Time for Love (33 page)

“Oh, I believe we can,” Lord Tyndale said calmly.

“Tyndale?” Lord Stone asked, his voice suddenly weaker as he recognized his neighbor.

Nicholas watched Stone visibly pull himself together.

“What are you doing on my property, with my horses? I am, of course, always happy to help my neighbors with any trouble they may experience. There is no cause for such tactics.”

“I believe there is a very good reason, two as a matter of fact.”

Nicholas let Tyndale carry the bulk of the conversation as he dismounted. He then grabbed hold of Stone by his now severely rumpled cravat. He longed to take out his rage on the bastard cowering before him, but they didn’t have the time. Who knew what was happening to Alex as they stood there.

“Where. Are. They?” Nicholas asked. Slowly. Deliberately. He pulled Stone closer with each word. Stone’s feet just barely reached the ground. His mouth gaped open like a fish out of water, struggling for breath as Nicholas held him up to his own considerably larger height until they were eye to eye.

“You had better tell me they are unharmed, or
I
will hang
you
myself.”

****

Alex and Charlotte waited in silence, poised at the entrance to their prison, prepared to fight for their freedom. They had no choice. Talking their way out wasn’t an option.

Heavy footsteps thumped down the tunnel. The light of the approaching lantern eased the darkness until they could just make out each other’s outline, mirror images in intent as well as form.

Cantor didn’t even pause as he entered the cavern, apparently convinced they wouldn’t offer any resistance. As his head came into view, Alex swung her reticule as hard as she could, caught him in the jaw and sent his head crashing back into the stone wall. He fell with a soft
thunk
onto the cave floor. Charlotte raced to grab the lantern before it hit the ground.

Alex’s chest rose and fell rapidly as she pressed herself against the cave wall and stared down at the unconscious man at her feet. Had she killed him?

His groan made her jump, but his eyes remained closed and he made no attempt to stand. A quick glance up the tunnel reassured her he had entered alone. She rushed across the cave to grab the ropes that had bound her and Charlotte earlier.

She tossed one to Charlotte. “Tie his feet; I’ll get his hands.”

She wrapped the rope around his wrists and tied them as tightly as she could behind his back. When she was done, she gave them a tug, and satisfied he wouldn’t be able to undo them easily, she turned to Charlotte who was doing the same to his legs. “Now what?”

“Let’s head back to the surface. Timmons must be around here somewhere, and I’d rather deal with him up there than down here.” Charlotte shuddered as she took one more look at Cantor’s prone body, before she turned toward the exit.

“Yeah, me too,” Alex agreed. She followed Charlotte out of the cave, glad to be leaving the place that would probably be the setting for all her future nightmares.

****

They made their way cautiously up to the surface and paused at the cave entrance. Alex could just make out the first hints of the rising sun lightening the sky. She fought the urge to rush out and get away as quickly as possible. She’d had enough excitement for one night. Charlotte hid the lantern behind her skirts so Timmons wouldn’t notice.

He stood at the open door of the carriage Alex had taken to get there earlier. He muttered under his breath as he inspected the inside.

Hah, she thought, with a twinge of satisfaction at the damage she had inflicted so spitefully.

She whispered to Charlotte, “Do you have any idea how to drive that carriage?”

“No, but I could probably figure out how to unhook the horses. Can you ride?”

“No, I never even got near a horse before coming here. I haven’t had the time to try to learn to ride one.”

She was about to say more when the sound of horses’ hooves reached her ears. Timmons must have heard it, too. He closed the carriage door and turned toward the sound. The knots in her stomach tightened. He didn’t seem worried. Help was on its way, but not for her.
Shit
.

Alex searched for an escape route. Bushes off to the side seemed the best option. As long as Timmons didn’t turn around, they could make it. It was worth the risk. She did not want to be trapped in the cave. She motioned to Charlotte, and they tiptoed over while the approaching horses distracted Timmons. Crouching behind a large evergreen bush, they peeked out to keep an eye on their guard.

Relief flooded her veins as the horses thundered into view with Nicholas and Lord Tyndale astride. Nicholas pointed a gun at Timmons, and the old man immediately put up his hands in defeat. Catching a glimpse of the murder on Nicholas’s face, Alex could hardly blame him.

