“What’s the message?”
“She said to tell you that this is her fault and she’s going to fix it.” Gerry’s gray eyes were glistening. “Uncle Joshua, I think Sarah’s in trouble.”
Joshua put a hand on his shoulder. “I think so too. Don’t worry. I’ll find her.”
He only hoped he wasn’t too late.
This had something to do with Sarah’s past but he didn’t know enough about her. Asking Elizabeth was out of the question. Besides, Sarah had lied to his wife. Who would know?
Lady North.
The last thing he wanted to do was ask that woman. But his grandmother might be Sarah’s salvation.
He called for a carriage. There was no way he could ride his horse. “Ride hard and fast, man. To North Hall.”
The carriage’s progress made his shoulder wound ache, but he gritted his teeth and prayed for strength.
He reached his grandmother’s estate and called for her. When the older woman appeared in the hall, she didn’t seem surprised to see him. “Joshua,” she said in a cold voice.
“Tell me about Lady Sarah, Grandmother,” he said, getting right to the point.
Her dark brows rose. “This is the way you greet me? You’ve been home for a fortnight and you’ve not paid your respects yet—”
“Grandmother, you began this. If another person dies, the blood is on your hands.”
Her dark eyes glittered. “So. The Beast has finally killed someone. As I always thought it would.”
Joshua sighed. “Grandmother, what have you done?”
“I?” The older woman lifted her hand and waved away his accusation. “I have done nothing. The Beast of Arundale is a killer and I have always warned against it. Ever since it killed my daughter.”
“That’s a lie,” Joshua said flatly. “My mother died in a carriage accident with my father.”
Her nostrils flared and she tightened her lips. “If she had never married him, never had you and your brother, she would have been safe. They were going to one of those dens of iniquity, those accursed brothels.”
“They were married and free to do as they wished within the bonds of their marriage. Why judge them?” He shifted impatiently. “Why did you send Sarah to kill Perry? What have you started?”
A thin, horrible smile lifted his grandmother’s lips. “I taught her how to tempt the monster. I told her how the curse couldn’t be passed on to innocent children. She agreed to end the suffering of the Arundale men by making sure they would never breed.”
“How?” he demanded. “What did you convince her to do?” He wanted to shake the woman but he kept his hands at his side.
“What difference does it make? She didn’t do it.” His grandmother’s mouth twisted in disgust. “She felt sorry for your dissolute brother and your silly wife. I warned her that her presence at Arundale Hall was all that was needed to make the Beast appear.”
Joshua stared at this woman who shared his blood. “You knew. She’s Perry’s mate and somehow you knew. How? Even Perry doesn’t seem to know, but you did.”
His grandmother tipped her chin. Her eyes gleamed with triumph. “I guessed. Do you think after watching my daughter succumb to the Beast’s spell, and then little Elizabeth, that I wouldn’t discover who was the next victim?” She laughed. “It wasn’t difficult. Sarah is Perry’s mate and he will kill for her without even knowing why. In fact, he already has.”
“No, Grandmother,” Joshua said sadly. “You think Perry has killed a rival for Sarah, don’t you?”
“Hasn’t he?” she asked in a confident tone.
Joshua shook his head. “No. Whatever you’ve begun has killed Melinda. She might have been a foolish woman, but she didn’t deserve the death you created for her.”
“It was that monster,” insisted his grandmother.
“It was your interference.” He stepped closer and the woman shrank from him. “You kept those diaries from us, knowing they held vital information to help us survive. You hoped we’d stumble, die as killers. But we survived. So you sent Sarah to my wife to betray our family.”
He shook his head. “You must have read those diaries, Grandmother. You must have known the Beast only kills when it’s aroused without a mate.”
“It was wicked,” she snapped. “Those things she did, that he made her do.”
“What bothered you most? That he made her do things you considered evil? Or that they were happy?” He stared at her. “All your life you’ve spread misery. I believe that it will come back to you.”
Enraged, Lady North thrust her face into his. “Do you? Well, not before I destroy Arundale. Your father,” she snapped. “He was a carouser, an evil man. How many of his little bastards are scattered all over England?”
