Strike at Midnight(80)
Waiting for creepy guys to peek out of dark holes was something I was used to after my years as a hunter, so I let my mind drift as I waited.
Jacque came to mind as I thought of how much he would have loved this case. The intrigue, the continuous brick walls, the twists and turns. It annoyed me to hell, but he would have reveled in it.
A memory came to me of the night he had found me at the side of the road, starved and shaking. He had pulled over his horse and cart and had approached me with caution. But at that point, he needn’t have bothered. I could’ve barely lifted my arm to take a swing at him, let alone given a shit about what his intentions had been. He had asked me my name, but my lips had been chattering so much that I hadn’t been able to form a word. He had just nodded his head in understanding and lifted me up off the ground to put me in his cart.
He had taken me back to his home and warmed me up that night, shouting some orders to Marcel to get some soup on the boil so they could feed me. I had drifted in and out of consciousness after that, and then woken up to my own screams as the shock of what I had done had come back to me.
The blood had still felt like it itched against my skin when the memories had assailed me upon waking, and the look of my attacker’s face had looped in my head like a constant nightmare.
It had taken both Jacque and Marcel to calm me down when I had woken up to the memories, and after that, they had handled me with baby steps. At least they had until a week later when Jacque had given me the choice to either work for him or leave.
I remembered hovering at the door, thinking that I should leave them both to it and continue on my way to another place. Another world. But I had already known at that moment that I had found my home with them.
The need of gowns, ribbons, etiquette, and frivolous thoughts had left me a long time ago, and there hadn’t been a need for them ever since. I had been happy to hide behind my crossbow and foul mouth until now, using the fire from the alcohol to simmer my own burning flame of fear from my past. Everything had fitted neatly into a box, and then the prince had come along and tipped it right over.
What right did I have to take what he offered me after what I’d done? What right did I have to wed such innocence after the woman I had become? I didn’t have one, and even though my heart pined for him with every beat, I had to fight it off cold turkey.
My love for him would fade in time, and he would no doubt find another woman to marry. An image of him with another woman made me feel sick. But I pushed it away. What was the point of punishing myself?
Two voices became louder as the cottage door opened and jolted me from my thoughts. I shuffled down lower into the bushes, thankful that my viewpoint was still visible as two men came outside. I recognized them to be the two who had tried to kidnap the prince, and thanks to Billy, it looked like I had struck gold. This appeared to be the place where the criminals were hiding out, and maybe this was where they were hiding the duke.
They didn’t see me as one lit up a cigar and the other rubbed his hands together before pulling a flask out of his jacket.
“I can’t believe she won’t let me smoke this inside,” one of them said, and the other ignored him to take a swig of his drink.
“Just smoke it up, will ya,” he said once he had guzzled a satisfactory amount. “I want to get back to the fire for a bit before we’re out back on guard duty and freezing our asses off.”
“Gimme some of that,” the smoker said as he snatched the flask to take a sip himself. I left them to their bickering while I tried to formulate the next steps of my plan.
If the “she” they had spoken of was the witch, then I needed to strategize. Taking on the two of them would be child’s play, but the witch would be a problem if my back was turned in trying to take them down. Then this Piper guy and goodness knows who else could be inside, and I couldn’t risk a one-woman attack right now.
Decision made, I settled in my position while waiting for the goons to go back inside. Once they were in, I would make my way back to the lane and go back to Melodies. Marcel would come back with me if I needed him to, and no doubt Sir Raymond would be able to send in some guys to help take them down. I heard that knights liked the glory parts, so they could have a piece of this one if it meant I kept the fee.
The two men went to move back inside and I readied myself to leave. It wouldn’t take me long to get back if I made haste, but then a sudden sound of snapping foliage from behind me stopped me in my tracks.
I went to turn around to see who or what the hell was out there, but I was too late. The sharp object hit my head before I could reach for my own weapon.
The darkness fell over me and gave me the solace I craved from the agony that was assailing my head. My last bit of consciousness hung on for dear life as I tried one last attempt to open my eyes, then the nothingness claimed me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Time to Pay the Piper
My head hurt. That was all I could think about as bright colors started to clash with the darkness that had taken me under.
Who had turned the light on? And why the need to get me up so damn early?
Then it registered. I wasn’t in my bed. I hadn’t even made it home. Some asshole had whacked me over the head and now I was waking up from it. My eyes felt heavy as my brain realized that I had the power to open them, and it took quite a bit of effort to get them to move.