by Grant, Donna
He had wanted her.
A smile pulled at her lips. Maybe he did care for her a little. With that thought, she rose and began to dress. It proved difficult, especially since she had used almost all of her energy just to walk to the hearth and back. But her life hung in the balance as well as proving her innocence. She could rest tomorrow. Tonight they would find that cursed blue stone.
Holding on to anything she could grab, she hastily pulled off her nightgown and reached for a gown. Thankfully, the first one she came to could be fastened in the front.
She sat on her trunk and pulled on her shoes. When she was finished, she shook so roughly from her effort she could barely stand.
But stand she would.
She slowly walked to the door and opened it to find all three men waiting for her.
“I’m ready,” she said as she tried to tie her annoying hair back out of her face with a navy ribbon that didn’t come close to matching her worn, faded navy gown.
“Let me,” Hugh said and took the ribbon from her. When he was done his hands fell to her shoulders, and she had the urge to lean back against his chest.
“Ready?” he asked and held out his arm for her.
She ignored it and walked past him. “I think we should start in the upper levels first where we are less likely to run into anyone.”
“And by the time we reach the lower levels everyone will be asleep,” Gabriel finished.
“Exactly.” Mina stopped as a thought took root. “What if Bernard comes to check on me?”
“He won’t,” Cole said.
Mina turned to him. “How do you know?”
Cole looked uncomfortable in the torches lighting the hallway. “He…ah, he has company tonight.”
“Company?” she repeated. “We have no guests this night.” She looked to Hugh.
“Did guests arrive today?”
“Cole is speaking of a woman to warm your brother’s bed.”
“Warm his bed? It isn’t even cold outside. What would he want with a woman to.…” She stopped and lowered her head. “I see. Shall we continue on?”
“By all means,” Hugh said, his eyes twinkling.
She made it to the end of the hallway without collapsing, but her steps had slowed. She waited for Hugh to comment on it, but he continued to keep his silence.
When she came to the stairway that would lead them up to the top levels and the two towers, she leaned against the wall to catch her breath.
Hugh had seen enough. He knew it had been a mistake to allow Mina to come, but he had to give her credit. She had courage. Loads of it.
He motioned Cole and Gabriel ahead of him. Once they had started up the stairs, he reached down and picked Mina up in his arms.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“You wouldn’t make it up the stairs, and we both know it.”
“Fine,” she said. “Once we reach the top, set me down. I’ll walk from there.” He didn’t answer her. He knew what strength she had was about gone, and they hadn’t even begun to search the castle. They would be lucky to finish the search of the upper levels by the time dawn arrived.
Try as he might, he couldn’t ignore the soft curves and warm woman in his arms.
He was already hard and wanting from nearly kissing her in her chamber. How she had this affect on him, he would like to know, but he knew he wouldn’t get an answer even if there was one.
At the top of the stairs, he found Cole and Gabriel waiting for him. He looked around. To the left was another hallway, shorter than the one below them that led to a few chambers. To the right was the stairway that led to a tower.
“Is there anyone in these chambers?” he asked Mina.
“With the villagers here, I would assume so.” Cole stepped toward the hallway. “Then I suggest we search them before they make their way up here.”
Hugh nodded. “How many chambers, Mina?”
“Four.”
“Let’s hurry then.”
He didn’t set her down as she had requested, but he noticed that she didn’t ask him to either. Not that he minded. Actually, he liked having her in his arms. She fit comfortably there, and with her arm wound around his neck and her fingers playing with his hair, it seemed right.
They came to the first chamber. He stood with Mina still in his arms against the wall as Cole knocked on the door. There wasn’t an answer. Cole tested the latch and found it open. They left Gabriel to stand watch as they hurried inside.
“I’ve searched these chambers many times as a child. There are no hidden rooms or moving stones. If the stone is here, it will be easy to find,” Mina said.
Hugh sat her on the bed as he and Cole quickly, and effectively, searched the chamber.
“Nothing,”
Cole
said.
Hugh whistled to Gabriel who went to the next chamber while he gathered Mina in his arms. Again, they got lucky and found the chamber empty.
“I wonder where everyone is,” Mina said. “Usually they have retired for the night by now.”
“Listen,” Gabriel said from the doorway.
They stilled and heard the beating of the creature’s wings as he circled the castle.
“Why isn’t he calling out?” she asked.
“The same reason there isn’t anyone in the bailey to eat,” Cole said.
