Secrets In Savannah (Phantom Knights) (21 page)

Jack said nothing, but his frown
spoke loud. I let out a small breath and closed my eyes. He knew and fell in
love with Guinevere, the white phantom, not me, a woman whose whole life was
built around secrets and lies.

My wig was pulled from my hand,
and I opened my eyes to see Jack holding it up with one finger, examining it.
“You would have made a brilliant Phantom.”

Me? A Phantom? If only he knew.

He lowered the wig and took a step
toward me. “I care not whether your hair is red, yellow, black, or brown, to me
you will always be beautiful.”

All of the held in breath and
emotions seeped from me, causing my shoulders to sag in relief. It was one less
secret that I had to keep. I threw my arms around Jack’s neck and pressed my
lips against his, so happy to be free of another secret. I felt the wig hit my
feet as his arms slipped around my waist. My hands moved to his hair, and I
buried my fingers into the thick, soft waves as I held on. He lifted me and I
tried to protest, but he grunted as he captured my mouth again. He placed me on
the bed. We laid back together. His lips were soft against mine, playful, but
the more we kissed, the more intense things became until he leaned back, his
thumb running across my bottom lip, down my neck, but halting at the neckline
to my gown. He looked at me, uncertainty in his eyes, and I fell a little more
in love with him.

“Will you be mine in body as well
as in name, Constance Martin?”

Tracing the side of his handsome
face with my fingers, I loved hearing my name on his lips. “I love you, Jack,
and I want you through love and for life. I will accept nothing less.”

JACK

M
y wife was gone when I awoke, and for
a terrible moment I thought I had dreamed our union. Until I heard her voice
outside our door.

“How are you sure that the source
is reliable?” Guinevere was asking someone.

“It is not my source, but yours,”
Sam replied, sounding rather impatient. There had been only one other time that
I heard him so annoyed.

“Samuel Mason, you are not
disturbing them on the morning after their wedding,” Bess hissed rather loudly
outside the door. “Do you not remember the morning after our wedding?”

My annoyed groan was audible as I
laid back, closing my eyes.

“Jack knows I would not disturb
him for anything short of an emergency. I would call Charlotte’s capture an
emergency.”

“Your wife was in the right. You
will not disturb my husband,” Guinevere said, and I heard Bess pulling Sam
away, scolding him.

“You have fifteen minutes,” Sam
said from further down the hall.

As the door opened, Guinevere came
in carrying a tray. She set it on the bed, smiling. “Did you hear?”

“Indeed. What is this source Sam spoke
of?”

Guinevere picked up a letter.
After handing it to me, she plucked a flower from a vase, a hyacinth flower.
Running the stem between her fingers, she laughed.

“You have quite the collection of
lock picks.”

Smiling, I unfolded the letter.
“One never knows when they will prove useful, as I see you discovered.”

Guinevere shrugged one shoulder,
grinning in return. “Wait until you see my collection.”

The seal on the letter had been
broken, so my wife knew what was in the letter. Spreading open the single
sheet, it was brief and to the point. Frederick demanded a meeting at once,
writing that he had something that we wanted. I crumpled the letter into a ball
and threw it across the room.

Guinevere went to my wardrobe and
began throwing articles of clothing over her shoulder. Going up behind her, I
wrapped her in my arms. She stilled with one of my shirts in her clenched hand.

“Do you think that he has Edith?”
Guinevere whispered.

“If he does, we will rescue her.
She is my family now, too.” I kissed her shoulder then moved away to dress.

Half an hour later, we were in the
parlor making plans. Guinevere and I would go together on horseback, and Sam,
Leo, Bess, and Hannah would approach the temple from a different direction,
watching for a sign of Charlotte or George.

It was nine in the morning when we
set out. We were armed and prepared for a battle if that is what it took, but I
was sure that Frederick did not have Edith or Charlotte. It was more probable
that he wanted to talk about Harvey, and threaten us.

We did not see the others as we
reached the temple, but I knew my sister’s methods, and she would give me five
minutes before she found a way inside.

Dismounting, I went to help
Guinevere, but she slid out of her saddle and was moving up the temple steps without
waiting for me. She pushed open the door and strode in as if she were still the
white phantom who never waited for anyone.

Following her inside, Frederick
was seated on his throne. “So good of you to come,” Frederick said as he smiled
at my wife.

“This had better be worthy our
journey here, Frederick. I do not look with favor upon your having interrupted
my wedding trip again.”

Frederick rose and stepped off the
dais. “I have a gift for you, but first you must understand why you have been
summoned.” He walked toward a table beside the dais that held a large book. He
opened the book and flipped a few pages. “It has long been the ruling of the
Holy Order of
Levitas
that any traitors of the Order
would be marked with the appropriate sign.” Frederick turned, staring straight
at me. “So when this person was brought to me, and I heard what they had to
say, I knew what must be done.” Frederick motioned to one of his men. “Bring
forth the traitor.”

The guard walked through the door
behind the dais, and I stepped closer to Guinevere, as she looked a moment from
throttling Frederick. The odds being against us was the only reason that I
restrained her.

The guard returned, pulling a
struggling Charlotte with him. My breath rushed out of me at the sight of her
being forced to her knees before Frederick.

“This is why you have summoned us?
For her?” Guinevere turned toward the door, as if she would walk out.

“She is no traitor, Frederick. She
is just a girl,” I said.

Frederick’s laugh was full of contempt.
“Just a girl? Just a girl who tells anyone that she meets that she is a Phantom
and has been trained to kill. She also says that she has captured the white
phantom, whom she plans to turn over to those who will see to her demise.”