“James!” Charlotte exclaimed, and she danced out from behind the bush, her face glowing with happiness.

“Charlotte.”

He sagged with relief, and Alex wondered why he didn’t dismount at once and come to her. Then she noticed the man lying across the saddle in front of him and gasped in surprise. Lord Stone! He looked nothing like the confident, jeering man who had so recently ordered his servants to question and murder her. His clothing was in a sad state, covered in mud and wrinkled beyond recognition. His hair stuck up in places with mud speckled throughout.

James shoved him off the horse. He landed awkwardly, barely maintaining his footing as he clutched the horse’s side. Before Lord Stone could move, James pointed a gun at him. A thoroughly modern gun.

“Don’t move, Stone.” James swung his leg over the horse’s side and dismounted. Charlotte immediately rushed into his arms.

Alex stood, her gaze riveted on the rigid set of Nicholas’s face. She grimaced at the worry she’d obviously caused him. Shit. When he realized she was out of danger, he was going to be pissed that she’d left him. Again.

His expression softened when he finally caught sight of her. He dismounted and held out his left hand toward her.

The dam broke as she rushed into his arms. The tears she had held back all evening poured down her cheeks.

“Great. All this time I’ve been steady as a rock. Now it’s all over, and I break down like a wreck.” She swiped at her cheeks, probably managing little other than spreading dirt over her face.

“Don’t worry, darling. I can handle a few tears.”

Nicholas’s sexy voice rumbled next to her ear, sending pleasant shivers down her neck and shoulders.

A high-pitched whinny startled them both. They swung quickly toward James’s mount. It reared on its hind legs, pawing the air. James swung Charlotte out of the way, putting himself between her and the horse. He caught a glancing blow to his shoulder, and the gun flew out of his hand as he toppled to the ground.

While Nicholas ran to calm the horse, Lord Stone sprinted out of the way. He snatched the gun that had fallen practically at his feet and straightened, his legs wide and arms out in front of him.

With horror, Alex realized he was aiming straight at Nicholas. Preoccupied with getting the horse under control, he didn’t appear to notice.

She threw herself at Nicholas with a shout. She had no plan on what to do when she got there, but she couldn’t stand by and watch him killed.

A white hot flash of pain struck her back, and she collapsed into Nicholas’s strong arms. She expected to feel his warmth envelope her as it always did, but her body grew cold instead. She struggled to breathe. She was drowning on dry land, each agonizing breath a desperate bid for life.

Confused shouts and sounds of a scuffle barely reached her ears above the pounding of blood in her ears. She groaned as something hit her side and sent pain searing down her back.

Charlotte screamed, “No, Alex, no!” from a long way off.

She blinked and tried to see her sister’s face one last time. She could tell it was Charlotte but couldn’t focus.

Her last thought before she lost consciousness was that she was glad Sawyer hadn’t told her what would happen. She never would have come.

****

Nicholas clasped Alex’s unconscious form. Warmth flooded his hand, and he realized with horror it was her blood. He was losing her. Her life was spilling out of her as she lay within the protection of his arms. Protection. He was supposed to protect her, yet she had given her life for him.

He couldn’t allow this to happen. He had to save her.

Charlotte crouched beside him. He’d barely glanced at her as he’d rushed to pull Alex into his grasp. She ripped a section of her petticoat and pressed it to Alex’s wound.

Perhaps… “Charlotte. She’s dying. I’ve seen wounds like this before. She cannot be saved. Here. Does she have a chance of recovery in the future? In your time.” He closed his eyes briefly before continuing, “In her time?”

“I thought you didn’t believe her,” Charlotte said, tears streaming down her face. “Here, apply pressure here.” She placed his hand over the wound, and he pressed down gently. “No, you need to be firm. Don’t worry about hurting her. She can’t feel anything.” She grunted as she made more makeshift bandages from her dress.

Tyndale moved around in the background, tying up Lord Stone and his servant. Nicholas focused on Charlotte. He couldn’t bear to look on Alex’s pale face, to see the blood slowly leaving her. To realize she could die believing he never learned to trust her. She could die, and he had never told her how much he loved her.

