Blackthorne's Bride (12 page)

Then she could restore her faith in herself and in the essential goodness of man. She could be optimistic again and see love in the world.

But not if she allowed Lord Blackthorne into her life. He was just as his name implied, and if she opened her heart to him even an inch, he would infect her with his poison.

She'd been a fool to kiss him, a fool to make herself vulnerable. He was callous and selfish. She did not need him in her life.

A tiny voice from deep inside her whispered,
Perhaps he needs you.

"No," she said aloud and shook her head. She couldn't save everyone. She didn't want to save Lord Blackthorne. Right now, she could hardly save herself.

"No?" Blackthorne said, jolting her out of her thoughts. "So your first few proposals did not bother you?"

"Actually, sir, I was saying no to this conversation. You and I have nothing in common, and I'm sorry to say that I am glad of it."

He did not respond, and Maddie wondered if she'd hurt his feelings. She hadn't wanted to upset him, but she needed to distance herself from him.

"Village up ahead," Lord Nicholas called from behind them. "Dover says it could be Stevenage. We should proceed with caution."

"Too late for that, Martingale," a voice said from the darkness on Maddie's right. "We 'ave you now."

Jack froze, and his first thought was for Lady Madeleine. Why had he insisted she ride with him? Now she was as much a target as he.

"Come down off those 'orses, 'ands in the air," the man said.

Jack didn't recognize the voice. It could have been one of Maddie's father's men, or someone from the last village, or—and he prayed this wasn't the case—Bleven's men.

"You're wasting your time," Nick called from behind Jack. "We don't have any money or valuables. Go back and wait for a carriage."

"Ah, but Lord Nicholas. It is Nicholas, isn't it?"

Jack closed his eyes at this new voice. It was high-pitched, refined, and menacing. He'd know it anywhere.

"Now that we have you," the Duke of Bleven continued, "our wait has been well worth it. Not wasted time at all."

A man stepped out from the forest concealing the other men, his rifle pointed straight at them.

Jack had no way of knowing how many other weapons were aimed at them.

"Damn," he heard Nick swear. "Jack?" he said softly.

"We're going to climb down," Jack told Bleven. If only he could see the duke or his men, then he could gauge the odds. As it was, he had no idea what they were facing. "We have two ladies with us. They have nothing to do with what's between us. You have to let them go."

Bleven laughed. "I don't
have
to do anything, Lord Blackthorne. Now get on the ground before I shoot the lot of you."

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" Dover called. "I can't get down. I'm tied on my horse."

"I'll get you," Nick called.

Jack had no choice except to lower Lady Madeleine first, making her vulnerable. But he swung down beside her as quickly as he could. He pushed her behind him, so he was protecting her from the front and the horse was at her back. If anything happened to her, he would never forgive himself.

And he was quite good at not forgiving himself.

In the filtered moonlight, Jack saw Nick lower Miss Brittany, then pull her with him as he went to untie Dover.

Dover promptly slid off his horse and crumpled to the ground, whimpering something about "hopelessly behind schedule."

"How does that man know your name?" Lady Madeleine whispered in Jack's ear.

Jack clenched his jaw. He'd been afraid she was going to ask him that. "We're old friends," he said vaguely.

"Interesting friends you have."

" 'Ands up!" Bleven's man called.

Jack obliged. Why the hell hadn't he thought to bring a weapon with him? Of course, when he'd left his town house this morning, he'd only intended to have a cup of coffee and read the papers. No weapon required.

Perhaps if he'd known his brother was in Town ...

There was the hiss of flame, and then three lanterns illuminated the road, revealing at least eight men, including Bleven, moving out from the forest. Jack caught sight of his brother, hands in the air, and then one of Bleven's thugs stepped in front of Jack, blocking his view. The thug grabbed his arms and dragged him away from Lady Madeleine.

Another thug went for her, but Jack growled, "Don't touch her."

He was backhanded for his efforts, but he saw Lady Madeleine rush over to her friend. The two women stood huddled together.

"Your traveling companions have improved," Bleven said, stepping in front of Jack and Nick, who had been brought before the duke. "But your manners haven't. Show some respect, boys."

He snapped his fingers, and Bleven's men pushed Jack and Nick onto their knees. Jack didn't resist. He wanted Bleven to think he was docile and accommodating.

Bleven looked down at him. "That's better. But not good enough."

In a flash of black, his booted foot struck Nick in the jaw. With an ominous pop, Nick fell over.

"Lord Nicholas!" he heard one of the girls call, but Jack saved his strength. When the blow came for him, he was ready.

Bleven was a wealthy and powerful man. He was shrewd and cunning and ruthless. But he wasn't particularly creative. The duke moved to strike him exactly as he had Nick. Anticipating the move, Jack brought his hand up, caught Bleven's foot and pushed.

Arms careening wildly, Bleven went down. As Jack expected, the duke's thugs—mindless bullies eager to please their master—rushed to help him. There was a moment of chaos during which Jack grabbed his brother, pulled him to his feet and yelled, "Run!"

Of one mind, Jack and Nick arrowed for the girls. Jack grabbed Maddie and pushed her into action. Nick did the same for Ashley. Behind him, he heard shouts of "After them, fools!" Jack spared a glance for Dover, who was huddled in a ball on the ground, then pushed Maddie in front of him and steered her toward the trees.

They'd barely cleared the road when the first shot exploded behind them. It was wild and hit a tree far to their left, but Jack pushed Maddie down to protect her from the next shot.

"Goddamn it!" Nick swore, crouching beside Ashley, who had jumped behind a tree. "How the hell did he find us?"

"I don't know," Jack panted. "But we've got to go back."

"Back?" Ashley screamed.

