The Libertine (26 page)

She was fast losing control of her tongue, but she could not
help it. “How easily you judge something you do not understand.”

It was Gavin who responded to that, and he fixed her with a
bright-eyed stare. “You really have consorted with these witches. Your soul is
as black as the Devil’s eyes.”

Chloris could only offer her honest answer. “Believe what you
want. They are decent people and I would rather be with them than you.”

Gavin strode past her and slammed the door shut. Apparently he
did not want the servants to hear that. “This ‘he’ that you speak of, you have
given yourself into his hands?”

“I have, and it is the only happiness I have ever known since
my parents perished.” There was freedom in stating her truths, and Chloris felt
almost light-headed with relief, as if a burden she had unwittingly been
carrying had finally been taken from her.

The hatred she saw in Gavin’s eyes grew fiercer. “I would
rather see you dead than hear you speak to me that way again.”

It was a warning, but she did not care anymore. “Of course you
would, for that is what you have craved for some time, isn’t it?”

Tamhas appeared shocked at that. He reached out for her and
attempted to put his hand on her shoulder. “Think about what you’re saying.”

Chloris drew back. “It is too late for that. You initiated
this, Tamhas. You came here to cause a disturbance. There is no way back for us
now, but you will not get what you want, for I will not reveal his
whereabouts.”

Gavin stared her down. “Fool. When the witch finder arrives you
will show him where they are hiding, and even if you don’t, you know that I will
have them hunted down.”

He had the bloodlust now, and she feared he would be as hungry
for the win as Tamhas. Her fear for Lennox grew.

“It’ll be a fine show for Edinburgh,” Gavin added, “a witch
trial and a hanging.”

Never.
Chloris saw the image he
craved and she darted to the table, snatched up the pistol and pointed it at
them both.

Tamhas looked concerned but Gavin simply laughed. The sound
held a cruel, dismissive note.

She turned the pistol fully on him.

“You are a weak woman. You don’t have it in you to injure
either of us.”

When she pulled the trigger, she was not prepared for the
violent start the weapon gave and she stumbled back, hitting up against the
bureau.

Had she wounded him? She only knew for certain because his
expression distorted, and his body jerked. Then a dot of red appeared on his
shoulder and quickly grew larger, blood seeping across his waistcoat. He reached
for the wound with his opposite hand and grunted heavily when he pressed upon it
to stem the flow of blood.

Chloris threw the weapon to the floor.

“Seize her!” Gavin grunted.

Tamhas needed no further encouragement, for he already looked
at her as if she had lost her mind. Arresting her, he pulled her hands together
behind her back, holding her by the wrists.

She glared back at him. “I will die before I tell you
anything.”

Tamhas sneered at her. “You heard what your husband said. The
witch finder general will find him, anyway. We will hunt him down and run him
out of his lair.”

Fear and anger tangled within her.

Gavin had staggered to the door, opened it and called for
assistance.

Outside, she heard voices raised. When she glanced at the
window she saw that the street outside was lit with torches. A mob had
gathered.

“The finder is here,” Tamhas told her. “You cannot protect him
now.”

Chloris didn’t respond, for her mind worked frantically. She
barely cared about the pain she felt or her own fate, and when Tamhas held her
tightly by one arm and pulled her to face the angry crowd outside, she thought
only of how much she loved Lennox.

Gavin had staggered down the hall, where the front door was
open. “Call the surgeon,” he shouted.

Men ran to his side.

Tamhas paused halfway down the hall, leaned close to her ear
and whispered, “Reconsider, please. Save yourself.”

She shook her head.

Tamhas growled low in his throat, then grabbed her shoulder and
forced her on.

All she could think of was sending a message, but she did not
know what to do.

She had to warn Lennox, but how? That’s when she recalled the
charm Jessie had given her.
Hold it to your heart. He will
know.

Would he? Would he sense her warning? It was her only
chance.

Chloris fumbled for her pocket with her free hand, seeking the
token.

