by Wendy Vella
“I'm already sorry,” a male voice muttered.
A partition half obscured what was going on in the rest of the building, yet Dev had heard Somer's voice clearly and knew she was close.
“Yes, and our sister Essex knows how to make you sick with herbs, and Eden, our other sister, will probably shoot you with her gun.”
This time Dorrie was speaking and he couldn't help but smile. They were, it seemed, in one piece and tormenting someone.
“Be quiet and get down here so I can put you to work!”
“We already know how to pick a lock!”
“I ain’t teaching you ’ow to pick locks. I'm teaching you to go into houses and steal fine things.”
Rounding the partition, Dev saw the twins sitting on a tall cabinet, swinging their legs while a man stood below them wringing his hands.
“Look.”
Following Lilly's finger, Dev noted a group of children standing at the rear of the room bending over a table. They were shackled together by metal cuffs and long chains. They had found the missing children, it seemed, but before he dealt with them, he would deal with the man before him.
“My brothers are big and mean with no front teeth and hands as big as a cow pat.”
“Dev!”
Holding up his hands as the twins saw him, he stalled them as they stood up and prepared to launch themselves off the cabinet. He waited for the man to turn, and then planted his fist in his face. “Now you can jump,” he said, holding out his arms.
He heard Lilly's sweet laughter as they flew through the air at him, their faces alight with excitement.
“We've had an adventure!”
“Weren't you afraid?” Dev's words were muffled as he kissed and cuddled them.
“At first, and then we knew you'd come for us so we turned it into an adventure!”
Cam took Dorrie and tossed her into the air, then gave her a hug. Dev watched his eyes close briefly as the little girl wrapped her arms around his neck, and knew that like he, the tension inside him had finally eased.
He turned to find Lilly, but she had left his side to go to the other children. He followed after he had found the key to their chains on the man, who was just coming out of the stupor Dev had put him.
“’Ello, Lilly.”
He watched the children smile at her, and she back at them.
“I'm very pleased to see you, Timmy,” she said, patting the head of a little boy. “Is everyone well?”
“Fink so. Finnegan ain't a bad man, just got caught up with him.”
“Who's him?”
Lilly kept the children talking while Dev released the chains around their ankles.
“Dominus. Heard tell he's nasty piece, so I heard Finnegan say, but we ain’t never seen him.”
“Go and question the man now, Devon. We need to learn all we can about who is behind this business. If it is Danderfield, then he must be stopped.”
He ran a finger down her cheek and then went to do as she asked.
“What's your name?” Cam was pulling the man to his feet when he arrived.
“Finnegan.”
His chin was starting to swell from the knock Dev had given him.
“You took something that was very dear to us, Mr. Finnegan. To realize that your little sisters were kidnapped by God knows who and taken to God knows where was a torture that I assure you I have no wish to ever repeat!”
Dev felt the bite of anger return as he said the words out loud.
“I-I… They were not meant to belong to anyone.”
“Pardon?” Dev lifted one eyebrow at the stuttered words.
“He said—”
“Yes, Dorrie, I heard thank you, love. Perhaps you and Somer could now go and help the others to release the children.” Dev gave Essie a look, and she quickly took her little sisters in hand.
“Let me get this straight, Mr. Finnegan,” Dev said, his eyes once again steady on the man quivering on the seat before him. He knew Cam's expression was equally as fierce as his, because Finnegan's eyes were darting between them. “You were taking only children with no family ties for your endeavors. Whatever those endeavors are.”
“Y-yes.” He nodded rapidly, looking like he was bobbing for apples.
“Then why were our sisters taken!” Cam snapped.
“Th-the men who took them found them alone, and as we needed only two more, he took your sisters.”
“For what purpose?” Dev questioned.
Finnegan looked from him to Cam, then dropped his eyes to his hands, which were twisted together so tight that his knuckles were white.
“Dominus wants to start a thieving gang and take out any opposition, so that he runs all the children on the streets of London. But these children were for more specialized work. Breaking into the houses of the gentry and stealing things.”
“Dominus?”
“That's the name he calls himself.”
“Master,” Dev said softly. “Dominus means master.”
“Danderfield would be just the sort of man to do something like this to my mind.”
“He's a nobleman, this man who calls himself Dominus. But I don't know his real name, only followed the instructions he gave me.”
Dev did not even want to contemplate Lilly in the hands of a man capable of what Danderfield had done.
“I will leave at once and ride for London. Once there, I will organize transportation for the children,” James said, coming to stand beside Dev. “And I have heard what this rodent has to say, and I think we need to work out a plan on how we are going to get that bastard Danderfield, because surely it is he we want.”
“Agreed,” Dev said.
James kissed Eden, and then left, while Dev and Cam returned to questioning Finnegan.
“Dominus never comes here; the house is locked up tight with only a few servants going in to clean it once a week,” Finnegan said, eager to help now he had been caught.
“Tie him to the chair, Cam, while we search the area and make sure those other men are secured.”
“With pleasure, brother.”
Once a search had been completed and no paperwork or evidence found, everyone made their way back down the lane to the Danderfield house, where one of the children broke in with disturbing ease.
