Chapter 28
Kit felt like he was about to jump out of his skin. He had just climbed out of the carriage, a knife in each hand and another smaller one in his boot. It was a throwing knife, and he wasn’t as accurate with it as he’d like. He’d learned closequarter killing, not long-distance throwing. But it was what he had, even though it was woefully inadequate to protect the woman he loved.
He smiled grimly at that thought. He’d come to accept that he loved his angel. He no longer started at the thought, but allowed it to permeate his entire being. His love for her was as much a part of him now as his need to breathe. Which made it even worse that she was walking into danger with him.
No more sentimentality, he told himself. It was time to act. The knives felt steady in his hands, the slave inside him comfortable with war. He’s just spent the last two months quieting the beast inside him, and now it appeared he had only silenced it for a time. With knives in his hands, the slave was back at full strength. His lips curled in disdain and he glared at the boy. “How many inside?” he snapped.
“Don’t know. Six. Mebbe eight.”
Kit’s eyes narrowed. The child was probably inflating the number, pretending to a strength that wasn’t there. But even four or five armed men were dangerous. Especially since he was only one, plus Alex, who was good with knots but not with knives or guns. And then there were the two women.
But there was nothing to do now to change it. “Let the boy go,” he grumbled. “But leave the noose. So he will remember.”
Alex nodded and let go of the rope. Meanwhile, the boy did his own bit of nodding. “Nice and easy,” he said, his voice quavering only a little bit. “No blood.”
Kit jerked his chin. “Go.”
The boy did, moving quickly to the warehouse door and bypassing it completely. Instead, the boy lifted a broken board in the wall and slipped inside.
Worse and worse. Who knew what waited on the other side of that narrow space? He glanced at Alex. “Circle round. See if you can find another way in. And hurry.”
Alex nodded and took off at a lope. It was full afternoon, so he was easy to see, as were the workers in the other buildings. But this warehouse was smaller than the others, obviously abandoned and falling to ruin. Even the men hired to watch the nearest other building didn’t give them more than a cursory glance.
“Maddy . . .” he began, but she waved him to silence.
“Do I go first or you?”
He grimaced. “Me,” he snapped. “And stay back. Far back. Until I know what waits on the other side.”
She nodded, her face pale. He felt his heart lurch within him. He did not want her to be here. He did not want her to see him like this, with knives out and more than ready to kill.
“You are in control, Kit,” she said. “You need not kill anyone if you do not wish to.”
He blinked. How did she always know just what to say to him, just when he needed to hear it? He was in control. Two months ago, he would not have been so sanguine about this. But now and with her beside him? He was in control. He had to be.
Swooping down, he pressed a swift kiss to her lips. Then before he distracted himself too much, he spun on his heel. A moment later, he was lifting the board and slipping into the darkness inside.
He waited to allow his eyes to adjust. Instead of afternoon sun, the area was lit by two weak lanterns in a cavernous space. He was partially hidden behind a haphazard stack of crates, but only partially. Anyone watching would see him well before he could respond. And clearly, someone was watching.
Within seconds of entering the building, a feminine wail began. It was loud and piercing, a howl like he had sometimes heard from cats. And it was completely staged. He knew because he had heard real screams of terror, real hysterics. There was no mind-numbing horror in her scream, but something more gleeful. Which meant it was Rose, and suddenly he was very glad that Maddy was here. Let her handle the dramatic idiot. He was looking at the men.
There were four of them, plus the boy, all scattered strategically about the room. Rose, naturally, was in the center, gripped in the arms of one of the thugs. Except she wasn’t exactly
gripped
. As far as Kit could tell, the man was barely keeping his balance as Rose jerked her body left and right in a pretense of a struggle.
“Oh, my love!” she wailed. “You have come to save me!”
“Shut up!” he snapped, hoping she could hear him over all that screeching. It helped that the leader of the band of thieves said the exact same thing at the same time.
Rose gasped in shock for a moment, then subsided into noisy fake sobs.
“You got the gold?” asked the man, presumably Paps.
