Wounds of A Viscount: (The Valiant Love Regency Romance) (A Historical Romance Book)

by Deborah Wilson

  ∫ ∫ ∫

  5 4

  * * *

  Garrick realized his mistake in not waiting for Andreas’ arrival the moment he stepped through Meri’s window. The room was dark, but the man was awake, and there was a gun pointed at him.

  “You’re quite predictable, Lord Coalwater.” Meri brightened the lamp by his bed. He sat in the chair off to the side. Thinbrook grinned as he looked him over. “I’m impressed though. I thought for sure you’d be injured. Apparently, what you lack in words, you make up for in brute strength. However did you manage to beat four men on your own? Let me guess. You have your assistant, Mr. Andreas, with you, don’t you?

  Garrick said nothing and made no moves. He’d been a fool to think Meri wouldn’t be awake tonight, especially since the men he’d sent after Garrick had yet to return and wouldn’t be returning this night.

  Unlike what he’d led Nora to believe, he wouldn’t be killing the men who came after the carriage tonight. James, Kent, Clive, and Marley would question them, likely rough them up a bit, and then send them on their way.

  “Still,” Meri said. He scratched his chin with his free hand. He looked rather ridiculous, dressed for bed with slippers on his feet, a gun in his hand, and an uncivilized nature lurking in his eyes. “It doesn’t seem fair that you and your assistant would beat four men, especially when two of them had guns. No, no, no. There must have been others. Did you have help? Let me guess. Was it your friend Clive? Nod your head if I’ve guessed correctly.” He looked feral with excitement now.

  Nora had said the man liked games. Garrick nodded and then slowly lifted his hands.

  Meri followed the movement. “Oh! Are you going to mime for me? Excellent. I must tell you, I’m very good at charades. I always knew what Nora was miming even before she began.”

  Garrick was not surprised at all. He held up one finger.

  Meri lifted a brow. “There was another man with you, besides Clive.”

  Garrick was amazed. His expression must have shown it, because Meri jumped with excitement and then lowered the gun into his lap.

  “Go on,” Lord Thinbrook urged. “I never get to play anymore. No one ever wants to play. Lady Christina played, sometimes, but she wasn’t very good. Not like Rah Rah. Not like Mama.”

  Garrick had no idea what the man was talking about but continued to sign, hoping Andreas would arrive before he had a bullet in the gut.

  Meri read his actions well. “One man wrestled your driver. The other attacked… oh, he attacked you. And then there were the men with… Guns? Those fools! I told them not to take guns. If you haven’t killed them, I’ll do it myself. Was Nora hurt? No. Good. Oh, the mystery man. What’s his name? Oh, please tell me.”

  There was a knock on the door and then it opened.

  Meri moved and Garrick fell to the floor just as a shot went off.

  He looked over and saw a footman parallel to him. The man spoke to his master. “Lord Thinbrook, you have guests. They will not leave until you see them.”

  The guests, who Garrick was certain included Andreas, could be heard rushing up the stairs, likely because they’d heard the gunshot.

  Meri stood and moved toward Garrick. He’d already reloaded. The man was swift. “Come any closer and I’ll kill Lord Coalwater.” The game was over.

  Clive yelled, “Is Nora in there as well?”

  Garrick frowned. Why would Nora be here? He left her at Kent’s home.

  “Nora?” Meri asked. “No, my sister isn’t here. She’s likely home.”

  “She didn’t go home,” Kent called from the hall. “She was at my house. My wife and I heard a scream and then saw the servants’ side entrance open. One of my footmen had been put to sleep with ether.” Ether left one’s body completely numb but mind very much aware. “The footman saw the man carry Lady Honora away.”

  Garrick shouted and shot off from the floor, fear and anger propelling him to his feet. He had to find his wife. Who had her? If Meri hurt her...

  Meri turned the gun to him. “Where is my sister?”

  Garrick stopped.

  The others came in, and James had a gun pointed at Meri.

  They were at a standstill now.

  Garrick turned to Kent. “Where is Andreas?”

