Nora answered with a glare.
“Come on,” Viktor said, reaching out for her hand. Nora looked at it for a moment before accepting. Jealousy flashed in Vivian’s eyes. It made a smile creep across Nora’s face.
“Thank you for your hospitality, Vivian. We’ll be going now.” Nora’s eyes danced with a smug reflection.
The look on Vivian’s face was one of appreciation mixed with irritation. Nora had finally found her tongue.
Viktor pulled her onto the street. His bay gelding stood hitched to the small wooden cart parked just out front. Nora’s nose crinkled at the sight of it. Worn wood held together by rusty nails creaked as the horse shifted his weight, rolling it back on its ragged wheels. It hardly looked safe to travel in.
“It’s not the prettiest, but it’s inconspicuous. We need to blend in. It’s also better than last night, riding on the horse on my lap. At least for you, I suppose,” Viktor said with a jaunty wink.
Nora shot him a look and walked to the cart. Viktor pulled open the wooden door, tugging hard to get it to let loose. Flies buzzed out when it flung open, sputtering around Nora’s horrified face.
Not only was it far less lavish than she was accustomed to, it wreaked of piss and vomit. There were blood stains on the seat and an unidentified pile of something equally disgusting on the floor.
“You must be joking.” She took a step back. “I am not getting in there.”
“Bloody hell,” Viktor said, covering his nose and slamming the door shut. “I guess I should have looked in here earlier.”
“Where did you even find this catastrophe?” she said, fanning her nose to get rid of the last of the smell that had seeped out the open door.
“Vivian found it for us. I told her to find something inconspicuous, not disgusting. She got it from a local tavern that uses it to give rides home to their inebriated patrons. From the smell of it, many a man has lost his dinner and his bladder after a long night of drinking.”
Nora looked over her shoulder to see Vivian watching out the window, her smug smile confirming what Nora had just come to conclude. She was well aware of the state of the carriage and reveled in the thought of her rival riding back in the filth. Nora straightened her shoulders and turned back to Viktor.
“I think we can both agree that it’s not fit for me to ride in,” she said.
“We don’t have the time to secure something else.”
“Then I will ride up front with you.”
He shook his head. “The point of the covered carriage was to keep you hidden from view.”
Nora pulled the scarf from the apron of her dress. She secured it over her head and tied it below her chin. “Though almost a tie between displeasures, riding in the front next to you is slightly more appealing than sitting in a box full of human bodily fluids. Only slightly. I will ride in the front. Between these clothes, my hair, and this scarf, no one will recognize me.”
A raised nose led the way to the front of the carriage. Her hand extended as she stood waiting for Viktor to help her up. She heard his chuckle behind her and felt his hands wrap around her waist. She shrieked as he tossed her up onto the seat.
“Whatever you desire, love,” he said, his laugh continuing as he walked around the cart. He climbed up beside her and grabbed the reins in his hands. Nora looked over her shoulder. Vivian still lingered in the window, her smug smile gone and now visible on Nora’s face instead.
“Walk on.” He clucked to the gelding and tapped the reins on his rump. The gelding lurched forward. Nora toppled over, her hand gripping Viktor’s thigh while she struggled for balance.
“It turns out having you ride up here is a good thing.” He stared at the hand that pushed on his thigh, fingers dangerously close to the bulge in his pants.
The gelding settled into his gait. Nora found her balance and righted herself, only now able to remove her hand. She blushed beneath his smile.
“Where are you taking me?” She changed the subject.
“There is a cabin not a full day’s ride from here. It’s a safe house of sorts. No one will find you there.”
Nora nodded her response. They bumped along in silence as the road led out of town and turned from stone to dirt and veered into the woods. Birds chirped their enjoyment of the warm summer morning. They reminded her of the birds that greeted her every morning outside her window when she woke. A pang for the familiarity of her home tweaked in her gut. She wanted her soft sheets, the comforting chatter of her handmaids, and for this whole mess to be nothing but a dream.
