Under Lock and Key

by Sylvie Kurtz

  With a small sigh of relief, Melissa did as Grace asked. While Grace was gone, her gaze returned once more to the stranger’s lips. Artistic analysis, she told herself. Her hand reached for her heart and she knuckled the soft pining ache there. He’s not the one, she thought. He can’t give you what you want—no one can.

  She started to move away, then found her hand—as if it had a mind of its own—wandering toward that beautiful face. With a fingertip, she traced the edge of the bruise on his forehead, trailed down the sharp definition of his cheekbone and found his mouth. A study of proportion, she told herself, and tried to push away the notions of heat and softness and stark maleness. Would he begrudge her a moment of fantasy?

  With uncharacteristic abandon, she loosened her shawl and gave in to temptation. A spark of electricity ran between them when she touched her lips to his. A small gasp escaped her as she jerked back in surprise. When she kissed him a second time, his lips felt cold and lifeless.

  Just as well, she thought. He was no Snow White waiting for a wake-up kiss, and she definitely wasn’t Princess Charming. Love at first kiss was the invention of movie-makers. Everyone knew that. When he woke up, he’d most likely think he’d landed on the set of a horror movie, not some sort of romance. Still, she couldn’t resist one last touch, this time with her finger to his lips.

  His eyes fluttered open and he mumbled, “Lindsey, don’t leave me, Lindsey.”

  Spurred by a shot of adrenaline, Melissa scrambled off the bed and rewrapped the shawl around her face. When she turned to face him, he lay still once more, and the momentary speeding of her heart returned to normal.

  Armed with scissors and bandages of all kind, Grace reappeared. She positioned herself opposite Melissa. Her hands moved quickly as they cleaned, patched and secured the various wounds.

  Prodded by Grace, Melissa once again took up a post by his head. Sympathy for a creature in pain soon edged out her natural wariness of the human male. All the while Grace tended him, Melissa stroked the stranger’s straight brown hair, soothed him when he moaned. In his call to the mysterious Lindsey, Melissa had heard a familiar ring of grief. Who was Lindsey? How had she hurt him? Melissa calmed him with the same soft voice she used with her horses.

  When Grace finished, she covered him with a quilt and tucked in several hot-water bottles around his body. Then Grace picked up his damp jeans from the floor. From the back pocket, a wallet fell out and the contents spilled to the floor.

  “What’s his name?” Melissa asked. She’d grown used to the weight and warmth of him against her and still stroked the soft hair along the side of his head.

  “According to his driver’s license,” Grace said, stooping to pick up the wallet, “this is Tyler Blackwell, thirty-three, 184 pounds, six-two.”

  Tyler Blackwell. It had a nice sound.

  “Lives in Fort Worth. Oh, no!” As if the wallet had suddenly turned into a venomous snake, Grace dropped it. “Missy, he’s got a press ID.”

  The words hung heavily between them. Grace held her breath while she waited for her reaction.

  Slowly Melissa got up from the bed and moved to the farthest corner of the room. A chill colder than the hail stoning the castle walls iced through her. A reporter? Here? How dare he?

  “Get him out of here.” Melissa’s body shook and her blood ran cold. Another reporter trying to advance his dubious career at her expense. The last two had created the witch and sealed her permanently from the world.

  She wouldn’t be easy prey again.

  When Grace didn’t move, Melissa paced the stone floor while she fought the quickening of her anger, the sting of tears. “Now! I don’t want him here.”

  The idea of revenge crept unbidden into her mind. The poisoned thought fed on her anger and took on life. White-hot fury swirled deep inside. Grace positioned herself between Melissa and the wounded man.

  “Missy, he’s hurt.”

  Revenge soured her mouth with its venom, spread like fire through her blood. He was hurt, but so was she. He had a life. Hers had been stolen from her. Not once, but twice. By people like him. She couldn’t let that happen again. She had nothing left to lose.

  This time she would fight back. This time it would be different. She stopped her animal-like pacing and gazed down at the broken man on the bed. No longer did she see the sensual lines that had so pleased her earlier. She saw her last chance to reclaim her peace.

  Lightning clawed the sky. Thunder resounded, shaking the walls, matching the anger quaking inside her. Melissa spun on her heel and met Grace’s stern look squarely.

