by Romancing the Crown Series (13-in-1 bundle) (v1. 0) (lit)
As he wove his way through the alleys, Gage's nostrils were assaulted by the scents of aromatic herbs, spices and incense, their purveyors assuring him they could be had for pennies. He shook off the hands clutching at him, importuning him to come in for coffee without obligation, and left the puzzled merchants wondering what sort of boor had no time for coffee and conversation.
He further offended the merchant from whom he bought the traditional mountain accouterments by paying the first asking price and refusing the man's offer of coffee. The merchant looked so offended that Gage wondered if he would be allowed to make his purchases at all.
Fortunately the man's instincts for profit won over his desire to see custom satisfied, although he muttered to himself in Arabic. Gage knew enough of the language to recognize that some of the words weren't normally used in polite company, and he summoned an equally earthy reply, silencing the merchant.
Sullenly, the man provided Gage with billowing cotton pants and a woven white shirt that would have done Errol Flynn proud. A scarlet sash and black boots completed the outfit, and Gage stowed his attacker's silver-handled stiletto into the sash, feeling better for knowing it was there. A white skullcap and scarflike head covering secured by a black band provided limited disguise potential, Gage found when he pulled the end of the scarf experimentally across his nose and mouth.
After his fight with the mountain man, Gage's own clothes were the worse for wear, so he felt no regrets about bundling them up and leaving them with the merchant.
His shopping expedition had left him barely enough time to find his way out of the maze of alleyways to the meeting point. Since his disguise was at best rudimentary, he decided to stick to the shadows and let Dabir do most of the talking to begin with.
The attorney was late. Gage fingered the handle of the dagger, wondering what was keeping him. Then he heard a movement behind him and whirled to find Dabir entering the alley. The attorney's shoulders were hunched and his eyes darted everywhere until he spotted Gage waiting in the shadows.
Gage performed a deep salaam and dropped his voice into the low register. "Your will has been done, Mr. Dabir."
Dabir looked around uneasily. "Don't use my name here, Rukn."
So that was his adversary's name. Gage grunted an affirmative that seemed to satisfy Dabir.
"Did he give you any trouble?" Dabir asked.
Gage shuffled his feet. "No trouble, Mr.... sir." He couldn't resist adding, "He fought like a tiger, sir."
"But you were able to subdue him?"
Gage jerked his head back in the direction of the orphanage. "His body lies well away from the road, behind a curtain of strangle-quick."
Dabir gave a satisfied nod. "No one would be foolish enough to look for him there. Good work." Gage tensed automatically as Dabir reached inside his jacket, but it was only to withdraw an envelope. Rukn's fee, he assumed.
He accepted the envelope without a twinge of conscience, knowing how much the orphanage could use the money. Holding it by its corner to preserve any fingerprints, he tucked it inside his shirt. He wondered if Rukn would have opened the envelope and checked the contents. Dabir didn't seem to notice the omission.
"You have more work for me, sir?" Gage asked in the same husky voice.
Dabir flicked a glance back the way he'd come, but the alley remained deserted, although with so much of it in shadow, it was difficult to tell. "How loyal are you to Sheik Ahmed?" he asked.
Gage gave a careful shrug. "I am loyal to my brothers."
The answer seemed to satisfy Dabir who nodded. "Good. These brothers of yours grow tired of waiting for power. The sheik is talking of instituting reforms that will endanger our plans. He's starting to listen too much to his headstrong daughter."
"The princess Nadia?" Gage asked, surprise making him almost forget to disguise his voice. "I understand she is soon to become your bride. Will you not be able to control her?"
Dabir gestured savagely. "No one can control that one. After we are married, she will meet with an unfortunate accident and will no longer be able to contaminate the sheik's thinking. As his son-in-law, I shall console him in his grief and then guide his mind until he speaks for the Brothers without ever knowing he does so."
Gage's hatred of Dabir spiraled into blood rage as he wondered what kind of vicious instincts were needed to contemplate marrying Nadia, while planning to have her killed. His hands itched to close around the man's throat and squeeze the life out of him for daring to threaten the woman he loved.
