He shook his head, then winced at the movement, gazing at Gabriel in apology. “He sneaked up behind me and bashed me over the head. When I came to, they were gone.”
Servants began to gather in the hall.
“Jack is the only one who could track her, and he is in no condition to go after her.”
“Milles, send for a doctor.” Gabriel grabbed a rag and put pressure on Ashmore’s wound. “Have someone saddle me a fresh horse.”
“I’ll go with you.”
Ashmore started to stand, but Gabriel easily pushed him back into his seat. “You’re in no condition to go anywhere.”
When he opened his mouth to protest, Gabriel straightened. “You’ll only slow me down. You can help by loaning me your gun. Everything I own has been left back at my country estate.”
“Of course. It’s already loaded in a lockbox under my bed.” He dug out a key from his pocket and handed it over to Milles.
Gabriel surveyed the servants. “Did any of you notice anything odd? Or see anyone enter the house who didn’t belong?”
Diana studied the servants as well, when she noticed Mrs. Ketterling lingering in the background, not bothering to conceal the smug smile on her face when she glared down at Jack.
“You!” Diana pointed to Mrs. Ketterling. “You poisoned him.”
The woman drew herself up and sneered. “How dare you accuse me of such a thing!”
Gabriel took her word as truth and whirled toward Mrs. Ketterling. “What did you do?”
“I am sure I couldn’t say what that beast got into.” Her nose crinkled up in distaste. “I warned you what would happen if you didn’t watch your dog. You should have taken better care of him.”
Diana was ready to lunge for the woman’s throat when Gabriel spoke.
“Did you know this beast, as you called him, prevented my daughter from being stolen out of her room last night?” He took another step closer, seeming to grow in size as he advanced. “Did you know that when you poisoned this beast, he was not there to protect my daughter?” His voice rose with each word. “Because of you, my daughter is gone.” The last ended in a roar.
Mrs. Ketterling flinched but held her ground, pointing an accusing finger at Diana. “None of this would have happened if she’d never come here. We were—”
“Mrs. Ketterling, you helped the people kidnap my daughter by telling them when we would be out of the house and our location. You did this.” Gabriel voice thundered in the hall, and everyone fell silent at the accusation. “Whom did you tell? Was it Williams?”
“I never betrayed you.” Her voice grew shrill as she backed away. “Everything I did was for the good of the family. I—”
“Where has he taken my daughter?” Gabriel roared.
“No.” She shook her head wildly in denial as she backed away from his accusation. “He’s a man of God! He didn’t do this.” She shrieked when Milles grabbed her arm, and she clawed at him to get away.
Milles released his hold, lifting his hands to protect his face, and Mrs. Ketterling lost her balance. Gabriel rushed forward to catch her, but she flipped over the railing and fell. Her scream was cut off abruptly by a horrible thud.
Gabriel swore and raced down the stairs. After checking for a pulse, he rose. “Damn it all. She was our last link to Emilie.” He grabbed his hair as though to tear it out by its roots.
“Not exactly.” Diana clutched the railing as she glanced down at him. “Williams.”
Gabriel charged the door, as if to hunt down the man right now. “No! You cannot go off making wild accusations. We have to have a plan. As he said this morning, he has witnesses. Everyone will assume you are blaming him for slandering me.”
He pinned Diana with a hard stare, and she did her best not to flinch at the sight of his pain. “Do you expect me to leave my daughter with that madman?”
“He does not have your daughter with him at the moment. He ordered it done.” Diana’s heart shriveled. She caused this. It was her fault. Williams wanted to punish her for evading him.
Gabriel stepped closer. “Do you expect me to do nothing? She is my daughter!”
Diana stood frozen when he turned on his heel and left the house without another word.
The comment, even made in pain, shattered the fragile hope she held for their future. Unwilling to reveal how her heart was breaking, Diana took a moment to gather her composure. “Milles, I want you to follow Lord Mendenhall and keep him out of trouble. Whatever you do don’t give him Ashmore’s gun. If you can manage it, keep him away from Williams.”