  “On second thought,” Melissa said, “if it’s a story he wants, let’s give him one he’ll never forget.”

  LIGHTNING AND THUNDER receded to low flickers and distant rumbles. Rain still crashed in fury against the windowpanes of Grace’s spare room. Its rhythm mirrored the wild beating of Melissa’s heart. She was tired of the pain.

  In her mind she heard the child’s sobs. They hadn’t bothered her in years. Not since Deanna had showed her how to cage her anger and her sorrow with the horses. She wanted to cry, too, like the child she’d once been, but the years of conditioning wouldn’t let that happen.

  “You can’t put him in the dungeon, Missy,” Grace said. “It ain’t right.”

  Anger’s slow growl thrummed through Melissa’s body. “Why not? He’s ready to sell my soul for a story. Why not give him a story that’ll fit right in with the trash he writes?”

  “You don’t know that.” Grace sidestepped, hiding the stranger from Melissa’s view. “You don’t know he was even heading here.”

  “What else is there around here? The thriving metropolis of Fallen Moon?” Melissa waved her hands at the buttressed ceiling. “I don’t think he’s here to admire the architecture.” She resumed pacing the far side of the room to keep from exploding.

  A part of her realized that her anger resulted from her encounter last summer with Brent Westfield. He’d wormed his way into the castle under false pretenses. One of her paintings had sold for a fantastic amount at a charity auction sponsored by James Randall, Dee’s father. She’d succeeded despite her condition, and that success had come as a pleasant surprise. For once she’d been normal. Pride at her accomplishment had let the reporter’s interest in her work lower her natural defenses.

  She cringed at the memory. The interview she’d never given, filled with lies and bizarre innuendoes, had hurt more deeply than she’d admitted to anyone. That the people of her own town had let the lies feed their imagination almost bled her dry.

  “You can’t put him in the dungeon when he’s hurt,” Grace said, her voice gentle.

  “His kind always survives,” Melissa scoffed, knowing Grace was right.

  Grace crossed her arms over her ample chest. “My eyes might not be so good, but some things you don’t need to see to know. Mark my words, Missy, you’re making a terrible mistake.”

  When Melissa didn’t answer, Grace caught her shoulders and shook her. “You keep him caged like that and you’re no better than the townsfolk who pass judgment without knowing any of the facts. Let him go.”

  “No,” Melissa said firmly. Her body shook. Her anger’s poison filled her veins and she couldn’t stop it. “I can’t, Grace,” she pleaded, wanting Grace to understand the desperate need she had to assert dominion over her tiny world. “I have to show them once and for all that I’m not a witch, that I need to be left alone.”

  “Are you sure that’s what you want, child?”

  No, it wasn’t, but she’d learned long ago certain things couldn’t be changed and certain prayers were never answered. And if she had to choose between being a freak and being alone, she would go with loneliness.

  This man couldn’t fulfill her dreams, but he could put an end to the witch. “That’s the way it has to be.”

  Grace rolled her eyes in exasperation. Ignoring her, Melissa moved away to gather the contents of Tyler Blackwell’s wallet from the floor. She riffled through th
e items, noting with interest that his wallet held no pictures—not even of his Lindsey. Why? Was this man as alone in the world as she was? Suddenly she had to know. She wanted to know everything about him. Adversaries needed to start the battle on an even footing. He knew about her, she had no doubt; she’d find out about him. Melissa tucked the wallet back in the jeans pocket, retaining only his driver’s license.

  “He’ll have to see a doctor for that head of his,” Grace said.

  Melissa stood up. “Send for Adam. After Adam’s seen him, put him in the dungeon.”

  “Missy—”

  “If he’s hurt that badly, Adam’ll have him transported to a hospital. If he’s not, he has a lesson to learn.” Melissa handed Grace the driver’s license. “And see what Dee can dig up on Tyler Blackwell.”

  “Missy—”

  “Tell her to bring me her report as soon as she has it.”

  Melissa leaned on the foot of the bed and stared at the unconscious man. “It’s my decision. I’ll live with the consequences.”

  “I don’t think you know what you’re getting into.”