“I didn’t, but I do now. Trust does not come easy to me. But she deserves my trust, and my love. She doesn’t deserve this. Do you know whether she can be saved?”

“Yes, but we have to hurry.” Charlotte paused, two fingers pressed to Alex’s neck. “You’ll have to help me get her to the portal. I can’t carry her by myself.”

Charlotte tied a bandage tightly to Alex’s wound and picked up a lantern. Nicholas cradled Alex in his arms, her head lolling against his shoulder.

“Follow me,” Charlotte said. “There are some tight spots. We’ll need to work together to get her through them. You won’t be able to carry her the entire way.”

He walked behind Charlotte, using the light of the lantern to guide him. James followed at the rear, helping Nicholas with Alex when necessary. When the tunnel narrowed, they worked their way through, pushing and pulling Alex as gently and quickly as possible. She remained silent the entire time.

Her silence scared Nicholas deep in his soul.

He should be grateful she remained unconscious. They tried to be careful but couldn’t help jolting her as they maneuvered through the tunnels. Had she been awake, the pain would have been considerable.

Yet, a reaction to that pain would have at least been proof she lived. Each time they shifted her, he expected some kind of response—a groan, tears, anything. She remained completely still.

At every point where the tunnel opened up enough for him to carry her, Charlotte rushed to his side to double check Alex still breathed. He greeted Charlotte’s order to stop with great relief.

“The portal is down at the bottom of this decline.” She pointed ahead of them.

The ground dipped steeply downward and was narrow enough he had to give some thought to how to get Alex down.

“We have to figure out how to get her down there.” Charlotte echoed his thoughts. “I don’t know if I can carry her all that way.”

“You’re not taking her. I am.”

“What!” Charlotte turned to look at him. “You can’t.”

“Why not?” he asked.

“They may not exactly welcome us with open arms.” Charlotte gave a quick explanation of her escape from the future.

“All the more reason that I attend to it,” Nicholas asserted. “I shall convince them of their obligation to cure her. Now, I believe time is of the essence.” He started down the path to redemption.

Chapter Twenty-Five

May 29, Current Year

Nicholas fell to his knees. He tightened his grip on Alex as she slipped. He caught her only a moment before she fell to the ground. His eyes closed. Nausea threatened to overwhelm him. His ears rang and his balance was off. He sat back on his heels to keep from toppling over.

“Not another move.”

He looked up and stopped dead. Two uniformed men—no, a man and a woman—pointed weapons at him. Weapons he couldn’t recognize, though they certainly looked lethal.

The room was as bright as a sunny day. He looked for the source of the light and squinted at long tubes of light, which hung from the ceiling.

The lighting dimmed and changed. Red light flashed about the room. A horrendous noise pierced the air. The flashing lights distorted the room’s appearance, but Nicholas could see the space was no longer a natural phenomenon.

The floors and walls were rough stone but carved in such straight lines it had obviously not happened on its own. Huge chunks of rock lay against a far wall. Portions of the ceiling were missing, evidence of the cave-in Charlotte had described.

He had no time to stare in wonder at his surroundings. “Help me!” He yelled to be heard above the ceaseless noise. He glanced down at Alex, her face pale and still.

No one approached, and he looked up to find out why. They stood silently, their gazes alert and focused on his face. They ignored the blaring noise and flashing lights as well as his desperate plea.

The soldiers, for that is what he realized they must be, kept their weapons trained on him, tension evident in their stance as they waited, most likely for reinforcements.

He couldn’t wait for them to figure out what to do, damn it! Alex didn’t have that much time. He focused on the woman. Surely a woman would be more likely to give aid to someone in need. “Help her. She is gravely injured. You must help her. Please,” he begged.

The woman looked uncertainly at her companion, then down at Alex. She straightened marginally. Her lips pursed, and she nodded slightly.

She turned to place her weapons on a table near the door. She pressed a button on a small box mounted to the wall and said something he couldn’t hear. She hurried to his side. “Place her on the floor, help will be here in a minute.”

Nicholas placed Alex gently on the floor at his feet. He tilted her on her side and continued to apply pressure on the wound. The flow of blood had slowed, but she had lost so much, it was a wonder she had any left.