“I have a bad feeling,” Connor said quietly to Declan’s back. “We’ve made it too far without any problems, and that worries me.”
“I know. Something doesn’t seem right about this,” Declan whispered in return. “But we have to keep going.” He shoved at the wall in front of him where Maggie had told him to push, causing it to slowly open. When it did, seven men immediately swarmed Declan.
“Run Connor!” Declan shouted while he fought off his attackers.
* * *
Connor was already gone. He could tell there was no help for Declan at the moment, so he had dashed back down the stairs away from the onslaught of men. Their only hope was for him to get free and come back for Declan. He reached the bottom of the spiral staircase and was ambushed by five men waiting for him. He threw an elbow due to the tight quarters, but was overwhelmed before he could do much else. In a matter of seconds, he was thrown to the ground, and his hands were bound tightly behind his back. He was furious. There had been a time in his life when he’d boxed for money in the slums of London. Once he had even taken on four separate opponents, beating them easily. He was undefeated when he decided to give up the sport. His sponsors had been very disappointed to lose him. Today he should have fared better. To be taken down in a matter of seconds was embarrassing. Of course, he had been caught by surprise.
The men hauled him back up the stairs where they found Declan still fighting furiously. It only lasted a few more minutes as Connor’s attackers joined forces with Declan’s and threw him to the floor. They bound him tightly as they had Connor and pulled him to his feet.
“There’s someone who wants to see you,” a man with a large scar across his face sneered at Declan.
Declan spit in the man’s face, receiving a blow to the stomach in return. He buckled over in pain, causing the other men to laugh cruelly.
“Is that all you’ve got,” Declan taunted a little breathlessly.
The man laughed coldly before raising his fist to slam into Declan’s face. Declan took the blow well. Any other man would have gone to the floor, but Declan held his ground, blood pouring from his nose. The men hooted with laughter and jeers as the blood poured.
“Had enough?” the scar-faced man asked.
Declan grinned before spewing blood all over the man’s face and clothes. Furious, the man hit Declan again. His head flipped backward, but again he did not go down. Connor was quite pleased with his friend. The man would have made an excellent fighter.
“Enough Rupert!” Lucas yelled as he entered the room. The scar-faced man stopped, and everyone looked at Lucas, who strode across the room eyeing Declan coldly.
Connor watched as Lucas walked up to Declan and slammed his own fist into Declan’s gut. This time Declan went down gasping for breath.
“I see Maggie told you about my secret passageways,” Lucas said. “I guess I should have thought better of leaving her behind. All is well, though. Now you are my prisoners, along with anyone else who tries to leave your home, Cunningham. So you see? I have won. I have Allana, and now I have leverage over her because you were foolish enough to think you could sneak in here undetected. Did you think I would not anticipate something like this? Doesn’t matter. It actually might be better this way. Now, she must agree to be mine.”
“She will never agree to that,” Declan spat out at Lucas.
“Oh? I think she will, especially when your life depends on it,” Lucas sneered.
Declan lurched at Lucas, but came short as the scar-faced man, who Lucas had called Rupert, knocked him to the ground with a kick to the back. Lucas raised an eyebrow as Declan hit the floor face first.
“Lock them up downstairs,” he said before leaving the room.
The entire time Lucas had been there, he hadn’t looked at Connor, and that made Connor furious. I can’t believe I used to call him my friend, he thought angrily.
“Start moving,” someone said behind him, shoving him in the back. Three men were dragging Declan in front of Connor. He looked like hell with blood dripping from his face and the black eye that was beginning to form. Connor watched his friend hopelessly. Right then their situation looked pretty grim.
The mercenaries—Connor counted twelve—led Connor and Declan to a large open hall where the stairs were. There was one massive staircase in the middle of the grand hall, leading down to the main floor and the main entranceway to the house, and at both ends of the large hall were two smaller staircases leading up to the third floor. Both of these staircases went up a flight of stairs before coming to a small landing that turned and led up another flight of stairs. Allana was being kept in one of the bedchambers up there. They were so close. If only they could somehow get free….
