Only With Your Love (Vallerands #2)(98)

Justin began to hear explosions and cannon blasts from the direction of the harbor, rolling like an irregular drumbeat. Hoarse cries and shouts reverberated through the passageways, and alarm erupted over the island. A haze of smoke began to drift in from somewhere. Calculating various places Aug might have taken Celia, Justin made his way toward the stone steps that led to the main level of the fort. Before he reached the first step, someone leaped out at him with a harsh shout, knocking him to the floor. Justin gripped the rapier hilt and rolled, coming to his feet quickly.

“Ned!” the assailant cried loudly, calling for help, and Justin found himself faced with two pirates, both smaller than he was but eager for battle. They were armed with short, heavy cutlasses, weapons usually carried by those who’d never been tutored by a fencing master. Such men found their limited skills enhanced by fighting at close range. They rushed at him together.

Leaping to the side, Justin parried and thrust at one of them, the rapier finding its mark easily. The man collapsed to the ground with a spreading patch of blood on his midriff. The other pirate swung at him in wide, arcing slashes. Justin had to compensate for his bad leg as he fought. He backstepped and lunged, then dove aside to avoid a downward swing that he couldn’t have parried without snapping his rapier.

Groaning at the pain in his ribs, Justin forced himself to roll to his feet once more. Before the man could raise a defense, Justin lunged and sank the sword into the man’s bulky shoulder. Dropping the cutlass, the pirate clutched at the wound and staggered back against the wall, sliding to the floor. He regarded Justin through slitted eyes, looking like an animal in a trap. Although the wound was not fatal, he had every expectation that Justin would finish him off. Not long ago Justin would have, without a second thought. Now he couldn’t find it in himself. God, what had happened to him?

Breathing fast from exertion, Justin turned away from the pirate. He wiped his sweat-beaded forehead with the remains of his sleeve. Catching a glimpse of a shadow flitting across the floor, he spun around with his rapier poised.

It was Aug, carrying a knife in one hand and a Spanish sword in the other. He looked at Justin in disappointment and shook his head slowly. “You should finish him. You have lost your guts.”

Justin gave him an eloquent look. Yes, once he had been callous and unfeeling, it seemed to say, and it hadn’t mattered if he hurt someone or someone hurt him. Life had seemed much safer that way. “Where is Celia?” he demanded roughly.

“In a tunnel leading from the underground storerooms to the inland edge of the fort.”

“It wasn’t on Sans-Nez’s map.”

“The island whores revealed it to me. They found it underneath the brothel. Legare does not know of its existence.”

“Don’t tell me you and the others have been—” Justin was cut off by a deafening roar that seemed to billow up from the depths of the earth. The walls trembled and the wooden beams overhead cracked. He looked at Aug. “One of the munitions warehouses?” he said, and Aug nodded.

Suddenly they heard wild shouts. Men came rushing up the stairs, trampling each other in their haste. The air was thick with fear. Justin flattened himself against the wall of a side corridor and gestured for Aug to do the same. When the desperate rush was over, he and Aug emerged from the passageway. “Don’t tell me that ever since Risk’s betrayal you and the others have been hidden by the whores? In the brothel?”

“Part of the time,” Aug admitted. “The whores wanted to get even with Legare. He takes too much of their money and does not provide them with enough protection from his own men. Sometimes the men refuse to pay, and hurt them.”

“Not surprising.” Justin turned to go back the way he’d come. “I’m going to find Celia.”

“But Legare—”

“Aye, I’ll see to him. After I find Celia.” As he saw the stubborn objection in Aug’s gaze, Justin raised his brows mockingly. “If you don’t like it, go after Legare yourself,” he invited. They both knew that Aug’s swordsmanship was not equal to the task.

Aug cursed him in frustration and gestured toward the stairs. “It will be faster to go above ground and find her at the end of the tunnel.”

Cautiously they went up the steps, through an empty central hall and a gaping doorway, into the night air. Dawn was just breaking. Fires were blazing around the fort, and they saw that flames were leaping from the bow and figurehead of the tavern, a converted brig.

“This way,” Aug said. Justin started to follow him, when there came an unmistakable discharge from the harbor and a screeching whistle overhead. They dove to the sand and covered their heads. Shells rained down on them. One hit the ground perilously close by, exploding with a deafening boom. They were showered with sand and metal debris. Coughing, Justin lifted his head and stared at Aug. “I think,” he said, “the navy has arrived.”

Chapter 13

Celia’s progress had been slow and uncertain, for she could see nothing in the tunnel and the ground was not level. Gradually the thunderclaps from above became less muffled, leading her to believe the tunnel was climbing to the surface. She continued stumbling and feeling her way through the passage, but as the minutes went by her frustration and fear were nearly overwhelming. It seemed as if the tunnel would never end, and she would be caught forever in this darkness. She began to tire, but she was afraid to stop and rest.