The man gave her a respectful bow, seemingly pleased to be given a task.
She nodded in return, grateful for such unstinting support. For now, until Gabriel returned, she was still the mistress of the house. “See if someone can find a sheet to cover Mrs. Ketterling, and alert the authorities right away.”
Not bothering to see if they obeyed, Diana walked down the empty hall, the silence echoing loudly with Emilie and Jack gone.
Ashmore was waiting for her. “He didn’t mean it.”
Diana nodded, and they both pretended she believed him. “The doctor will be here shortly. There is nothing you can do to help but get some rest.”
He opened his mouth as if to say more, but hesitated, as if sensing how close she was to breaking. “Call me if you need anything.”
She waited until he left to examine Jack more closely.
Hours passed, the doctor came and went, unable to suggest any diagnosis besides poison. She tried one concoction after another, Kathy and Cook at her side fetching ingredients. Even Conway stopped by to offer his support and a tonic. Veronica kept Jack calm by lavishing all her attention on him, while Diana racked her brain to think of a cure. It helped keep her busy. If she could cure Jack, he could hunt down whoever did this and find Emilie.
In the meantime, she waited for Williams to contact her for the trade.
When Emilie returned, she would need Jack to protect her after Diana was gone.
“Cook, would you be a dear and prepare tea for me?”
The woman jumped to her feet. “Of course, dear. You haven’t eaten all day. I’ll make you up a little something.”
Diana didn’t have the heart to tell her she wouldn’t be able to choke down anything.
Just before sunset, Jack started breathing freely, resting peacefully in his sleep. After sending everyone off to bed, Diana remained in her room, unable to stop thinking that she had no business masquerading as a lady or wife.
She was a Druid, and that would never change.
Diana stripped out of her fancy clothes, donning the dress she was wearing when she first met Gabriel. She crouched and removed a larger wooden box from the back of the wardrobe. Flipping the latches, Diana stared a moment at her stockpile of weapons.
It was time to put away her dreams and do what needed to be done to protect those she had come to care about. She slipped as many weapons as she could carry on her person, secreting them away on her body. Diana glanced back at the bed to check Jack’s progress one more time and hoped this was not good-bye.
Diana picked up the tray of tea and replaced the tea leaves with a blend of her own herbs.
Hand on the knob, she slipped out into the hall, making her way to Ashmore’s room. He appeared to be sleeping peacefully when she entered. She checked the bandage on his head, relieved to note no blood seeped through the bindings. The doctor had stitched him well. Diana turned away to leave when he spoke.
“Where you going?” He slurred his words, his voice weak, but he was aware enough of his surroundings to make her stop.
Diana turned back and saw his eyes widen at her outfit. A small smile quirked his lips.
“I’m going to bring Emilie back.” She said it without a trace of arrogance. The alternative wasn’t an option.
He reached up and touched his forehead. “Where’s Gabriel?”
She concentrated on pouring them tea. “Searching for his daughter.”
“And you were going to join him?” The doubt in his voice made her smile.
“No. The last thing he would want is my company.” She held up her hand as he opened his mouth. “His words, not mine.”
Incredulous, he tried to sit up. “He would never say that.”
“Not in those words, but you heard the same thing I did.”
Ashmore opened his mouth then shut it. “You must have misunderstood.”
Diana shook her head even before he finished. “No. It is not something a wife would forget a husband telling her.”
She tried to smile and failed. “Would you like some tea?”
She added sugar, then handed him a cup.
“Don’t do anything foolish.” He gingerly took a sip of tea.
“Never.” She looked at him fondly.
“Maybe you should wait—”
“It might be too late by then.” She sat by the fire and took a sip of her tea, wincing at the bitterness.
“How do you expect to find Emilie?” When Ashmore struggled to rise, she rose and pushed him back down.