Hugh sighed. “If we don’t come up with a plan, I can almost guarantee the creature will find a way into this castle tomorrow night.” They searched the chamber but again found nothing. The other two chambers also came up empty. Hugh tried to pick Mina up, but she was already walking down the hallway. He stopped beside her as she stared at the darkened stairway that led to the top of the tower.
“What’s up there?” Cole asked.
“An unused chamber. One of my ancestors locked his wife up there when he found her in the arms of one of his knights. She mysteriously died and no one has been up there since then.”
“How long ago was that?”
“About a hundred years. They say the chamber is haunted by her ghost.” Hugh took the torch from Gabriel and elbowed Cole out of the way. “I’ve seen more than my share of monsters. There isn’t anything up there that will scare me.” He started up the stairs and took them two at a time until he came to a closed door. He didn’t know why he knocked, but he did.
Just as he expected, there wasn’t an answer. He tried the handle but it was either stuck or locked. Since there were no chains barring the way inside, he figured it was stuck. He put his shoulder against the door and pushed, but it didn’t budge.
“You can’t get in, can you?”
He looked down to find Mina, Cole, and Gabriel behind him. “Nay.”
“No one has, not since she died.”
“It would seem the perfect place to hide something.”
“If one could get in it,” she pointed out.
Cold air swiftly surrounded him. Despair, grief, and the sudden need to harm someone engulfed him.
“Hugh?” Cole called out.
He heard them, but he couldn’t answer. The cold had taken over, and the feelings surrounding him were like a whirlwind of emotions that drained him.
“Get him down,” he heard Mina say.
A slap on his face made him jerk his eyes open. He looked at the three in front of him. “What happened?”
“You met the ghost,” Mina said. “Trust me there is nothing up there except her.
She allows no one past her door.”
“It was worth a try,” he said and tried to smile.
“Let’s move on,” Gabriel said as he helped Hugh to his feet.
Hugh wasn’t about to argue. It was just fine with him if he never saw that tower again. He brought up the rear as they walked down the hallway to where the other tower was. A shiver ran down his spine, and he turned to see something out of the corner of his eye. But when he tried to focus, there was nothing.
/> It was time to leave. He could deal with any type of monster, but dealing with ghosts was another matter all together.
He quickened his steps and easily caught up with Mina. She raised her eyebrow at him as she looked over her shoulder.
“I thought I saw something.”
“I’m sure you did,” she retorted. “The ghost.”
“How come I never heard you mention her before now?” Mina laughed. “I think I had a few other things on my mind.” He had to give her that one. “Are there other ghosts here that we should know about?”
“Nay. Just the one.”
“That’s comforting,” Cole said.
Hugh had to agree with him. One was quite enough. They had only gotten halfway down the hallway when Mina began to slow her steps and hang onto the wall.
Without a word, Hugh picked her up again.
“I can walk,” she said and lifted her chin.
“I
know.”
“Then set me down.”
He didn’t respond as he caught up with Gabriel and Cole who had walked ahead of them.
She leaned close and whispered. “I don’t want them to think I’m weak.”
“They
don’t.”
She lowered her eyes. “They will.”
He noticed she winced slightly. “Are you in pain?”
“Nay,” she answered a little too quickly.
He whistled to his men to slow them down and asked Mina, “How much farther to the other tower?”
“Within another twenty or thirty steps we will come to it.” Gabriel held the torch near her. “I knew it was a bad idea to bring her. If she doesn’t rest she’ll get a fever.”
“I’m fine,” she argued.
But Hugh only listened to Gabriel. He looked out the window above them just as the creature flew at it. They all jumped back. Hugh immediately turned to protect Mina as they creature screamed in fury at not being able to reach them. It flew away, and they hurriedly walked away from the window.
“We have to kill that damn creature,” Cole thundered.
Gabriel snorted. “Without the blue stone it’s pointless.”
“Why?” Mina asked
“Because whoever has control of the blue stone can call another one,” Hugh answered.
She sighed and laid her head on his shoulder. “All my life I wanted adventure, and now I just want to be able to walk outside at night without dodging this creature.” Hugh stood against the wall and thought for a moment. “Gabriel, you and Cole continue to scour around up here. You have the map of the castle that Mina described for us.”
“What are you going to do?” Cole asked.
“I’m going to take Mina back to her chamber so she can rest.” The men nodded and hurried off.