  AN HOUR LATER Melissa made her way down the steep steps of the northeast tower to the cell where Grace had installed Tyler Blackwell. Grace tucked a blanket around the unconscious man’s body, now clad in sweats belonging to Grace’s son, who was away at college.

  “How’s he doing?” Melissa asked, stopping at the open cell door.

  “Doc says he’ll be all right.” Grace kept fussing with the blanket. “His body temperature’s back to normal. He woke up once, then fainted.”

  “Maybe he’s tired.” Melissa grabbed one of the cold steel bars, worried despite her best intentions about the man’s unconscious state.

  “And maybe they’re right to call you a witch.” Grace put a hot-water bottle at the man’s feet, then turned around to face Melissa. “He woke up long enough to tell Adam he didn’t want to go to no hospital. I tried to make him see the light, but he’s just as stubborn as you are.” She shook her head. “You two deserve each other.” She jerked her chin toward Tyler. “He needs to be watched till he comes to, and I’m too old to do it.”

  “I’ll keep an eye on him. I’ll come get you if he wakes up.”

  “You do that. Wake him every hour and make sure he ain’t seeing double.”

  Grace departed with a huff that left no doubt how she felt about Melissa’s actions. A twinge of guilt niggled at Melissa’s conscience. Then the anger stirred again. He’s a reporter! a voice in her mind exploded. He wants to hurt you like the others.

  She heard the abandoned child’s sobs echo somewhere in the past. They wrenched her heart and nearly dropped her in a pool of self-pity. Turning from the pull of memories took everything she had. The pain, the loneliness—both hurt so much.

  She forced her attention back to Tyler Blackwell. He looked beautiful. So innocent and peaceful. But Melissa knew she couldn’t trust the appearance of innocence or beauty. No one ever came to Thornwylde Castle without a reason.

  She moved into the cell and checked on the reporter. His breathing was even and his skin felt warm. Suddenly his brows knit together and his face contorted itself into a mask of pain. She snapped back her hand. What did I do? What should I do? I don’t know what to do with a sick man. He’s not sick. He’s just bruised. This is what you get for letting your anger get the best of you. Before she could run to call Grace, his face returned to its calm state.

  He’s a reporter, she reminded herself. He wants to hurt you. With her heart pounding, Melissa stood and moved away from Tyler. She wouldn’t let him. Not this time. He wanted the witch, she’d give him the witch. Then she’d show him she wasn’t a gorgon—just a simple woman.

  The scene set, Melissa returned to Tyler Blackwell’s bedside. She tucked the blanket around his shoulders. Then she sat beside him, watching and waiting. Every hour she woke him. Each time he called her Lindsey. Every cry to the unknown woman touched her soul and scratched at her resolve.

  When the first light of dawn eked through the dusty window, Melissa felt the stranger stir. Slowly she rose and left. As she closed the barred door, it squealed.

  She turned the lock and pocketed the key. “My dear Mr. Blackwell, welcome to your worst nightmare.”

  “HEY, SAL, HOW ARE the biscuits today?” Ray Lundy asked. Breakfast at the Parker Peach had been a part of his routine since he took on managing J.R. Randall’s stables three years ago.

  The redheaded waitress turned and smiled.

  “Hey, Ray, you’re late this mornin’.” Sally Warren grabbed the coffeepot off the heater and headed to the corner table where Ray took a seat. He doffed his battered cowboy hat and laid it crown-side down on the vinyl seat next to him.

  “Hear about the fire at Granger’s barn last night?” His eyes strayed over Sally’s hourglass figure squeezed into a cotton-candy-pink uniform that was half a size too small. He licked his lips, then forced his gaze back to her freckled face.

  “What happened?” Sally asked, interest glowing in her eyes.

  “They say it was the witch.”

  “No!” Sally eyed the kitchen window, then placed the coffeepot on the table and sat down across from Ray.

  “Yep. Granger, his wife and his daughter’s Girl Scout troop all saw her ridin’ away on that black stud of hers.” Glad to see his juicy gossip having the desired effect, Ray sampled the coffee, added a heaping teaspoon of sugar and a small container of cream.

  “What reason would she have to do that?” Sally placed her elbows on the table and cupped her chin in her hands.