“No,” answered Kit calmly as he stepped into the center of the room.
“She said you’d have gold,” growled one of the men.
Kit didn’t look to the side, but he knew that he was being slowly surrounded. Meanwhile, Maddy crept in behind him.
“I have nothing. She is daft. And you best hand her over before she gets you the noose, and not a toy one like on your boy.” Then he spun his knife for effect before sheathing it at his waist. “She’s an earl’s daughter, you know, and set for Bedlam.”
“I am not!” she cried, indignation lacing her tone.
“Well, you should be!” he snapped back, not even bothering to look at her.
“How dare you—”
“Oh, shut up, Rose,” interrupted Maddy from behind. “Let go of that man and step over here. Your father has left town and it is the devil to manage all the details. I have need of your help.”
That at least penetrated the girl’s dramatic scene. She stopped her pretend tears and straightened in confusion. “Father left? Whatever for?”
Kit let disgust infest his tone. “He decided that blackmailing your cousin into becoming his mistress was not in the interest of his health.” He allowed his remaining knife to flicker in the lamplight. “It was a cuttingly quick decision.”
That’s when the boy inserted himself, ripping off the noose with an impatient curse. “They’re all daft, Paps. All of them. Cuts earls, boils children in pots—”
Kit huffed loudly, easily playing into the insane image. “Not boil, boy. The pot was for drainage. Even a child your size bleeds an awful lot.”
“See!” pleaded the boy. “Murdering bedlamites, the lot of them. Ain’t no good to be messing with them.”
Kit held his breath a moment, hoping the boy’s cries would be heard. They weren’t. Paps simply folded his massive arms across his chest and glared. “Daft or not, I were promised gold. Seems to me, we’re four against one.”
“Three actually. Him, Rose, and me,” inserted Maddy rather cheerfully. Kit twisted enough to see that she hefted a board in her hands. Kit frowned. Where had she gotten that board? It was too large and too clumsy by half. “And really, you cannot imagine how much of a problem Rose will be if you dare harm her love. She’s quite the fearsome warrior when her man is threatened.”
Right on cue, Rose shoved away from her “captor” and ran forward to stand protectively between the men she’d hired and Kit. With a sigh of disgust, Maddy stepped forward enough to grab the girl’s torn skirt and drag her backward out of the way. “Here,” she said when the girl started to protest. “Hold this and try not to hit me.”
“But—”
“
Shut it!
” bellowed Paps. It was a very loud sound that boomed in the space. Surprisingly, Rose quieted on a gasp. “I want the gold.”
“I have none,” Kit answered calmly. “How much did she promise you?”
“Nothing, nothing!” whimpered Rose. “They kidnapped me for your pirate gold. Didn’t you bring any gold?”
“How much, Rose?” inserted Maddy. “How much did you promise them?”
“Gold!” boomed Paps. “She promised—”
“Five pounds,” said Kit as he tossed a purse on the floor. “Five pounds for a day’s work and I’ll not tell the earl of this idiocy. That’s a pound for each of you, even the boy.”
Paps appeared to be considering it, but two of his henchmen weren’t pleased. “If he’s got five pounds, he’s got more. We done lost a day’s wage already.”
Kit moved as fast as he knew how. The only way to quell a rebellion was to silence the first voice—swift and hard. So he slammed the man in the jaw with the hilt of his knife. He followed it with brutal strikes to the ribs and when the man doubled over, another blow to the back had him on the ground. He had done this move hundreds of times before. It was practiced and smooth, and usually ended with his knife plunged into the man’s back.
He nearly did it. He only caught himself in time. As it was, he pulled back the killing strike just in time. The knife point cut into the man’s flesh, but barely deep enough to draw blood.
And then Kit looked up, snarling at the other three men who were just now realizing what had happened. “Dare me,” he growled. “Dare to fight me and I won’t stop next time.”
The other men met his growl with a snarl of their own, but it was Paps who held up his hands. “Five pounds,” he said quickly. “Fair pay for an honest kidnapping.” He slowly stepped forward and picked the purse off the ground. “We won’t trouble you no more.”