“You will not lift anything,” Dev heard Lilly say to the boy as he trailed behind them through the house.
“It's just a little thing,” he said, taking a small silver box from his pocket and handing it to her. “He did kidnap me after all, Lilly.”
“No, Joe, I will not have you thieving in my presence.”
In a drawer in Lord Danderfield's desk, they found what they were looking for.
“There's three of them involved, but Danderfield is the leader,” Cam said, reading a letter. “Lord Richard and Mr. Appleton. There is correspondence here that states everything, right down to Lilly's involvement in stopping that boy being taken the night you found her, Dev.”
“And to think my brother wished to wed me to such a man.” Lilly shuddered beside Dev. He wrapped and arm around her and hugged her close.
Essie and Eden raided the kitchen and found a few supplies that they could throw together for everyone to eat, and then the carriages started to arrive. Children were divided and seated inside, with Mr. Finnegan put up beside one of James's burliest drivers.
Dev mounted the horse they had ridden on and lifted Lilly onto his lap once more. “I want to hold you” was all he said as he and the others fell in beside the slow-moving carriages. She yawned and settled back into his arms with a tired smile upon her face.
“I can think of nowhere else I would rather be.”
“Danderfield is about to flee, my lord.”
“Are you certain, Mr. Brown?” Dev said, looking at the Bow Street Runner five days later as he entered James's office.
“Yes. My man has been watching his place for any sign of him. This morning, just before the sun rose, he slipped inside. My man then slipped a f
ew coins to footman who left the house a short time later, and he said Danderfield is fleeing for France tonight.”
Dev walked around James's study as he thought about what Mr. Brown had said.
“He has heard about the arrests of Lord Richard and Mr. Appleton,” Dev said, “and is making haste to flee before we grab him.”
James nodded from behind his desk. “We shall have to move quickly.”
They had gathered as much information as they could about Lord Danderfield and what he had been doing. Lord Richard and Mr. Appleton had been more than willing to throw their partner in crime to the wolves when questioned; now all they needed to do was arrest the man so once again everyone would be safe, Dev thought.
“We shall go to the magistrate at once and tell him what we have, and then he can come with us to Danderfield's,” James said.
“We want to come also.”
Dev turned to find Eden, Essie, and Lilly had slipped into the room.
“I suppose you told them word for word what we were discussing?”
Eden merely smiled sweetly back at Dev.
“She has more right than any to be there when you arrest Danderfield, Dev.”
“However, we insist you three stay in the carriage when the arrest is being made, as I do not want to risk one of you getting in the way.”
“Thank you, James,” Lilly said solemnly.
“Thank you, James,” Dev mimicked, scowling at his fiancée, who in turn poked out her tongue.
“Shrew!”
“And Essie and I will keep her company,” Eden said. “You will need another set of ears,” she added.
James wasn't happy about that, yet could do little about it as he had said Lilly could go. “Fine, however, you will do exactly as I say.”
“Of course,” both Essie and Eden, said convincing no one.
Lilly and Devon's sisters watched from the safety of the carriage as Cam, Dev, and James, followed by the magistrate and Mr. Brown, went to Lord Danderfield's front door. It was early evening and the sun was sinking fast. They had thought this the best time as the streets would not be too busy.
Holding her breath, Lilly watched the magistrate’s hand as it lifted the brass knocker and banged it hard three times. Looking up at the white façade, she noted a second-story window behind which was a faint light. The curtain twitched and then stilled. Lowering the carriage window quietly, she listened.
“Open the door at once. This is the magistrate!”
Still the door remained closed.
“What are they saying, Eden?”
“Two men stay here, the rest will go to the rear and try to get in that way.”
Lilly watched as they moved. Dev shot her a warning glance that she guessed meant they were to stay in the carriage, and then he was gone.
“It is intolerable sitting in the carriage not knowing what is going on.”
“Ssssh, I can hear everything,” Eden said, listening at the window. “They are trying to break down the back door. Cam is howling in pain because he hurt his leg.” Eden snorted. “They are in!”
Lilly gripped Eden’s and Essie's hands but remained silent, her eyes intent on the front door. Suddenly it opened and James's face appeared, and then the two men who were waiting there entered the house.
“They are moving from room to room, trying to find Danderfield.” Eden's eyes were alert as she listened.
“Someone is inside. I thought I saw a curtain twitch upstairs.”
“Dev will know where he is, Lilly. He will have seen his colors. Yes, he is directing them upstairs as we speak.”
A desperate tension began to build inside Lilly; something bad was about to happen, she could feel it.
“I heard gunfire. Dear Lord, someone has been shot!”
“Devon!” Lilly screamed. Flinging open the carriage door, she leaped from it and ran for the house. She raced through the front door and up the stairs.
“Devon!” Screaming his name, Lilly ran down the hallway, giving each room a fleeting glance until she found all the men huddled in a small parlor. Looking to the floor, she found Danderfield lying in a pool of blood, his eyes staring unseeing at the ceiling.
“Lilly!”
Cam called to her from the right. He was crouched beside Dev, both hands on his brother's chest as he tried to stop the blood flowing from a bullet he had obviously taken.
