Dark Deceptions: A Regency and Medieval Collection of Dark Romances(22)

Charles Blakely, Grace’s father, stared back at him. The graying gentleman’s words emerged as a whisper. “Adam.”

The dark stranger next to him nudged Blakely’s arm. “We need to get you out front. There is a carriage—”

A door shut somewhere in the house. “Georgina? Where are you, gel?”

Georgina dug a talon-like grip around Adam’s arm. Color heightened her cheeks. “They’re here,” she whispered.

Stone pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the closed door.

Blakely cursed. “Between me and Markham, we’re no match for them. We have to go.”

Three pairs of eyes turned to Georgina.

She gave her head a clearing shake. “The kitchen.” She started forward.

Stone gripped Adam and Blakely by their arms and hurried them along.

Georgina opened a door, ushering them into the kitchen. “There’s a door in the cellar that leads outside.”

“Georgina,” Fox thundered.

The color in her cheeks faded. She looked at Adam. “You have to go,” she whispered.

“Come on,” Stone murmured. He gave Adam’s arm another squeeze and, physically supporting him, led him on to the cellar.

Adam dug his heels. They had to get Georgina out first.

His eyes caught hers. She gave him a sad little smile as though she’d followed the direction of his thoughts. “Go,” she whispered.

“Georgina?” Fox’s wheedling tone had grown impatient.

Georgina froze with her foot at the top step. “Now,” she whispered frantically. She shot a glance over her shoulder. “I’ll stay. Give you more time.”

They looked at one another. Longing. Regret. Hope. All mingled.

“No…” he whispered, and turned around. He couldn’t leave her. Not now. Not ever.

He was no match for Stone’s strength. The other man kept him and Blakely moving downward.

“I’ll meet you,” she whispered then closed the door to the cellar, sinking them in total darkness.

He continued his descent, deeper and deeper into the belly of the townhouse. Suddenly he was the small boy trapped in an armoire, banging and pleading for help. His own shallow panting filled his ears. He felt like he’d been tied down underwater and was clawing for the surface, longing to suck in a clean breath.

They reached the bottom of the stairs. Stone squeezed his arm. “Get control of yourself. We’re nearly free.”

The words called out to Adam from a distance.

He was sinking. Deeper. Down into an abyss.

He’d nearly struck bottom when Georgina’s heart-shaped face penetrated his horror. In his mind, he saw her wearing a smile, holding a small, callused palm up in farewell. Some of the first words she’d ever spoken to him played again in his mind.

“You can free me.”

“I already said I can’t. If I do, my life is forfeit. Is your life more important than mine?”

Georgina, I was a fool—am a fool. Your life is more important.

She deserved freedom, deserved it more than he did.

Adam yanked his arm. He turned for the stairs. “I have to go back.” Oh God, he’d promised to bring her with him, had pledged to help her. Instead, when his freedom had been dangled before him, he’d abandoned her.

Just as she’d always assumed you would, the voice jeered.

Stone snaked one arm around his waist, the other he draped over his shoulder, all but carrying Adam the rest of the way. “By God, I will carry you from this place if I have to,” he bit out on a whisper. “It is time to leave. Now.” Adam was no match for the man’s strength.

Georgina. What have I done to you?

He had to try again. “I can’t leave her. I must—”

Blakely interrupted him. “She will meet us. She is a smart woman.”

That assurance wasn’t enough. Until he had her in his arms, smelled the honeysuckle scent of her skin, he would not trust she was safe.

They came to a stop in the middle of the cellar. All three of them searched around for the door Georgina had promised.

Stone narrowed his eyes and scanned the space. His gaze settled on the corner of the room and he strode over. His fingers felt around then stilled. Click. A secret panel opened.

The sun’s rays filled the inky darkness. Adam held his forearm up to block the blinding glare. Then he stepped outside. His eyes rose to the robin’s egg blue sky dotted with fluffy, white clouds. He’d never thought of clouds as fluffy. Hell, he’d never given clouds much thought in general. They were just…there. Now, he saw them through the eyes of a free man. He drank everything in. The clean, ocean air climbed into his nostrils, filled him, until he was nearly intoxicated by the salty scent.

Blakely nudged him between the shoulder blades.

Adam crashed back to the precarious reality of their situation. They made their way down the side of the townhouse.

A hulking beast of a man stepped in their path. “Wot’s goin’—”

Stone tugged a dagger from his boot then lunged forward, slashing the thug’s throat. The man’s eyes rounded before he fell silently to the ground.

They stepped over the prone body.

Stone gestured across the street. Adam followed Stone’s gaze to the black conveyance. “Get to the carriage with red curtains. Don’t look back.”