I sank into a chair in the hallway as Bridget explained what had happened. Jasper and Christine had left Lowell with Ingrid so they could have some time together. Seth had broken into Christoph and Ingrid’s bedroom, attacked Ingrid, and taken Lowell.
Jasper and Benedict returned. I had never seen Jasper look this way before. He always held a countenance that showed that he was clearly in control. He walked with confidence, held his head high, and kept his shoulders square. Now he looked utterly defeated, still without color in his face and with tears in his eyes.
“Everyone down to the lounge,” Benedict commanded. “We’re going to gather everyone together and formulate a plan of attack. Let’s go.”
“All of us?” I asked.
“Everyone,” repeated Benedict. I stood up from the chair and took Adam’s hand, feeling comfort in the squeeze of his fingers. Most of us started down the stairs, but Bridget stayed behind to help Christine. No one spoke as we filed into the lounge, taking whatever seats were available. Moments later Christine entered with Annabelle and Bridget. Her eyes had lost all life.
Jasper rushed to meet her, wrapping his arms around her body. “We’ll find him, my darling. I promise we will.”
“I thought you were out looking for him?” she asked.
“I was, but I needed to check on you. Almost the entire castle is searching for him. After this meeting is over, we’ll go back out.”
He guided her over to a loveseat and pulled her close as Benedict stood in front of the fire. The elder cleared his throat before speaking.
“We will find him,” he said.
“Firstly, to the duke and duchess, I want to apologize that Seth managed to escape in the first place.”
“How did he get out?” Christine asked in a faint voice.
“He managed to pull a key ring off one of the guards. The guard didn’t realize it was missing.
“That’s inexcusable,” Jasper said, his voice cold.
“I agree,” the elder said. “We will search high and low for Seth and the baby. We ask that you remain here.”
Jasper leapt off the couch. “I’m sorry?”
“Your grace, we ask that you stay here.”
“Absolutely not,” Jasper said.
“My lord, you must be here just in case—”
“In case what?” Christine asked. “In case he comes walking back here?”
“In case Seth comes back to taunt you,” the elder finished.
“I’m not sitting here,” Jasper said. “I’m going to help you look for him.”
“The elders and staff know the house better than you do, Jasper. You all could end up as a liability.”
“Then pair us off!” Jasper almost shouted. “No one gets lost, and there are more ears and eyes available to find my son!”
“Right now, I think it’s best if you wait here.”
“I don’t care what you think is best!” Jasper shouted, a vein in his neck beginning to bulge.
“Your grace—”
Jasper struck his fist out at a nearby vase. It tumbled to the floor, shattering into a million tiny pieces of pottery.
“Your grace, there is no need for that show of masculinity,”
Jasper clenched his fist, bringing it down on the nearby table, splintering it apart. “Don’t tell me how I need to react,” he said, his eyes alight with fire. “My son is missing, and it was your incompetence that caused his kidnapper to free himself in the first place.”
“Duke Wolfric, you’ll do well to remember your position,” Benedict said darkly. “You may be duke and alpha, but I control the wolves of Great Britain.”
“Do whatever you’d like to punish me for insubordination,” Jasper growled. “Just find my son!”
The men stood, poised for words, before Benedict shook his head. “Jasper, I understand that you’re panicking,” he said softly. “I promise you, we will do whatever we can to bring Seth to justice and to save your boy.”
“Then let us help,” Jasper begged.
Benedict sighed. “All right. As long as you stay with your assigned elder, I suppose we can make it work.”
Christine stood up. “I’m coming too.”
Jasper shook his head. “No, my darling, you aren’t. It’s too dangerous.”
“I don’t care if it’s dangerous!” she cried. “He’s got my baby! It’s more dangerous for him!”
“I care if it’s dangerous,” he said. “I can’t lose you both.”
“I won’t survive if Lowell doesn’t.”
I swallowed my tears as I watched them.
“I will find him, and I will bring him back,” he promised.
“Jasper, I need to help.”
“No, Christine,” Benedict interrupted. “Jasper is right. This is far too dangerous. We don’t know what Seth is capable of.”
“But I do! He’s capable of murder and he’s capable of kidnapping and he’s capable of killing an innocent baby!”
“We’ll find him. We’ll find him.”
“But will you find him alive?”
Jasper swallowed. “God willing.”
“Jasper, I just can’t. I can’t let you go without me. I need to help.”
“You can help by staying behind.”
“That’s foolish! The more eyes you have looking, the greater your chances.”
Jasper glanced at Benedict. They shared an exclusive look that I couldn’t interpret, but after a moment, Jasper sighed.
“All right, my love. Let’s go get changed,” he finally said. I was surprised by his change of heart.
I went upstairs with Adam to help him get ready to leave.
“You’ll be careful?” I asked as he grabbed his gun.