“Dear God, no,” Cam cried, lowering his head over his brother.
“Dev!” Eden was next to scream as she and Essie dropped down beside their brother. “Tell me he's all right, Cam!”
Lilly stumbled forward, falling to her knees beside the man she loved.
No, no, no. This can't be happening, not to him, not Devon.
“Everyone out,” Lilly heard James roar, and then the door slammed shut.
“He's not breathing.” Cam's words were desperate. “Danderfield caught us by surprise, he said he was surrendering, and then—”
“No!” Lilly cried. “He's not leaving me, he promised.” Biting the end of her finger, she wrenched off her gloves. “I won't let him leave me.”
“Lilly.” James moved to her side as he reached out to haul his wife close. “He has stopped breathing, Lilly. There is nothing we can do.”
“No, I don't believe that.” Lilly tore open his shirt, sending buttons in every direction. She felt a fierce surge of strength pulse through her. “He wouldn't leave me, he promised.”
She could hear the siblings crying, sobbing for their brother, but Lilly shut them out. Her focus was the man lying still before her. He would not leave her, she vowed silently.
“I need you all to touch me. I want your hands on my hands.”
“Lilly, please, he is gone.”
“No, he is not!” she roared. “James, I need you to kneel behind me, and do not let me stop until he is healed. I mean it, you must promise me this.”
She felt her cousin move behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, bracing her between his knees.
“Cam, Eden, and Essie, I need your strength. I need you to focus on your brother. He needs you now.” From somewhere she found calm, the pain inside her pushed aside to focus on what she must do.
“Come before me and place your hands over mine.”
They did as she asked, and she fought not to let the desperate sorrow in their eyes weaken her. Placing her hands over the wound, she focused.
“You will not leave me,” she vowed. “Hold me tight, James.”
“I promise,” he said softly.
“Concentrate now,” she whispered, closing her eyes and willing the panic to recede. “Focus on our hands.” Slowly, her fingers began to tingle as heat sparked up her arms. Beneath her fingers, Dev began to twitch.
“Dear God, Lilly, something is happening. I felt his body move,” Cam said.
She couldn't speak just gritted her teeth and kept her hands over the wound. Her body began to shake and the pain struck at her, swift and strong. She felt James use all his strength to hold her there when her body shook and shuddered for release.
“It's hurting her!” he roared.
The pain was almost too much to bear, yet she held still until she felt the bullet beneath her palm.
“He's breathing,” Eden sobbed. “Lilly, you saved him.”
Turning over her bloodied palm, Lilly held out the bullet. Seconds later she slumped forward onto Devon's chest, unconscious.
Lilly could hear voices as she drifted slowly to the surface. She had no wish to open her eyes, as this blissful state was wonderful.
“Open your bloody eyes, woman!”
“Dev, stop that. She will wake when she is ready.”
“She has been sleeping for two days, Essie. It's enough. She should wake up now!”
“She needs the sleep, brother. Her body needs to heal itself. Saving you took everything she had and more.”
“Christ.” Lilly heard the breath hiss from Devon's mouth. “Just wake up, my love, please.”
She felt his fingers on her cheek, so soft she wanted to purr at the feeling. Instead, she forced herself of open her eyes.
“Lilly.” His arms slipped beneath her and she was pulled to his chest. “God, you scared me.”
“I'm all right.” Her voice sounded raspy and unused. “Just so tired.” Lilly wrapped her arms around his neck and held on. He kissed her hair, stroked her back and anywhere else he could reach.
“A-are you well, Devon?”
“Completely, thanks to you.” He lay her back on the bed then sat beside her hip, and she had her first look at him.
Unshaven, his face was lined with fatigue, green eyes shadowed, but to her he was the most handsome man she had ever seen.
“You are tired.” Lilly ran a finger beneath his eyes. “Are you telling me the truth? You are well?”
“I have no scars or marks. My heart is sound, love. Feel it.” He pulled his shirt free, then took her hand and slipped it beneath.
Lilly felt the heat from his body tingle through her palm.
“You saved me, Lilly, and for that I will be forever grateful. Yet I will not allow it again. Never again will I see you drained of life as you were when I regained consciousness. You have slept in this room for two days, unmoving in that bed until I thought you would never again wake.”
“Had I been run over by a carriage, the pain would have been less,” she whispered. “I felt as if someone had drained the blood from my veins and air from my lungs, and then suddenly there was darkness.”
“You were so pale. We had to get James to carry you from Danderfield's house, saying you had fainted in distress over my condition. Then we had to fabricate another lie that the bullet had, in fact, hit a flask in my pocket and the blood was merely from a flesh wound.”
“I would do it again to save you, Devon, and you cannot ask different of me.”
“We do not know what price you pay for this healing, Lilly. What harm this does to your body.” He braced his hands on either side of her head. “I have been scared before, but seeing you like that will be etched in my memory for some time.”
“I didn't want to live without you. Promise you will never leave me again, Devonshire Sinclair. I have no wish to dwell in the darkness with no light in my soul and no love in my heart, as I did before you entered my life.”