Magic In The Storm (41 page)

“Won’t get caught? I’m adverse to spending
any sort of time as a guest o’the crown.”

Tatiana couldn’t help but smile. “You won’t
get caught, I can absolutely assure you of that.”

Jack raised one eyebrow. “Ye sound awfully
certain.”

“I am. Now you run along and bring back as
many men as you can to help you—ten or fifteen should do the trick.
I’ll wait right here.” Not happily, but she would do what must be
done.

Jack stood up. “Ten or fifteen? Where do ye
think I’m going to find that many blokes to help me out?”

“I’m certain you have at least twice that
many you could rally around you at a moment’s notice.”

Jack slouched back against the wall, a small
smile played momentarily on his lips. “They’re gonna have to get
paid.”

Tatiana hadn’t considered that. Well, she
didn’t care. It would be worth it—this was her future security she
was planning for. “I will take care of that once the job is
done.”

“An’ just what job is it that ye want
done?”

“I need someone killed.”

She paused to let that sink in, but Jack
didn’t even flinch.

“A powerful Vallen so it may take a number of
you to overwhelm him.”

Jack thought about this for a moment. “An’ we
won’t get caught? A group o’ten men attacking one bloke and beating
him to death, and ye think we won’t get caught?”

The unspoken question that hovered on Jack’s
lips was when she was going to be taken off to Bedlam. But Tatiana
just laughed. “Who said anything about ten men. I was thinking a
pack of wolves—hungry, blood–thirsty wolves. Who knew they roamed
through Hyde park at night?”

Jack’s eyes narrowed, and then one side of
his mouth quirked up, just a little. “Ye can do that?”

Tatiana simply inclined her head with a
knowing smile.

With a laugh and a mutter of “I’ve gotta see
this”, Jack pushed himself off the wall and went to fetch his
men.

<><><>

The more she thought about it, the more
unpalatable it became. Lord Devaux would never let her out of this
house to attend parties. Who was she kidding? And even if he did,
how could she ever forget Morgan?

As her mind wandered the past few weeks the
pain clutching at Adriana’s heart hurt so much she could barely
breath.

What was she going to do? How could she live
with this? Without him?

A quiet knock at her door interrupted her
thoughts. Hastily, she wiped away the tears. “Come in,” she
called.

Henrietta slipped through the door. Her eyes
were red, as if she had been crying too.

Adriana hopped out of her chair. “What is
wrong? Henrietta?”

Her dearest companion sniffed, dabbing at her
eyes with a sodden handkerchief. “I can’t do it, Adriana. I am so
sorry!”

“Can’t do what? Henrietta, what is wrong?”
She pulled her friend to her bed where they could both sit, side by
side.

Henrietta took a moment to compose herself
and then said. “I lied to you, Adriana, and I just can’t live with
myself for doing so. I must tell you the truth.”

Adriana stopped and waited.

After another deep breath, Henrietta
continued. “Mr. Vallentyn. He didn’t set aside your painting as I
told you.”

Still Adriana waited, her heart beginning to
beat faster in her chest.

“He looked at it and he, he loved it. He was
thrilled that you had thought of him. He said that the painting
meant as much to him as you did.” Henrietta paused and looked down
at her hands. “I’m so sorry I lied to you. It’s just that I love
you, and I don’t want you to leave.” Bringing her eyes back up to
Adriana’s again she said, “You are going to leave now, aren’t
you?”

Adriana took the breath she hadn’t realized
she’d been holding. With a start, she realized that her companion
was absolutely right. She was going to leave now. She had to. There
was nothing for her here and she needed Morgan. Like air, she
needed him to live.

She reached out and gave Henrietta’s hands a
squeeze. “Yes, but I will send for you. As soon as I am settled—I
don’t know where or how, whether I’m going to be with Morgan or on
my own, but as soon as I can, I will write and you’ll come join
me.”

Henrietta broke down again, sobbing and
shaking her head. “You are too good, Adriana. After I lied to
you...”

“But you came and told me the truth,
Henrietta. It’s all right. You told me and it was exactly what I
needed to hear. Thank you.”

<><><>

“Adriana?” Morgan began to rush down the path
the few yards that separated him from the young woman coming toward
him.