The main front door to the house, which stood at the bottom of the massive staircase in front of them, opened. Connor’s heart dropped. Five men were dragging a burly man with graying hair into the house.
“Father,” Connor whispered. So Lucas had not lied. People had been watching the house for others leaving.
“Shut up, you,” Connor’s captor said, jabbing him in the back.
But where were Maggie and Lilly? They were probably somewhere here too. Connor had hoped his father, Lilly, and Maggie had somehow gotten past any mercenaries watching the roads, but now he knew otherwise. There would be no outside help. Their situation looked very grim indeed.
Chapter 35
Allana dressed quickly, but she was not about to wait for Lucas to return. She’d rather take her chances with the window and the long drop below. She walked to the window and shoved it open. It was definitely a long drop. If she fell…she couldn’t think about that. She had to try or brave her chances with Lucas. Him, she knew she did not want to face. She gathered her courage and climbed up onto the windowsill and looked down at the small ledge below. It looked to be about as wide as her forearm without any handholds unless you counted the cracks between the bricks. She would have to rely on balance more than anything to make it to the next window.
Carefully, she lowered herself onto the small ledge below her window. The cement was cold on her bare feet as they gripped the rough surface, but she did not regret leaving her slippers in the room. She felt her feet would grip the ledge better than shoes would have. Slowly, she began to slide her feet along the ledge toward the next window, pushing her weight back against the house. It was a very slow process with the gusts of wind that blew at her skirts. Twice they nearly dislodged her from the ledge. They would be calm one moment then mysteriously turn violent the next, charging at her from out of nowhere to beat against her. She sighed in relief when her hand finally grasped the edge of the next windowsill. She slid a few more feet to where she was center with the window before trying to open it. It wouldn’t give. She pushed frantically, hoping it was simply stuck, and almost fell. Heart pounding and blood rushing, she clung to the windowsill and fought back tears that threatened to fall. It was locked. What would she do now? She couldn’t go back.
Farther down there appeared to be a small balcony, which stood out from the ledge. It would be a longer trek than the one she’d just endured, but she refused to go back. Gathering her courage once more, she carefully maneuvered her way to the other side of the window and balanced herself along the ledge, praying the next window would be unlocked. Once again, she slid her feet slowly along the ledge toward her destination. The wind seemed to be getting worse as it pulled and beat at her. It was as though it was playing a game to see which gust could knock her off of the ledge first. Her eyes watered from the cold, making it difficult to see, but she kept going. Before long, she was within reach of the small balcony and its rot-iron railing. She took the last few steps toward safety, reached out and grabbed the railing, bringing another sigh of relief.
Please be unlocked, she thought after pulling herself over the railing and into the protection of the small balcony. She reached for the handles of the double doors and hesitated. Shouldn’t she check the room first before barging into unknown territ
ory? Holding her breath, she slowly peeked inside the room. It was dark without any movement. No one was inside. Escape might actually be possible. She tried the handles and found with a little effort the doors opened, allowing her to enter the room and examine it.
The room was similar to the one she’d just left. There was a large bed in the center, a dressing area, a large closet, and a spacious fireplace, and all of it was covered in dust that made her sneeze violently. She needed to get out of here before someone heard her. She walked to the door and listened carefully. She heard ruckus coming from somewhere in the house and decided to wait for it to calm before venturing out of the room. When it finally did calm, she pushed on the door, but the door wouldn’t budge. Panic seized her once again as she frantically tugged and pushed. Had she escaped one locked room to find herself in another? She tried it once more, and this time, the door gave way. She burst into the hall to come face to face with Lucas.
He stared at her in surprise. “How did you—”
She cut him off by throwing her fist into his face as hard as she could. He stumbled backward from the unexpected force of it.
