She didn’t wait for a response. Lillian and Belinda crawled through the crevice, which led down some roughly carved out steps. It was damp and close. Belinda’s mind went to her underground prison. A shiver ran up her spine. It was a trap to lure her back to the master. She knew it. It was likely that Lillian did as well. It made no difference. Serena couldn’t be made to suffer for the decisions she had made three years before.
At the bottom of the steps, another crack in the castle’s foundation led them into a hallway. At least the men would be able to get through this larger entry. In the hall, Belinda dropped her skirts in favor of the trousers beneath, and Lillian pulled the drawstrings on her dress so that she could fight or run if need be. Belinda cut a square of fabric off the bottom of the skirt, halved it and tucked the pieces between her breasts. She had no doubt that they would come up against every manner of demon in these catacombs.
The men who built the castle above had not built these strange underground caverns. If they had, it was for other purposes. At some point, the demons had taken over the dank underground.
She needed to focus on finding Serena and removing her from the hands of the master or his minions. The demons couldn’t have been using the space for very long. The smell was only river and dust. It lacked the overwhelming foul stink that always accompanied demons.
“Belinda, over here.” Lillian pointed to a door as she whispered for attention.
The door was of heavy oak, but when she drew closer, weeping came through from the other side.
Where were Gabriel and the others? The corridor behind her was empty.
“I do not think we can wait,” Lillian said.
“No. Let’s go.”
“Are you sure you can do this, Belinda? You have been through a lot.”
“A bit late for that question now, Lilly. I will be fine. I can recover from my experience when Gabriel’s sister is safe.”
The redhead nodded and pushed on the door. Unsurprisingly, it did not open. Lillian tucked her sai knives into her boots, pulled two pins from her hair and crouched down at the lock.
A satisfying click sounded. Once she had recovered her blades, she opened the door.
The smell hit them first but six malleuses stood ten feet inside the doorway as if they’d been waiting for the invasion.
Across the room, Serena was strapped to a round object that looked as if it was a giant pendulum. The girl bled from a cut on her shoulder and her gown was filthy and tattered. Her hair, so similar to her brother’s, formed a nest around her head and face. She cried softly, but when she saw Belinda, screamed her name.
Belinda was not sure if the girl was trying to warn her not to enter or if she was happy to see a familiar face.
The demons seriously outnumbered them. They needed help.
Besides the malleus, there were two durgot priests and one of the nasty, hairy beasts with all the teeth. The demons at Fatum called these pravus. It was the same kind of monster that had bitten Reece and poisoned him, according to what Gabriel had told her. The priests were far too close to Serena for comfort. Their dark hoods were tossed back and they grunted through those wide bull noses.
Belinda remembered the one she had killed in the yard outside of Fatum and her heart pounded harder.
She hoped that was all they would find in the room and the others would arrive soon. How long could it take them to break off some crumbling stone?
There was no help for it, they had to go in. Belinda stepped through the door and moved to the left with Lillian directly behind.
As soon as they were inside the malleus demons moved forward. The six of them fanned out in front of the two women and started forward.
Belinda thought of one of these bulbous-headed monsters carrying her away from Gabriel across Scotland. It fueled her rage. The endless hours of life beneath the earth with no windows and only enough air to live consumed her. She wouldn’t remember lifting her sword, running along the wall or slicing off the head of the first malleus. Her body became the product of her training. Some part of her tried to keep Lillian in mind as she spun around, jumped, and kicked in the nose of the second in line. Her sword was an extension of her arm and found its mark in the chest of the third.
“Above you, Belinda.” Lillian screamed the warning.
The pravus’s open mouth and pointed teeth loomed overhead.
As it dropped, Belinda’s world slowed. The air around her shifted as she jumped to one side.
The malleus with the broken nose grabbed for her.
She pulled her dirk from her belt and thrust it into his eye.
He clutched at the hilt.
Belinda’s sword sliced the air above and cut the strange hairy beast in two. Its bloody innards sprayed her and the room with gore.
Lillian’s blades had taken care of two more malleuses, but the last lifted the hunter off her feet and tossed her against the wall. She slid limply to the floor.
The cry that split the air did not sound human or familiar, yet it came from Belinda’s lips. She ran across the space.
The demon turned and roared as he lifted his arms to hammer down on her smaller body.
Belinda fell to her knees causing him to miss his mark.
While he recovered his balance, she thrust up with her blade impaling him through the belly so deep she must have pierced his heart. He fell forward.
Belinda rolled to the side to avoid being crushed.
She spun toward the movement in the corner of her eye, sword high. Midway through the cut, she stopped her blade as Gabriel’s concerned face came into view. “Sorry.”
He didn’t respond. His eyebrows lifted. He’d stood in the path of her sword and had faith that she would stop before she cut his head from his shoulders.
Belinda’s view had been blocked by the malleus, but now she saw the pendulum was a kind of altar suspended above a hole in the floor. Through the gap in the floor, there was only blackness.
The priests began to chant. One moved toward the hunters and the other lifted his ax toward Serena.