“So, Nora, tell me about yourself. Where do you live?” he asked, pushing his hood back around his shoulders.
“Baroness Aberdeen,” she corrected.
“What?”
“Do not address me so informally. You should address me as Lady Aberdeen or Baroness Aberdeen.”
Viktor spluttered. “Not if you want to be alive, you aren’t. Until this mystery is solved, you are no longer Baroness Aberdeen. You’re Nora, my wife, the peasant girl.”
“Your wife?” she gasped.
“If anyone asks, we should have a story. We’re husband and wife, traveling to visit your ill sister in Oxford. We’ll call her Lynea.”
“I don’t want to play the part of your wife. I wouldn’t want to be your wife in the real world, or the make believe one.”
“Don’t be silly. Of course you want to play my wife. What woman wouldn’t want to be married to this?” He gestured to his striking face.
“A sane one,” Nora said with an eye roll.
Viktor’s mouth fell open. She could see his lips struggling to form words. Finally, it was her turn to leave him speechless. “Cat got your tongue?”
The laughs rolled out from deep within his belly. Nora sighed a satisfied breath, a gleam in her eye meeting the impressed one in his.
“There you go, love! It’s about time you gave it back to me!”
“Just be thankful I’m not screaming in your face anymore.”
Viktor’s laughter deepened. “If I never hear your shrill shriek again, I will consider myself the luckiest man alive.”
Nora joined in his laughter, her discomfort shedding the slightest bit as they continued deeper into the woods.
“So, before you began insulting me, I was asking you about yourself.”
“What is there to tell, really? Our main estate is in Liverpool. I spend most of my time there. We were in our townhouse in London this month while my husband had business to attend. Just your usual balls and parties.”
“That’s it?” he asked, head tipping as he waited for more. “That’s all there is to Nora? Balls and parties?”
She pursed her lips. “What do you mean by that? I happen to have a full life, thank you very much. I have beautiful clothes, gorgeous estates. I dine on the finest foods and drink the best wines money can buy.”
He scoffed. “If that’s what makes you happy. Just seems sad to me is all.”
“And what is it that makes the great Viktor happy? How is your life so wonderful?” she snapped.
“Ah, what makes me happy? So many things. Women, drinks, gambling, traveling, long nights at sea, new adventures, saving the damsel in distress... and reaping the rewards. I could go on.”
Her eyes rolled. Of course he would have women and illicit interludes on his list.
“What is it that you do anyways? How did you know someone was coming after me, and why did you come to stop it?”
“Hmmmm... how do I describe what I do?” He tipped his head and searched his thoughts. “I help people, protecting those in need. I stop sinister plots, solve unsolvable mysteries, and do more of that damsel in distress saving that allowed you to keep your full life.”
“But why? Who do you work for?”
“That, my love, is a secret and a question I cannot answer. Just know that I have sworn to protect you and I intend to do just that.”
It was clear he wasn’t going to tell her more. “Can you at least tell me how you knew
I was a target?”
“Charlie and John, actually. They had a tip that someone was going to be assassinated at that party. We didn’t know it was you until I saw the men approaching you on the terrace. Honestly, we were beginning to think the information was bad and that there was no assassination attempt at all. Lucky for you, I had my wits about me. You wouldn’t be here today if I hadn’t made it out there in time.”
She shuddered at the thought. “Do you work with Charlie and John, then?”
He nodded. “In a way.”
“How did you come to meet them?”
“Charlie I’ve known for years. She and I worked together since long ago. She met John about a year ago and they’ve been together since.”
“He doesn’t seem to care for you much,” Nora noted. “Why?”
Viktor snorted. “He’s just pissed I used to snog her.”
“Ugh!”
“What? You asked,” he said, smiling at her outrage.
“I’m sorry I did. Is there any woman you haven’t, you know?”
“You... yet.” White teeth flashed at her from behind a mischievous smile.