One of Frederick’s men cleared his
throat then said, “There was also the threats, sir.”

“So there were. Thank you.”
Frederick placed his thumb beneath Charlotte’s chin and tipped it up.
“Something about how we were impeding her task and if we did not step aside she
would shoot our knees and stab our gullets.”

“I would have, if that oaf had not
stolen my dagger and pistol. Return them and see if I do not make good my
threats,” Charlotte spat.

“Be silent, you insufferable
little girl,” Guinevere snapped as she spun around. “Where is George Crawford?
I warn you, Frederick, that if you lie I will shoot you where you stand.”

“George brought this girl here to
be escorted back to Charleston,” Frederick said, before adding, “just as you
requested.”

Guinevere’s narrowed eyes were promising
retribution and the truth began to connect in my astonished mind. My wife was
working with Frederick. To what end was unclear, but that she still had many
secrets was. I was a fool to believe that because she married me she would give
up her secret alliances and place all of her trust in me.

She was still playing the role of
the white phantom.

“Then I suggest to you that you
follow his order, for the Lord knows it will be the last one he ever issues.”
Guinevere turned for the door again.

“This is all your fault, and if
you were deceased none of this would be happening to me,” Charlotte yelled
pettishly.

“That is enough, Charlotte,” I
said, and Charlotte lowered her cheek to her dress, brushing away a tear on her
shoulder as her hands were tied behind her back.

“No, let her speak,” Guinevere
said to me. “Why is this my fault, Charlotte?”

Charlotte clamped her lips
together.

“Do not think that I do not know
what your real goal is. You want Jack for yourself, and you will do whatever
you can to make it so, but you have neglected to factor in a decided
hindrance.”

Instead of being concerned or
interested, Charlotte laughed. “That is what you believe? That I want Jack?”

It is what I had thought, but I
would not voice it. She was always following me around in Charleston, before
Lucas shot me.

Guinevere watched Charlotte
cautiously. “If that is not your goal, then why—”

“Why do I detest you? Because you
have wronged the man I love,” Charlotte spat.

Surely not.

“Lucas?” Guinevere whispered.

“He loves me, and all that is
standing in the way of our happiness is you. He cannot think of marriage when
he has been so wronged, but once you are dealt with as you deserve we shall be
married.”

“Frederick,” I said at once,
“release her into my care, and I will see that she is on the next boat back to
Charleston with her brother and my sister.”

“I will do just that, Jack,
after
the Lucas Marx
situation is taken care of. We cannot have her running to him and ruining our
plans, can we, Guinevere?”

My wife was emotionless as she
watched Charlotte sniff and glare at the men seated around the temple. As
Guinevere’s eyes rose to meet Frederick’s, she said, “No, we cannot.”

It was all part of a plan, buying
time until Sam, Bess, and the others broke in and helped us to fight. So I
tried to believe, until Guinevere spoke again.

“You may keep her, Frederick, but
you will not harm her, neither will any other man here unless they would like
for me to enact Charlotte’s threats, and I can assure you that
I
never make
idle threats.” Guinevere held Frederick’s gaze for a long moment, then nodded
and turned toward the door.

“What is the plan?” I asked as I
joined my wife.

“The girl sorely needs to be
taught a lesson, and I assure you that a few more days spent in a cell will
scare her into never stepping out of line again,” Guinevere said as she reached
for the door.

“You are not in earnest,” I said
as I halted, feeling my blood begin to pump harder. It was ridiculous and unacceptable.
Charlotte was an impetuous child who needed a firm hand, which her brother and
my sister would give her. To put her in such danger by leaving her in the hands
of a group of ruffians was beyond the bounds of what I would allow.

“Jack, she will come to no harm, I
assure you. If we make haste we can halt the others.”

Guinevere reached out to me, but I
backed away from her outstretched hand, fury burning a path through me. Never
had I been this angry at her since the day that I discovered that she was the
white phantom.

“Jack, if we let her go she will
be a threat. She will not stop until she has gone to Lucas. Look at her, she is
not in the least repentant.”

I did look at her, but what I saw
was Char’s vivacious spirit breaking. She did not deserve to be here, and now
perhaps Sam would see reason and take a firm hand with her. As much as I loved
my wife, she was in the wrong, and I was disappointed in her.

“Release her, Frederick. At once,”
I demanded as I stared at my wife. My own disappointment reflected in my wife’s
eyes.

“She is manipulating you as she
does to every man that she meets,” Guinevere said harshly.

“I never thought you to be
heartless,” I whispered, and felt a twist of pain as hurt flashed in her eyes.
It was there but a moment before she removed all emotion from her face.

“No. I deceived myself in
believing that you could change, but you cannot. Phantoms first, and nothing
else matters.” She walked away from me, and spoke with Frederick. Whatever she
said, he nodded to.

“Cut her binds,” Frederick
ordered.

One of his men moved behind
Charlotte, pulling a knife from his belt. He reached down to cut the rope.

The door behind me swung open,
striking the wall in two explosive sounds. One from the door, and the other
from a gun. The sound was momentarily deafening, and I heard not a word as the
guard behind Charlotte dropped to the floor, Char’s mouth looked as if it was
screaming, and Frederick was shouting.

Sam shoved me out of the way as he
ran toward Frederick, but the men from the thrones were on their feet, blocking
all paths to Frederick.

Bess stopped beside me, saying
something, but my ears were ringing.