutting
Lucas’s
back. 

Lucas
glowered darkly at the other man. 
H
e’
d been careless, and now he was bleeding
.  It was time to end this game. 
He parried an attack and stabbed his sword into Garret’s right shoulder.  He
parried
again and stabbed Garret’s other shoulder.  The other man was breathing
heavily,
his wounds slowing him down. 
He lunged at Lucas.  Lucas dodged the move and sliced the man across the back.  Garret staggered forward a pace or two before slowly turning to face Lucas again.  He braced himself against a table and stared at the other man.

“Why
?” he
asked.  “Why did you do it?”

“Wo
men love me.  What can I say?”
Lucas
answered casually
. 

“No, not Josephine,” Garret said
.  He groaned in pain.
  He was bleeding badly.

“Josephine
?”
Lucas asked.
  What were the odds that this could be the same
woman
who Connor had fallen for? 
Sophia
Murrieta
had been her name, yet
ha
dn’t her
true
name been Josephine?
  Lucas eyed Garret again.  Yes, he remembered him now.
 
He was older and slightly taller than he had been five years ago, and his hair was longer, pulled back in a tie at the base of his neck.  But this man
was
Sophia
’s brother. 
Lucas
had run into him once after one of Connor’s fights
, a fight Connor had foolishly brought
Sophia
to
.
 

“I rememb
er her now,” Lucas said quietly
.  “She was a young, beautiful thing with black hair and big brown eyes that could melt most men’s hearts.” 

Garret simply looked at
Lucas
with sadness in his eyes.
  He staggered forward, but had to stop for breath.
 

“
I hate to break this to you, boy.  But you have the wrong man,” Lucas admitted.  “You should be dueling Connor Tananguard, not me.” 

“No…Connor was honorable.  He loved her,” Garret panted.  He lunged at Lucas weakly. 

Lucas
knocked the sword free of the other man’s hands and shoved him to the ground.  “Connor was just like me.  He was using her.  He never loved her.” 

“No, he did.  He wed her,” Garret said, rolling onto his back.  He tried to sit up, cringing and only making it to his elbows.

Lucas looked at Garret in shock.  “
Impossible
.”

Garret’s eyebrows went up.  “You never knew?  I thought you were his closest friend.”  He laughed feebly.  He had made it to his knees.

“I
am
his closest friend,” Lucas spat.

“Then why did he not tell you?  Why
didn’t he
ask you to witness the marriage?  Instead he asked me and
one of my
men.” 
Garret shook his head.  “You
took him from her
by bedding her.
  They would still be together if
not
for you.”

“No,” Lucas shook his head in denial.  “You lie.”

“
You’
re pathetic.” 
Garret
spit at
Lucas’s
feet. 

Lucas lunged at the man, but instead of stabbing his sword into his gut as he should have done, he punched him as hard as he could,
sending
the wounded man sprawling to the side. 

Lucas
walked slowly over to Garret. 
“
I could kill you now, you know.  Instead, I shall let you die slowly and painfully
, bleeding onto my kitchen floor until there is nothing left.
” 

“You will pay,” Garret whispered weakly.  “I know you will.”

“Maybe.
  But not today, my friend, not today,” Lucas said
,
smiling coldly. 
He
spit to the side
in hate
then
walked over to Allana
.  He sheathed his sword and picked her up before heading
to the cellar
and to freedom
. 

*
             
*
             
*

Declan
sprinted through the hall and into the kitchen.  The place was a wreck with pots and pans thrown everywhere and dishes shattered on the floor. 
Declan
walked purposefully toward the storage room door, hoping to catch Lucas before he made it to the woods.  A hand reached up and grabbed
Declan
’s
leg.  A man lay
wounded
on the floor, and
Declan
had almost walked right by him.

“Please,” the man said.  “
Please, kill him. 
He
doesn’t
deserve to live,” he moaned.
 

“Hold on, friend,”
Declan
said
,
bending down to
assist
him.  “Help is on the way.”

“No, don’t,” the man said, stopping
Declan
from wrapping his w
ound.  “
Just help me stand. 
I can take care of myself
from there
.
”

Declan grasped the man’s hand and pulled him to his feet.

The man
leaned heavily against a table
.  “Thank you.
 
Now y
ou must go
. 
Lucas has
been gone only a few moments.”

Declan
nodded.
“I will get him,” he
said
.

“I know,” the man replied. 
He tried to take a step forward and
groaned in pain
. 
“Damned bastard!”

“Hold on, friend.  If you die, I will never forgive myself,” Declan growled
, helping the man steady himself
.

The man laughed feebly.  “I’
ll not die
today if I can help it. 
Leave me. 
Save your woman.  Bring justice to us all.”

Declan nodded.  He would do just that.  He shook
the other man
’s hand
in farewell then turned abruptly and darted to the cellar door.
  Lucas
was
going to pay.

Connor sat next to his dead opponent for several moments trying to gather enough energy to stand.  His shoulder throbbed from the knife wound, and he could feel blood soaking his shirt.  The fighting around him was dying down as the intruding band of men rounded up the remainder of Rupert’s men.  Connor groaned as he tried to stand, falling back down to his knees, breathing
hard.  His body had been through a beating, and he was feeling the consequences.  If he could just take a m
oment
to catch his breath—the
tip of a sword jabbed him in the back.
 

Not another one,
Connor thought.  He was exhausted and growing weaker with each passing moment.  He was losing too much blood.

“Stand slowly, please,” a male voice said. 

Taking a deep breath, Connor obeyed and struggled to his feet, turning to look at his new opponent. 

“Lower your sword, Erik.  That
’
s
Tananguard’s
son,” another man interrupted, causing the man named Erik to lower his sword. 

Connor looked at the newcomer in surprise.  “How
d
o you know who I am
?
”