by Wendy Vella
Humming to himself, as that usually calmed him, he wrinkled his nose as he passed a particularly foul-smelling puddle of something. He walked on, watching Emily’s skirts twitch in fury. To his right the Thames flowed, and to his left were several buildings no doubt housing people industriously working.
He did not really know much about Emily. Only that her brother had tried to kill his sister, and nearly succeeded. He knew she’d been living in a cold, damp little house when James and Eden had called and taken her away to live at the Raven townhouse.
“There is manure up ahead, have a care!”
She veered right at his words.
Emily was a conundrum, he thought, and not a pleasant one. She was like a hair shirt, or a roll in stinging nettles.
He heard the thunder of hooves and jangle of harnesses suddenly as a vehicle approached. The carriage was coming down the street at speed behind him, which to Cam’s mind was an idiotic thing to do in these conditions.
“Move to one side, you foolish woman, or it will run right over the top of you!”
She ignored him.
“Emily!”
Her feet started moving to the right, much to his relief.
The carriage passed, and Cam had to leap aside as it came dangerously close. He then watched in horror as it slowed when it reached Emily. The scent of danger filled his nostrils suddenly in a flood of acrid heat.
“Emily!” He started running. “Get out of the way!”
She turned to face him, hearing the change in his tone. Her wide eyes went from him to the carriage. Cam watched the door open, then an arm reached out and grabbed her.
“Cam!”
Her shriek pierced the air. Fear had his legs moving faster. Arms pumping, he tried to reach the carriage, but it sped up again, and in seconds was a good distance away from him.
Cupping his mouth, he roared the words “Help me!” in the hope that his siblings would hear, praying their connection would have them coming to his aid.
Dear God, they have Emily!
He had to save her. Had to reach her. His heart thumped in his chest as he tried to push himself faster. Breath wheezed in and out of his lungs as he fought to fill them with frigid air. The thunder of hooves once again drew near, and he turned to find a huge black beast of a horse; seated on top was a man in uniform.
“Hold out your hand!”
Cam didn’t hesitate; he could not afford to. Taking two huge steps he jumped on the third, propelled himself upward using the man’s hand, and landed behind him.
“I saw it all!”
“We have to get to her!” Cam roared.
The man didn’t speak, just urged his horse on faster. They rounded the bend and the carriage was there before them. Cam pushed aside his fear and focused. She needed him to be strong, as only he and the man before him could save Emily now. If that carriage escaped, he knew deep inside him he would not see her again unharmed. The realization was a chilling one.
His eyes streamed from the cold, but he kept them on the carriage they were fast approaching.
The first shot had the rider veering right, and nearly unseating Cam. Squeezing his thighs tight, he held on. They followed it through the streets, and only when the carriage reached the outskirts of London and the houses thinned did Cam speak.
“Pull up beside!”
“Take the pistol out of my boot!”
Cam did as the man said, and then tucked it into his waistband.
They moved closer, and when he was in reach of the carriage he swung his leg over the horse and leapt, grabbing the straps on the back. Pulling himself up, he reached the roof of the carriage. A man appeared in the opening before him, carrying a pistol in one hand. He pointed and fired; Cam rolled to the side, nearly losing his grip, and the ball flew over his head. When he righted himself he took the pistol from his waistband. Aiming, he fired, but the carriage veered, and the man lost his grip, and rolled off the roof. Cam hoped the only person left was the driver.
His rescuer had pulled alongside the carriage now. He shouted something at Cam. “Traces” was all he heard, but it was enough. The driver was cutting the horses loose, which would release the carriage, and soon it would crash into something with Emily still inside.
Reaching the end of the roof, he tried to stop the driver, but it was too late and seconds later the horses veered left, and the carriage continued on.
Scrambling to retain his hold on the roof, Cam struggled his way back to Emily. Seconds later he managed to reach the opening and look inside. She was on the floor, bound hand and foot, attempting to wriggle upright.
“Emily!”
“Cam, help me!” The desperation in her eyes as she looked up at him had fear knifing through his body.
“The horses have been cut free, I must get you out now!”
Bracing himself as best he could, he reached inside to grab her, but as his fingers touched her shoulder the carriage jolted, and he had to grip the edges of the opening for support.
“Cam!”
“Try and stand!” He reached for her again, but this time his foot slipped. Cursing, he righted himself. The carriage could not roll on much longer, it would soon crash; he had to get her out now.
“You can’t save me!”
“I can!” he roared, reaching for her again.
“I don’t want you to fall!” She was levering herself up using the seats.
“Hurry, Em!”
She managed it, and he leaned in further, his fingers touching her shoulder.
“That’s it, I have you now!” As the last word left his mouth, the carriage veered wildly.
“Cam!”
He tried desperately to hold on to her, but it was useless, and he tumbled off the roof, hitting the ground hard. Cam rolled several times, coming to a halt on the grass. He felt no pain, only the need to get to Emily. Regaining his feet, he started running. The carriage was still moving; out of control, it was heading for the riverbank. If it did not stop, it would end its journey in the icy water below.
“Dear God, no!”
