“That is nonsense,” Calogero declared, even as his eyes darted uncertainly around the room before coming to rest back on Daniel. “Even if she did save you, she will not be able to do so again!”
He reached into his waistband for the pistol. Simultaneously, Daniel pulled out a dagger from behind his back and hurled it directly at Mondesta. The pistol clattered to the ground, and Mondesta’s arm fell loosely to his side as the blade of the knife embedded itself just below his right shoulder.
Belatedly, Mondesta stared down at the silver hilt. “You should have aimed to the left, Lord Thornton, for my heart.” Mondesta tried to wrench the dagger out, but it was embedded too deeply and would not budge, though it seemed not to pain him at all.
Bree still could not understand how he couldn’t physically feel anything. The man didn’t seem human.
“I wasn’t aiming to kill you, Mondesta.” Daniel began approaching him. “But merely to disable you. You deserve to be locked in a cold dark cell for the rest of your days for what you have done.”
Without a weapon, and faced with Daniel’s intimidating brawn, Mondesta turned and ran up the dais. In one fell swoop, he scooped up the flask and yanked open the top of it with his teeth.
“No, don’t,” Bree told him. “It could be poison.”
Mondesta looked down his nose at her. “It is the elixir of life, and soon, I will be unstoppable.” He swallowed its entire contents in one gulp.
Daniel held his hand up to her, cautioning her against approaching him.
“Good Lord,” Mondesta suddenly exclaimed. “It is working. I’m starting to actually feel things.” But then the elation in his face turned to a grimace. “It… it hurts… I cannot believe it. But it actually hurts.” He began laughing hysterically. “I can feel. I can finally feel.”
With a sudden lurch, Mondesta collapsed to the floor beside the sarcophagus. “I’ve never felt such pain. It is miraculous.” His whole body began to writhe in torment. A low, agonizing moan left his lips, and his skin began to turn a blotchy purple. A hideous gurgling noise sounded from his throat before his body plunged down the steps, landing with a flourish on the floor.
Bree cautiously walked over to him. She had to be sure he wasn’t going to attack them again. He looked hideous, with pools of blood replacing the white of his eyes. His body gave a final jerk before stiffening like a board. A hiss of air left his lungs, and then he was still.
Daniel followed behind her and bent down, placing a finger to the man’s neck. “He is dead.”
A part of Bree was relieved, but another part felt sad for the man. Sad that he was happy to have finally felt the cold reality of pain.
“We need to get out of here,” Daniel stood and looked up at the stairs. “I don’t like the two tremors from earlier. We can come back later once they’ve settled and bring some men with us to retrieve the two men’s bodies.”
“And are you forgetting the treasure?” Bree waved her hands around the chamber. “This is the find of the century. It needs to be catalogued and then displayed at museums across the world. We can’t just leave it unattended.”
“It’s been here for hundreds of years, Bree,” Daniel reminded her. “It’s not like it’s going anywhere.”
“But someone else could find it!”
He rolled his eyes. “Travis couldn’t even do so, and he had the clues, too.”
“Oh my goodness, Travis!” Bree exclaimed. “I was sure he would have been here, but obviously not. I do hope he is safe.”
“You can wonder that on our way back.”
Unexpectedly, the ground began to shake, but this time, unlike the last, the magnitude was so much greater than before. Everything began to tremble, and it felt like the very earth was roaring in displeasure as heavy rocks rained down from above.
“Over to the walls.” Daniel grabbed her arm and dragged her over to the far wall, narrowly dodging the debris from above. “Brace your back against the rock.”
Bree did as he said, her arms over her head to protect herself. She found herself praying as she never had before. Hopefully God was listening.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
The rumbling must have lasted at least a minute, but to Bree, it felt like hours. Dust floated in the air in a thick canopy as, finally, the trembling subsided.
The earth itself had opened up, and a yawning gap now stood where King Aleric’s sarcophagus had previously lain. A good portion of the piles of coins and treasure had also been lost to the ground, whilst the rest was scattered over the floor.