When her fingers closed on it, she took it to her heart and
willed Lennox to run.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

When he felt the tug at his heart, Lennox stood bolt
upright.

Staring at Jessie, he quizzed her. “The charm I gave you?”

“I gave it to Chloris when she took her leave.”

“You are a canny lass, sister.” Lennox was most impressed.

Jessie rose to her feet. She had been trying to comfort him
while he waited for Chloris, but now her eyes lit. “You feel something? Is she
ready to join us?”

Lennox concentrated on the emotions that reached him. It was
much darker than that, more immense, and Lennox feared for her. “I sense she is
calling to me, but also that she is in danger, grave danger.”

Jessie put her hand on his arm. “Hasten to her side. I will
fetch Gregor. We will follow in case you need assistance.”

“Thank you.” He reached for his coat and pulled it on.

Jessie went out ahead of him.

Lennox ran down the stairs and out of the house.

Dusk was closing in. The skin on his back needled, the tension
he felt building, his senses alert to the emotions that were spilling from
Chloris now. Before he had reached the end of the street where they lodged,
Jessie and Ramsay were on his heels.

As they approached the inn on the corner of the street the
sound of raised voices inside reached them. Lennox sensed there was trouble
afoot. He glanced in and saw a man gesticulating, pointing out the door. After
they had passed by the inn a group of men emerged behind him and ran in the same
direction.

“I do not like the look of this,” Ramsay commented.

“Neither do I,” Lennox replied. Chloris’s call grew more
desperate.

He broke into a run.

When he turned the corner and saw what lay ahead, Lennox forced
himself to halt and backed into the shadows, holding his hand up to stall those
who followed. Ahead—outside the house they had located that very morning and
identified as the Meldrum residence—a crowd had gathered. Several of the people
had flaming torches held aloft. All around the gathering men held
weapons—muskets, swords and bits of wood. At the center of the group he spied
Keavey with Chloris. Behind them a man with a blood-soaked coat was being held
up by two other men.

“Damn you, Tamhas Keavey,” Lennox muttered. Seeing the man who
had forced them from their home brought about a cold hard rage in Lennox. He was
here in Edinburgh, and he had raised a mob.

There were shouts for justice, calls for a burning.

“Witch hunters,” Jessie hissed, and she grabbed Lennox’s arm,
tugging at him. “Look at them. I have seen their kind before.”

Lennox could only look at Chloris, his anger rising as he saw
the way Keavey held her, dragging her along the ground like an animal.

“Hellfire,” Ramsay said. “Let’s away from here.”

“No, Gregor, not without Lennox and Chloris,” Jessie said. “My
brother will need my assistance to fetch her.”

Lennox turned to them. “Ramsay, go to the stables and retrieve
the carriage. Take Jessie with you and keep her safe. I will join you as soon as
I have Chloris.”

“Lennox?” Jessie wore a frown and looked ready to argue.

“I need you to bring the carriage,” he insisted. “Be ready for
us, for we will need to hasten from this place, for good. We will make our
escape, never fear, but I need the carriage to do so. Go as fast as you can and
bring the carriage to this place, but no farther than the inn we just passed. I
will send a sign for you to approach.”

“A sign?” Ramsay asked with a dubious tone.

“You will know it when you see it.”

Ramsay glanced at Jessie, then nodded.

“Now go, and be fast about it.” Lennox rested a kiss on his
sister’s head and then shooed her on her way.

“Good luck,” Ramsay said. “We will be ready for your sign.”

Lennox locked his gaze. “If I do not signal within the hour,
fly from this place. Keep Jessie safe.”

Jessie stared at him. “Lennox, no.”

“Do as I say! Promise me!”

“I promise.” It was Ramsay who spoke. He nodded again and then
grabbed Jessie by the arm and forced her to turn away.

Lennox could only be thankful his sister had such a determined
protector.

Turning back to the scene ahead, he shut his eyes a moment in
order to draw together every mote of power he had stoked for a time such as
this. Then he stepped quickly along the street toward the gathering, his gaze on
Chloris.

The simple blue gown she had on was torn, her hair loose.

