Secrets In Savannah (Phantom Knights)

by Amalie Vantana

  “Of course not,” I snapped at him. “Now, are you coming with me or do you want me to journey alone into the den of Lucas and his guards?”

  Leo stared at me, and I held his gaze, at least where I thought his eyes were. I could not see his face in the dark chamber. He sighed audibly. “Give me a few moments to dress.”

  Smiling, I went into the hall to wait. When he joined me, we moved down the stairs. The front door was bolted, so I let Leo work his skill and open the door without any hint of sound.

  Once we are outside the house, and the door was firmly shut, I allowed Leo to lead the way across the square. He knew where Lucas was hiding, for there was little that Leo did not know.

  His knowledge was one of the reasons that he was a Phantom. There had been a time when I admired Leo more than anyone else. That fact alone made me trust him.

  “What are we going to do?” I asked in a harsh whisper as we walked across the silent square.

  Leo laid a hand on my shoulder. “What we have always done. This changes nothing.”

  “Everything has changed. Lucas will murder my sister if we do not find her first. He does not need her alive to gain control, he needs only one of us and the artifacts.”

  Leo pulled me to a halt, staring down at me with his impassive face that had always brought me comfort when I saw him. “We will not allow any harm to come to your sister.” I could see a question in his blue eyes before he voiced it. “Have you told Jack?”

  I closed my eyes and shook my head, my stomach clenching, my heart aching. “No, but I must. I promised him all of the secrets of the Holy Order and you are one of those secrets, Leo.”

  “What will you tell him?”

  The sadness in his voice made me ache all the more. He had become a Phantom in the three years that he had worked with them, and Phantoms were family, as I had been told numerous times.

  “The truth,” I replied in an anguished whisper. “That you were the trusted guard who helped me escape our country. Have no fear about your father, though. Jack does not need to know that he was once the head of the royal guards.”

  Leo released a soft breath. “You will have to tell him your secret as well.”

  “I know.” It expanded the ache in my heart to think about it. For when Jack knew all, I would lose him forever.

  We said nothing else until we reached Chippewa Square. As the morning was dawning, a gray hue filled the sky, and people were beginning to wake up. We were crossing the street for the green in the center of the square when Leo spoke up.

  “We are being followed.”

  I did not look at Leo, for that might have given alarm to our follower, but I nodded just once to show that I understood. “Anyone we know?”

  Leo chuckled. “Yes.”

  “This way then,” I said and we turned before the row of houses instead of walking to the green. We slipped into a narrow alley and waited.

  It was only a minute before a man came into view. He was stocky, and my mind reeled for an instant. He was not looking toward us, but at the green as he walked near to where we were standing. I eased toward the opening, ready to grab him, but Leo grasped my arm. He shook his head, placing a finger against his lips.

  The stocky man continued down the road toward the next square.

  “What was that all about?” I asked as we stepped out of the alley.

  “It is better to let him move on than to alert him to our knowledge of his following us.”

  He was right of course, and I put thoughts of Dudley Stanton from my head as we moved across the square.

  We slinked up against the house that Leo knew Lucas to be using.

  “Can you hoist me?” There was a small balcony extended over the front door with a window that was open. Leo hoisted me onto his shoulders so that I could reach the balcony. Lifting myself up, and climbing over the rail, I took in a deep breath of the sultry morning air. Leo raised his hand, extending all five fingers, telling me I had five minutes.

  Inside the house, I went to the closest door. It was open, and there, sleeping peacefully on a bed, was Lucas.

  Keeping the door open in the event that a hasty exit was required, I pulled a gun from my belt and a knife from my boot.

  Feeling rather exhilarated, I placed the blade against his throat and the barrel of the gun against his temple, hard. His eyes fluttered open and then widened in pure alarm and fear, but he quickly replaced it with mockery.

  “What a pleasant surprise,” he said and I pressed both the knife and gun harder against him.

  “Be silent, or I swear I will end your life, and gladly. I will speak, and you will listen.”

  He smiled but remained silent. The light brown stubble along his jaw and his upper lip, along with his bare chest made me slightly put off, but I ignored them, choosing to see instead of a half-naked man, my nemesis.

  “You tried to kill my husband.” He opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off. “You tried to sway Charlotte with your lies, but you have failed on both accounts. I trust that you have heard of the Phantoms.”

  Lucas licked his lips.

  “Soon every Phantom that there is will be upon you and you may be sure that you will not escape. They are as skilled of fighters as they come. Assassins, every one.” I gave that a second to set in before going on. “I am about to save your life. Call it an act of mercy, one that you have never shown to anyone else.”

  “What are you going to do?” he rasped out.

  “Give you what you want.” I fought with my inner self to get the rest of the words past my lips, but it was difficult because I was about to betray my home, my country, and my family’s memory. “The artifacts.”

  He stared up at me for a long moment, and I knew that my five minutes were quickly dwindling.

  “Think of what you could accomplish. You would never have to listen to Luther; you could be King.”

  “You would never betray your monarch,” he said, and under different circumstances he would be right, but not now, not with all that I had to lose.