The girl started screaming as soon as she saw her brother and Thaddeus.
The Scot rushed toward the priest nearest to his fiancée.
Gabriel allowed the other one to come forward toward them.
The durgot lowered his horned head and rushed forward, intent on skewering them with the horns.
Both Belinda and Gabriel sidestepped and let the beast rush between them.
Gabriel turned back and lifted his gun, firing and hitting it in the back.
The ball did little damage as he spun around and charged at Gabriel again.
Thaddeus disarmed the demon that was about to carve up Serena and was engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the enormous beast.
While the men struggled with the durgots, Belinda assessed the problem of getting Serena down from the pendulum without her falling into whatever abyss lay below.
She had an idea, but it would require a man to help her.
Thaddeus was still tussling with one priest.
Belinda pulled a small knife from her boot, pulled back and let it fly. The small blade lodged itself in the demon’s temple.
It stopped, looked confused and then fell to the floor.
The Scot looked as stunned as the dead demon.
The grunts of men and demons along with clash of steel continued behind her.
“Douglass, climb up that stone from the side, cut her wrists and toss her to me.”
He looked from the round stone to the pit then back at Belinda.
“Do not think, just do it.” She tossed him a small blade hilt first and he caught it handily.
Thaddeus tucked the knife into his belt and ran to the side of the altar. He gripped the wall with one hand and the stone with the other, pulling himself up the side until he could get one foot on each surface and climb to the top where Serena’s hands were secured.
The girl screamed an
d cried.
He cut the first binding, and Belinda’s heart leaped into her throat. Serena hung by just one wrist and nothing lay below her, but death.
Gabriel screamed, “What is he doing.”
Thaddeus looked down at them, his eyes filled with terror.
“Do it! Take her hand and cut the rope,” Belinda said.
The young man wrapped his large hand around Serena’s tiny one and cut her bindings. She swayed above the hole, screaming.
“Throw her.”
“I cannot.”
“Do it.” Gabriel commanded.
Thaddeus lifted his fiancée up until he could grab her by the waist and then he tossed her across the hole to her brother.
Gabriel caught the girl while the Scot’s feet teetered on the stone altar.
“Jump,” Lillian yelled.
She needn’t have told him. He was already flying toward Belinda.
He didn’t make a good jump. His foot hit the edge of the hole and slid in.
Belinda grabbed his flailing hand. She leaned back, but his weight was too much. They would both fall in to whatever lay beneath the Palace of Westminster since the demons had made it their own.
His wide, terrified gaze stared up at her. His legs flailed to find purchase, but there was nothing. He gripped Belinda’s arm.
She pulled with all her strength.
He released his hold. “Let me go, my lady. Save yourself.”
She held on and pulled harder. Her booted feet slid across the stone floor. His weight pulled them both down.
A huge hand came around hers. Thor’s other arm wrapped around her middle and he pulled them both back until all three tumbled to the floor in a heap.
Belinda smiled at the carriage driver. “This is becoming quite a habit, Thor.”
“Yes, my lady. I have a habit of being a bit late. I shall try to do better.”
She laughed at that and allowed him to help her off the floor.
Chapter 18
Gabriel held his sister in his arms. His wife and Thor were safe. No one had died. His heart still pounded in his chest. He’d nearly lost everything.
“You think you’ve won something, Hunters. I am Master. I have come.”
It was as if his head were being torn apart. His legs collapsed beneath him. He softened the fall for his sister’s battered body, but his own knees came down with a pain-searing thud.
“It is him,” Belinda said. She staggered on her feet.
“Let’s get out of here.” Lillian was still wobbly herself, but she put a hand out to steady Belinda.
Thaddeus reached to take Serena from Gabriel’s arms.
The last thing he wanted was to release his sister to another man.
He stared the Scot down, but the younger man did not falter. He had saved the woman he loved just as Gabriel had done in Scotland. He released Serena to the young man’s care.
“Are you all right, Bella?”
“Thanks to Thor.”
The driver ignored the comment. “Miss Lillian is right. We need to get out of here. It will need another day for investigation. The young lady needs attention.”
No one disagreed. The place below the Palace of Westminster would need investigation, but not that night.
* * * *
Relief washed over Belinda as she ascended from below ground to the open air of London. She didn’t even mind the horrible river smell. “I think I would like to stay above ground for a while.”
Gabriel hugged her around the shoulder before handing her up into the carriage.
Tubbs had waited with the horses and carriage. The footman’s face was bright red and his eyes warmed as they approached. He let out a great sigh, as if he’d been holding his breath until they arrived.
Thaddeus situated Serena inside the carriage. He touched her cheek and his hand trembled. “Where are you taking her?”
The girl’s consciousness wavered, and she mumbled incoherently.
“Home,” Gabriel said. He narrowed his eyes at Lillian and Belinda as if daring either of them to challenge him.
Thaddeus nodded and left them to mount his horse.