Gage mastered his urge by assuring himself that Dabir wouldn't be permitted to harm one hair of Nadia's head as long as breath remained in his body to prevent it. With every word he spoke, Dabir was incriminating himself further. All Gage had to do was keep him talking until the police arrived, which should be anytime soon. Before setting off for Marhaba, Gage had called to alert them to pick up Rukn, and had suggested that a bigger fish could be caught if they raided the alleyway behind the Old Souk right about now.
"I'm not sure..." Gage began, thinking that even a mercenary would balk at assassinating a woman.
"Then become sure. Or I will find someone who is."
"I will become sure, sir." Abruptly Gage threw off the disguise and straightened to his full height, clearing the huskiness out of his voice as he said, "In fact, I'm sure now."
Dabir's face drained of color. "What the...? You!"
"I'm afraid your hired killer, Rukn, is the one lying in the strangle-quick, where the police should have found him by now."
"I have no idea what you're talking about. I know no one called Rukn."
"And the envelope in my possession doesn't contain cash covered in your fingerprints," Gage threw at him. "Between the money and the testimony of one who wears the symbol of the Brothers of Darkness, you're finished, Dabir." He pulled the dagger out of his sash and held it so the thread of light penetrating the alleyway glinted off it.
Dabir's throat convulsed as he saw the blade. Evidently it was one thing to order someone to be killed, and quite another to be faced with the possibility of one's own demise. "What are you going to do?" he asked, sounding strangled. He had flattened himself against the ancient stone wall as if he needed its support to remain upright. His expression was hunted.
"What I'd like to do and what I will do are, unfortunately, different matters," Gage said. "Gutting you like a fish has a certain appeal, but I promised the police I would hand you over to them in one piece."
"So what happens now?"
Gage made a show of examining the deadly blade. "We wait. In the meantime, you can tell me about Conrad Drake."
"That name means nothing to me."
"How many men did you order to their deaths in America?"
He saw the dawning of recognition in Dabir's eyes, masked by a thin-lipped smile of contempt. "His death was his own fault. He tried to join the Brothers and failed on his first mission."
Gage let his knife settle on the other man's throat, wondering how much pressure would be needed to sever the jugular. Only a little more than he was exerting now. Only a little.
Reluctantly he eased the blade back. Whatever Dabir had done, the law would judge him, not Gage Weston. "He didn't fail. He took five members of the cell he'd infiltrated with him," he said.
Dabir's eyebrows arched as he tried to make his breathing shallow enough to avoid contact with the knife. "Infiltrated? What was this man to you?"
"My partner, my best friend, you could say my brother. Like me, he was working deep undercover for King Marcus of Montebello. The king asked us to find who, in Sheik Ahmed's circle, could have betrayed Prince Lucas and my partner. Before he died, Conrad left a message that led me to Tamir and to you. You're tied in with the American criminals who operated through that same cell of the Brothers of Darkness. It doesn't take a genius to know who was reporting to whom."
Dabir shook his head, stopping the motion as he felt the press of cold steel against his skin. "You have nothing that would stand u
p in a court of law. All I have to do is deny everything."
"No doubt. But I'm just as happy to see you convicted of a charge of conspiracy to commit murder. And that will stand up in court when your hireling, Rukn, testifies that you sent him to kill me. Either way, you're finished."
He saw the same certainty reach Dabir's eyes, but felt no shred of pity. The man deserved everything that was coming to him. In Gage's mind his crimes included the murder of Conrad Drake. It didn't matter what was read out in court.
Suddenly Dabir laughed. "I suppose you think you've won."
"I don't think it, I know I've won."
"Then you sacrifice the most important prize of all. If I don't return to the palace within two hours, your beloved princess will die. I left one of my men guarding her, with orders to kill her if he doesn't receive my coded assurance that all is well."