He could only guess at what had occurred, but the nature of her
position only made him more determined to pluck her from Keavey’s grasp. He had
the ability, he was sure of that, but—as usual—he needed a plan. He was still
walking in the shadows and he assessed how much time he had before they saw him.
Not long enough to make a plan, but still he strode on.

Chloris lifted her head. When she saw him, she shook her head
vehemently.

She’d been trying to warn him. Oh, how he loved her and her
brave heart.

That’s when he saw the way.

Chanting his spell aloud, he stared at the fist she held to her
chest.

With a startled cry she opened her palm and dropped the charm,
which rolled across the street.

Lennox unleashed all the magic he had forced into it—and there
was vitality aplenty. It had been done when he was an angry, thwarted young man,
and the charm flared into life, flames as high as the rooftops soaring from
it.

Screams issued from all around, the crowd shifting back
quickly.

“She is a witch!” The fingers pointed at Chloris.

“I saw her throw the flame,” shouted another. “Hang her, burn
her body!”

“It was I who threw the flame,” Lennox called, drawing their
attention away from Chloris. “So it is me you will have to burn.”

“He is the Witch Master,” Tamhas Keavey informed them.

Several men charged at Lennox.

He darted away and changed direction, approaching the place
where the charm blazed. “You want to see a witch burn?” he bellowed. “Then look
and see!”

He lifted his arms, chanted the most ancient spell of all—that
which created and sustained life—and stepped into the fire.

Screams issued from beyond and he heard Chloris’s voice amongst
the melee.

He turned, dousing himself in the radiant flames, arms
outstretched.

When they saw that he did not burn, several of the gathered
crowd turned and fled. Others spread out and circled him.

Keavey berated those who ran.

Chloris stared at him with wide eyes.

Lennox turned on the spot and drew a circle in the air with his
fingertips. Pointing down at the ground he marked the place. The fire that
surrounded him dropped to the ground, licked out across the mud track and then
leaped high again in the circle he had drawn. He stood solid within the circle,
staring through the flames.

As chaos erupted all around, he locked eyes with Chloris.

“Come to me,” he urged.

He nodded his head at her. “You will be safe.”

* * *

Chloris looked about, but it seemed that no one had
heard him call to her, only she heard the words. They were too busy trying to
breach the circle of flames that surrounded him. No matter what they did, they
could not get to him. Neither muskets nor pistols nor hurled wood broke through
and reached him.

Trembling, she prayed she was not dreaming this.

Forgotten by the others in the panic, Gavin had collapsed and
been left on the ground near to the steps of the house. The number of people
gathered there had diminished, many having fled in fear. Tamhas and others paced
about as if trying to work out how to break through to Lennox.

She felt as if she truly had lost her mind, for even though she
had seen his magic before, she was shocked and afraid. When he walked into the
flames she thought she would never breathe again, for she thought she had lost
him forever, that he had sacrificed himself to save her. Then she recalled what
he’d said that afternoon, the magic he had shown her then was nothing compared
to what he felt for her. When she saw the way he reigned over the fire,
controlling it, she was breathless with anticipation and hope that he would be
able to find a way out of this.

“It is an illusion,” Tamhas shouted, and darted over to one of
the men who held a flaming torch aloft. Taking it from him, Tamhas hurled the
torch in Lennox’s direction. When the torch hit the flaming circle, its own fire
was extinguished and it dropped in a pile of ashes. Smoke plumed from the place
where the ashes fell on the ground.

Was it an illusion? Chloris tried to make sense of it. The
flames looked real enough, but they stayed in the circle he had created,
wavering high like ribbons all around him. Would he be able to keep the spell
going, and what would happen if he could not? They would seize him and string
him up.

Lennox beckoned to her.

“Come, Chloris, you will be safe, the flames will not harm
you.”

Could she do it? He had done it, but walking into the flames
herself was another matter altogether, one that was far beyond her
comprehension. She took a tentative step forward. He drew her to him with his
gaze. The connection was so great, just as he had said, and he was leading her
to him. Smoke rose all around her, and the smell of burned ground invaded her
senses, frightening her.