She stopped as he approached. “Morgan!”

“Adriana, I was just coming to see you.”

“You were?”

Was that a hopeful note in her voice? Morgan
glanced around them. There was no one else about.

It was a beautiful summer night. The nearly
full moon shone brightly overhead and the fresh scent of the park
all around them made Morgan feel secure—it was almost like being at
home in the woods at Vallentyn. All in all, it really wasn’t such a
bad place to propose marriage, he thought after considering it for
hardly a moment.

But now that it came to the sticking point,
could he actually propose? It didn’t even take a heartbeat to
decide. Absolutely, yes! He loved Adriana. He wanted to spend the
rest of his life with her, no matter what was coming his way.

He dropped down onto one knee and took her
free hand in both of his. “Adriana, would you do me the honor of
becoming my wife?” he said without preamble.

The words were barely out of his mouth, the
surprise at what he was saying barely registering on her face when
he heard a snarl. Pain exploded in his shoulder. Adriana screamed
and let go of his hand, staggering backwards. Morgan hardly knew
what was happening.

Pain came from every part of his body, as if
it was being torn apart. He forced his eyes open again. All around
him wolves were tearing, biting and circling him.

He was completely surrounded, but it was his
terror for Adriana’s safety that rushed through him. “Run, Adriana,
run!” he screamed out, even as he began to struggle against the
beasts that circled him.

They were trying to rip and shred every part
of him. Morgan was overwhelmed by the pain in his own body, and the
anger and hunger for blood coming from the animals. He could barely
think. He fought the instinct to blast them all with a shot of
magic. He could hurt them, possibly kill them—he didn’t want to do
that. There had to be a reasonable explanation for the sudden
attack.

He’d always had some ability to communicate
with animals, but trying to concentrate now was nearly impossible.
Morgan reached inside of himself, forcing the pain aside to
concentrate enough to communicate with the wolves.

Reaching out with his mind, he said “Stop!
Why are you hurting me?”

“Kill! Die!” was the only response he got
back.

They were single minded in their goal. There
was no worry of territory or harm being done to them. They all just
had the one idea in their minds—to kill him.

The animal on his right bit down harder on
his arm, making it impossible to defend himself. Another latched on
to his left shoulder while a third attacked his body. Wolves were
everywhere. For a moment all Morgan could do was to keep his own
panic at bay so that he could think of a way out of this.

As he lay there, something whizzed by his
head and the wolf attached to his shoulder let go with a whine. The
other pulling at his arm did the same as Morgan caught sight of
Adriana wielding a large stick.

“No!” he tried to yell out, but it was too
late. She was knocked to the ground as three wolves piled on to
her, snarling and biting.

Adriana’s screams snapped something inside of
him and Morgan let go of the burst of power he’d been holding back.
The wolves attacking him all flew backwards. Taking only a moment
to regain his feet, he sent those attacking Adriana tearing off
into the bushes. Standing over Adriana, he dared the animals to
come back and try attacking them again.

A few of them slunk around, eyeing them
hungrily, but not one dared to approach.

Blood dripped along his arm as he reached
down to help Adriana up. Shaking, but amazingly not in tears,
Adriana stood up and clung to him. A quick calculation of exactly
where they were in the park and what their reception would be
depending on where they went, Morgan turned around and headed back
toward his boarding house, his arm tightly holding Adriana to his
uninjured side.

As they limped along slowly, Morgan could
hear the animals following them. He stopped. Releasing Adriana, he
turned around sending out a message to the animals, “Do not dare to
attack again. I can kill you, easily.”

They stopped following them after that.

<><><>

Slowly, Adriana became aware of her
surroundings. She felt as if she had been asleep and had had the
most terrible nightmare. She knew she hadn’t, and she knew that it
hadn’t been a dream. The pain was much too real.

A man was just finishing up binding the wound
on her arm. “There you go, Miss, you’re going to be just fine,
now.”

She didn’t know who he was. Had she been
introduced to him? Was he Morgan’s valet? He had the look of
one.

“Thank you, Mr...?”

“Nestor, Miss. Just Nestor is fine.”

“Thank you, Nestor. You are Mr. Vallentyn’s
man servant?”