“Absolutely.”
“Adam,” I said, grabbing his arm, and he paused. “Promise me. Promise me that you’ll be careful.”
He leaned down and kissed me. “I’ll do whatever is necessary to find the duke’s child.”
“And I want you to. But you know how Jasper said he couldn’t live without Christine? I can’t live without you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You’ll never have to find out,” he said.
We met up with the others in the hallway. The men were talking in low voices, preparing for their hunt. Benedict was handing out weapons, and he handed a gun to Christine.
“Is everyone ready?” Jasper asked after Christine was instructed how to use it.
“Christoph?” Benedict asked.
I looked over to see Christoph step through the crowd. I was surprised to see him; surely he’d rather be at his wife’s bedside. He stepped beside Christine, and in a swift move, injected something into her neck. She crumpled toward the floor, Jasper catching her in his arms.
“What the bloody hell was that for?” Bridget demanded.
“She can’t come with us,” Jasper said, shaking his head. “I won’t risk it.”
“So you bloody knocked her out?”
I had never seen such a coldness take over his expression. “By the time she wakes, she’ll be long gone.”
“And mad as all hell.”
“Bridget,” Conor interjected, but she turned on him.
“You had better not have been in on this,” she said. He put his hands up in a gesture of innocence.
“Let’s get her to the bed,” Jasper said. He lifted her in her arms and Bridget, Annabelle, and I followed behind him, Bridget’s arms still crossed in a show of defiance. Jasper gently laid Christine down on the bed, covering her with a light blanket, before kissing her on the forehead.
Jasper and the other men left, and the three of us women stayed in Christine’s bedroom, waiting for her to wake. Daniel had fallen asleep on the rug by the fire, and Annabelle sat by Christine’s bedside. Bridget and I sat in the chairs by the window, unable to find the words to have even the shortest chat. Eventually she left the room to see if she could get any sort of update.
After about an hour, Christine woke up, gasping
for air.
“It’s all right, Christine, it’s all right,” Annabelle said, smoothing back her hair.
“Lowell, where is Lowell?” she asked.
I got up from my chair and crossed to the bed, sitting down on the edge. “They’re looking for him,” I assured her.
She struggled to sit up, leaning back against the headboard. She rubbed at the place on her neck that Christoph had stabbed her.
“That bastard,” she said, though it wasn’t clear whether she was talking about Christoph, Jasper, or Benedict.
“They were just trying to keep you safe,” Annabelle said.
“No, I need to go look for my son,” she said, struggling against Annabelle’s comforting hand.
“Calm down, calm down,” said Annabelle. “They’ve got dozens of men out looking for him. They’ll find him.”
“I need to help. Please, let me help,” Christine begged.
“Take a deep breath,” Annabelle said. “That’s it, that’s a good girl.”
“Please let me go find him.”
I took her hand as she began to sob, and Annabelle rubbed her back. “It’s going to be all right, it’s going to be all right,” Annabelle told her over and over.
After a moment, Christine took a deep breath.
She lifted her head up and sniffled. “Can I get some water, please?”
“Of course,” Daisy said. I hadn’t even noticed her come in.
“They’ve searched the castle,” Bridget said, coming over. “But he’s not here. All the parties are out in the forest now, looking.”
Christine nodded.
Bridget sat on the edge of the bed next to me. “They’re going to find him, Christine.”
“I’m worried that it’s going to be too late,” she said, swallowing. We fell quiet.
“I’m going to use the restroom,” she said.
She stayed in there for several minutes.
“I’m going to go take a walk,” she announced when she returned.
“Do you want someone to come with you?” Annabelle asked.
“I think I just need to be alone for a while, if that’s all right.”
After Christine left, we all decided to break apart and go to our own rooms until she returned. We were all worn out and needed some time to process.
I shut the door behind me and crossed to the windows. From here I could see the tracks of the men across the yard and into the woods. I twisted my ring around my finger. I hoped Adam was safe. I needed him to be safe.
I sank down into a chair. I considered reading or sketching or even sewing, but I couldn’t find the motivation to do any of those things. Instead I stared out the window until Bridget came in.
“Christine needs us,” she told me.
I jumped from my chair. “All right. What can I do?”
“Do you have a weapon?”
I paused. “What?”
“Christine thinks Seth is still in the house.”
“What makes her say that?”
“She found Lowell’s hat in Seth’s prison cell. She thinks that Seth hid there while the men searched the castle for him, and that now that they’re gone, he’s loose somewhere.”
“All right,” I said, pulling my shoes on. “What’s the plan? Where are we going first?”
“We need to stick together. Christine has the gun, and I can shift if need be, but if we split up, Seth will probably kill us. I say we do each floor one level at a time. If he’s still in the house, that means that Lowell probably isn’t dead yet. It means he probably wants to be found.”