  “Ah, but you and I both know that there is no current monarch. The governing council would be easily overthrown.” I spoke with a touch of mockery, but it proved enough.

  “I accept your offer. When shall I expect delivery?”

  “Even now the artifacts are on their way here. I expect them to arrive within the next two days. When they do, I will send word. Until that time, if you so much as look in the direction of my friends all bargains are invalid and you are at the mercy of the Phantoms though no mercy will be shown you.”

  Lucas inclined his head, and I removed the blade but kept the pistol to his head.

  “One more thing,” I said and his eyes watched me intently. “You will not touch my sister. If you are approached with news of her arrival, you are to say that you are no longer interested. Am I understood?”

  “Indubitably.”

  I removed the barrel from his head and backed toward the door, keeping the gun trained on him.

  Once outside, Leo was leaning against the house. When he looked up, I swung myself over the side of the balcony. Without hesitation, I dropped down into his waiting arms. He set me on my feet, and we moved off swiftly.

  Leo always had the appearance of a staid soul, but this day he was more talkative than usual. “What did you offer him?”

  “What I must.”

  “She will not be pleased if this comes to her ears,” he said, and I nearly smiled, having forgotten that I used to call him omniscient.

  “Then let us hope that my plan works, and this never does come to her ears.”

  “Aye,” he said and for a moment the only noises came from those around us. “You know that I am at your side, regardless of the danger.”

  A long forgotten feeling of security covered me.

  “Aye,” I returned, smiling up at him for a moment. “Together, let us finish this.”

  CHAPTER 22

  JACK

  My head ached atrociously as I awoke
and more so when I found that my wife was not beside me. Remembering the events of the previous day, it was not anger that filled me, or even disappointment. It was shame, thick and suffocating.

  Last evening Dud had arrived in a mood of dejection. He sought my aid to find a way to win Hannah back, but foremost he wanted to know if she could be trusted not to run again. It was my opinion that she could not, but after voicing that, I retracted it. Guinevere had run from me many times, but now that she was my wife, I knew that her days of running were at an end. She was nothing if not faithful to those she loved.

  After Sam and I had deposited a snoring Dudley on the sofa, I had gone to my wife’s door, prepared to apologize, but her door was locked. Making a choice to let her sleep and speak with her in the morning when calm heads prevailed, I went to sleep.

  When I reached my wife’s chamber in the morning, it was empty, and after an extensive search of the house, I found not only her missing, but Dud and Leo as well.

  In the dining parlor, I was surprised to see Charlotte alone. It was the first time she had come down from her bedchamber since the ordeal with Frederick the day before.

  “I give you good morning, Charlotte.”

  She smiled, but the attempt was sad at best. She pushed her plate away. “If you are searching for your wife, I heard my brother say she has gone in search of Lucas.” Her mouth puckered before a scowl descended upon her brow. “Why does she wish me so unhappy?”

  “Guinevere does not wish you unhappy, Char. She does not wish to see you harmed.”

  “Lucas would never harm me, he loves me. We are to be married.”

  “Are we not friends, Charlotte?”

  She was surprised. “Of course we are, Jack.”

  “Then how can you wish to marry the man who tried to kill me?” My direct approach knocked her off her victim platform. She appeared unsure.

  “It was an accident—”

  “It was no accident, Char. His guards held me captive while he bid me farewell, and then shot me. He did it to hurt my wife.”

  Charlotte’s face was pained. “I am sure that he meant only to wound you. He is trying to right the wrong that Guinevere has done to his family. He promised me that you would not be harmed.”

  “What?” I demanded, and Char’s eyes widened to the size of teacups. She had not meant to say so much. “Char, please, be honest with me. What is your arrangement with Lucas?” I refrained from saying entanglement. Char required gentle prodding, not commands.

  “Lucas’s life has been so full of grief. He cannot marry until his brother is avenged.”

  “You have been helping him? Spying for him?”

  Char bristled. “Lucas did not ask for my help, I gave it freely. He did not want me involved, but I—” she stared at her hands, guilt writ in every line of her face, “I offered to tell him when you were in contact with Guinevere.”

  “You sent him after me on the day that I was shot. You sent him word that I had not died. That is why you came here.” It was said with a calm that I was far from feeling.

  Charlotte did not know me well enough, but Bess would have recognized the calm as danger, not understanding.

  “You led us into that trap at the Pirates House,” I said after a moment of thought.

  “You are not going to tell me that I should be ashamed of myself? That I should have more sense than to put my trust in a man I hardly know?” She asked it with skepticism.

  “No.”

  She smiled, perking up. “That is why I like you best, Jack. You do not scold me.”

  “It is not my place to scold you. You are of an age to be able to determine right from wrong.”

  She bristled, but spoke imploringly. “Why is it acceptable for you to love and marry the enemy, but it is morally wrong for me to love and marry a man who is truly good inside?”

  Lucas had played his cards skillfully indeed. No amount of scolding or truth would change her convictions.

  “Do you fear him?” I asked with softness.

  Her gaze rose quickly to meet mine, and the answer was there.

