by Darcy Burke
Bless this place and the treasures within. May Gareth rest here forever undisturbed.
He refolded the paper and, on a whim, placed it atop the casket between the heart and the top of the sword. He said a silent prayer for his ancestor, and then started when a rock fell from the ceiling. The ground began to shake, and terror gripped his heart.
He grabbed Daphne’s hand. “We need to go!”
She pulled on him turning toward the back of the cave. “What about my father?”
“We can’t worry about him now. The cave is collapsing!” Gideon tugged her toward the opening, hoping he could remember the way since they were now running in the darkness with rocks tumbling around them.
Dust rose in the air, and he coughed as he fought to propel them forward. After what seemed a frightening eternity, he glimpsed light ahead. It grew brighter, and he went faster. The opening of the cave shrank as rocks fell and covered the entrance.
Pulling Daphne in front of him, he nudged her to the edge of the cave. “You have to move quickly. I’ll be right behind you. Grab the rock like you did last time.”
She shook her head. “My legs aren’t long enough to bridge the gap. You have to go first.”
She was right, dammit. He squeezed past her and clasped the jut of rock, then swung himself to the path. He reached back and shouted, “Take my hand.”
A rock fell, hitting his wrist. Pain shot up his arm, but he put his hand back for her to clasp. “Daphne! Hurry!”
She scrambled from the cave, raising her arm and trying to find the outcropping amidst the falling debris. She wasn’t moving swiftly enough. The rocks beneath her feet began to split. Gideon’s heart stopped—she wasn’t going to make it.
He grabbed hold of whatever rock he could find and prayed it wouldn’t come loose. Throwing his arm out, he clasped her wrist and pulled with everything he had.
Her feet swung free, and she shrieked. Gideon brought her against him. “Hold on!”
She threw her arm around his neck and climbed onto his back. He worked to get them more securely onto the path that wasn’t really a path. He clambered up along the rocks as dust and pebbles and larger pieces cascaded around them. It was as if the world was falling apart.
At last they neared the top. Suddenly, there was a hand reaching for them. “Give me your hand!”
It was Penn.
“Take Daphne!” Gideon yelled. “Daphne, grab hold of Penn.”
Penn extended his hand and clasped Daphne, pulling her from Gideon’s back and bringing her to safety atop the cliff’s edge. Gideon reached for the ground, but the rock beneath him gave way, and he slipped.
“Gideon! I’m coming!” Penn threw himself down and reached over the side. “Take my hand!”
Gideon stretched his arm, the one that wasn’t throbbing from the falling rock that had struck his wrist, and just barely managed to touch Penn’s fingers. He couldn’t get the purchase he needed to go that extra inch.
Penn compensated, however, reaching farther and grasping Gideon securely. “I’ve got you now, and I’m not letting go.”
Gideon met Penn’s deep-blue gaze and saw a depth of emotion: bravery, desperation, love. How had he ever felt alone?
Gideon used his other hand to push himself up, wincing as pain lanced through his wrist. Penn pulled him up and over the cliff’s edge, but they didn’t linger on the ground.
“Where’s everyone else?” Gideon asked, looking around as Daphne rushed to his side and put her arms around his waist. He held her tight for a brief moment, looking over her head at Penn.
“When the ground started to shake, these two tried to take Amelia and Cate with them to their boat.” Penn’s gaze drifted to two bodies on the ground—Davis and Vincent.
“But you didn’t let them.”
Penn shook his head. “While we dealt with them, the rest ran off. Come on, we need to hurry.” He paused. “Where’s Foliot?”
Gideon shook his head but said nothing. Penn gave a slight nod, his mouth set in a grim line and his gaze acknowledging what Gideon was trying to communicate.
They started to run along the path, and Gideon took hold of Daphne’s hand once more. Halfway to the other side of the island, the earth stilled. They stopped and looked around.
“It’s over,” Gideon said. He squeezed Daphne’s hand.
“Can we go back?” she asked. “To get my father?”
