“He will have to catch us first. My yacht is waiting to take us far away from England.”
Without warning, Lady Aberlane appeared in the doorway of the carriage, whacking Thomas on the top of his head with her cane.
“Take your hands off her, you fiend.”
“Enough!” Thomas growled, dragging Brianna toward his waiting coach. “We are leaving here.”
“No,” Brianna gasped. “Please…”
“Release her, Wade.”
The words came without warning, halting Thomas in his tracks and making Brianna’s knees weak with relief.
“Edmond,” she breathed, her eyes filling with tears as he stepped from the trees, the gun in his hand pointed directly at her captor.
Behind her, Thomas stiffened, his fingers tightening on her throat until black spots danced before her eyes. Brianna knew she would be unconscious in moments if Edmond did not do something.
“Stay back, or I swear I will kill her,” Thomas growled.
“The only one dying on this day is you, Wade.”
“Drop the gun, or I will break her neck.” Thomas shook Brianna with enough force to make her head snap back and forth. “Drop it.”
Edmond halted, his gaze narrowing with fury. Then he bent slowly downward to place his pistol on the dirt road.
Brianna could sense Thomas relaxing as the immediate threat was overcome, and he even loosened his grip enough that she could suck in a short, painful breath.
“That is better…”
His smug words were cut short as Edmond straightened with a fluid motion, his arm flicking forward as he hurled the hidden dagger through the air. There was a glint of steel flashing through the fog, and then the thin blade grazed past Brianna’s cheek.
The fingers briefly tightened on her neck before they fell away.
For a long moment, the world seemed to be frozen in time. She was aware of the cold breeze tugging on her wool cloak, the scent of damp leaves, the distant cry of a bird.
At last, it was Edmond who broke the nightmarish spell as he plucked his gun from the dirt and pointed it in the direction of Thomas’s stunned henchmen.
“Toss aside your weapons and move to your master,” he ordered.
Not surprisingly, the servants hastily scurried to obey the icy command. But Brianna was oblivious to their frantic efforts. Instead, she was numbly turning toward the man who lay sprawled on the ground.
Her stomach rolled as her gaze skimmed over the lifeless limbs sprawled at odd angles. A part of her warned to turn away, that whatever she might see would give her nightmares for years to come. But another part, the part that had endured months of terror beneath her stepfather’s roof, possessed a morbid need to know Thomas Wade’s ultimate fate.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, she forced her reluctant gaze to lift ever higher. She caught a glimpse of a blood-drenched cravat and the hilt of a dagger sticking from Thomas’s thick neck, before she was yanked around and pressed against Edmond’s chest.
“No, Brianna,” he growled, his hand cupping the back of her head to hide her face in the hollow of his shoulder.
“Is he dead?”
“Get back in the carriage, ma souris,” he demanded, steering her across the road, keeping her face hidden in the folds of his coat.
“No, this is all because of me,” she protested. The sick sensation remained in the pit of her stomach, but the feel of Edmond’s warm, comforting arms was restoring her courage. “I will not leave you to deal with the…the…”
“Brianna.” Edmond interrupted her stumbling words as he came to a halt and pulled back, his fingers slipping beneath her chin to force her to meet his hard gaze.
“What?”
“That was not a request.” Before she could protest, Brianna was lifted off her feet and into the carriage next to Lady Aberlane. The door was slammed shut and Edmond was stepping back to address the shaken groom. “Take them directly back to Meadowland. Shoot anyone who tries to halt you. Do you understand?”