“What? No, Adriana, Nestor’s my friend.”
Morgan said through clenched teeth.

Adriana twisted to see Morgan sitting on the
bed behind her. While she was sitting in a worn, but comfortable
chair by the fire with Nestor on a small stool at her feet. Morgan
was on the bed just a few feet behind her with an older woman
focusing intently on his bare shoulder.

Was she? Oh, yes, she was! Adriana swallowed
a sudden rush of bile in her throat. The woman was sewing his skin
back together.

“Oh,” she said, and quickly turned back to
face the fire. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see Morgan’s naked
torso. As she had discovered a while ago, it was very pleasant to
look at, but just now a good part of it was covered with bloodied
bandages and she didn’t think she could bear to watch his shoulder
being sewn back together. The deep red blood trickling from the
wound down his arm... ugh! A shiver shot through her.

“No, no, Miss, you shouldn’t look. It is not
at all pleasant,” Nestor said, giving her hand a comforting
pat.

“I’m sorry. I suppose I should be stronger
than that.”

“Not at all,” Nestor reassured her.

“It is almost done,” the older woman said.
“Just one more...”

Nestor got up and retrieved a decanter of
brandy from the dressing table next to the fireplace and poured out
two glasses. “You’ll feel better with this inside of you,” he said,
handing a glass to her and then, she supposed gave the other to
Morgan.

The liquor burned all the way down her throat
and pooled like liquid heat in her stomach, but it did make her
feel better. At least, she stopped trembling.

Taking a deep breath, she asked, “I don’t
understand. Why did those wolves attack like that? Where did they
come from? Were they sent by your mother?”

Morgan was silent. Everyone in the room was.
Adriana was about to turn around again when Morgan said quietly, “I
don’t know. I hadn’t thought of that. I hope you’re wrong,
but...”

“She wouldn’t have!” the older woman
said.

“I suppose she could have,” Nestor replied,
although he didn’t sound happy about it.

Morgan didn’t say anything more about it.
Adriana heard him move about and then he came around and stood by
the fire. He’d put on a fresh shirt, but his breeches were still
the same ones he’d had on earlier. There were splatters of blood on
them, but they didn’t seem torn.

“Are you legs all right?” Adriana asked,
looking at the dark red stains.

Morgan looked down at his legs and bare feet.
“Yes. Thank goodness they only went for my lower legs, which were
safely encased in my boots.”

“The boots are destroyed, but your legs are
whole,” Nestor put in.

Morgan gave the man a smile. “I can buy new
boots. It’s harder to buy new legs.”

The man laughed and shook his head. He
hoisted himself up off of the low stool. “Come along Cosmina, these
two young people have some talking to do, I imagine.”

The older woman was gathering together the
bloodied cloths and unused bandages, but she stopped at Nestor’s
words. “You want me to leave them alone? A proper young lady and an
unmarried gentleman? And you claim to have been the servant of,
what was it, a viscount?”

Nestor straightened up to his full height. “A
marquis.” But then he lost some of his stiffness and added, “But I
suppose you are right. It wouldn’t be proper. They aren’t married
yet.”

Adriana choked on the word “yet” and nearly
started coughing, but Morgan didn’t say a word. He looked as if he
were desperately trying to hide a smile.

“Miss Hayden can share my room with me
tonight,” Cosmina said, meaningfully.

“Well, then, I suppose we should all retire
for the night. Tomorrow is going to be a long and busy day,” Nestor
said.

“And tomorrow night even more exciting for
Morgan and Miss Hayden,” added Cosmina.

Adriana wasn’t quite certain she knew what
the older woman was referring to, but felt as if she could fall
asleep right then and there. A bed would be most welcome. “I would
appreciate retiring, I’m still a little shaken,” Adriana admitted
and stood up. As if to prove her exhaustion, her knees nearly gave
out, and her head felt woozy as soon as she’d regained her
feet.

Morgan reached out and caught her before she
made a fool of herself by falling to the floor.

“Thank you,” she said, looking up into his
deep black eyes. They were full of the one thing that could stop
Adriana’s heart—love. There was a touch of concern there as well,
but mostly, there was unabashed love.