Joshua froze. “Only one, I believe.”
Her laugh was harsh. “Oh? How little you know. But I will win in the end, for I know where all the cursed are. All of them.”
“Where has Sarah gone?” he demanded.
“To deal with the devil,” his grandmother answered. Then she turned her back on him and walked away.
He stared after her, his mind reeling. Clearly, there was another Arundale bastard. How the hell was he supposed to figure this one out?
Whoever this man was, he had to tame the Beast somehow and Marcus’ place would be necessary. Perhaps Marcus knew more than he was telling.
Somehow, Joshua knew time was running out for all of them, but especially for Sarah.
No one greeted Joshua when he rode up to the front of Marcus’ house. That was strange. The house was quiet, eerily quiet. Joshua found the front door ajar and sensed a trap. He allowed the Beast out of its mental cage and his senses sharpened, smelling the animal that had attacked him the night before.
His ears picked up sounds inside the house, but they were faint and hard to hear. All his instincts screamed that this was dangerous. Joshua backed away from the front door and refused to step over the threshold.
Without hesitation, he partially shifted, controlling the transition so that he could use his claws and enhanced senses. He sprinted around the perimeter of the dwelling, seeking another entrance, another way into the lower levels of Marcus’ house.
His head snapped up when he heard a blood-curdling scream followed by a heart-wrenching howl. Joshua didn’t wait. He threw his body through one of the back windows, ignoring the cuts from the glass that sliced through his skin.
He used his sense of smell to quickly seek out the occupants. When he crashed through the door to the basement rooms, his shoulder began to bleed again. He could smell the blood. Another muffled scream led him to the right room.
The sight that awaited him made his blood freeze. Sarah’s body was striped with wounds and she had blood on her face. Restrained in chains on the wall was Perry, the Beast mostly in evidence. Behind Sarah, naked and partially changed into a Beast, was Lord Applegate.
In a flash, Applegate was all wolf, sharp teeth and muscle. Joshua was forced to shift, to allow the Beast to take over. They growled at each other, mindless and aggressive.
Joshua was weak but Applegate had been wounded when they fought too. Where the hell was Marcus? He spotted a prone form in the corner, almost shrouded in darkness. Derek, Marcus’ lover, had been ripped to shreds in a bloody mess. Marcus had tried to protect Derek. Was he dead?
Applegate attacked, his teeth seeking the wound on Joshua’s shoulder. Joshua twisted away and snarled at the other wolf. He slipped on the bloody floor and Applegate attacked, his claws digging into Joshua’s flesh.
Applegate was half man, half wolf, his smile both feral and evil. “You should be dead. I thought you were. But it doesn’t matter. One by one, you will die. I am the only Beast of Arundale.”
“You’re a murderer. No Arundale male kills without a good reason.”
“Melinda thought to gain Arundale through me. But she was no wolf mate. She was an imposter.” Applegate snapped his jaws at Joshua’s leg and missed when Joshua tore aw
ay from his hold.
“So you murdered her.” Joshua’s strength was failing. He was going to lose here and Applegate would be the last one standing.
“Not before I enjoyed her thoroughly,” Applegate said with a grin. “And don’t worry about little Elizabeth. I’ll make her last hours on earth pleasant.”
Joshua roared and attacked. They tumbled against the wall, the hard surface jarring Joshua’s wound. But he no longer fought for himself. He fought for his mate, his heritage, his future.
However, Applegate had the advantage and more strength. His long forelegs connected with Joshua’s belly and kicked him back hard enough that he lifted off the floor and slammed back down. In a flash, Applegate’s teeth sank into Joshua’s throat. Blood spurted over their faces and Joshua couldn’t pull away without having his neck ripped apart.
I’m sorry, Elizabeth. I failed again.
A loud explosion sounded behind them and Applegate’s body stiffened. His teeth loosened and Joshua managed to jerk away. The sound of another shot filled the room and Joshua whirled around to see his wife with her pistol smoking, pointed at Applegate.
Wounded, Applegate snarled, launching his lean body at Elizabeth. Joshua didn’t stop to think. He threw himself in front of his mate and blocked Applegate’s attack. He clawed the man’s face. Applegate howled and made one last attempt to kill Joshua.