Gideon hated the sadness and regret in her voice. “I don’t think we can. The words Gwyneth gave me—they’re a spell that will hide the cave and everything inside it forever.”
“So if we did go back, what would we see?” Penn asked.
“Probably nothing?” Gideon guessed. “We could go look, but we’ll be stuck on the island for certain.”
“We shouldn’t risk it. You did what you set out to do—the treasures are safe and where they are meant to be,” Penn said with a hint of resignation.
“I’m sorry you didn’t get to see them,” Gideon said. “Truly.” He wished this had all happened so differently. And it might have if not for Foliot. He looked at Daphne, whose shoulders still drooped. Sadness lined her face, and Gideon hated Foliot anew for what he’d made her do.
“Let’s get to the beach,” Penn urged. “Argus and Egg helped Norris to the boat with Amelia and Cate.”
“How is he?” Daphne asked, sounding small and terrified at Gideon’s side as they hurried along the path.
“Disagreeable,” Penn said. “We’ve kept something on the wound, and the bleeding seems to have slowed. It looks like the lead may have just nicked him.”
“Thank God,” Gideon said as they neared the path that led down to the boat.
They ran to the beach, and Jago scowled at them from the boat. “Ye owe me more money now since we had to wait.” He looked around, his gaze wary. “At least that earthquake stopped.”
Gideon had reached his limit. He stalked onto the boat and right up to Jago until their chests touched. Gideon had several inches on the man, and glared down into his shocked eyes. “Since you took extra money from the man who tried to kill us, I’m going to call it even. Let’s go.”
Daphne moved past him and went to sit next to Cate, who was holding Norris’s hand and generally fussing over him. Gideon collapsed beside Daphne, the stress of the day pouring out of him. He began to shake.
“Gideon, are you all right?” Cate asked in concern.
“When I think of how close I came to losing all of you…” He looked around at the faces of the people he loved, and his breath twisted until he gasped.
Daphne took his hand and pressed herself to his side. “It’s all my fault.”
Everyone snapped their gazes to her, but it was Cate who spoke first. “Don’t be ridiculous.” She flinched. “Sorry, you aren’t being ridiculous. But it wasn’t in any way your fault. You aren’t to be blamed for your father’s crimes.”
“He was horrible. I had no idea what he was capable of. What he actually did.” Her shoulders began to tremble, and Gideon knew she was reliving what had happened in the cave, particularly the revelation about her mother. He gathered her close and held her tight to his side.
“What happened down there?” Penn asked from Gideon’s left, where he sat next to Amelia. “Did something trigger the earthquake, or was that just a stroke of luck?”
“It wasn’t lucky for us,” Gideon said. “We barely escaped the cave. Foliot was still inside.”
Cate lifted her hand to her mouth and looked at Daphne in sympathy. “Oh dear. I’m so sorry, Daphne.”
“He was already dead,” she said, her voice suddenly flat. “I had to stab him to protect Gideon.”
Amelia reached over and touched Daphne’s hand. “Any of us would have done the same.”
Gideon sought to redirect the conversation. He stroked Daphne’s back while he spoke. “I put the treasures on Gareth’s sarcophagus.”
“He was there?” Penn asked, and Gideon could hear the longing in his voice. How he woul
d have loved to see the tomb.
Again, Gideon regretted Penn not being able to study the treasures. “Far back in the cave, there was a room. He was on a platform, in a stone sarcophagus. A simple cross was engraved on the top. I set the heart on the cross, draped the cloak at his feet, and placed Dyrnwyn in between.”
“Then he read a blessing,” Daphne said softly. “It was some sort of enchantment, and I think it started the earthquake to destroy the cave so that it can’t be found again.”
Gideon had wondered the same thing—because of who had given him the words to read. He would ask Gwyneth when he saw her next, but already knew in his heart that he’d done what he needed to protect Gareth and the treasures for all time.
“What blessing?” Penn asked.
Flashing a brief smile at his brother, Gideon said, “We have much to tell you.”
