My Lord Eternity (Immortal Rogues #2)(18)

Perhaps sensing he was no longer alone, the servant awkwardly turned to confront the approaching vampire. His eyes were blank and his lips slack as he faced certain death without fear.

"The woman," he spat out in slurred tones. "Pretty necklace. Pretty necklace."

Lucien discovered himself hesitating. What could Amadeus be thinking? Even if the mindless servant managed to force the Medallion from Jocelyn, it would be powerless. Nefri had bound the artifact to the maiden, and it must be given freely. To steal it would forsake all he had hoped to gain.

"The woman." The man moved forward, suddenly revealing the short but deadly sword he clutched in his hand. "Necklace."

Lucien carefully backed out of reach of the sword. He was an Immortal, but that did not mean he could not be injured, or even knocked unconscious, leaving Jocelyn at the mercy of this soulless man.

"Be gone with you," he ordered in stern tones. "You shall not be allowed to have the woman."

"Pretty necklace," he rasped, moving relentlessly forward.

Realizing that he had no choice but to rid the house of the dangerous intruder, Lucien backed toward the center of the room, where he would have more space to maneuver. Thankfully the man eagerly followed his path, not realizing his danger. Keeping his gaze upon the sword, Lucien feinted with his dagger, leaving himself seemingly open to attack. As expected, the intruder lunged forward for the kill, unprepared for Lucien to swiftly vault to one side and come at him from behind.

Locking his powerful arms about the man, Lucien heaved him off his feet. Then, ignoring the muted struggles and offensive smell, he carried him toward the open window and tossed him through. There was a dull thud as the man hit the ground below. Astonishingly, however, he was swiftly upon his feet and scrambling toward the nearby alley.

Lucien was preparing to slip out and follow the servant back to Amadeus, when he heard Jocelyn suddenly cry out.

"Lucien."

As he hesitated, he felt an unexpected pain bite deep into his shoulder.

Cursing his foolish inattention, he spun around to discover yet another servant standing with the sword that had been dropped.

Blast himself for a fool. He had been so intent upon the intruder, he had not suspected that another hovered out of sight. A near-catastrophic assumption. His lack of wits could easily have allowed Jocelyn to be harmed. The mere thought sent an icy chill through his blood.

Ignoring the blood he could feel flowing from his wound, he clutched the dagger and waited for the servant to attack. It took only a moment as the man gave a mindless growl and heedlessly charged forward.

It was a simple matter for Lucien to dip low as the villain reached him, grasping the fool by the legs and neatly tossing him through the window.

On this occasion he managed to keep his wits about him, and rather than watching the servant plunge to the ground, he maintained a close guard on the room.

Against a far wall he could see the frightened form of Jocelyn, but there were no other shadows in the cramped chamber. Slipping toward the bed, he carefully ensured that there was no one hidden beneath and then moved to search the narrow armoire.

At last convinced that they were indeed alone, he slipped the dagger beneath his jacket and heaved a rueful sigh.

"They are gone."

As if some spell had been broken, Jocelyn gave a low cry and abruptly charged forward.

"Oh, Mr. Valin ... Lucien ... are you harmed?"

He grimaced as he carefully kept his injured shoulder turned away. This maiden was certain to question how he was capable of receiving a deep sword wound and healing within a few hours.

"Only a trifling scratch, and only because of my own foolishness," he assured her wryly. "I was so intent upon impressing you with my skill that I blundered into forgetting there might be a second villain. Thank goodness he was as inept as his partner."

His light words were greeted by a lingering frown of concern. "You are certain you are not in need of a doctor?"

"Absolutely certain."

"At least it must be cleaned," she persisted.

Although pleased by her obvious concern, Lucien realized he needed a distraction. He could not allow her to examine the wound. Already the bleeding had halted and the flesh was beginning to weave a smooth bond.

"I will tend to it later." Firmly he moved to gaze out the open window, not at all surprised to discover that the second villain had disappeared as well. The Inscrolled slaves would be indifferent to any injury, no matter how grievous, in an effort to return to their master. His attention moved to the iron pipe that ran close to the window from the gutters above. That no doubt explained how the intruders managed to enter the house undetected.

"They must have crawled through the window," he murmured.

She crossed to join him. "Yes, it was open when I stepped into the room." There was a startled pause. "They have disappeared."

Realizing that she had expected to discover two broken bodies in her garden, he gave a negligent shrug.

"Yes, the drop is not far."

"Still—"

"At least they are gone," he firmly interrupted, reaching out to grasp her shoulders and turn her to meet his reassuring gaze.

"Yes." A sudden shudder raced through her body. "But why were they here?"

He softly stroked the tense muscles of her shoulders, wishing he could assure her that she need never fear again.