He ran, heart pounding, fear driving him on. The horse and rider were closer but were as helpless as he to stop the carriage rolling over the grass and down the incline.
“Emily!” Cam’s cry was hoarse as he sprinted along the road. He arrived in time to see the carriage topple onto its side and into the water. Horrified, he then watched it begin to sink.
The rider was off his horse and running down the bank with Cam on his heels.
“She’s inside!” Cam roared, splashing into the water. “Can you swim?”
“Yes!”
They jumped in together, the cold seizing the air in Cam’s lungs. He reached the carriage first. It had, as yet, not sunk completely. Hauling himself up on top of the side, he knew he had seconds before it was submerged completely, and that his weight would hasten things. He grabbed the door handle and wrenched it open.
“Emily!” He lowered himself inside; the water reached his waist. He couldn’t see her.
“Check she was not thrown clear!” Cam roared. “She’s bound hand and foot, she’ll drown!”
His blood pumped, fear filled his nostrils with its vile stench as he took a breath and ducked under. Moving his hands from left to right, he found her within seconds and hauled her up and into his arms.
“I have her!” Lifting her high, he turned her on her side. “Emily?”
She didn’t speak. Her head lolled back, eyes closed.
“Pass her to me.”
Looking up Cam saw the man who had ridden to his aid. Doing as he asked, he and Emily soon disappeared. Cam followed. He then slid back into the water below the carriage.
“Lower her to me.” Taking her lifeless body into his arms he started back to the bank with the man’s help. A small crowd was now waiting for them.
“She’s dead!”
“No!” Cam roared at the woman who had spoken. “She will not die.”
“Lay her down,” the man w
ho had helped rescue Emily said. “Is she breathing?”
Cam checked her pulse. “No.”
“She’s dead then,” the woman said again.
Cam shut her out, and the others who were in agreement.
“She was not in the water long.”
“My sister told me it does not take long to drown.” Remembering what Essie had done for Samantha, he laid her on her back, then lowered his head and blew air into her lungs. Placing a hand on her chest, he felt it rise and fall.
“’Ere, what’s he doing kissing that woman when she’s in that state!”
“He knows what he’s d-doing,” Cam heard the man say. “He’s breathing life back into her lungs. Now stand b-back, please.”
Cam heard more noise. Horses, curses, the high-pitched worry of female voices, and the low growl of men’s. His family had arrived. He didn’t stop, but kept breathing for Emily until she could do so for herself. When she started coughing, only then did he turn her gently on her side.
“It’s all right now, I have you.”
“I will release her feet,” the man said, and Cam quickly did the same to her hands. He then pulled her into his lap and held her while she coughed and spluttered up water.
“Christ, Em.” He buried his face in her chilled neck when she’d stopped. “Dear Christ, you could have drowned.”
“C-Cam,” she managed to stutter out his name, and then her hand was in his hair, gripping it hard as she held on to him. “S-so s-cared.”
“And I,” he said. “I couldn’t reach you.” He lifted his head and looked down at her. Their eyes caught, held, and something passed between them. An understanding, a feeling... hell, he couldn’t identify it, only that it rocked through him with an intensity that shocked him. It was the pressure of her hand that had him lowering his head to take her lips in a soft, achingly gentle kiss.
“You’re safe now,” he breathed against her lips.
“I-I knew you would save me.”
Cam pulled her close then, holding her tight as relief chorused through him that he had been able to do just that.
Ignoring the voices of those watching, he simply held her close, and for now, that was enough.
CHAPTER FOUR
“Cam!”
Looking up as he heard his name, he saw his family on the rise above. Dev, his brother, James, her brother. Both running down to them. Behind them came his sisters, Essie and Eden.
“Our families are here now, Em.”
She nodded. The hand she lifted to touch his cheek was ice-cold. “Thank you for s-saving my life.”
“Cam!” His brother reached him first.
“Christ, it’s Emily!” James dropped to Cam’s side, reaching for her. “Emily.” The name was torn from him. “What has happened?”
“S-someone tried to abduct her.” Cam didn’t want to let her go, but knew he must. “The c-carriage, it ended in the w-water.” His teeth were chattering now. “She may need Lilly.”
“She is from home, but if need be, I will find her,” Dev said. “They’re frozen; we need to get them warm!” he roared. “It’s all right now.” His brother then gripped his shoulder, and he felt the surge of power he always got when one of his siblings touched him.
“To the carriage,” Essie said, arriving. “Now! We must hurry, they’re in danger if we do not get them warm!”
Ignoring the questions and enquiring eyes from the curious bystanders, Emily was lifted by James, and Cam was hauled to his feet by Dev. His arm was draped over a broad shoulder, and he was half dragged up the bank.
“Th-the man?”
“There are several here.” Dev looked around him.
“The w-wet one.”
“He is here. Did he help?”
Cam managed a nod.
“Then he will be helped also.”
Emily was being stripped of her clothes when he arrived. James wrapped her in his great coat, over her shift. Blankets were pulled out from under the carriage seats and draped over her. Propriety was forgotten in favor of survival.
“Get in and rub her arms and legs, James,” Essie said. “Is there brandy in here, Dev?”
“Right side.”