This time it was all Gage could do not to drive the blade home. His hand trembled with the need, but he dared not, as long as there was a chance that Dabir was telling the truth. "What makes you think I care what happens to her?" he asked carefully.
"I know you are in love with her. I had her followed all the time we were at Zabara. You were photographed kissing her in the colonnade."
"A kiss doesn't have to signify love."
"A man knows when another man desires his woman."
"In this case, you're right. I do love her. But she was never your woman and never will be once she hears that you intended to marry her, then have her killed as soon as your position in the royal family was secure."
A gasp of shock brought Gage's head up, and a hint of jasmine reached his nostrils. Joy ripped through him as he realized that Nadia wasn't at the palace, under threat of death. In the same moment, his joy was engulfed by stark terror that she was here, where he couldn't guarantee to protect her.
He peered into the shadows in time to see a slight figure duck out from under a wall hanging. A moment later he saw Butrus give a start of recognition. "Nadia."
* * *
Making her way alone through the souk, Nadia had felt horribly exposed, although she had drawn her scarf over her face to avoid recognition. She was unaccustomed to being in such a crowded public place without Nargis, Tahani and the twins. Every time she was jostled, she was filled with apprehension, aware of the curious glances she drew from men as she scanned the alleyways for any sign of Butrus.
She had seen him leave his car and enter the labyrinthine complex. In the short time it had taken her to find somewhere to leave her car, he had disappeared. How was she ever going to find him and bring him to account for what he had done to Gage?
She was alerted by the sound of a man's voice, one so dear and familiar that tears sprang to her eyes. Gage. He sounded as if he had a heavy cold, and his British accent had been replaced by a rough Tamiri dialect, but she was sure it was him. He was alive and very nearby. She lifted her head, trying to determine where the sound had come from.
He was only a few feet away, separated from her by what she had taken to be a solid wall, but was actually a thick old carpet hung from a line.
She froze, listening hard, her joy turning to ashes in her mouth as she heard Gage say in the low unfamiliar voice, "The princess Nadia? I understand she is soon to become your bride. Will you not be able to control her?"
Her heart solidified in her chest and she brought her hand to her mouth to keep from screaming. Had Gage's courtship been nothing more than an elaborate scheme to see her dead and Butrus ruling by her father's side? The possibility made her sick to her stomach, the words buzzing in her mind, beyond any possibility of denial. Her mounting horror drowned out Butrus's reply. Her thoughts whirled so fast that the rest of the conversation went by in a blur of sound.
After a few minutes she straightened. She was not going to let them get away with this. She wasn't sure what she could do, but she was determined to make Butrus and his charming accomplice pay for their treasonous plans.
She pulled out Tahani's knife, discarding the scabbard. As a weapon, it wasn't much against two grown men, but it was all she had. Taking deep breaths to slow the rapid beating of her heart, she ducked under the carpet into the alleyway. The deep shadows protected her, and her dancer's skill enabled her to move on silent feet until she was within sight of Gage and Butrus.
Relief shimmered through her, cool and sweet, as she saw that Gage held a knife to Butrus's throat. The two couldn't be in league, after all. But what had Gage meant about controlling her, and why was he dressed in the costume of the hill people? She forced herself to remain still and listen.
The more she heard, the more appalled she became at the thought of how close she had come to entrusting her future to Butrus Dabir. He was responsible for the death of Gage's best friend and partner. How many other crimes had he committed in his quest for power and glory?
Bad enough when she thought he suffered from a sense of inferiority because of what he believed he had lacked as a boy. She had never dreamed that his aspirations had led him to join the Brothers of Darkness, one of the most feared and hated organizations in her country's history.
Her heart ached for poor King Marcus of Montebello. He was her brother's father-in-law, and she knew how badly the king had suffered while his son was missing. All the time Butrus had been paying lip service to concern for the king, he had been helping the people who had tried to kill Prince Lucas.