“Damn it!” Daniel swore as he surveyed the stairway.
Bree glanced up and immediately saw the issue. Boulders the size of carriages had cascaded down the stairs from above and were completely covering the entrance. “Oh no. We’re trapped.”
“It appears so,” Daniel confirmed. “If that was the only way in and out.”
Bree wrapped her arms around her chest. Now, that the danger from Calogero and the earthquake itself had passed, she was starting to feel the cave begin to close in around her. Particularly, now that the only exit was completely blocked. She took in a deep breath, focusing on calming her racing heart, as images of being trapped forever, just like in the crypt when she was a child, washed over her.
“It will be all right, Bree.” Daniel’s soothing voice cut through the bleak memories and orientated her back into the present. He stepped in front of her and gently tilted her chin up until her eyes met his. “We’ll find a way out of this.”
“But what if there’s no other way out?” She pressed her lips tightly together, scared that if she didn’t gain control over her emotions, and soon, she’d turn into a blubbering idiot.
“There’s got to be some other way out.” Daniel’s voice was calm and confident.
Suddenly, Bree remembered Mr. Tarboli’s translation. “Daniel… If you cannot return from whence you came, another escape lies ahead, but you must follow the silver flame.”
“Tarboli’s translation.” Daniel said in recognition.
“Exactly! You’re right, there must be another escape.”
“We need to find this silver flame and quickly, too,” Daniel said. “I don’t fancy hanging around for another tremor.”
“Could it mean the oil troughs?” Bree suggested. “Though, the flame is golden not silver.”
“Perhaps,” Daniel strode over to the edge of the room and followed the flame trough around the room. “It can’t be it; it leads nowhere.”
“Then what could be the silver flame?” Bree felt like curling up and burying her face in her hands. The closed-in space was beginning to play havoc with her nerves.
“The walls,” Daniel shouted. “Look!”
The silver vein she had seen upstairs in the initial chamber was running in a much larger line down the wall by the stairs, and it continued traveling through the rock, over to the far wall.
They followed its path, which ran directly behind another statue of a lion standing against the back wall of the cavern. Resting across the lion’s paws was a golden scepter.
Daniel began inspecting the statue, then pulled the scepter out from where it lay. With a rumble, a panel of the rock swung inwards, revealing a small tunnel next to the statue.
They grinned at each other, their former awkwardness giving way to relief. And perhaps just a bit of self-congratulation.
“Hold on,” Daniel said as he tore off the material of one of his sleeves. He bunched it up and twisted it over one end of the scepter, knotting it into place. He then dashed over to the oil trough, which was still alight with flames. He dipped the cloth into the liquid and flames, the material of the jacket catching alight.
Bree gasped. “What a brilliant notion!” The man was ingenious, and now they had a makeshift torch to penetrate the blackness of the tunnel.
“Come on,” Daniel said, holding out his free hand.
She gritted her teeth and placed her hand in his, and together, they entered the tunnel, the torch ligh
ting a patch of ground ahead.
They walked through the small space, the ground rough and rocky beneath her boots, as the tunnel began to wind upwards.
About ten minutes later, a shaft of bright daylight ahead heralded what Bree hoped was the outside. A sense of relief flooded through her, but then a low murmur traveled through her feet as the earth began to tremble. Oh no, not again.
The reverberations began to get stronger as the ground shook beneath her feet.
“Hurry up!” Daniel yelled, breaking into a sprint, pulling her with him. Bree pushed her legs with all her might, struggling against the rumbling floor, whilst trying to dodge the rocks starting to rain down from above. Her skirts whipped around her legs, slowing her down, but Daniel didn’t leave her behind.
They broke through the opening and into the sunlight as an avalanche of debris came crashing down behind them, the force pushing them forward and onto their hands and knees. Dust flew everywhere. Bree coughed and had to squeeze her eyes tight until it slowly began to settle.