Penn put his arm around his wife and grinned. “And I can’t wait to hear it.”
They returned to the Drunken Mermaid, filling the place to the brim. Egg and Argus had to take lodging in the stables.
Penn and Egg had immediately located a surgeon, who’d come to stitch Norris up. He’d had a great deal of brandy since then and was fighting to keep his eyes open as they sat in the common room following dinner.
Daphne felt utterly numb. She wasn’t sure what was harder to believe, that her father had been such a villain or that she’d killed him. Gideon had reminded her multiple times that her father had been mad. Daphne couldn’t stop asking herself why she’d never seen it.
Because he’d been adept at hiding it from her, which meant he hadn’t been that insane. He’d been manipulative and malevolent. He’d also been caring and supportive, but in retrospect, he’d been guided almost entirely by his own ends. What sort of father suggested a man maneuver his daughter into marriage? He’d done precisely that when he’d counseled Gideon to use the Heart of Lllanllwch.
She was having a very hard time reconciling the father she’d known and loved with the blackguard who’d committed so many crimes, including trying to kill her husband. Perhaps the hardest thing to accept was that she’d do it again—kill her father—to save Gideon.
She leaned over to Gideon and whispered, “I’m going to retire.” She just couldn’t spend another moment with these people who had risked themselves to help her and Gideon.
Gideon nodded, then took her hand and pressed a kiss to the back.
“Wait, where are you going?” Cate asked, her brow creasing. “You can’t go yet.”
Daphne worked to summon a weak smile. “I’m exhausted.”
“I was shot.” Norris’s drunken pronouncement drew chuckles from the assembly, including Daphne, who was glad to have a bit of humor. Norris tried to focus on Daphne. “I suspect you feel guilty, but you can’t. No one here blames you. The only person I blame is him.” He jabbed his thumb toward Gideon. “Or at least I did for a while. He’s brought himself up to snuff.”
“More than,” Penn said, giving Gideon a warm, heartfelt stare.
“I was deserving of blame,” Gideon said before turning his attention to Daphne. “You are not.”
“I know this is a terrible time,” Cate said to Daphne. “But if you go upstairs, you won’t have us to cheer you up. We’re a family. That’s what we do.” She smiled broadly, and then Norris’s head slumped over on her shoulder.
Cate exhaled loudly. “Oh dear, I suppose we must pour Elijah into bed. Egg, will you help me?”
Argus stood. “We’ll manage him, my lady.” He and Egg, a somewhat crotchety little man who also managed to be endearing, particularly in the way he cared for Penn and Amelia, roused Norris enough to muscle him to the bedchamber located on the ground level. It was a small room, but they thought it best for Norris to avoid the stairs.
Cate came over to Daphne and bent to hug her. Daphne rose and met her halfway, welcoming her embrace.
“I’m so glad to have you in our family,” Cate said, smiling. “Everything’s going to be all right—you’ll see.” She trailed after the trio of men into the chamber she occupied with Norris.
Daphne sat back down, and Penn filled their glasses—sherry for the ladies and brandy for him and Gideon. Argus and Egg returned and immediately excused themselves to head to the stables.
“Are you sure Elijah should travel tomorrow?” Amelia asked. She sat close beside Penn, across the table from Daphne and Gideon.
“He was adamant,” Penn said. “Right now, he outranks all of us. Until Gideon secures his title.”
“If I secure it,” Gideon said. “Foliot never said what happened to the vicar and his proof.”
Penn’s eyes narrowed with determination. “Which is why we’re riding for Ashridge Court first thing.”
Daphne had thought about this the last few hours, now that she fully knew her sire. “I would be willing to wager that my father took the proof from the vicar the moment he kidnapped him. He would have kept it, of course, but it’s either in his vault or somewhere else.” She looked at Penn. “We’ll find it, and you can do with it what you will.”
“I hope you’re right,” Penn said. “Gideon is the rightful earl. I wouldn’t have the faintest idea how to run Stratton Hall, nor do I want to learn.” He shuddered and kissed Amelia’s temple.