Quick as a snake, he grabbed her wrist in a surprisingly strong grip. “What—”
“I cannot let you leave by yourself.”
Diana twisted away, easily breaking his hold. “And I cannot let you be hurt further by something that is my doing.”
“Yours! Don’t be foolish. You had nothing to do with Emilie being taken.” He scoffed at the very idea. “Everyone can see how much you love that girl.”
“That’s the very reason she was taken. Because of me. And I intend to find her and return her to her father.” Diana picked up her tea and tipped it back until it was gone.
Ashmore raised a brow. “No matter the cost to yourself.”
Diana studied the bottom of her cup, not wanting him to see the truth. “I will do what needs to be done.”
“How?”
“I may be a woman, but I am not helpless.”
“I never said you were, but how do you think Gabriel—”
“He will be relieved to have his daughter back.” Diana turned, facing him, daring him to disagree.
Ashmore nodded slowly. “Yes, but at what cost? Do you think he would ever forgive himself if anything happened to you?”
Diana shrugged it off. “He would do anything in his power to save his daughter.”
Ashmore could not counter the truth in her statement. The frustrated looked in his eyes let Diana know he wanted to argue further but knew it was pointless.
“At least tell me where you are headed, so I can let—”
Diana shook her head. “I don’t know yet.”
Ashmore pounded a fist on the bed. “At least a direction—”
“Ashmore.” She paused until she had his complete attention. “I don’t know where I will be going. Not yet.”
He remained quiet, his stare accusing. “Then stay here. It is unfair for you to put me in the middle of this.”
“You are correct. Gabriel and I should never have brought you into our troubles.” Diana trailed off as he waved an arm.
“That is not what I meant, and you know it.” Ashmore flinched, grabbing his head at his own shout.
“Hush. It is the truth.”
“Then it is also my fault for not protecting Emilie better. We’re all to blame. None of us are going find her unless we work together.”
Diana touched the weapon at her side, her finger trailing over the crescent moon symbol carved on the pommel, the same symbol that she stamped on all her weapons as a talisman against evil, and debated whether she should tell him the truth. “I am not as I seem.”
Ashmore laughed, but cut it short as he sucked in a sharp breath of pain. “I guessed that at our first meeting.”
“I was born into a different world—a world of magic.” She peered up at him, a little surprised not to see ridicule in his expression. “We were raised to believe the impossible is possible.”
Ashmore nodded, his expression more interested then doubtful. “Go on.”
Chapter 22
“We have to head back. We’re not going to find anything in this darkness.” The former pugilist kept an eye on the shadows, alert for threats. “There may be a ransom note, or even reinforcements.”
Gabriel knew Milles was correct, but his daughter was out there alone. Leaving felt like giving up. He still wanted to go after Williams and force the man to talk, but Milles was right—he had the ache and bruise on his jaw to prove it. Going after Williams was a trap.
At the thought of heading home, guilt festered in him over the way he had treated Diana. He owed her an apology. The house was eerily silent upon his arrival. Gabriel went directly to her room and found Jack resting peacefully on the bed.
Then his heart nearly stopped when he saw her torn dress lying on the floor.
When the search of the house led to no clues, dread began to claw through him, and he hurried to Ashmore’s room to find out what the hell was going on.
When he found Diana sitting calmly before the fire, jealousy reared its head. Then their words reached him and he froze, hardly daring to breathe.
A small nod let Gabriel know Ashmore saw him. “So with your dreams, you believe you can find Emilie?” No hint of ridicule or doubt touched his voice.
“As soon as she falls asleep, I should be able to locate her.”
“Absolutely not. I forbid it. You said dream traveling is dangerous. There is no guarantee that you’ll be able to find her. I won’t put you at risk that way.”
Instead of standing up to him the way she normally would, Diana just seemed terribly sad, and he cursed the careless words he spoke earlier. “This is what Druids were created to do. It’s the only thing I know how to do.”