Kit straightened slowly, giving a sharp look at Maddy. She nodded and started pulling Rose back the way they had come. Kit followed more slowly, keeping his eyes on everyone else. No one dared move. No one, that is, but a shadow that suddenly appeared from behind another pile of crates.
Kit tensed, ready to throw, but then the shadow resolved itself into Alex. The other men started but didn’t attack as Alex used his slow lanky steps to cross into the center of the room beside Kit.
“And don’t be thinking to cause any more trouble, boys,” he drawled. “You’re much too easy to kill. Isn’t that right, Paps Turner?” he said as he named the ringleader. “I believe this is yours.” He pulled a knife out of his pocket and dropped it on the ground before him. “Oh and this.” A purse followed that.
Paps gasped and felt in his pocket. “Bloody hell! That’s me money!”
“And this is yours, Sam Heads.” Alex dropped another knife and another purse. “Bull Smithee,” he added. “Odd name that. I think you look more like a pug than a bull.” Another purse hit the ground, and yet another man gasped and felt about his hips for his purse. “And we mustn’t forget you, Tommy Peters.” Another purse fell.
It was a bold move and one Kit couldn’t help but admire. He’d forgotten how good Alex was as a pickpocket. But he could see that they had pushed the thugs to the edge of their endurance. Getting paid five pounds was one thing. Getting humiliated by a lanky, pale-faced young man was something else.
“Alex . . .” he began.
“Yes, sir.”
Then the two spun around and ran.
Chapter 29
“Don’t bring that in the carriage!” Maddy gasped as she hauled on the heavy board in Rose’s hands.
“Oh! Yes!” the girl gasped as she dropped the thing. Then she spent some time wiping off her hands, while Maddy tugged on her elbow. “In the carriage, Rose. Get in—”
“Let’s go!” bellowed Kit from where he was running toward the carriage. Alex was barely a step behind, his lanky stride easily covering the distance.
“In! In!” Maddy said, pushing Rose as the coachman also leaped onto his perch. The men scrambled in a breath later, slamming the door shut behind them. Alex was grinning as the carriage leaped forward.
“That was great fun!” Alex laughed as he dropped into his seat beside Rose.
Kit grimaced at the boy. “That was quite a risk you took. One slip and they would have had you.”
“But I didn’t slip.”
Maddy shook her head. “What did you do? I didn’t see you at all!”
“He picked their bloody pockets,” growled Kit, but his expression was lightening. “How did you know their names?”
Alex grinned. “Talked to the guard of the warehouse on the other side. Nice man. Bored to death and curious about the screeching that was going on inside there.” At that he canted a curious look at Rose, who realized that she now had everyone’s attention.
“Oh, my love!” she cried as she tried to throw herself diagonally across the carriage into Kit’s arms. “I was so afraid!”
He caught her easily and just as quickly threw her back into her seat. “Then you shouldn’t go about hiring thugs to have yourself kidnapped.”
Rose’s eyes widened in horror, then her lip began to tremble. “Oh! How could you think such a thing?”
Maddy leaned forward, touching Rose’s hand in the hopes of forestalling the full dramatic force of Rose’s acting ability. “We know you did, sweetheart, and I think we know why.” She took a breath. “Were you doing it for me?”
“Hmph,” Kit groused from the side. “She did it because she’s a bloody—”
“Hush!” Maddy snapped, then she turned back to her cousin. “You did it so I would have someplace to live, didn’t you? You wanted Kit to rescue you, fall madly in love, and then—after you married—I would be able to live with you and not on the street.”
“I thought we’d go to Gretna Green,” whispered Rose. Then she shot a hopeful glance at Kit. “You were quite dashing when you came in. Very—”
“Stubble it, Rose!” he snapped, and Maddy gasped in shock as the full force of his fury descended onto the girl. “Listen well, Lady Rose, beauty or not, I do not love you. I will never love you, and I will never marry you!”