“I would never! Disgusting! You get those filthy thoughts out of your head!”
“Apologies, love. I’m just teasing you.”
Flashes of being tangled in his arms invaded her mind. She squinted her eyes and tried to force them out. The visions kept returning over and over, the heat in her body increasing with each one. She didn’t want to be thinking about him that way, but there he stood, naked and dripping with sweat in her mind.
His looks did something to her body. Something she’d never experienced before. He was far more pleasing to look at than the only man she had seen naked, her husband. Rolls of fat carpeted with hair came to her in the night. She could only imagine that what lurked under Viktor’s clothes would turn her head in a much different way.
His posture stiffened, his ear perked to the woods.
“What is it?” Nora asked.
“Shhhh,” he said, holding his finger to his lips.
Her heart raced faster while she sat beside him in silence. Crack. Now she heard it too.
“Shite,” he mumbled, snapping the reins on the gelding. He broke into a canter, Nora grabbed the seat to keep from tumbling off as they hit the ruts in the road.
An arrow whizzed through the air. Viktor ducked, but it parted the top of his hair.
“Go!” he shouted, cracking the reins again. The gelding dug down into the dirt, sending chunks of mud flying through the air as he reached top speed. A chuck collided with Nora, splattering across her face.
“What’s happening!” she shrieked, wiping the mud from her eyes.
Another arrow sped past them. This one just passing his shoulder.
“We’re sitting targets! Take the reins!” He shoved them in her hands.
“I don’t know how!” she shouted, the whipping wind and the clamoring of the carriage deafening her ears. She fumbled with the pieces of leather trying to get a firm grip.
“Figure it out!” He leapt to the top of the carriage.
She watched him crouch on the top of the carriage just behind her, her eyes darting between him and the path between the trees that whipped past them. He reached behind his back and pulled out his bow, knocking an arrow with impressive speed. A grey horse galloped out of the woods behind them, a man wielding a bow crouched on top of him. Viktor unleashed his arrow. A gasp escaped her lips when she saw the man tumble off his horse, the arrow embedded in his throat.
“Keep going!” Viktor shouted, starting his climb back into the seat beside her. Nora’s heart threatened to explode, thudding faster than the horse’s thundering hooves.
A man leapt from a low hanging branch as they passed beneath it. His feet collided with Viktor’s chest, sending him spilling onto the top of the carriage. Nora’s bloodcurdling scream startled the horse, causing him to stumble, but he found his feet and galloped on.
Her eyes grew when she saw the size of the man. Viktor, tall in his own right, looked minuscule beside him. A full beard wrapped around sizeable jowls, and hands that could crush a cantaloupe gripped his sword. Her eyes moved back to the road ahead and the horse raced on.
She heard the tussling behind her. Spinning around, she saw flashes of clothes, black then blue, then black again, as the men rolled over on top of one another. An elbow to the face sent Viktor tumbling backward, onto the seat beside her. He leapt to his feet in an instant, straddling her lap as she heard the clanking of steel. Nora tried to move her face, the swell of his pants blocking her view and threatening to touch her. Swords collided above her as the assailant wasted no time in attacking again.
“Grab my pistol!” Viktor shouted between swings.
“What?” she shouted back, his crotch just inches from her face.
“Grab it! My pistol!”
Nora squealed, grimacing as she reached for the ivory pistol tucked in the sash in his pants. She grasped the handle, pulling hard and trying to dislodge it. He moved above her, dodging each blow and returning it with his own. She tried to move her hand with him as she worked to retrieve the pistol, but he moved too fast for her to get a solid grip. Her hand slipped, brushing up against the bulge in his pants. She shrieked and yanked it back, shaking her hands while she squeezed her eyes tight.
“Nora! The pistol!”
She opened one eye and grimaced, reaching for it again. She got a good grip on it this time. One swift pull and it dropped into her lap. Viktor launched forward and landed on the roof of the carriage, his sword deflecting another blow. Nora bounced in her seat while the gelding surged on, her attention split between the fight behind her and the winding road ahead.