“Are you hurt?” Daniel asked as he rose and pulled her to her feet.
“No, I’m fine,” she replied, bending down and slapping the dust from her dress. Both of them were covered in a fine, white powder, so much so that it looked like a bag of flour had exploded on their heads.
Bree couldn’t help it; she began to laugh, and then the laughter turned into tears as the fear and danger from the recent events cascaded into her awareness.
“It’s all right.” Daniel pulled her into his arms and began to gently rub her back. “You’re safe now.”
They had escaped. The most enormous sense of relief coursed through her, knowing they were finally out of danger. “We’re both safe now, thank goodness.” Gradually, she became aware of the warmth radiating from him. The solid strength and dependability of him.
Gently, she pushed back from his embrace and caught sight of the tunnel at his back, the opening of which was now covered with boulders, completely masking that there had been any passageway down into the bowels of the mountain.
“We only just escaped.” Bree said, taking in a shaky breath.
Daniel tilted her chin up, and his thumb brushed her bottom lip. “I am very proud of how brave you were.”
His words sent a warm feeling of happiness into her heart. But then she remembered her terror at nearly losing him. “I was so scared when I thought you were dead.”
There was an odd look in Daniel’s eyes as he regarded her. “As was I when that mad man was on top of you.”
Their eyes locked, and the air became charged. The brush of his thumb against her lips sent a delicious tingle to her very core. She found herself aching for him.
“Oh thank goodness you are both all right!” her aunt’s voice hollered from behind.
Bree jumped away from Daniel and spun around. Striding down a hill toward them was her aunt, followed by Milly, Mr. Boyd, Alessandro, and then finally her grandfather and several other palace guards trailing at the rear. Oh good gracious. What an absolute circus.
In a matter of moments, Bree and Daniel were surrounded by the group.
“What are you all doing here?” Bree directed her question pointedly at Milly, as her cousin had been specifically tasked with keeping Aunt Edith away from any danger, not leading her toward it. Though, thankfully, it appeared the danger had passed. At least, Bree hoped it had. She rather thought that no sign of the Garendetta meant they were more preoccupied with finding Travis, which wasn’t a particularly comforting thought.
“I couldn’t prevent it,” Milly whispered as she came up and hugged Bree. “As soon as Mother and your grandfather discovered you’d both left the palace, no one could stop them from looking for you. And believe me, we tried.”
“How could you leave without a word to anyone?” Aunt Edith scolded as she, too, came up and embraced Bree. She pushed back from Bree and eyed her with her most ferocious scowl. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again, Brianna!”
“I’m sorry, Aunt Edith, but we had to look for Travis,” Bree said. “And if Travis had seen a whole army bearing down, he would have fled without realizing we were with them.”
Her aunt’s expression changed in a heartbeat as a smile spread across her face. “Oh Travis is fine. Your Uncle Walter arrived in Naples a few days ago and has sent word that Travis wired a semaphore message to the villa, advising that he was safe and setting sail for England with a young lady and her grandmother in tow, from the Port of Amantea. Apparently Travis is on some sort of urgent business. But now that he looks to be safe, Walter is on his way to Cosenza.”
“Well, that is a relief.” Bree had no idea, though, what Travis was doing traveling with a young lady and her grandmother. There was clearly a great deal more going on with her cousin than she knew. But at least he’d done the sensible thing for once and was heading back to England. “How did you know where to find us?”
Milly looked over to Alessandro, who was standing next to the Prince. “When I told the Prince you were heading for the treasure, this is where he led us.”
But that had to mean that her grandfather knew all along where the treasure was. It wasn’t simply coincidence that he’d led the group to the exact secret tunnel leading to the treasure. Bree felt a keen sense of betrayal as she turned to stare at her grandfather. “You told me you thought the treasure didn’t exist…”
Alessandro went to speak, but her grandfather held out his hand and stepped forward.