"Not you," Jack told her, but he was looking at Maddie. "You two keep running. Nick and I will go back and distract him while you two escape."

"But we can't leave you," Maddie protested. She was on her knees now, and Jack wished he could push her back on the ground, cover her with his body, and keep her safe for the rest of her life. Instead, he'd have to do the next best thing.

"Don't argue," he ordered as another shot, this one hitting closer, rang out. "Run and hide. We'll find you."

"But—"

He silenced her with a quick kiss—a press of his mouth on hers—then pushed her forward. "Go!"

With steely determination, he turned again to the road and Bleven.

As soon as Jack heard the girls' footfalls receding, he called, "Okay, Bleven, you have us! Stop shooting and we'll surrender."

"No more tricks," Bleven called back. "One wrong move and I kill you where you stand."

"Agreed!" Jack called. He looked at Nick, grim-faced and white. "First chance you get, escape and find them."

"I'm not leaving you with Bleven."

Jack grabbed Nick about the throat and pushed him hard against a tree. "Goddamn it, don't argue with me. This isn't going to be like what happened with—" He stopped, swallowed hard. "First chance you get, you go find the girls. Got it?"

Nick nodded, and Jack released him.

"Let's go." The two put their hands up and marched out.

One of Bleven's men was questioning Dover near the duke's carriage, but the others immediately descended. Jack and Nick were pulled apart, and Jack's arms were bound. As soon as he was defenseless, the thugs got their revenge.

Jack didn't blame them. He'd humiliated Bleven and his men today, forced them to leave London to chase him all the way to—wherever the hell they were—and then humiliated them again.

The men weren't in a good mood.

It took about seven kicks and punches before Jack went to his knees. He looked over and noted Nick was already on the ground, curled into a protective ball. Smart man, he thought, but something about his own pride—or was it stupidity?—wouldn't allow him to go down.

His head felt as though it had split in two. He wanted to reach up and piece it back together again, but the men held his arms so tightly that there was no feeling in them anymore. He knew they would hurt like hell once the numbness receded.

He bent to try and cushion the next blow to his ribs, and his stomach blazed up with fire. It hurt to breathe, to move, to exist. He looked up, tasting blood in his mouth, and saw Bleven sauntering over to him.

Finally, thank God, the thugs stood back.

"So you thought you could outsmart me," Bleven seethed. He was out of breath, and Jack realized he must have taken a few swings at Nick. "You thought you could humiliate me and get away with it."

Jack shrugged, ignoring the pain the movement caused. "You showed us. If you're done proving what a big man you are, Nick and I have other more pressing matters to attend to."

"You arrogant whoreson," Bleven spat, his boot landing in Jack's stomach, just to make the point. "I never liked you."

Jack doubled over. His intestines felt as though they had been kicked out through his back and shoved in again, but he managed to stay on his knees. "The feeling's mutual," he wheezed.

"Shut up!" This time Bleven caught him on the right cheek, and Jack's head snapped back. The pain was like a knife thrust in his flesh, but he forced himself to stay upright.

When his balance returned, he looked up at Bleven and smiled. "Having fun?"

Bleven moved to kick him again, then seemed to think better of it. One of his thugs grabbed Jack's arms and pinned them behind his back. Bleven leaned close, so close that Jack could smell the brandy on his breath.

"Oh, I'm going to have fun. I've been waiting a long time for this." His face swam in Jack's vision, his leering smile huge and distorted. "I'm going to take you boys back to London with me, and we're going to have lots of fun. As much fun as we had all those years ago in that dark alley."

Jack tensed and shook his head. Had he heard Bleven correctly?

"Do you remember that, Jack? Do you remember how you cried and hid your face? Oh, yes. I stood in the shadows behind you, and I saw it all."

Jack strained against the man holding him, almost breaking free. "You bloody bastard. Come here where I can reach you. Fight me like a man."

Bleven only smiled thinly, then turned to one of his thugs. "Shut him up."

The thug pulled his fist back, then all went black.

* * * * *

Maddie grabbed Ashley's arm and pulled her behind a large tree. The two girls leaned against it, huffing and panting.

"We ... should ... keep ... going," Ashley wheezed.

"We ... can't," Maddie responded. She bent over, took a deep breath, and looked at her friend. "We can't leave them."

Ashley frowned at her. "Yes, we can. Whatever was going on back there had—" She took a second to catch her breath. "—nothing to do with us. That was the Duke of Bleven."

Maddie stared at her. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Maddie knew it was true. She'd seen Bleven many times, enough to recognize him even on a dark road. But she hadn't wanted to admit it had been him just now. She'd heard stories about the Black Duke. Horrible, twisted stories. Stories that she knew couldn't be true, and yet she suspected they were.

What could the Martingale boys have done to anger Bleven? How could they be such complete fools?

And why was she surprised? "It doesn't matter, Ashley, we still have to go back."

"Why?" Ashley said. She was staring at Maddie like Maddie often stared at her. Like she was completely insane. "You heard Blackthorne. He said we should run."

"We can't leave them there," Maddie protested. "We have to return and help."

Ashley grabbed her hands. "Listen to me, Maddie, we cannot help. Not this time. I know you want to save everyone, but you're taking it too far."

Maddie yanked her hands out of Ashley's grasp. "You and all your talk of adventure. You act like you're so brave, but in the end you're no better than a coward!"

"And you're a fool! You want to rush back there and get yourself killed. Or worse."

Ashley was right, and yet she knew she couldn't do anything else. She was no hero. She was terrified. But she was even more terrified not to go back and help.

Her lips still tingled where Blackthorne had kissed her. He'd kissed her and sent her to safety, while he returned to the gates of Hades. What kind of man did that?