The Libertine (Taskill Witches 2)

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.”