  In the background Ray heard the clatter of dishes being washed, the scuff of a spatula scraping grease off the grill and Joe’s sharp bark at a kitchen helper. With the breakfast rush over, all Sally’s tables sat empty at the moment. Besides, he’d timed his arrival just right; he knew she was due for a break. He had her rapt attention—for the next couple of minutes.

  “Granger said his cows wandered over to her pastures a few weeks ago,” Ray said. “She wasn’t too pleased. Had her henchwoman tell him to keep his cows home or she’d do it for him.”

  “You don’t say.”

  “Yeah. Good thing his stock was out, but the barn’s a total loss.”

  “You know, that really doesn’t sound like her. She’s never bothered anybody before.”

  “What about the hex she put on Harris when he shot that deer on her land last spring.”

  Sally gave him a quizzical look.

  “The next week the roof on his house caved in.”

  “Oh, come on, Ray, there was a tornado spotted during that storm. She had no control over that.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. What about Andy Stone?” Ray took a deliberately long sip from his cup. “I hear tell he saw her face last week when she was out ridin’ and hasn’t been able to talk since.”

  “For heaven’s sake, Ray. Andy’s got laryngitis.”

  “Are you sure?” Ray saw her thoughts waver. She’s so transparent.

  “Then there’s the disappearin’ animals,” Ray continued. “The Strykers’ dog and the Andersons’ cat. Even old Zeke put in a report he had a goat missin’.” Ray sweetened his coffee with another spoonful of sugar. He loved the way the spoon clinked in time to Sally’s thoughts. “You know the full moon’s comin’. A witch’s moon.”

  Ray saw Sally study him. They’d known each other since grade school. He liked to play with people, and she knew it. He hoped she wouldn’t realize he was playing her for a fool. Knowing Sally as well as he did, she’d jump at the chance to be the first to repeat the juicy gossip. That was why he’d picked her. Ray recognized the instant she made up her mind.

  “Well, I gotta get back to work or Joe’ll have my hide,” she said. “The usual?”

  “The usual.” Ray smiled a satisfied grin. He’d planted the kernel of doubt. Sally Warren’s loose tongue would spare no time in sharing the rumors. Everything was going according to plan.

  Chapter Three

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nbsp; Tyler’s first thought was that he was dead. Then he tried to move and knew that if he was dead, he’d gone to hell. Nowhere else would such pain be allowed. His whole body throbbed. Something sharp dug into his rear and his guts hurt from sleeping on his back.

  He willed his fuzzy mind to clear. Where was he? Why couldn’t he open his eyes? He vaguely remembered a woman talking to him. Had he imagined the soft fingers on his skin when they’d unbuttoned his shirt, or the strong yet gentle hands that had held him as someone bandaged him, or the musical voice that had soothed him every time he awoke during the night? The floating image of a green-eyed angel buoyed on his closed lids. Warmth had surrounded him.

  A dream, Tyler thought, as he shivered under the thin blanket. It had to be a dream. The narrow cot grew unbearably uncomfortable beneath him. He had to get up. If only his body would cooperate. Water dripped somewhere to his right—a sharp, slow, echoing clank. The wind moaned at his feet. The clop of horse’s hooves on cobbles resounded above his head. All that’s missing are the scurrying rats, he thought. He forced his head up to look around, then let his head flop back on the flat pillow. There were bars instead of a door. Why wasn’t he surprised?

  I’m in the middle of a nightmare, and I’ll wake up any minute now. He willed the warmth back, the soft hands, the gentle voice. It was no use. Reality kept intruding. The night came back in slow pieces. His promise to Freddy. The accident. Camelot. The castle. Why had he ever thought of the castle as Camelot? Somehow he’d ended up stuck inside a medieval dungeon. This wasn’t the way he’d expected to start this assignment. She must be as crazy as the tabloids said she was.

  He didn’t like the idea of being at anyone’s mercy. Not after Lindsey. And especially not at the hands of a nutcase like Melissa Carnes. He was the pursuer, the one who put on the heat, not the other way around. It was time he set the record straight.

  Professional pride, if not his male ego, jolted him into action. He regretted his sudden move when pain resonated throughout his body.