“Oh!” gasped Rose, her hand pressed hard to her mouth. The tears would begin soon, but Maddy could do nothing to stop that. And the girl really did need to hear it.
“In fact,” continued Kit, “I’m not sure I can forgive you for doing this. Not only did you put yourself at risk, but Maddy as well. And that”—he shook his head, his words dropping into a low rumble—“that is unforgivable.”
Across from him, Alex shifted uncomfortably. “Sir. She’s just a silly child who made a mistake—”
“With armed criminals!” Kit nearly spat the words. Then he slammed his head backward against the squab and shut his eyes. It was clear he was trying to calm himself.
Maddy reached over, touching his arm gently. “Everyone is fine, Kit. You saved us all.”
He rolled head toward her, his eyes opening, and inside them she saw such despair. “I didn’t want you to see me like that.”
“I saw a hero. I saw a man who saved my cousin from her own silliness.” She didn’t glance over at Rose, but she knew the girl heard.
“What if you had been hurt, angel? What if—”
“Hush!” she said, lifting her hand to his mouth. “Nothing will ever happen to me. You wouldn’t let it.”
He gripped her hand to his mouth, pressing his lips against it. Then he closed his eyes. When he spoke, his words came out as a harsh rasp against her fingers. She ended up feeling the words more than hearing them, but what she felt was so much more.
“I can’t have you hurt, angel. I’d die.”
“Don’t be silly—”
His eyes shot open and he pulled her hand away from his mouth. “I’d die, angel. I love you that much.”
She blinked, her eyes tearing. She never thought to hear those words from him. She never—
“Oh!” murmured Rose from the opposite side. “He loves
her
.”
Maddy barely heard. Instead, she leaned forward to kiss him. He was there before she could move more than an inch. His mouth was swift and thorough. She opened willingly beneath his onslaught, and within moments she was meeting his fervor with a heat all her own. His hand slid to the back of her neck, and hers grasped his shirt. If Rose or Alex said anything, she did not hear it. But in time, Kit managed to provide some measure of control. He broke the kiss but did not slacken his hold. In fact, he tucked her closer into his arms, where she was quite willing to settle. And then, finally, she dared meet her cousin’s wide eyes.
“You see, Rose,” she said. “Last night—”
“Angel,” Kit interrupted, “angel, wait.”
She looked at him, her brows arched in surprise. She needed to make things clear to Rose, but he was fumbling in his jacket pocket, finally pulling out a jeweler’s pouch.
“This is the real reason I was late this morning. I had to pick this up, and it wasn’t done right. So I stood over the blasted man while he reset it.” He opened the bag and poured out a ring into his hand. It was a ruby ring, cut in the shape of a heart.
“Oh!” she gasped. “Oh!”
“I knew it would work,” Rose said. “Danger and a rescue
always
works.”
No one else said anything, least of all Maddy. She could barely breathe, she was shaking so hard. So Kit gently pulled the ring from her palm and held it out before her.
“Please, angel, Madeline Wilson, will you please marry me? You already have me, heart and soul, no matter what you say. I understand if I’m too frightening. You have other options now, you know. A dowry. A place in society. But if you say yes, I swear I will spend every moment of every day trying to make you happy.”
Maddy’s heart was beating almost painfully in her throat. Her eyes were wet with tears and her entire body quivered. She reached out to touch his hand, and without even knowing it, she helped him slide the ring on her finger. It was beautiful there, a red heart on her left ring finger. But she didn’t look at it. Instead, she looked in Kit’s eyes and saw the truth of his words there.
He loved her. He wanted to marry her. She took a deep breath, feeling the honesty of what he said settle into her bones. It felt as true to her as anything ever had, and for the first time since her father died, she felt as if she had come home. She was loved, and she loved in return. This man was her home.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Oh yes.”
They were kissing again. And this time, she did hear Rose’s cheers and Alex’s clapping.
“I did it!” crowed Rose. “I found a place for Maddy to live. I knew I could do it!”