Cam’s legs had stopped working. His brother bundled him like a pile of rags into the carriage. He fell onto the seat opposite Emily.
“E-Emily?”
She was pressed to James and he was rubbing her arms and legs with his hands.
“C-Cam” was all she could manage, but it was enough to tell him she was all right.
“Strip, Cam,” Essie said.
“I-I can’t, Emily is h-here.”
“Dev,” Essie said in that voice she used when she was treating a patient, “I insist you deal with him at once.”
His brother shrugged out of his coat and draped it over Cam. He then wrestled with Cam’s necktie, jacket, waistcoat, and shirt, and manhandled him into the greatcoat. He refused to remove his breeches, but the boots went. He felt the blessed relief of warmth and groaned as the cold started to ease slightly.
“Is there room in there for one more?” Eden poked her head in the doorway. “I have managed to disperse the crowd.”
“Bring him in,” Essie instructed. “We shall be jammed in, but will manage.”
The man who had helped Cam was nudged through the door, and Dev took his arm and lowered him beside Cam. There was no coat for him, but two blankets. Dev removed his top half of clothing. The brandy flask was then pressed to his lips.
“Th-thank you,” the man sighed.
“Small sips,” Essie said, crouching on the floor before Emily.
“When I-I got her out of the water she wasn’t breathing, Ess.” He looked at his sister. “I-I did what you did for Samantha.”
“And yet another Sinclair is a hero,” James said, but his words held no humor, only heartfelt thanks. “Thank you, Cam.”
“S-Sinclair?”
Cam dragged his eyes from Emily, who was being examined by Essie, and turned to look at the man seated beside him. He was still shaking, but like Cam, color was returning to his face.
“Yes, that is our name.”
“And m-mine also.”
He’d known, Cam thought. The name was not theirs alone, he knew that also, but there had been something about this man from the time he’d held out his hand to Cam.
“We are the Sinclairs of Oak’s Knoll,” Dev said as he rubbed Cam’s legs hard. “He is Cambridge, and I am Devon. These are my sisters Eden and Essie, and my brother-in-law James, Duke of Raven.”
“I-in that case, we are cousins.” The man’s hand shook as he raised it to shake Dev’s, but his brother tucked it back under the blanket.
“Uncle Giles’s son, Christian?”
The man nodded.
“I am Captain Sinclair, but I’m known as Wolf.”
They had never met his father’s family, as he would not allow it, and yet now one of their cousins had found them. Cam wondered if there was more to his appearance than just fate, but now was not the time to ask.
Looking at Emily, he met her eyes.
“How do you feel?”
She managed a smile, then her eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped down in the seat.
“Emily!”
“Sit, Cam.” Dev held him down as he tried to reach her.
“She is all right, brother, I can find no injuries. She is merely unconscious,” Essie said.
“No one is merely unconscious,” Cam ground out.
Emily nearly died today. The thought kept churning round and round inside his head as he watched his sister rouse her. He’d kissed her too, and why those chilled lips had stirred so much emotion inside him Cam could not understand. He put it down to the shock of the moment.
“Her color, Dev?” Cam asked his brother. Dev had the heightened gift of sight. He also saw people in colors. If they were pale, they were usually unwell or experiencing great emotional distress.
“Pale.”
“Color?” Ca
ptain Sinclair asked.
“’Tis nothing,” Dev dismissed his question.
“Do you see in colors?” The man grabbed Dev’s arm, his words desperate.
Dev was silent for several seconds, his eyes on the man, and then finally he nodded. “I do.”
“As do I,” Captain Sinclair said, slumping back on the seat. “G-good Lord. So that was why I felt that uncontrollable urge to help you.”
“Very likely,” Dev muttered. “But right now we need to make sure you are warm; later we will talk more.”
“Cam?” Eden was looking in the doorway, her face drawn with worry.
“I’m all right, Eden.” He leaned over and grabbed the hand she held out to him, squeezing it in reassurance. Cam winced as pain shot through him. “Just cold now.”
“You took quite a fall from that carriage,” Captain Sinclair said.
“Fall?” Dev questioned.
“He leapt from my horse onto the carriage that held… ah, I do not know the lady’s name.”
“Emily. Miss Tolly,” Dev added.
“When the man inside the carriage who had grabbed Miss Tolly fell from the roof, the driver realized all was lost and cut the traces freeing the horses. Your brother was thrown, and hit the ground hard.”
Cam was suddenly impaled by the ferocious green eyes of his brother.
“Where do you hurt?”
Everywhere. Now that he had stopped running after Emily, every pain in his body was making itself known.
“I’m all right, Dev.”
“I’ll check him when we get back. For now, Emily is awake, but we must get them home to the warmth, where I can tend them better,” Essie said. “James, ride with Eden please. Go fast, and have baths drawn.”
The duke wanted to protest, but one look at Essie held him quiet. Reluctantly he released his sister after murmuring something into her ear, and then stepped from the carriage.
“I must see to my horse.” Captain Sinclair went to follow.
“I will ensure it accompanies us,” Dev stepped from the carriage. “He is the large black one standing beside the carriage I gather?”
“Yes,” their cousin nodded.