“I am sorry, my granddaughter, for not being truthful with you.” The Prince’s voice was tinged with regret. He looked across at the rubble now covering the entrance to the tunnel. “For nearly fifteen hundred years, the head of the Bartelli family has been tasked with protecting King Aleric’s burial site. In order to do so, for generations, a small contingent of the palace’s guards formed the Lion’s Guard. They were, and are still, tasked with protecting the tomb, willing to give their lives to do so and sworn to complete secrecy. Alessandro is the head of the Lion’s Guard, taking orders directly from me in order to protect the tomb, though he and the other protectors only know the rough whereabouts of the treasure. The exact location has only ever passed down upon the very death bed of whomever is the current ruler of Cosenza to their heir. Never before. Not even your mother knew of it, though she was obviously smart enough to find it. But alas, it looks like the tomb has been lost to the earth. Perhaps, it is best. There were many unscrupulous men obsessed with finding it. But now with it buried under hundreds of tons of rock, it will be all the harder to find.”
“Lord Mondesta was one of those men,” Daniel said.
“What do you mean?” Alessandro stepped forward.
Daniel commenced detailing what had occurred, including Mondesta’s involvement in murdering Bree’s parents and shooting Daniel himself.
Her grandfather’s entire body sagged upon hearing the news, a despairing expression in his gaze. Alessandro, on the other hand, looked coldly furious, his normally unflappable expression gone.
“How did he fool me so?” Alessandro said, a look of distaste evident in his features.
“Mondesta fooled us all.” The Prince’s voice was sad. “Did he really kill my Isabella?”
“That is what he told us,” Bree answered.
The Prince swallowed. “All those years, and I was none the wiser. He must have thought me the biggest fool imaginable.”
“Are you certain he’s dead?” Alessandro asked Daniel.
“Yes,” Daniel said. “Whatever it was he drank from the sarcophagus ensured that. It was not a pleasant death for him.”
“A very old poison King Aleric’s men left, along with the tale of eternal life,” her grandfather said. “It was put there in case someone did breach the chamber and was greedy enough to drink from it.”
Alessandro’s fists clenched by his sides. “I hope he rots in Hell.”
Everyone was silent for a moment.
“At least you are both safe,” Aunt Edith’s
calm voice broke through the tense air.
“I still cannot believe you were saved by Bree’s mother’s journal,” Milly exclaimed, looking over at Daniel.
“May I see the journal?” Her grandfather asked. The man looked very weary as he leaned on a rock boulder that was nestled on the ground.
Daniel handed it over to him. The Prince in turn looked at the bullet and then up at Daniel. “I think my Isabella was protecting you, my son.”
“And how brave you were, Bree,” Milly enthused, “to not only go into a cave but to fight Mondesta.”
Bree exhaled slowly. Brave? She didn’t particularly think so. But she was glad she fought him, even if the hideous image of his hair alight was not a sight she would easily forget.
The sound of her grandfather gasping drew her attention.
“I told you, you shouldn’t have made the trek,” Alessandro announced as he rushed over to him.
The Prince battered his hands away. “I am fine. But I found this.” He held up one of the other slips of parchment from the journal. “I knew Isabella had taken some of my father’s old papers and journals with her when she left, but I did not know she found this. She had sent a letter saying she had made an important discovery regarding our family’s past… but I was still too angry to listen to her after she ran off… She must have meant to tell me of this.”
Alessandro merely raised a brow. “And what is this slip of paper?”
“It is your father’s birth certificate, along with your grandfather’s marriage certificate. It means your father was legitimate.” His hand grasped ahold of Alessandro’s shoulder. “Which means you are the true ruler of Cosenza, not I.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
There was a deafening silence as the group stared at the innocent slip of paper fluttering in the Prince’s hand. Bree realized, with a sense of relief, that she wasn’t next in line to the throne.
Alessandro took the papers from the Prince and scanned the documents. For a moment, he was completely still, but then he looked up at the Prince. “My father was legitimate…”
The Elusive Earl (Saints & Scoundrels) Page 32