by Kresley Cole
Ethan put a hand on his shoulder. Coming from Ethan it was a threatening gesture instead of comforting, and both of them knew it.
He turned to the two. Hugh frowned at Court's face as if confounded. Ethan took one look at him and scowled more, if possible. Court felt mad, crazed, and knew he looked it. "Only until I make sure she's safe," he said with difficulty.
"A woman like that doesn't belong with a man like you. Even if we weren't shadowed."
"You're killing her, Court," Hugh said. "Just like we killed Leith."
"Wait."
She stopped in her tracks so fast her skirts surged forward.
At this she heard Hugh mutter, "Christ." Ethan hissed a startlingly vile curse, then said in warning, "Courtland…"
Aleix turned to her, his battered face showing his displeasure.
"How are you going to keep her safe?" Court asked of Aleix.
Annalía turned, tilting her head at him. She'd never seen this fierce expression, the wild look in his eyes.
"I'll protect my own."
MacCarrick nodded in the direction of the doorway, indicating the lone carriage waiting outside in the rain. "You doona have outriders. I'll wager you doona even have a weapon."
"You're begging me to prove that I do."
"She's been marked by the Rechazados."
Aleix's tone went low as though pained. "I know."
Olivia piped in, "We've been, too." Aleix gave her a harsh, warning glance, which seemed to delight her, then she sauntered over to inspect an expensive vase. Annalía suspected that vase would be found in their carriage momentarily.
"They've attacked three times already."
"What?" Aleix reached for her arm, but MacCarrick lunged forward and snatched Aleix's wrist.
"Doona touch her arm," he warned. She had nearly healed, but it would be tender if he'd grabbed it.
"What happened to it?" Aleix demanded with a withering glare at MacCarrick's grip.
"They shot her." MacCarrick released him. "And they'll do it again."
"You let them shoot her?" Aleix's tone sounded more frightening than Annalía had ever heard it. And MacCarrick? She couldn't make out his feelings at all, but sensed violence in him, sharp and ready. She had to cool this situation.
"Aleix, I ran from MacCarrick toward them. Like an imbecile, shouting for their help."
Aleix never took his eyes from MacCarrick. "You let her go?"
She put herself between them, standing on her toes to attempt to reach his line of vision. "I elbowed his throat. And he still ran right after me to throw us behind a boulder. That was only the first time he saved my life." Had Aleix relaxed the tiniest bit? "Two Rechazados attacked while we rode north. He took down one—"
"One?" Olivia surveyed Annalía with obvious newfound interest.
Annalía answered, "I got the other one. I had this rock hidden in my skirt meant for MacCarrick." Aleix appeared astonished, as if he didn't recognize her. "It had worked on him before."
MacCarrick gave his brothers a baleful expression as if anticipating their censure. "She told me she'd hurt her feet. When I went to look at them, she swung her dress around…" Hugh raised his eyebrows and MacCarrick grated, "She's crafty."
Aleix took her elbow. "You can tell me about this later."
"You will no' take her from here," MacCarrick grated.
"You think to order me? You bloody, arrogant Scot—" And they were at it again.
Annalía flushed in embarrassment at Aleix's comment, wondering how Hugh and Ethan MacCarrick would respond. Annalía was learning that Ethan had one expression—malice just under the surface. Hugh shrugged. "Been called worse."
Court slammed into Aleix, hurtling him over a table, crashing it flat. Aleix clambered up from the wood to tackle MacCarrick, pushing them into the next room. "Will you help me?" she asked Hugh. Ethan was just too fearsome to ask.
Hugh swore, then strode between them throwing elbows. "You're behaving stupidly, Court. And much is on the line."
When they broke apart, both out of breath, Ethan spoke in a disgusted tone, "You have a common enemy. Excise the threat, then kill each other if you like." And then he was gone.
"They're right," MacCarrick said finally. "You want to kill me, which might even be fair, and I'm going to enjoy beating you down when you try, but we have other tasks at hand before then. I will no' allow you to distract me from them."