The next shot was near Joshua’s ear and hit Applegate between the eyes. Thick blood streamed from the hole in his forehead and he remained still for a moment before he dropped to the floor, dead.
Exhausted, bloody and near death, Joshua padded over to his wife, his mate, the only woman who’d ever mattered to him. He licked her hand and then, his wounds overcoming him, fell to the floor.
His last thought was that he’d never be able to hold her in his arms again. All he had were his accursed paws.
*
“Joshua!” Elizabeth knelt beside her husband, still a wolf, bleeding from too many places. She glanced around the room in shock.
Perry struggled against the metal restraints on the wall, his eyes wild and bestial. Sarah hung from leather straps on a waist-high bench, her back bloody and raw. In the far corner, Lord Everret lay completely inert with Derek’s remains scattered around him.
Her stomach rolled but she knew she had to keep her wits. Though Joshua was her first thought, she needed help. “Perry,” she snapped and his gaze jerked to meet hers. “I need you to cage the Beast. I need you to ride for help.”
“Sarah,” he said, the word more of a growl than speech.
“I will release her and soothe her wounds. But Joshua will die if you don’t get Dr. MacDonald.”
Perry shook his head and she watched him struggle to contain the Beast within. While he trembled, she found the key on Lord Applegate’s dead body to unlock his chains. Just as she released him, Perry managed to regain control.
He panted heavily but stumbled to the door. “I’ll go for help.”
“Get Dr. MacDonald and Jaimison,” she said.
Perry sprinted up the steps and Elizabeth did the best she could for those who were left.
Joshua’s wounds were bad. She ripped her dress again to stop the flow of blood. His claws reached out and encircled her wrist. “You won’t have any clothes left at this rate.” His voice was gravelly and deep. The Beast still had control and Joshua was too weak to fight it. She knew this was how he might die.
“Stop talking, Joshua.” She stroked his face, more wolf than man but still the face of the person she loved. When she’d finished with him, she pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I have to help Sarah and Lord Everret.”
He nodded and closed his eyes. She shook him by the shoulder. “Don’t you dare leave me.”
A strange grin stretched his features. “I won’t.”
She relaxed slightly and crept over to Lord Everret. He was in human form, his wolf completely gone. She stared at him. He was covered in blood but there were no wounds on him. In his hands, under his curled body, was the dismembered thigh of his lover, Derek. Lord Everret traced a mark on the skin, a mark Elizabeth recognized.
Her heart clenched. Derek had been Lord Everret’s mate. He’d marked him, claimed him, and Applegate had killed him. Tears fell from Elizabeth’s eyes. How could she help this man? He seemed physically unharmed but completely broken.
She touched him and he knocked her hand away. His eyes were dead and lifeless, his fingers the only movement he made. “Lord Everret,” she said softly. “Marcus?”
“Leave me alone,” he snarled.
“I have to aid Sarah. I need your assistance.” What could she do to get him to look at her?
“I can’t help anyone.” Suddenly, his gaze met hers. The absolute hopelessness, the despair, took her breath away. “I couldn’t stop him. He killed Derek and I couldn’t stop him.”
“He’s dead now, Marcus. Get up. Derek wouldn’t want you to—”
“Don’t fucking tell me what Derek wanted. You don’t know,” he snarled again.
“I know how I would feel if Joshua gave up because of me,” she said. “I would never want Joshua to stop living because I was gone.”
“I loved him,” Marcus said simply.
“I know,” Elizabeth said with tears in her eyes. “I know.” She reached out and stroked his hair.
Something broke in Marcus and he arched his neck, changing, shifting, his wolf crying out its grief. The mournful howl of loss and death cut Elizabeth to the bone. She cradled his head in her arms and rocked him.
“Marcus,” she said softly. “I have to help Sarah.”
In two heartbeats, Marcus shifted back into a man and slowly rose to his feet. He held out his hand to Elizabeth, who took it. Together they released Sarah and Marcus found some ointment that he carefully rubbed into the maid’s wounds.