  “He is with Miriam,” Kent said with remorse. “I failed you again.”

  Kent hadn’t failed. Garrick had and he told his friend as much. He should have known his wife wouldn’t listen. She’d likely been trying to follow him here, to stop him from killing her brother.

  “Where’s Lady Honora?” James asked Meri.

  Meri looked around. “I don’t know this game.” He looked at Garrick again. His expression reflected loss. “Where’s my sister?”

  “I don’t know.” And he was wasting time by standing around.

  James translated for him and then asked Meri, “Did you take her?”

  Meri looked at James. “Is this a game or do you truly not know my sister’s location?”

  Garrick watched Meri’s face shift and his eyes narrow before he spoke again. “Where is Lady Honora?” Even the man’s voice was different.

  James looked at Garrick. “Do you believe he doesn’t know?”

  Garrick nodded. It was as though the news of his sister’s vanishing act had forced another side of Meri to the front. “If she is not with Meri then she is with Van Dero.”

  “What’s going on?” Meri asked. His gun hand remained pointed at Garrick. “I wish to know what is happening and my sister’s whereabouts or you all can say goodbye to your friend.”

  “Van Dero,” Garrick said.

  Meri blinked. “Why would he take my sister?”

  Kent turned to Garrick. “Why would Van Dero steal your wife?” Kent didn’t know that Garrick had been visiting the man regularly for months now. He hadn’t told Kent, because he hadn’t wanted him to worry. He hadn’t told anyone but Nora.

  All the men turned to look at Garrick.

  “What’s this about Van Dero?” Clive asked.

  “I’ll explain later. We need to go find Nora.”

  Clive nodded. “Do you know where he’d take her?”

  “I’m going with you,” Meri said. “Don’t dare try and count me out. My servants know you all have barged into my home and will report the offense.”

  Garrick sighed. He didn’t have time for this. “A truce.”

  “A truce?” Clive asked in disbelief. “Absolutely not.”

  “Garrick.” Kent moved toward him. “You can’t trust this man. He hurt Nora before.”

  “It was an accident!” Meri shouted. “I’ve never hurt Nora before. I was upset. I wasn’t thinking. You’re not going without me, and we’re wasting time. If a truce is what you want then you shall have it. Besides, I had no plans to kill you anyway.” He pocketed his gun. “Nora would never forgive me if I did.”

  Garrick thought about the way Nora had pleaded with him not to kill her brother. He hadn’t cared about her wishes. He’d only cared about his own and that was keeping her alive. Garrick did have one condition. “I will let you come along if you swear to tell us where Lettie is.” Hopefully, Nora would forgive him if he managed to get that information.

  Meri frowned when he heard the translation and then sighed. “Very well, but only after we’ve retrieved my sister will I say a word.”

  Garrick didn’t have to ask if the man would keep his word. Meri would and Garrick finally knew just how to ensure it.

  ∫ ∫ ∫

  5 5

  * * *

  “Where am I?” Nora struggled and fought as something was pressed into her face again. The sweet metallic flavor was there and then it was gone and Nora was gone as well. Her mind entered a place of total peace. She was without her body and therefore had no burden to carry.

  “Didn’t I tell you it would be wonderful?” a man said. His voice was familiar, but she couldn’t see his face.

  “Where…” She wanted to ask a question, but the moment it w
as there, it left. She fought for a full minute to recall it but then gave up the fight. It was silly to fight when she felt so good. She rarely ever felt this good.

  Only after Garrick had thoroughly pleasured her was it ever this extraordinary, but this was different. Nora was used to knowing where the ground was, but she was groundless at the moment.

  “Sit here. My, you’re pretty. The viscount doesn’t deserve you. He can’t give you the social advantages a woman like you deserves.”

  Nora didn’t want social advantages. At the moment, she didn’t want anything. Actually, she did want something. She wanted Garrick. “Garrick,” she whispered. She could see him standing over her. His eyes were so blue. So compelling. She’d do anything he said. She’d forgive him anything.

  Except killing her brother.