Aleix wiped his bleeding lip with his sleeve and labored to catch his breath. He gave MacCarrick one sharp nod.
Assured they'd stopped fighting, she hurried to shut the front door against the rain that had started to pour and splatter into the house. She could scarcely believe it when she spotted her horse tethered to their coach. "Iambe!" she cried, amazed that Aleix had thought to take her from Pascal.
"Anna, get away from the goddamned door," MacCarrick barked, striding toward her.
"How dare you speak to her that way," Aleix snapped as he followed. "Do you even know who she is?"
Olivia informed her, "Iambe is no longer my horse's name."
Annalía turned on her, ready to do violence, when she felt a hand clutch her neck and a cold barrel at her temple.
They'd come again.
She caught Court's eyes and saw the fury and rage firing in him, but this time she knew her luck had run out.
She really wished she'd told him she loved him.
Chapter Thirty-three
She believes she's going to die. Her eyes met Court's, her expression telling him so. His hand eased back to his pistol, but the Rechazado shoved the barrel harder against her, a move that ripped the breath from Court's lungs.
He put his hands out in front of him. "Take me instead," he bit out.
Llorente said, "Me for her."
The man ran the barrel down her cheek. "We'll return for you both later."
Think, God damn it, think!
Where the hell was Ethan, where was Hugh? From where he stood, the gunman couldn't see Hugh in the next room. Hugh could take him out—he'd been trained to kill so quickly…. "Hugh," he rasped in Gaelic, "kill him. By Christ, please do this. Please…"
He sensed his brother silently backing away.
The one with Anna opened the second door for another, who pointed his pistol at Olivia and indicated she should follow. She finally advanced toward him, but said over her shoulder, "It was still worth it, Llorente."
Both Rechazados backed down the steps, Anna stumbling in one's arms down the wet stairs, blinking from the rain but never taking her eyes from Court's. As if to gain courage.
"Doona fight him, Anna." He didn't know if she could understand the strangled words.
The fury was choking him, turning everything he saw black.
If the Rechazados got away, Court would find Annalía dead, discarded at the outskirts of the city.
"God damn it, Anna," he grated. "Just stay alive. Just hold on—"
A blast from the second floor. The man's head burst from one side. He tightened his arm in death around Anna as he collapsed.
The other whipped his pistol up at Hugh, but both Court and Hugh had already fired. He slumped to his knees, then onto what was left of his face.
Court knew he'd never forget what he saw for the rest of his life. Anna crawling from the body, eyes blank, lips parted. A bellow of rage roared from him as he ran for her, unable to get to her before her hands slipped from under her in the blood and carnage from both men and the cold rain pooling on the street. The low cries she made…
He slid down next to her, dropping the gun to snatch her into his arms, clutching her to him, his fingers tracing and retracing her temple, scarcely believing. "Anna?" He clasped her head to pull her to his chest.
She nodded faintly against him.
How long they stayed like this he didn't know, but Hugh had come from his vantage, and he and Ethan were outside, scanning for more.
Llorente was trying to take Anna from him. Court swung out blindly and connected hard with his face. Something
broke beneath the blow.
Hugh took Court's shoulder. But he couldn't move.
"You doona want her to live through that, then die from chill," Hugh said.
The words made perfect sense.
"Come in, Court," Ethan ordered.
Only when she shuddered was he able to command his body to move. He drew her into him too hard and rose.
Once inside, in the bright light, when he saw the blood all over her, things became very clear. "Ethan?"
"They're taken care of, Court. Doona think on it."
Court swung his gaze to Hugh.
"Retribution?" Hugh asked.
"A thousand times."
"I'll ride with you."
Court shook his head. "I already owe you more than my life."
"We leave at dawn," Hugh said, ignoring the last.
Erskine called down in a high, panicked voice that a bath was waiting.
Court vaguely heard Llorente speaking. Not her husband. Must let her go. Can't care for her.
He faced Llorente, felt his teeth bared, heard the other woman snap, "Don't be stupid, Llorente! He won't hurt her."
