A Dark Guardian (25 page)

“’Tis much easier with pants on,” she mumbled when her skirts wouldn’t come free.

She gave a jerk and found herself flat on her back staring at the tops of the trees as they swayed in the breeze.

“You should have told me you had fallen,” Bernard said as he leaned over her.

“Here, take my hand.”

She smiled and accepted his hand as he pulled her to her feet. “I think I might have ripped my gown.”

“I’ll buy you another.”

She raised her gaze to him, not sure she had really heard him. Never before had he offered to buy her anything, not even when she needed it. She had always had to take discarded gowns from Theresa or sew her own.

He reached up and touched her face. “You have a smudge of dirt on you,” he said.

Then his hand began to caress her face. “You are so beautiful.”

Hugh had seen enough. His rage broke the surface as he walked from behind the tree.

“Hugh,” Mina said and tried to back away from Bernard.

Bernard turned to him, and, for a moment, Hugh thought the young baron was going to keep his hold on Mina, but he eventually let her go.

“Did you find something?” Bernard asked.

Hugh looked from Mina to Bernard. Mina wouldn’t meet his gaze which bothered him immensely. “I heard something,” he lied.

“’Twas only Mina,” Bernard explained. “Her skirts became twisted in the underbrush and she fell.”

There was no reason for Hugh to stay, but he couldn’t make himself leave either.

He turned to Mina. “Are you all right?”

“Just fine,” she mumbled but still wouldn’t raise her eyes to him.

He found it difficult to breathe. Why was she afraid of him? Had he stumbled upon something he wasn’t meant to see? She had been an innocent when he took her, so he knew there wasn’t another man.

Or was there?

It was time he left. He nodded and turned away from them when Mina stopped him.

“Wait.”

He slowly turned to her, hoping she would say something. “Aye?”

“I suppose your hunting brought you here. Why don’t you search with us?” Before he could answer, Bernard stepped between them. “This is a large forest, Mina, and we don’t have much time to look before nightfall. I think it would be better if we had as many men as we could searching.”

Hugh watched as Bernard reached for Mina and turned her away. His instincts told him to follow them, but he needed to find the creature. It was more important than his jealousy right now.

When they were out of his sight he swiveled on the heel of his foot and resumed his search. Yet, the image of Bernard caressing Mina’s face wouldn’t go away.

He’s her brother. And he did say she had fallen. He was just checking to make
[_sure she wasn’t injured. _]

__

Then why wouldn’t she meet his eyes?

Because she can tell I still don’t trust her. I made no attempt to hide that while
still at the castle.

__

None of it made him feel better. In fact, it made him feel worse.

Mina looked back through the trees hoping that Hugh followed them. She wanted to talk to him, to find out why he still distrusted her.

“Keep up,” Bernard called harshly over his shoulder.

She jerked her head around and hurried to reach him. In moments, the ruins of the monastery appeared through the trees. Apprehension snaked down her spine. She had no desire to return to the monastery. Ever.

Her hands became clammy the closer they walked to the holy place. And she tried to tell herself it was just that. A holy place, but her heart wouldn’t listen. It pounded loudly in her chest so that she feared Bernard would hear it.

When they came to the gate, she stopped and watched Bernard walk though it. It didn’t take him long to realize he was alone.

He turned and quirked an eyebrow at her. “Aren’t you coming?” She swallowed and shook her head. She took a step away from the gate. “I’m tired,” she said. “Running through the forest with the weight of these skirts has worn me out. I thought I would wait here for you.”

“All right.” He smiled and waved. “I won’t be long. Don’t move,” he said over his shoulder.

She shuddered and sat on a fallen tree as she watched him disappear inside the monastery. It wasn’t long before she realized that the normal sounds of the forest were no longer around her. Silence as still as death encircled her. The longer she sat there the more she was sure someone or something watched her, yet she could find no one.

So she sat with her arms wrapped around her. Her eyes constantly looking around her as apprehension and fear began to control her thoughts. A twig snapped behind her, and she jumped up and around. But only forest surrounded her. She was regretting staying by herself then.

She screamed when something touched her shoulder and turned around to find Bernard standing behind her.