  That thought shook her mind. Nora looked around and forced her mind to focus.

  “You’re coming back,” Lord Gregory said. “That’s fine. You’re bound now. I only let you breathe in just enough to get you to cooperate, but I feared giving you too much. I couldn’t let you die on me. My life depends on you living through this.”

  Gregory sat across from her.

  She noticed they were in a basement. A laboratory of some sort. She recognized a few of the chemicals from her studies. She’d spent hours searching for a cure for Nathan, but nothing had worked.

  There were tables on one side of her with glass tubes and an assortment of vials and liquids. The stairs were on her other side. She jerked her hands and feet and realized she’d found the ground. She was no longer flying. She’d never been flying. Instead, she was tied to a chair and as the rest of reality crashed over her, she almost asked for more laughing gas. Her situation was far worse than any she’d ever been in before.

  Nora screamed and fought her bounds. “Help! Help!” She prayed someone would hear her somewhere in the building and come to her rescue.

  Gregory chuckled and then shouted over her screams. “No one can hear you.”

  Nora didn’t stop. Her screams ripped through the air.

  Gregory slapped her with a force that snapped her head to the side. Her brain followed seconds later and collided with her skull. Pain radiated through her neck and up her head. She let out a breathless cry.

  Nora had never been hit before. The shock of pain crippled her heartbeats.

  “I’ve never hit a woman before,” Gregory said. He didn’t sound very pleased with himself as he sighed and moved closer. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and began to wipe at her nose. Blood colored the white linen. “I’ve often wanted to hit my sister. Have you ever met Irene? The woman never stops talking, not even to breathe.” He wiped at the corner of her mouth and Nora jerked back at the sting of pain.

  Gregory cursed. “My apologies. I didn’t mean to hurt you. This is not good.”

  Nora looked at him and saw he was worried, but why? She doubted anyone would find them. Her screaming hadn’t worked. No one knew where she was. She knew they were no longer in Mayfair. She’d been awake during the ride.

  What did Gregory fear?

  Garrick perhaps.

  Nora frowned. “Is my husband coming for me?”

  “I’ve no doubt he will eventually.” Gregory leaned back into his chair. “You’re my concession.”

  “For what?”

  “My life,” he said plainly. “My father has worked very hard to steer your husband’s vengeful ambitions elsewhere, but it’s no use. We both knew he’d never give up and without a way to control him, I’d all but given up on living. Then you came along.”

  Gregory planned to use Nora as a means to control Garrick.

  Would it work? Nora wasn’t sure. Her husband cared greatly for her life, but he also seemed bent on committing murder.

  Remembering the danger her brother was in placed grievous pressure on her heart. Even now, Meri could be dead and though she knew he deserved death, it was the last thing she wanted. Death was the last thing she wanted for anyone but especially her brother.

  She had a feeling his troubles were rooted with their mother. Lady Thinbrook had coddled Meri, perhaps a little too much. There had even been times when Nora would walk into her mother’s room and Lady Thinbrook would jump away from Meri, as though she were doing something she shouldn’t be.

  Nora never allowed herself to think her mother had been doing anything wrong with her brother, but after her discussion with Lady Christina, her brother’s fiancée, she was curious. Her brother’s obsession with blond hair had grown worse after their mother pushed him away that last time.

  Nora couldn’t remember exactly what had happened, but she recalled her father’s anger, her mother’s distance, and Meri’s sadness over the situation.

  And Lettie had vanished.

  Would she be next? Would she vanish as so many others had?

  “Are you going to kill me?” she asked.

  “No.”

  She relaxed. At least she’d see Miriam again. Her daughter would not grow up alone.

  “You were responsible for my husband’s kidnapping?” Nora asked him next. Pain drummed from her lip and nose. She suspected there would be swelling.

  Gregory crossed his arms. “No, I wasn’t. It was my father. It was all his idea, really, but he’s old and has lived his life. Your husband only wishes to kill me so that I am never happy.”

  “When did you become aware of your father’s vile actions?” Nora asked.

  Gregory said nothing.