She broke into a run, heading for the stairs. Her fist was throbbing from hitting Lucas, causing her eyes to water and making her wonder if she’d broken it. Hopefully, the punch had slowed him down enough for her to get to the stairs that were so close. Otherwise, the pain she was feeling had simply been in vain. She glanced over her shoulder to see Lucas reaching for her. A scream ripped from her lungs as she felt his hands wrap around her waist. No, it couldn’t have been in vain. I have to keep trying, she thought. She rolled with agility and slipped from Lucas’s grasp. Just a few more feet to the stairs….
* * *
Declan’s head lifted when he heard the scream from above. “Allana,” he whispered. The scream sounded so close. “Allana!” he shouted as his own adrenalin began to pump. She was in trouble, and he was a prisoner.
* * *
Allana froze when she heard his voice. He was here to save her! Before she could call out in return, Lucas was on her, pinning her to the ground. If only she hadn’t stopped. She fought with every ounce of strength she had.
“Declan!” she screamed desperately as her arms and legs flailed about wildly. Her knee connected with Lucas’s anatomy, and he doubled over in pain. She brought it up again to accentuate the pain before slipping from beneath him. She was inches from the stairs now, so she lunged for them while trying to get to her feet. Something hit her from behind, causing her to stumble forward and roll down the first flight of stairs to the middle landing. Dazed, Allana looked around to see what had assailed her. The remains of a large vase lay shattered next to her. Lucas had thrown it to keep her from getting away, and now he was on his feet descending the stairs toward her with a look of contempt and furry on his face. He swiped a hand across his bloody lip and glowered at her.
* * *
Connor’s head shot in the direction of the scream. He glanced frantically at Declan. Declan had thrown his head back hard, connecting with the man holding him up. The contact dropped the man immediately and caused the other captors to stare at Declan dumbfounded. His unexpected actions had taken them off guard, buying Declan enough time to lower his shoulder and charge head-on into one of them, tackling him to the ground and knocking the air out of him. Declan then rolled over onto his back and kicked a third captor over the stairs’ railing. The man he had tackled was trying to move beneath him, so Declan rolled to his feet and kicked the man in the face. He was now alone for the moment. He looked around to see where the next assault was going to come from. There were nine men left, but six of them were halfway down the main staircase, which left the three with Connor.
Connor threw his own head backward toward the man holding him. The man was expecting the move after seeing Declan level one of his comrades with it, and backed away to prevent the blow. This gave Connor room to whip around and kick the man in the groin, sending the fellow painfully to the ground. Connor proceeded to kick him in the face, rendering him unconscious when one of the two remaining men wrapped his arms around Connor to stop him from kicking the fallen man further. Rupert was the third man left, and he was coming at Connor from the front to help tackle him to the ground. Connor used his captor behind him as a base and lifted both legs in the air, kicking hard at Rupert. The force knocked not only Rupert backward, but also Connor and the man holding him. They tumbled into thin air down the massive staircase. Connor knew he was a dead man, but then something caught his fall. He and his captor had collided with the six assailants coming back up the stairs. The collision knocked several of the men, including Connor, down the staircase all the way to the bottom. Only two, besides Rupert, escaped the fall.
* * *
Declan watched his friend tumble backward down the stairs. It had been a random action, but fortunately, it disabled four of the six advancing guards and knocked Rupert to the ground. Declan wanted to look and see how Connor had fared, but the remaining two men were advancing on him with their swords drawn. Declan looked around for some leverage on the two men. If only he could get his hands free.
From the corner of his eye, he saw something glisten at the bottom of the staircase that led upward. It looked like a shard of some sort. He sprinted toward the piece of the vase, which had continued down the remaining flight of stairs from Allana. The men gave chase, but Declan was fast. He slid feet first at the shard, landing in the perfect position to use it to cut his bindings. Before he could get the rope cut, one of the pursuers had a sword to Declan’s throat.