“Mina? What is it?” he asked.

She shook so badly she couldn’t speak, and she didn’t try to pull away when he pulled her into his arms.

“Shh. ‘Twill be all right,” he said as he rubbed his hands up and down her back.

There was a loud crash in the underbrush. She pulled out of Bernard’s arms and saw Hugh and Cole running toward them. So Hugh couldn’t see how frightened she was, she turned away.

“What happened?” Cole asked. “We heard a scream.” She saw Bernard shrug out of the corner of her eye. “I’m not sure,” he said.

“Mina.”

Hugh’s deep voice beckoned her. She turned and faced all three men.

“I frightened myself,” she admitted.

Hugh’s brow furrowed as he looked beyond her to the ruins. “Something in the monastery?”

“Nay,” Bernard said and wrapped an arm around her. “’Twas the strangest thing.

She didn’t wish to go inside.”

She kept her gaze on Hugh as he stared intently at her. There were many questions he wanted to ask her, she could tell, but they would have to wait.

“I thought I heard something behind me,” she said. She pulled away from Bernard and went to look where she had heard the twig snap. “There,” she pointed.

She watched as Hugh and Cole searched around the tree and shrubs.

“Nothing,”

Cole

said.

Hugh walked to her. “What did you hear?”

“A twig snap. It could have been anything,” she said and shrugged. “Sitting out here by oneself can get an imagination turning.”

“I’m sure that’s all it was,” Bernard said with a small laugh.

Hugh’s dark eyes went to Bernard. “Did you find anything in the monastery?”

“Nothing,” Bernard said. “And I was hoping that I would find the blasted creature. Did either of you find anything?”

“Not a thing,” Cole said.

A loud whistle sounded around them.

“Gabriel,” Cole and Hugh said in unison before they took off through the forest.

Mina barely had time to gather her skirts before Bernard grabbed her hand and raced after them. It was a good thing the men were in front of her because she had to hike up her skirts above her knees to be able to keep up with them.

With one arm holding her skirts and the other being pulled along by Bernard, she wasn’t able to keep the branches out of her face or her hair. She gritted her teeth as a branch tangled in her hair and nearly yanked her bald headed.

Her lungs burned and an ache in her side started to bother her when they finally came to a halt. She dropped her skirts and braced her hands on her knees to catch her breath. It took her a moment to realize that there was total silence around her.

She began to straighten when Hugh took her arm and turned her away.

“Don’t look,” he said.

There was something painful in his eyes that made her hesitate. “Why?” she asked.

He didn’t get to answer her. From behind her she heard Bernard and someone else moving something heavy around.

“Has the creature been found?” she asked.

Hugh shook his head solemnly.

“Then what? Is Gabriel injured?”

“I’m here,” Gabriel said as he came into her line of vision.

“What is going on?” she demanded. She looked from Gabriel to Hugh. It was Gabriel who finally answered her.

“One of the knights has been killed.”

Hugh watched the surprise register on her face as she covered her mouth with her hand. She shook her head and took a step away from them.

“Why?”

she

croaked.

“I want the murderer found,” Bernard raged from behind her. “Who would kill a knight like this?”

Hugh reached to keep her from looking, but he wasn’t fast enough. He held her as she took in the site of the decapitated knight. She jerked out of his arms and ran to a tree where she emptied her stomach.

He walked to her and patiently waited. When she straightened and wiped her mouth with her sleeve, he opened his arms and she walked into them. He held her for a moment before he backed away.

“This is no place for you. You should be at the castle.”

“No one is safe while the creature is loose.”

“This wasn’t the creature,” Gabriel said to everyone. “It’s daylight. The creature only comes at night.”

“Then who?” Bernard asked. “And why?”

“Questions I would like answered myself,” Hugh said. “I think ‘tis time we returned to the castle.”

They waited as the horses were retrieved and the body of the knight wrapped and slung across his horse. Hugh lifted Mina onto her mare and kept his hand a moment too long on her leg. When he turned around it was to find Bernard studying him.

“Baron.”

Bernard smiled tightly. “Hugh.”