  “Did you become involved later? If you were aware of it while it was going on, then you are just as guilty,” Nora said. “You stand to inherit your father’s fortune, do you not?”

  “It was done by the time I found out. The men were already captives. There was little I could do besides turn my own father in. It is not fair to blame me for my father’s actions.”

  “I don’t blame you for your father’s actions. I blame you for your inactions.” She choked on the last and thought of her brother. She should have done more to help him, but instead, she’d abandoned him and now he was dead. She began to weep silently and hung her head.

  “I won’t hurt you again.”

  She shook her head. “You have no idea what you’ve done.”

  “I know exactly what I’ve done. Lord Coalwater will go to my father. My father will tell him nothing and if Coalwater is as bloodthirsty as my father claims him to be…”

  Nora gasped. “So, you’re leaving your father to die?”

  Gregory stood and started to pace. “It won’t take much to end my father’s life. He’s been at the edge of death for years now. Once he’s dead, I’ll have leverage for freedom. Your husband’s silence and the silence of his friends for my own. I won’t report that he killed my father and you’ll be free to go.” He looked her over. “I regret hitting you.”

  “But not because it caused me pain.”

  “No, that is not the reason, not entirely.”

  Nora fought down her sickness. She hated the smell of the lab. She wanted to get out. She needed to stop her husband from committing yet another crime tonight.

  If she could stop him… then what? Would she ever forgive him for her brother’s death? It was unlikely, though she couldn’t help but blame herself for her situation, and she didn’t just mean being tied to a chair. She was responsible for it all. Her brother’s life and death.

  “This will end soon, I’m sure,” Gregory said, but Nora barely heard. Her face hurt, but her heart more than anything.

  ∫ ∫ ∫

  5 6

  * * *

  “And I wish to know why Lord Van Dero is after her in the first place,” Meri said once he was dressed and could join the men downstairs.

  “As would I,” Kent said. He walked by Garrick’s side. “What is going on?” He looked worried.

  Garrick was worried as well. He should have gone after Van Dero before the man had gone after his wife, but the letter that contained Kent’s truth was still in Van Dero’s poss
ession. Garrick didn’t know what to say to his friend at the moment. His act of vengeance may have put the happiness of both of them in jeopardy.

  The men all piled into the same carriage. Meri sat between Kent and Marley. Garrick sat next to Clive and James.

  It was Marley who spoke first. “Sorry to ask this while company is present, but did you kill Mark?” Mark had been Marley’s business partner. He’d also been responsible for Marley’s kidnapping, the one who’d set it up to make Marley disappear. When Marley had found out the truth last year, Garrick had vowed to handle it for him. He was surprised Marley hadn’t asked the question before.

  Perhaps, he hadn’t wanted to know the truth.

  Garrick didn’t care if Meri heard the truth. He wanted the man to fear him. He nodded.

  Meri gasped and then paled. It was the expression of a killer.

  “You killed Marley’s business partner?” Clive asked. He stared at Garrick in a way that was disheartening. This was why Garrick hadn’t said anything.

  “Mark was one who put me in Mr. Goody’s sights,” Marley told Clive. “Mark wanted the theatre to himself. He’d all but arranged my death.”

  “Just as my mother arranged mine,” Kent said. “I noticed you spared her.”

  “Yet, she is more kind to you, is she not?” Garrick asked.

  Kent blinked and his mouth gaped. “You did that? I thought nothing could control my mother.”

  Fear was very good motivation.

  “The dowager, Lady Ganden, still lives, but I noticed that other men have seemed to vanish,” Marley said. “Was Mark the only one you got rid of?”

  Garrick shook his head and looked at Meri with meaning, but staring at him reminded Garrick of why they were all in the carriage in the first place. Nora was missing. His gut clenched. What would he say to Miriam if anything were to happen to her mother? He’d caused all of this. His darkness had finally ruined her.

  “In all the men you met, did you ever find out who arranged my kidnapping?” James asked.

  “There was more than one man who wanted you gone. They worked together to see to your disappearance.”