“They’re not too bad. He used a cat o’ nine tails.” Marcus stroked Sarah’s back, soothing her. “She’ll have some scars, but there’s no permanent damage.”
Not physical damage, Elizabeth thought.
It wasn’t too long after they’d treated Sarah’s wounds that Dr. MacDonald arrived. He viewed the room with a grim expression. “I’m glad you warned me,” he said to Perry.
The doctor went to work on Joshua first and instructed Marcus and Perry to carry him to the carriage waiting upstairs. Sarah also had to be carried, though the doctor said her injuries were more superficial.
When they arrived at Arundale Hall, Jaimison met them at the door. “What happened?”
“Applegate—” Elizabeth started, then she glanced at Perry and Marcus. “Perhaps we need to discuss this, since I know very little.”
The four of them sat down in the den. Perry ran an impatient hand through his hair. “Applegate sent a message to me that he had Sarah and that if I wanted to see her alive again, I had to go to Lord Everret’s.” He shot a glance at Marcus. “I… It seemed that…”
“You thought I was in on it,” Marcus said with a humorless smile. “Go on.”
Perry pursed his lips, then continued. “He hit me over the head and I woke up chained to the wall with Sarah trussed up on that bench. Only it wasn’t like the last time. She wasn’t aroused. It wasn’t sexual. He planned to kill her but he wanted to torment me first.”
“What did he say, Perry?”
“That Father got his mother pregnant. That his mother passed him off as the legitimate heir of the Duke of Kent, yet tormented him with his tainted birth.” Perry glanced at Marcus. “When Applegate was nineteen, he demanded that my father pay him money. Tried to blackmail him. My father refused and Applegate boasted to me that he killed him.”
Marcus’s face was gray and drawn. “It makes sense. He always tried to get close to me, but I kept my distance. I found him…too obsessed with bloodplay. He enjoyed hurting people. Too much. Often preferred women who weren’t willing and I drew a firm line with him.”
Perry glanced at Marcus, compassion softening his gray eyes. “
He’s been planning this for a long time. My grandmother knew, since Applegate approached her and they made a plan of revenge. Between them, they set out to destroy our family.”
“But why Sarah? I don’t understand,” Elizabeth said, shaking her head.
Perry took a deep breath. “Because I marked Sarah but I didn’t claim her. Because she’s my mate.”
“How did they know?” She didn’t understand how Applegate or Lady North could have known it.
Her brother-in-law shook his head. “I think Applegate picked something up somehow. It’s not as though I understand how it all works.”
“Likely, it was a scent,” Marcus said. “I knew who Elizabeth was before she spoke. By her smell. And Joshua had been away for ten years. Maybe the mark has a scent.”
“But they knew before I marked her,” Perry said.
“There’s more to this, I’m sure,” Elizabeth said. She remembered that the diaries were filled with hints of bloodlines and preferred mates. Maybe Lady North had discovered something. She’d have to ask the older woman and that wasn’t going to be pleasant.
Dr. MacDonald appeared in the doorway. “Well, your patients are doing well.”
“May I see her?” Perry was on his feet and heading for the door, but the doctor stopped him.
“She doesn’t want to see you.” The doctor’s face was sad. “I had to leave a nurse with her to keep her in the bed. She wants to leave Arundale.”
“But why?” Elizabeth demanded.
Dr. MacDonald shook his head. “I cannae say. I only know the wounds on her back aren’t the only ones.” He glared at Perry. “My father explained some of the biology connected with the Arundale Beasts. Why did you mark the lass and not claim her? Don’t you know what that does to her?”
“I’m sorry, Doc,” Perry said with his head hung low. “I thought I was protecting her from…from…” He swallowed and clenched his jaw. “How can I claim her if she won’t talk to me?”
“That’s not my problem, laddie,” the doctor snapped. “You’ll have to figure out a way.”
“Maybe it’s better if I don’t,” Perry said.
“It’s too late for that,” Marcus said harshly. “Damn it, don’t you know what the mark does?” He nodded at Elizabeth. “Ask her. Ask your sister-in-law what it was like to be marked and not claimed. You’ve changed Sarah—you’ll have to make it right.”
Wolf of Arundale Hall Page 18