In the shadows, she pressed her hands together to stop them from trembling. She had sensed all along that Gage was more than he seemed. Now she knew he was some kind of secret agent, charged with finding the traitor in her family. She felt confused, on one hand pleased that he had unmasked Butrus, but on the other wondering how much of his love for her had been part of his cover story.
"She was never your woman and never will be once she hears that you intended to marry her, then have her killed as soon as your position in the royal family was secure. "
This time she couldn't restrain her gasp of shock and saw the two men turn toward her.
She moved out of the shadows. In the instant that Gage's attention was distracted, she saw Butrus slam the blade away from his throat and heard the dagger clatter to the cobblestones. Before she had time to react, Butrus had grabbed her and spun her around to put her between him and Gage. Butrus's arm pressed painfully against her windpipe. "If you really love her, you'll stay where you are," he ordered Gage.
She saw Gage freeze. She could have wept for knowing she had helped Butrus to turn the tables. "Never mind me," she urged. "Do what you must." Then Butrus's hold tightened, silencing her.
She increased her grip on the knife and jabbed it upward, hearing her fiancé's grunt of surprise as the small blade penetrated his sleeve. "You little..."
She used the moment to twist free and held her knife between them. "Hurry, Gage," she implored.
In the narrow confines of the alley, he maneuvered around her, but desperation made Butrus quicker. He slammed Nadia against the wall and tried to shoulder past Gage to make his escape. Gage shot a foot out and tripped the attorney, who fell heavily. He made a strange rattling sound and lay still.
"Stay there," Gage ordered Nadia, and went to Dabir, rolling him just enough to see what had happened. The stiletto had landed between two cobblestones with the blade pointing skyward, spearing Dabir through the heart when he fell. Gage let his inert body fall back. The police would have no difficulty working out how Dabir had died. Gage was torn between relief that it was over and regret that he wouldn't have the satisfaction of seeing the man brought to trial.
A whimpering sound brought his head around in time to see Nadia sliding bonelessly down the stone wall. Cursing, Gage went to her, collecting her in his arms. Had she realized what had happened to Dabir and fainted?
Her eyes fluttered open. "I think something's the matter with me," she murmured, her hand against her breast.
Gently Gage pried her fingers loose and felt his heart turn to stone in his chest. When she had been throw
n against the wall, the knife she had wielded against Dabir had slipped. The jeweled handle now protruded from her breast, and a tide of scarlet was spreading outward from it.
"No, Nadia, dear heaven, no," he moaned, feeling as if the blade had pierced his own heart. "Don't do this to me. I love you. I can't live without you."
He saw her sweet beautiful mouth turn up in a gentle smile. "I love you, too," she said faintly, and slipped into unconsciousness.
Careful of the protruding knife, Gage compressed a handful of her gown against the wound, pressing hard, but unable to stem the spreading red tide. Moments later he heard the wail of sirens coming closer. Too late, he thought in anguish. He cradled the princess in his arms, rocking her gently backward and forward in a grief too soul-deep to be borne. He was still holding her when the sirens stopped.
Chapter 19
Nadia swam up toward the light. Although she was deep underwater, she felt no urgency to breathe. The crystalline water felt warm and welcoming, as if she was being cradled in loving arms.
She felt blissfully happy and knew why. Gage had told her he loved her and couldn't live without her. It was a dream of course, too beautiful and magical to be real, but oh, what a wonderful dream. She thought she had told him she loved him, too, then she had slipped underwater and drifted there for a long, long time.
Now some instinct told her it was time she returned to land. She started to swim toward the light, her strokes fluid and unhurried. Never had she known such lightness and joy. Her galabiya floated around her, pinpoints of phosphorescence clinging to the fabric like fairy lights.
"I think she's coming around," came a strange voice. She felt her eyelids being lifted back and a pinpoint of light shone in them. The hands were gentle.
She opened her eyes and the light was lifted away. She was lying in a high narrow bed in an unfamiliar room. The walls and ceiling were white, but against them were banked huge vases filled with red roses. Their glorious perfume surrounded her, bringing a smile to her lips.