Court had started for the stairs when Anna finally spoke, "I'll be fine. I am usually stronger during these things." Her voice was faltering, her words sounding hollow.
During these things. If she'd died, he would have meted out death and torment as they'd never known.
"Why is everyone acting so strangely?" Anna asked.
Olivia said, "Everyone is acting strangely because your pupils are the size of tea saucers, you're covered in blood, and you have gun oil smeared on your temple. You're also deep in shock."
"Oh," she answered in a small voice. "Courtland, put me down, or I'll become embarrassed. You've never reacted like this before."
Before.
Llorente yelled something from below, apparently restrained by Hugh. Monster, brutal, killer, blamed. The last thing Court heard was Hugh telling him, "You're lucky Court didn't snap your neck out there." Llorente was. The impulse had been there.
In her room, he set her on the foot of the bed, helping her sit up as he undressed her. He'd done this a hundred times, yet he could scarcely get the first button undone. He ripped at her dress—surprising how easily the fabric parted—until he'd stripped her. Lifting her in his arms, he set her in the bath, then knelt beside her.
Cupping warm water over her shoulders, he asked, "Anna, are you all right?" He didn't recognize his own voice.
"Of course." She was looking straight ahead. Her eyes wouldn't adjust. So bright in this room, and her pupils wouldn't recede. When he determined she could sit up by herself, he rushed to the lamp to turn it down, then strode back beside her.
He took a cloth and brushed at the blood on her face and neck, scrubbed her wee hands. "There's a good lass," he bit out as he washed her hair. The oil at her temple didn't want to come clean, and he couldn't rub much harder.
She would already have a bruise from the barrel. He shuddered violently.
"Courtland? You must try to be patient with Aleix." Her voice sounded confused. "He is not like my fierce Scot. The fighting is new to him, and he thinks he'll lose me as he lost Mariette and the little baby girl. I am his last family."
"Mo cridhe, you know I will do anythin' you ask of me." He put his forehead against her shoulder.
"I do know that," she said softly.
He felt her relaxing, then tensing as she fought sleep, so he rinsed her hair and body, then placed her on her feet to dry her. A cursory glance around the room revealed a nightgown and some of Court's clothes laid out for them. He dressed her in the gown before bundling her in the bed under several blankets.
The sight of his clean clothes reminded him that he had blood on himself as well. Fearing she'd be alarmed later, he stripped and rinsed with the remaining buckets of water. He swiftly dressed then pulled a chair over so he could sit beside her.
"I don't know why I'm so sleepy." She reached out her hand for his. "I've been so tired lately." He took it, put his elbows on his knees, and leaned forward to press his face down against her palm. When she slept, he didn't let it go.
Llorente walked in shortly after. Court glanced up without interest, vaguely noticing he'd broken at least Llorente's nose.
"I want to see my sister." His voice was thick, from either emotion or injuries.
Hugh came striding in directly after him, most likely to protect Llorente.
"Hugh, relax, I will no' hurt him any longer," he said, but he eyed Llorente crossing to the other side of the bed to study her face.
Apparently assured, Hugh said, "We need to plan. Ethan wants to speak with you. I can stay with her."
"Tell him to come here. I'll no' leave her." Court noted his hand had tightened on hers.
"He's with Olivia."
"Bring her as well, then, but I'm no' leaving."
Hugh glanced at Anna. "We will no' disturb her?"
"No, she will no' wake."
When Hugh left the room, Llorente said, "And you would know that because you've been sleeping with her?"
"Aye." He defied Llorente to say something about it now.
The look in his eyes must have dissuaded Llorente from that subject, becaused he asked, "Are you certain she wasn't injured?"
"She's bruised. She's in shock. No more."
Hugh and Ethan returned with a table and chairs, Olivia following. Erskine brought the coffee service and then exited without a word.
Court reluctantly relinquished Anna's hand and tucked it under the blanket. After he tugged the cover higher to her chin, he strode over to sit.