“He can’t very well work at the Ashmolean and travel all over Britain if he has to care for an estate,” Amelia said.
“We can’t travel all over Britain,” Penn clarified, looking at his wife with love. “I have a partner now.”
How lovely that sounded. Daphne cast a sideways look at Gideon. Were they partners? She’d said they were in this together, but “this” was over now. They’d completed Gideon’s mission. They loved each other—of that she was certain—but they hadn’t discussed even one day of the future that lay before them.
Amelia yawned, and Penn finished his brandy. “Time for us to retire too. We’ll see you in the morning.”
Gideon tipped the rest of his brandy back, then set his empty glass on the table. “Drink up, Lady Stratton.”
Daphne sipped her sherry but didn’t finish it. She turned to him and searched his gaze. “I don’t need to remain Lady Stratton.”
His brow knitted. “I don’t want an annulment, do you? Besides, it looks as though my plan to use fraud as a basis for it won’t work. Penn is going to move heaven and earth to keep that vicar quiet. He wanted to leave tonight, but Amelia talked sense into him.”
“No, I don’t want an annulment. But Gideon, I don’t know where to go from here.” Her heart felt so hollow and yet full at the same time. When she looked at her husband and felt the support of his family around her, she glimpsed a future she wanted so very badly.
“Then it’s a good thing I do.” He winked at her as he stood from the table. Then he swept her into his arms and carried her upstairs.
Daphne couldn’t help but smile. “Where are we going?”
“To bed, of course.” He bounded up the stairs and bore her into their room, where a pleasant fire crackled. Gideon set her down and shook out his wrist before turning toward the door and closing it.
“Your arm must hurt,” Daphne said. She’d made sure the surgeon had looked at it after tending to Norris. It wasn’t broken, but it was swollen.
“Yes, but not too much to carry my wife, who weighs next to nothing. It’s also quite capable of undressing said wife.” He came toward her with seductive intent.
She held up her hand. “Gideon, wait. How can you still love me after what I did today?”
He closed the distance between them and took her in his arms. “I will love you every day no matter what you do.”
“How can you say that? I took another person’s life… My father—”
He brought her against his chest. “Shh. I’ve done plenty of things I regret, and I didn’t have half the reason you did. I know it’s going to take time, but you mustn’t blame yourself.”
“That’s the problem,” Daphne said, pulling back to look up i
nto his beloved face. “I’m incredibly sad, but I don’t regret what I did. I would do it again to save you.” She reached up and cupped his cheek. “Perhaps you should shave in the morning.” He laughed softly, and she rushed on. “I’ve never felt a connection to anyone the way I feel with you. I didn’t realize what I’d been missing or, really, what I’d been searching for. You’ve given me a family. A home.”
“And you’ve given those things to me. Whatever else your father did, he brought us together. For that, I will be eternally grateful.”
She hadn’t thought of that. Suddenly she felt a flash of peace. “Thank you.” She stood on her toes and kissed him.
And then he did what he’d promised and took her to bed.
Epilogue
One Week Later
“So many men here… It’s so odd.” Gwyneth shook her head at the congregation of people in the library at Brue Cottage.
Gideon took a tally. Besides him, there was Penn, Elijah—who was doing very well, particularly since coming under Gwyneth’s care—Rhys, and Septon. “We appreciate your hospitality.”
Indeed, Gideon was still a bit surprised she’d opened Brue Cottage to them. Three days ago, he’d brought Elijah here so that Gwyneth could tend his wound, which had started to fester. She’d taken them in immediately and set about working her magic, perhaps literally, on Elijah. Today, it was as if he’d never been shot.
“Rhys seems to be enjoying the Beckery Texts,” Gwyneth said, eyeing the worktable where Rhys was poring over the ancient manuscript. Septon was at his side, equally rapt over a second manuscript, while Penn studied the third.
Gideon chuckled. “They all are.”
“Do you have an appropriate place to keep them at Stratton Hall?” she asked.