  Her laugh was mirthless, strained. “Of course not. I love him.”

  “There is no fear in love. Perfect love casteth out fear: for fear hath painfulness, and he that feareth is not perfect in love.”

  “Did you quote scripture to me, Jack?”

  Laughing, I rose from the table. “There is much to be gained from placing your trust in something greater than yourself, Char.” Walking toward the door, I paused when she called out to me.

  “Do you fear your wife?”

  “No,” I said after a moment, and Charlotte grinned.

  “Perhaps you should, for your higher power and hers greatly differ.”

  Gideon entered the house at that moment, and a reply was not possible as he asked me to join him in the parlor.

  When we were seated, he told me that he had seen the strain between Guinevere and I after we returned from the temple.

  Gideon had been my friend and mentor for two years, so he knew when I needed to confess and when I needed his support.

  After telling him everything that I had been holding in, his words were not at all what I expected.

  “It is not enough to say that you love your wife, Jack, you must find ways to show her.”

  Gideon leaned forward, as he always did when he was about to impart things I did not want to hear.

  “From the moment that her parents were murdered, Guinevere has never been treated as if she has any worth beyond being a tool. She was trained to be the figurehead of the Holy Order. Harvey was the true leader, but Guinevere was the one who carried out his orders. It was their exchange to keep her sister safe.”

  My heart throbbed with pain. I had been disappointed in her yesterday, and I was sure that it had shown in my eyes, as it did in my words.

  “If she refused, Harvey would have cast her and her sister to the world. They would not have lasted long.” Gideon’s face turned stern, angry. It was the first time in our acquaintance I had seen him thus.

  “Harvey wanted a puppet to do his bidding, but he did protect her from the one person who could do her the most harm.”

  Gideon’s wrinkled hand fisted, and I knew what he would say would forever change me.

  “When she was captured, she was ten years of age. Her uncle wanted control of the family property, and there were only two ways to gain it. One was for him to kill the existing heirs, or to force a marriage between the eldest and someone he could control.”

  Gideon did not look away from me, and I felt my dread turn into horror and anger.

  Knowing Guinevere, she would not stand for such things happening; it was as sure to me as the rising of the sun. That had to be when she ran. I hoped.

  “Her uncle forced a marriage between his wife’s nephew and his deceased brother’s eldest,” Gideon said, crushing my hope.

  Jumping up, I walked to the window. With my fists tight at my sides, I needed to throw something, or hit something.

  My wife had been forced into a marriage when she was a child. Did that mean that we were not truly married? No. Guinevere would never do that. What happened to the man then?

  “He was poisoned on their wedding night,” Gideon said, as if I had spoken the words aloud. Perhaps I had. “Guinevere took her sister, companions, and the artifacts, and ran. She has been running for the last eight years, trying to protect her sister from falling into such vile hands.”

  That was why she was so comfortable placing the iron against Sturges. He had said horrible things about Edith, and Guinevere had lost her control. His words had spoken of a horrible fate happening to her sister, one that could have happened to Guinevere if she had not poisoned the man.

  No matter that he did not do any physical harm to her, enough emotional damage had been done that she was still enduring it eight years later.

  My thoughtless words at the temple had only added to her pain. I saw the pain in her eyes when I said those hurtful things
to her.

  After a year of chasing her, she was mine, and I had neglected her because she kept secrets from me.

  Her secrets should have been something that we discussed before we said our vows, but they would not have changed my mind. I did not regret my marriage. I regretted my attitude toward her. She was doing as she was trained, and I was doing as I was trained. Perhaps we would not agree on everything, but that would not define how I loved her.

  “There is one more thing I would like to discuss with you,” Gideon said, drawing my attention. “When Guinevere’s sister is returned to her, she must be placed in safekeeping for as long as their uncle is a threat. I would like to be that one.”

  “Never could we ask that of you. The danger alone—” I tried to say.

  Gideon laughed with earnestness. “You of all people know how capable I am to hide the girl. I am the best choice, but that decision is up to Guinevere.”

  There was no time to say more, for the front door opened.

  Striding into the foyer as Guinevere stepped into the house, she paused, but the cool reserve with which she held herself did not deter me.

  As I reached her, I wrapped my arm about her waist and pulled her to me. My lips pressed against hers and held. My hand burrowed in her hair that was tucked into a cap. It took some time, at least several seconds, for her to relax, and her body to lean toward me. Holding her as close as she could be without being a part of me, I lessened the pressure of my lips and allowed my love to flow from my touch to hers.

  “Forgive me,” I whispered against her lips. “Forgive me.”

  Someone cleared their throat. Leo was standing behind Guinevere, doing his best to block the outside. We were blocking his way into the house and his ability to close the door.

  Taking Guinevere’s hand, I pulled her with me up the stairs to my chamber. Once inside and the door firmly closed, I took my wife in my arms.

  “What changed you?” she asked as she held on to me.

  “A timely reminder that my faith in you is not circumstantial upon you confiding in me.”

  “Does this mean that you trust me to tell you the truth in my own time?” she asked hopefully.