She heard a thud and turned back to see Viktor pinned beneath the man, a dagger hovering above his throat. Both hands clutched the base as he fought to prevent it from ending this fight once and for all.
“Nora! Shoot him!”
Her eyes popped open. The man whipped up to meet them, a snarl curling his lip as he pushed his weight further onto the dagger above Viktor.
“Now, Nora! Shoot him!”
“I don’t know how!” she squeaked, staring at the pistol in her hand.
“Christ, woman!” he growled as he struggled for breath. “The metal thing at the top, pull it back until it clicks!”
Nora examined the pistol. She found a metal piece and pulled on it. It clicked.
“Now what!”
“Point it at him and pull the trigger!”
She grabbed the top of the carriage and pulled herself up to face the assailant. She kneeled on the bench and raised the pistol, hands quaking while she took aim. The dagger inched closer to Viktor’s neck as his strength started to give out.
“Now, Nora! Shoot him!”
She closed her eyes and pulled the trigger. A sound exploded from the gun, the recoil sent her tumbling backward. The carriage hit a bump and Nora screamed as she toppled over the edge, hitting the ground with a thud. She rolled to a stop and crawled to her knees, the carriage disappearing around the corner. Did she hit him? She didn’t know.
Pain now radiated from her bruised body, a groan escaping her lips. She climbed to her feet and bolted to the bushes. They scratched at her already scraped skin, but she pushed in deeper anyway. For all she knew, she’d missed, and Viktor was dead. The assassin would be back to claim her any minute. She found a tiny spot in the center of the thick foliage. She crouched down, hugging her knees tight while she quaked with fear.
Seconds turned to minutes and the only sound she heard was the chirping of the birds. She considered leaving and running back to town. It would be a long walk, and the thought of asking Vivian for help churned her stomach, but if he wasn’t back soon, it was the only option she could think of.
She heard the huffing of a horse, wooden wheels turning over uneven ground. Holding her breath fast in her chest, she shrunk her body as small as she could.
“Nora? Are you out there?”
“Viktor!” she shrieked. She tore through the bushes and launched herself into his arms. “I thought you were dead!”
A tentative hand closed on her back. “Well look at you, love! I knew you’d be in my arms willingly at some point.”
Nora shot backward, just now realizing she had thrown herself into his arms. “I just—”
“I know, love. And I’m all right. That bear of a man, though? Not so much. I’m just glad you’re safe and that I found you. You had me worried.”
Nora nodded. Tears started bubbling beneath her eyes.
“Ah ah ah. No tears, remember?” he teased. “What is there to cry about anyway? You’re safe, I’m alive, and it turns out you’re a hell of a shot!”
She stared up at him with wide eyes. “I hit him?”
“Square between the eyes, love! A perfect shot!”
Nora felt an odd mixture of queasiness and pride. She had killed a man. But she had saved herself and Viktor.
“I searched the woods and I think it was only two of them. That’s the good news. Bad news is those were no amateurs. Someone has a hefty price on your head, and I think I underestimated the lengths they will go to find you. The cabin is no longer safe.”
“What do we do, then?”
“I’ve got a better place. The safest. We’ll go there. It’s two days travel, but once we get there, I am certain that no harm will come to you.”
Nora nodded.
“Shall we?” he asked, extending his hand.
She took it in hers and stepped up into the passenger seat of the carriage. He slid up beside her, tipping his head with a knowing nod. He may be crude and infuriating, but Vivian’s words rang true. She was very happy to have him at her side.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“DAMN,” VIKTOR SPAT. “He threw a shoe.”
He set the gelding’s leg down and rubbed the back of his neck. Looking up, he saw Nora still sitting on the carriage bench. Her soft eyes peered out from underneath her shawl.
Beneath The Assassin's Touch (Daggers 0f Desire Book 2) Page 7
