Scarlet Nights (Edilean 3)

“Ah, the perks of being a Frazier,” Sara said.

“If you start trying to make me believe you’re jealous I’ll stop right here. You nearly broke Lanny’s heart in high school.”

“I did what?” Sara put her hand on the dashboard to steady herself as Ariel was going much too fast. The old road followed K Creek, so it curved sharply.

“Nothing. You want to tell me what this is all about? What’s so important that some detective married you to get it?” Ariel went around a thirty-mile-per-hour curve at sixty, then had to cut hard to the left to keep from ramming into a tree.

“Ariel! You’re going to get us killed!”

“This car handles better than anything I’ve ever driven. I’m going to have Dad look at it. You know, don’t you, that Mike has bulletproof glass in all the windows? I wonder what he’s got stored in that false bottom in the trunk?”

At that, Ariel and Sara looked at each other with wide eyes. They didn’t know what Mike had in the trunk, but they could guess. Weapons. And they had put Mitzi Vandlo in there with them. While it was true that she was tied up, if she got loose…

“Great,” Sara said. “You had to get Mike’s car, and now one of the most wanted criminals in the U.S. is locked away with a bunch of firearms. Good job, Ariel. Really smart.”

“If you didn’t want my help you shouldn’t have asked me.” They were at the entrance to the drive of Merlin’s Farm, and when Ariel started to turn in, Sara halted her.

“Mr. Lang has set traps all over this place, and Mike told me about some of them. I want you to park the car in the orchard. If Mitzi does get out, she’ll have to make her way through traps that were set to catch her son.”

Ariel followed Sara’s directions and drove on the grass, snaking the car through the hedges, and stopped in the old orchard. “So now what?” she asked as she turned off the engine.

“I don’t know. You have any ideas?”

“First of all, we should call Colin.”

Sara looked at the clock on the dashboard. “Your whole family is at the games right now and they won’t answer their phones.”

“Then I guess it’s just you and me.”

As they got out of the car, Sara glanced toward the tru

nk. “You think we should … check on her?”

“And be greeted by gunfire? I don’t think so.” Ariel was looking around the orchard with half its trees missing. “This place gives me the creeps. I’ve always thought it was haunted.”

“Mike and I are going to fix it up. Ariel, buck up your courage and let’s go. And stay close to me or you may find yourself hit by an arrow.”

The two women in their medieval dresses looked at home among the old buildings. Even though it was daylight, the women ran across the open lawn in a crouch and made their way toward the farmhouse. It wasn’t until they got near the side entrance that they saw Greg’s car.

Sara couldn’t contain the fear that ran through her. Since she’d met him, Greg had had power over her. And even though the last two weeks had changed her life drastically, she still worried that he could rule her.

But she couldn’t think about that now. Sara figured that if Greg—and she hoped Mike—were in the house they’d be in the big living room where the uneven fireplace would make a secret room possible.

Sara led them to the side of the house. Unfortunately, she could see in the window only if she stood on tiptoes. Stretching up, she peered inside, and what she saw made her heart pound. There were four men in the room. Greg/Stefan stood by the fireplace. Next to him was a man holding a gun that was aimed at Mike and the fourth man, both of whom were in the middle of the room. Mr. Lang’s sparse furniture had been moved to the far edges so the floor was clear and a makeshift fighting ring had been created.

Mike and the other man were wearing only their trousers, no shirts, and their feet were bare. They were circling each other, but from the look of the blood on their faces, the fight had been going on for a long time.

The men were equally matched in size and weight, their bodies coated in muscle, with wide shoulders and tiny waists, and their back muscles flared out like the wings on a bat.

The other man struck out at Mike with his fist as though he were bareknuckle boxing, and Sara was glad to see Mike duck and dodge the blow. Then, in a flash, Mike bent and grabbed the man’s leg and pulled hard. The man kept his balance for a few moments, but Mike butted his head into the man’s stomach and he went down, with Mike on top of him.

The men were wrapped around each other, Mike on top, with the man’s legs around Mike’s back. Mike began punching at the man’s head with his fists while the man pulled his legs down and gave a great push to Mike’s stomach. Mike moved back, and in the next second they were again standing up and punching at each other.

Sara stepped down, her fist to her mouth to keep from screaming. She looked at Ariel. “Is that the man you saw at the fair? The one you were so hot for?”

Ariel shrugged.

“You are a worse judge of men than I am!”