Chapter 36
Lilly and Maggie followed in silence as the two men led them further into the woods and away from Marcus. More tears threatened to fall as Lilly thought of her husband lying unconscious on the ground. Suddenly, painful cramps seared through her abdomen, causing her to keel forward.
“Ah!” she groaned as the pain persisted.
“Oh, please not here,” Garret said, eyeing Lilly with panic on his face.
She would have laughed if she could have.
“My Lady. Are you all right?” Maggie asked with concern.
“Yes, I’m fine. Just give me a moment,” Lilly said as she breathed deeply, waiting for the pain to subside. “It was just a little pain, probably from all of this exertion,” she finished, but inside, fear gripped her as she thought of having this baby without her husband by her side. Yes, please not here. Not yet.
Thomas studied Lilly. “Is the baby scheduled to come soon?”
“Yes, any day now,” Lilly said as she rubbed her tight belly. The baby had dropped over the past week. This was not good.
“Have you had much pain today, or are those the first?” he then asked.
“I’ve been having them off and on for a while, but nothing serious and nothing that strong yet,” she answered.
“My Lady, why didn’t you say something earlier?” Maggie began. “You shouldn’t have come.”
“I thought it was nothing. I’ve had similar ones in the past month, so why would I think the earlier ones were any different? Besides, do you really think I would let Marcus out of my sight being this close to having his baby?” Lilly argued.
“You should have at least said something. What if it’s your time?”
“Then there is nothing we can do to stop it, is there?” Lilly answered, feeling slightly annoyed. “Let’s hope this little one waits long enough for us to get somewhere decent before he comes.” The two men were watching them with uncertainty. “I’m all right now if we need to move on.”
“I think we’ll stop here to wait for the others,” Thomas began. He turned his attention to his companion. “Garret, scout out our premises. Make certain no one has followed us.”
Garret nodded then disappeared into the brush.
The three remaining sat in uncomfortable silence for a while. The women huddled together as the Scot’s eyes scoured the forest alertly, searching for any signs of trouble. Finally, Garret returned.
“All is well,” he said.
Thomas nodded. “Good.” He turned his attention to the ladies, his eyes lingering admiringly on Maggie’s face. “The others should be catching up to us soon. Until then, in case you did not catch our names earlier, my name is Thomas McGrath and this is Garret Meredith.”
Lilly could tell both were handsome men under their gruff exteriors. Their scraggly beards and long hair could not hide everything.
“I am Lilly and this is Maggie, and we are very grateful for your timely arrival,” Lilly said politely, purposely omitting their last names. She still did not know who these men were or if they could be trusted even though the name Meredith she knew well.
Thomas’ attention had returned to Maggie, eyeing her with what Lilly thought was a look of approval. He opened his mouth to say something, never taking his eyes from the other woman, and was interrupted before any words could come.
“Do not thank them. Thank me.” The three men who had stayed behind had caught up to the little group, and their leader was speaking to Lilly. “My Lady,” he said bowing. “I am sorry I could not retrieve Marcus, but know this. He was taken alive.”
Lilly gasped. “William Meredith?” she asked in astonishment. Here was the Meredith whose name she new well, and he had come to her aid. She’d met William twice years ago. Once when he had brought his dying brother to their door for aid, and again when he had repaid Allana’s speed that day with her dear Lancelot. Tears streamed down Lilly’s face. She rushed forward and hugged William tightly.
“My dear Lilly. I am so sorry.” He hugged her in return then pulled away and forced her to look at him. “Why did Rupert’s men attack you?”
“Who is Rupert?” she asked.
“Rupert is the leader of a group of ruthless mercenaries. They kill for pleasure, and only take prisoners if instructed to. We followed them when they passed through our woods earlier last night. We’ve been watching them since. They looked like they were up to something. Then they shot your driver, and now they’ve taken Marcus prisoner. Do you know why or maybe for whom they are working?”
The Lady and the Earl Page 30