Gabriel bit back a sharp retort, afraid that if he said the wrong thing, he’d do irreparable damage.
She smiled sadly at his silence, then lifted the tea cup next to her. “Anyway, it’s already too late. You were right. None of this would have happened if not for me. I will fix it. The brew in the tea will make me sleepy. As soon as Emilie falls asleep, I should be able to locate her.”
Gabriel stormed forward. “I never said that. I never once blamed you.”
She flinched when he reached for her, and her rejection stung. His gut felt like acid, and he dropped his hand. Watching sleep claim her was the most painful thing he’d ever done, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her, determined to be there with her in case she needed him. At the first sign of trouble, he would wake her.
She was always so vibrant that it unnerved him to see her so still. A line of bruises colored her jaw, but it was the dark smudges under her eyes that worried him most…because he knew he was the one who put them there.
Even so, she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
Her skin was so pale it seemed almost translucent, her features were regal, making a stunning combination.
Her eyes opened so suddenly, Gabriel staggered back in surprise. The color nearly disappeared, her once pale blue eyes now a light silver. A shiver raked down his spine and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He didn’t think she could see him. “Diana?”
“She’s alive.”
Relief was instantaneous, his breath leaving him in a rush that they were both alive and okay. “Where is she?”
She cocked her head and glanced around the room, clearly no longer seeing her surroundings. “She’s at an orphanage.”
Gabriel fisted his hands and paced to keep from touching Diana and reassuring himself that she was all right. She wouldn’t welcome his touch, not until he had a chance to make things right. “There are too many orphanages to search them all properly. Can you give me any other clues where to look?”
Diana appeared frozen, as if not hearing him. He started to walk toward her when Ashmore’s words reached him.
“Gabriel, don’t. Give her a chance to gather herself. Why not start a list to narrow down the search?”
Gabriel nodd
ed at the suggestion, rushing to the study. When he had two sheets of all the possibilities, Gabriel jogged up the stairs.
“I have them.” He rushed into the room, halting abruptly to see Ashmore struggling to get out of bed, teetering around like a drunk.
Diana was nowhere to be seen.
“Thank God. She gave me that damned tea of hers. I couldn’t stop her. She just left. If you hurry, you can still catch her.”
The papers slipped from his nerveless fingers and fluttered to the ground, much like his heart.
Then he whirled and charged down the stairs. The garden was empty, but the back gate sagged open when the latch didn’t catch securely. Gabriel ran to the stables and threw the doors open wide. Conway had a horse saddled and waiting.
Gabriel grunted with approval and mounted, never so thankful in his life. “Where?”
“Can’t say, sir. She took off in that direction.” Conway pointed east, where the darkness swallowed the road several yards away, leading directly into the Hells, a slum notorious for the number of murders and lesser crimes.
Terror grabbed him by the balls, and he took off in pursuit, praying he would reach them in time.
In the inky darkness, he could only see a few feet in front of him. Street lamps lit the roads, but only at infrequent intervals. Not enough to be of real help.
In the back of his mind, Gabriel began formulating a plan. Though it went against every fiber of his being, he veered away from the elusive path his wife took and headed toward the Patrards’ house.
“Gabriel! Is there anything wrong?” Rand stood when Gabriel barged into his office, concern for his friend written clearly on his face.
“I need your help.”
“Anything. What can I do?” Rand led Gabriel forward, only to stop when his friend didn’t move away from the doorway.
“I need to speak with Samuel.” He hesitated only a moment before issuing a tentative invitation. “Join us?”
For answer, Gabriel received a hearty slap on the back. They gave a perfunctory knock on the library door before entering. Even though late into the night, Samuel sat enthroned behind a desk piled high with books, squinting behind his glasses as he flipped through various texts. Samuel glanced up and smiled, only to have it dim when he noted their serious expressions. “What happened?”
Druid Temptation (A Druid Quest Novel Book 2) Page 27