Gabriel held his sister against his chest and crooned gentle words to her on the way back to the Tullering townhouse. She needed a doctor, but Belinda said nothing. Gabriel knew that Dr. Barns would be needed. If he didn’t want to let his little sister out of his sight for the time being, she could completely understand the sentiment.
“Do you need a doctor, Lilly?” Belinda asked.
Her friend touched the back of her head gingerly. “A hot bath and a good night’s sleep should be enough for me.”
A dark purple bruise swelled badly at the back of Lillian’s neck and shoulders. She’d hit that wall hard enough to be knocked unconscious for several minutes. “Are you certain?”
“There is nothing a doctor can do for me. I know my name and yours. I just need to rest and heal. Thor will take me home once you are safe.”
“You could stay with us for a few days, Lilly. I hate to think of you alone.”
Lillian was lovely when she smiled as she did in the dim carriage. “No, but thank you. I prefer my own home. I will travel to check on Reece in a week or so. I have it on good authority that Cullum will send some new hunters to watch over London. I have other business to attend to.”
She wouldn’t see Lillian again for perhaps a long time. Her chest clenched painfully. “I will miss you.”
Lillian touched her hand “I will miss you too, Belinda. We will see each other again. I feel sure of it. I am just thankful you are safe. I do not think I could bear losing you to the demons. I have always known it was a possibility that one of us could be killed, but seeing you hanging above that gateway nearly undid me. I expect you two to take care of each other. Now that you have his lordship, I am certain you can do without me.”
Belinda wiped a tear from her cheek. “You are my dearest friend, Lilly. I will always need you in my life.”
The carriage jerked to a stop.
“And I shall always be your friend. I will write often and let you know where I am.”
It really was good-bye. It was obvious by her friend’s tone that she wouldn’t see her again for some time. They both stepped down from the carriage and exchanged a quick hug.
“Take care of yourself, Lilly.”
Once Gabriel had handed Serena to Thaddeus and they started up the steps into the house, Lillian climbed back in and waved out the window.
The carriage pulled away, grew smaller and turned the corner out of sight.
“My lady, you had best go inside before someone sees you.” Tubbs nervously looked up and down the street.
Her trouser clad legs would cause a stir.
The footman followed her up the steps.
She turned before he opened the door. “Can you go and fetch Dr. Barns from the hunter’s hospital, Tubbs?”
He widened his brown eyes. “I’ll go straight away, my lady.”
* * * *
As the Countess of Tullering, Belinda climbed the staircase to a very spacious and grand apartment of rooms. She entered the lady’s chamber.
Claire met her there and had a bath already prepared.
After the fight, the hot water eased her sore muscles and the steam soothed her. Seeing the condition of Serena in the room down the hall brought back memories of her own recovery from a similar capture.
She tried not to think about her loss of control. She had always been a fierce fighter, but in the altar-room underneath parliament, she had become a creature she did not recognize. In the quiet of her new home, the idea that Gabriel had seen her in that state sickened her.
Instead of making her feel better, the bath only gave her time to think. Washing quickly, she let Claire wrap her in a towel and begin combing out her hair.
She took the comb from the maid. “Go to bed, Claire. I will manage on my own.”
Clai
re gave her a hard, knowing look. “As you wish, milady.”
Leaving her damp tresses loose, she smiled at the pretty room. The cream and rose confection was exactly what she would have wanted four years earlier. Belinda walked through the door leading to Gabriel’s rooms. She closed the door behind her.
Dark wood and burgundy drapes gave the room a masculine air, which she found much more appealing.
The countess’s room was feminine and appropriate, but she doubted she would use it for more than dressing. Her place was wherever Gabriel rested his head.
A sting of guilt clutched at her. She should be with her husband now.
Taking the robe from the chair near the bed, she wrapped herself in the too-big yet warm garment, before padding down the hall. Belinda listened at the door for a moment but no sound came from within Serena’s bedroom. Her stomach clenched. She didn’t want to be inside the sickroom. Still, she turned the knob and walked inside.
Gabriel sat in a chair alongside his sister, with his hands on the end of the bed and his head resting on his hands.
Serena lay pale, with her eyes closed and her dark hair around her shoulders. She had been bathed and put into clean white bedclothes. She looked peaceful.
For the first time, Belinda didn’t know how to proceed. Her heart was in her throat.
“If you have come to tell me to send my sister away, you should go to bed, Bella.” Raw emotion dripped from Gabriel’s words.
She took a step closer. “I came to be near you, nothing more.”
He sat up in the chair and turned toward her. Exhaustion drew his cheeks in and painted dark rings under his eyes. His skin was too pale as his gaze narrowed on her.
“Where is Dr. Barns?” She asked.
Gabriel closed his eyes and reached one hand out toward Belinda. She rushed across the floor that separated them and settled comfortably on his lap.
His arm wrapped around her and caressed a path up and down her back. “The good doctor gave Serena a draught to help her sleep and will return in the morning.”
“And Mr. Douglass?”
“I sent him away. He was tired and I’m certain he will return tomorrow as well.”
“Do you think he will still wish to marry Serena?”
Ascension Page 26