The return ride to the castle was done in silence. Hugh wanted the body of the knight kept secret to keep the panic at a minimum, so Bernard and his other man carried the knight through the postern door.

Hugh was surprised to see the bailey alive with activity as though there wasn’t a creature terrorizing them.

“What are they doing?” Mina asked as her gaze swept the bailey.

Cole nudged his horse close to them. “Celebrating.” She looked at him as if he had suddenly sprouted wings. “Celebrating what?”

“They think the creature is gone,” Hugh explained.

She shook her head as they stopped in front of the castle. Hugh dismounted and reached for her. She slid into his arms and gave him a weak smile. He reluctantly sat her on her feet.

“I think I’ll go to my chamber,” she said before she turned and walked into the castle.

He watched her until someone cleared their throat. He turned to find Gabriel and Cole behind him. “She didn’t kill the knight.”

“I know,” Cole said. “There was no way she could have done it and returned to the monastery in time.”

“Not to mention she had no blood on her,” Gabriel pointed out.

“And,” Hugh said, “she did not look as though she had just run a race when we found her at the monastery.”

“So who does that leave?” Cole asked?

Hugh sighed and looked around him. “Everyone at the castle.”

“What about Bernard?” Gabriel asked.

“Definitely not,” Cole said. “Not only was he with Mina at the monastery, but I just don’t think he would have it in him. Did you see the way he reacted to the knight’s death?”

“I agree with Cole,” Hugh said. “Bernard isn’t our man. But who is, and why kill the knight?”

Hugh looked around and found people beginning to stare at them. “I think ‘tis time to take this conversation elsewhere.”

He walked into the castle and hurried to his chamber. He waited for Cole to shut the door and take a seat. “Did you see anything?” he asked Gabriel.

“Nothing out of the ordinary. I hadn’t found anything when I went south, so I headed southwest when I stumbled upon him.”

“No one had shouted out?”

Gabriel shook his head. “If he did, I didn’t hear it.”

“Could it be the other knight?” Cole asked.

“Could be,” Hugh said as he leaned against the door. “There wasn’t blood on his clothes though, and whoever severed the head would have blood all over them.”

“There was enough blood on the trees and ground to justify that,” Gabriel said.

“The knight had to have found something for someone to kill him.” Cole’s brows shot up. “The blue stone perhaps?”

“Perhaps.”

“Or perhaps not,” Aimery said as he appeared next to Hugh.

“By the gods,” Gabriel said and jumped back.

Aimery merely smiled.

“You enjoy doing that?” Hugh asked him.

“’Tis one of the little pleasures I still have,” the Fae answered.

“How much do you know?”

“It only takes me a moment to gather the information,” he said as his smile dropped. “I know of the knight’s death.”

“And you don’t think he found the stone?” Cole asked.

Aimery shrugged. “Would someone leave a blue stone in the middle of a green forest to be easily found?”

“Just once couldn’t something be easy,” Hugh said. He pushed off the door and moved to sit on the bed.

“If it was easy you wouldn’t want to have anything to do with it. You thrive on this,” Aimery said.

Maybe he was right, Hugh thought.

“So,” Cole said as he rubbed his hands together. “We don’t know where the creature lives, we still don’t have the stone or who controls the creature and now we have an unknown murderer.”

Gabriel sighed. “Just another day for us.” Hugh turned to Aimery. “Tell me you’ve come to give us some good news.” Before Aimery could respond a soft knock sounded on the door.

“Mina,” Aimery said.

Hugh walked to the door and opened it. “Hello,” he said and couldn’t help but smile at her.

“Hello.” She looked past him. “Am I interrupting?”

“Nay,” Aimery said and came to stand beside Hugh. “Actually, I think it would be wise for you to hear this.”

Hugh shut the door behind Mina and watched as she smiled as Gabriel offered her his chair. Hugh sat on the bed and made himself look away from her.

The Fae looked at each of them, then stopped at Hugh. “Information has recently come to us that might be of help. Not too long ago, a realm had the same troubles plaguing this one.”

“The same creatures?” Cole asked.

“Always different creatures, but wreaking the same destruction.” Hugh leaned forward to brace his elbows on his knees. “To annihilate the realm.”