“I’ll be fine,” Mina said.
“I know you will because you’ll be in your bed soon.” Mina knew quarrelling with him was futile. Not only did she know he would win, but she didn’t have the strength to keep up the argument.
When he entered her chamber he quickly put her in her bed and gave her more of the herbal mixture Gabriel made her drink several times a day. She drank it all and leaned back on her pillows.
“How do you feel?”
“Better,” she said, hating that he was right. “I wanted to help find the stone.”
“You will,” he said as he paced the chamber. “I have a feeling the stone isn’t in the castle.”
She raised her head and watched him. “Then why are we looking here?”
“Just
in
case.”
She watched as his forehead furrowed. “It would be easier to kill the creature and find the stone with Val and Roderick here, wouldn’t it?”
“Much easier. But, Aimery had need of them.”
“And you don’t?”
He stopped his pacing and looked at her. “I learned long ago that it is pointless to try and change the Fae’s mind. They know what they are doing.”
“You trust them that much?”
“I have to. I owe them my life.”
She let that bit of information sink in. “How are you going to kill the creature?”
“I think ‘tis time that we tried the trap you were using the night we came.” She bit her lip. “You think it might actually work?”
“’Tis worth a try. Now,” he said as he took the chair beside her bed, “I need you to tell me exactly how you had it planned. Down to every detail.”
Chapter Seventeen
Mina rubbed her tired, itchy eyes. She had gotten little sleep between planning the creature’s trap and the creature itself continuing to fly around the castle screaming its rage and banging against the castle.
At first, she had been afraid that it might actually try and come into the castle, but when it did nothing more than bang against the castle doors, she knew how silly her thoughts had been.
“You’re going to need to rest today,” Hugh said.
She turned her head to find him stretching. His long, brown hair was messy and dark whiskers littered his checks and neck. She yearned to run her hands over his face and feel the stubble. “So do you.”
“I’m used to getting little sleep, but this is the second night in a row you haven’t slept.”
She looked around her small chamber. “I thought Cole and Gabriel had returned?”
“They did. They have other duties.”
She knew he was keeping something from her. She opened her mouth to question him, but Bernard chose that moment to walk into her chamber.
“You’re looking better,” he said and leaned down to kiss her forehead.
She smiled. How long had she wanted to be a part of the family, and she was finally getting one of her greatest desires. “I feel better.”
“You had us all worried.” He nodded to Hugh then turned back to her. “Do you remember anything of your attacker?”
She shook her head. “The only person that attacked me is Theresa, and everyone saw that.”
“She didn’t have a weapon or we’d have seen that as well,” Bernard said as he leaned his shoulder against the bedpost.
“I’ll leave you two alone,” Hugh said and moved to exit the chamber.
She didn’t want him to leave, but there was no reason for him to stay. She watched him walk from her chamber then turned toward her brother.
“You like him,” Bernard said.
She laughed. “He is the first man to really look at me.”
“I
doubt
that.”
“My own betrothed wanted Theresa instead of me. She put aside her betrothed for mine.”
“Your betrothed was stupid.”
She laughed, then sighed. “I wish we had talked like this years ago. It would have been nice to have a friend and be a part of the family.”
“Let’s not dwell on the past,” he said and gave her a smile meant to charm. “We have each other now, and if Theresa doesn’t come around, we’ll just ignore her.”
* * *
Hugh yawned and scratched his neck as he rose from his bed. He’d tried to rest, but there was too much going on for him to get any sleep. He hadn’t been able to eat any of his morning meal with Theresa’s incessant prattle. She was either yelling about Mina or trying to seduce him. Frankly, he had had enough. He wanted to order her to her chamber, but it wasn’t his castle. He was merely a guest here, and while here he had to keep a smile on his face and be amiable.
But, damn, it was becoming impossible to do.
He had no idea how Mina had managed to survive her entire life under the same roof as Theresa. He knew he would have throttled Theresa years ago had he been Mina.
The fact that he was beginning to relate to Mina showed him that he had grown too close to her, and he pushed aside his growing irritation at how Bernard constantly touched and kissed her. He was her brother after all.
&nb
sp; There had been many times while he had led his men that he had found himself attracted to women. It had only taken that one time of finding himself involved with a lady who had been controlling the creatures to make him see he needed to keep his distance. That act had nearly cost him and his men their lives. He refused to allow that to happen again. Too much was at stake, especially if the Faerie queen was right.