“Come to me.”

Chloris swallowed down her doubts and her fear, and let his
voice guide her.

“The woman, he summons her,” a voice cried out.

“Chloris, step away,” Tamhas shouted, and he tried to drag her
back. “Don’t look at him, don’t let him bewitch you.”

Chloris shook him off.

Behind her she could hear shouts. Some issued warnings. Others
called her a witch again. She was no witch, and if she was scorched to a cinder
that fact would be revealed. She did not care. Even through the chaos it struck
her that she was destined to be with them now, the Somerled people, and come
what may it was where she wanted to be. Her legs were trembling under her and
she could only take shallow breaths, but she forced herself onward.

As she grew closer, the heat from the flames convinced her it
was real.

“Lennox,” she cried out, then turned sideways and shielded her
face with her raised arm. As she did so, something altered. It was as if a
gateway opened. She stepped through a gap in the flames and found herself inside
the circle, unharmed.

Trembling with relief, she swayed unsteadily.

Lennox put out his hand. When she took it, the flames at her
back shot high again, closing them in. Inside the circle he had made, the heat
seemed only comforting, and she was not afraid. Lennox drew her in against him,
holding her to him with one arm around her.

Another shot rang out, but it hit neither of them.

She looked up at him.

“Hold tight to me,” he whispered.

“Always.”

“Don’t be afraid.”

She had already walked through fire to him, and now he tells
her not to be afraid?

What was he about to do? Forcing down her nervousness, she
looped her arms around his neck and kept her eyes trained on his face.

Lennox lifted one arm in the air, pointing skyward, and chanted
in that strange tongue of his. A moment later the sky overhead lit up and a
dazzling flash of lightning struck close by. He chanted again, and once again
lightning bolts flashed all around. Chloris could hear screams, and through the
flames she saw the shadowy figures outside the circle running in all
directions.

Lennox glanced back over his shoulder.

From behind them a mighty thundering of hooves sounded, and a
carriage approached at great speed.

“Are you able to run?”

She nodded.

He grasped her hand in his and held it tightly.

With his free hand he pointed at the flaming circle. “Be
gone!”

In a heartbeat the fire disappeared. Only smoke remained, but
it shielded them, rising from the charred ground in a thick cloud.

Holding tight to her hand he urged her to run. As they
approached the carriage the door was flung open. Lennox lifted her in.

Jessie was kneeling on the floor inside and she pulled Chloris
close to where she huddled on the floor.

“Ramsay, strap yourself down, tightly,” Lennox shouted up to
where the coachman sat, then he clambered in.

Before the door was even closed, the carriage shunted off at
great speed. Chloris’s heart thundered in her chest, beating as hard and fast as
the horses’ hooves that carried them away. Her entire body shivered, shock,
relief and gratitude making her senses swim.

The carriage rocked violently and Jessie clung to her side.
They were on their way. Chloris could scarcely believe it. She stared across at
her lover in awe. Lennox had drawn back the curtain and watched from the
carriage seat where he perched, whispering beneath his breath, his arm out to
shield the two women in case something was thrown. His eyes had that sheen in
them that showed her he was still working magic, and then she felt as if the
carriage moved faster still.

The carriage rattled and jolted and Chloris wondered how it was
able to stay upright. They were traveling so fast she sensed they were already
beyond the city walls.

“Oh, my belly.” Jessie groaned.

Chloris wrapped the girl in her arms, holding tight to her.

Lennox turned to look at them, apparently satisfied they were
on their way.

When he saw the way the two of them were huddled together, he
shook his head and laughed. “We must find a way to cure you of this malady you
have. No sister of mine should be afraid of anything.”

Jessie lifted a hand in acknowledgment then buried her face in
the curve of Chloris’s neck.

“She cannot abide heights, and yet we are scarcely off the
ground,” Lennox explained.

“I will learn,” Jessie mumbled.

Chloris felt for Jessie and hugged her tighter still.