Llorente pulled a chair, uninvited, to the table, studying them. He would have to be wondering how Hugh could shoot like that, would have to be wondering about Ethan's lethal demeanor and how he'd received his twisting scar. Though Court knew Llorente was baffled by all this as well as Court and Anna's relationship, he wisely asked nothing.
Court began, "Ethan, I need you to stay here with her." He caught Ethan's eyes, showing him how much he was entrusting to him.
"Aye. I'll bring in some men as well," Ethan said.
"If we doona come back, you must take Anna to Carrickliffe among the clan. Make them swear to her."
"It's done."
"And what of Olivia?" Llorente asked. "She must stay with Annalía."
Court swung a glance at him. "You can take care of Olivia."
"If you're hunting the Rechazados, I'm going as well." He ran a sleeve over his still bleeding lip.
"You stay here," Court said.
"That's my land and my people. I need to be there if you're going in."
"He's right, Court," Hugh said. "He'll just follow us down anyway."
Court shrugged. "You'll get in the way of what I'm after only once."
Llorente narrowed his eyes at that, then said, "And Olivia?" He didn't understand what he was asking for.
Hugh said, "Ethan, just agree to it. They'll need to be together."
Ethan hesitated for several seconds, then inclined his head. And with that, a man considered wicked by so many—often rightly so—would now risk his life for both of them. "Court, what do you know about the order?"
Court leaned forward, struggling to become cold, to focus on what they had to do. "They prefer to stay as a unified corps, dispatching smaller groups. If we could get close enough to where they camp, we could take them out at one time."
"There will just be new ones enlisted," Llorente said.
Court shook his head. "If you take out all of them, who's to pass on their orders?"
Hugh added, "I've read about them as well"—read about them, no doubt, in a thick dossier with the instructions "engage at will." "Even if you canna take them all, if you eliminate their leader, it's like cutting the head off a snake."
"But it won't matter if Pascal lives," Llorente pointed out. "He'll keep sending men. He's got an army of deserters wanting to rise in the ranks."
"Then we have to kill them to a man
," Court answered, obviously surprising Llorente. Court gave him a look of disgust. "Did you possibly conceive that I would leave a single man alive who would hurt her?"
"You're talking about the Rechazados, the deserters and Pascal. In one campaign?"
"Aye."
Llorente nodded slowly. "We'll need more men."
Hugh said, "No' for the Rechazados, if they camp together and if we have the right…gear." Explosives. "So we'd need men only for the deserters. Court, can you contact your crew?"
"I've tried and have no' heard back. They probably went east with Otto."
"I'm no' sure they did." Ethan said. "Weyland and I have been working to get the deserters out of Andorra for months. Which was how I'd known you'd chosen…unwisely to ally with Pascal. Weyland's pressured the British ambassador, who's pressured the Spanish to raise the bounties on the deserters. Exponentially. If I know our cousin, Niall would've determined how lucrative it could be. With Court's crew, it'd be like shooting fish in a barrel."
"You think his mercenaries are in Andorra?" Llorente asked. "That's good news."
"Aye. Good for us," Court said. "Bad for your house."
Llorente raised his eyebrows. "Should I ask?"
Hugh quickly said, "No' if you've any sense."
Llorente prudently returned to the matter at hand. "I've studied the deserters and you know the Rechazados, but I don't know Pascal and know you don't either."
"No," Court admitted. "He alters routines, moves domiciles. I could no' find a pattern."
"Neither me."
Olivia coughed delicately. They turned to her, saw her admiring her reflection in a silver spoon. "But I have."
When the others had retired, and Court took his chair beside Annalía again, Llorente remained.
"You care for her. Obviously a great deal," he said, taking a chair on the opposite side of the bed to face him. "Why didn't you marry her before I got here to tell you no?"
"Because I care for her a great deal."
"You kidnapped my sister and forced her into a different country. Apparently, you took over my home—while I was rotting in a cell that you had put me in. You stole from me. You bloody broke my nose. It's hard to imagine that you could do much more."
"But I have."