I nodded and the two of us started into the hallway. We had only taken a few steps when a crash sounded through the house.
“Oh, that is not good,” Bridget said, and we broke into a run toward the direction of the shot: Christine’s bedroom. Before we entered, Bridget grabbed a sword from one of the suits of armor along the hallway. We didn’t bother knocking. Instead, Bridget shoved the door open, sword in hand.
We were not prepared for the sight before us. Christine had fallen to the floor. On the far side of the bed, Seth stood over the bassinet, a knife pointed down into it. I could see Lowell sleeping just underneath the point.
“Christine, what—” Bridget started as Seth stared at us.
Christine moved fast. She reached over and grabbed the gun, pointed it at Seth, and fired off shot after shot. Seth fell to the floor while Christine scrambled to her feet, rushing to Lowell’s side. He was screaming now, the gunshot breaking him from his slumber.
“Oh my God, my baby, oh my God,” she murmured, rocking him in my arms.
“Is he all right?” I asked, hurrying over to her side.
“I think so,” she said, tears in her eyes. “He needs to be changed and I’m sure he needs to eat.”
I wrapped my arms around her as we crossed to the bed. Suddenly she nearly stumbled, and I looked down to see Seth’s hand clenched around her ankle. She kicked it away, but he still tried to crawl after her.
“I’m going to get you, you cunt,” he said, blood spraying everywhere. “You aren’t going to get away with this. I’m going to kill you and kill your spawn and then I’m going to kill your husband, and—”
With both the baby and gun still in her hands, Christine fired off another shot. Seth’s head dropped to the floor followed by a glint of metal. Seth’s head rolled to the side, blood spilling everywhere. I glanced at Bridget, who stood there, leaning against the sword.
“Just making sure,” she said with a shrug.
We breathed a sigh of relief as downstairs, the men raced into the house.
Chapter Twenty–Six
Christine swallowed. “He can’t recover from that, can he?”
“Nope,” Bridget said, leaning on the hilt of the sword.
We all took a deep breath as the men burst into the room. There was a flurry of movement as some of the men rushed to examine Seth’s body. Jasper hurried to Christine’s side, pulling a blanket over her shoulders and wrapping his arms around her, kissing both her and the baby. Bridget had sank into a chair, the sword dripping blood down the blade.
Benedict sat down next to Christine, who still had Lowell clutched to her chest, running her hands through his hair.
“Are you all right, Christine?”
She nodded but didn’t speak.
“Can you tell me what happened?” Benedict asked. “Take your time,” he said gently.
“I had just woken up,” she said. “My brain felt scrambled, so I needed to go for a walk. I went outside and walked around the castle, just trying to clear my mind. I went to check on Ingrid and Christoph, and noticed one of Christoph’s needles was missing. He looked in his bag, and discovered a sedative was missing as well. It made sense that perhaps Seth was still in the castle, drugging Lowell to keep him quiet. I went back to my room and that’s when I found him. Lowell was asleep in the bassinet, and Seth was standing by the window. He dangled a knife over Lowell, threatening to kill him.”
She paused for a moment, closing her eyes. Her hand was trembling. “I still had the gun in my pocket. I threatened him with it and he shoved me backward. Bridget came in to see what was going on, and I took advantage of the distraction to shoot him. I raced to Lowell, and while I was holding him Seth lunged for me. I shot him again, then Bridget sliced off his head with the sword.”
Bridget folded her arms. “I don’t regret it,” she said.
“No,” Benedict said, shaking his head, “I don’t imagine you would.”
Adam came and stood beside me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. “Are you all right?”
“Me? I’m fine.”
“How much did you see?”
I sighed. “Bloody everything.”
“And you’re all right with that?”
“I might have nightmares,” I acknowledged.
“I guess I’ll just have to stay the night in your room again.”
I leaned into him. “I’m all right with that.” I turned to
face him. “Are you all right?”
“A little tired, perhaps, but otherwise I’m fine.”
“How far did you go?”
“We must have been miles away from the castle. We had circled back when we heard the gunshots.”
“Lucky thing. I don’t know how well we would have handled being in the room with a dead body for too long.” I watched as several of the elders took away Seth’s corpse.
“Why don’t we all get some rest,” Benedict said to the crowd still in the room. “We’ll meet tomorrow.”
Adam and I retired to my room, and I showed him just how thankful I was that he was safe.
The following day, everyone, with the exception of Christine, met in the lounge.
“First off,” Benedict said, “I would once again like to extend a sincere apology to everyone for all that has happened. We have never faced a situation like this in the nearly thousand years the elders have been in charge, and I pray we never will again. New steps are being taken to secure the prison.”
We all nodded.
“Now,” he continued, “we will not be carrying on with the trial any longer, as the defendant is dead.”
“What about the men helping Seth?” asked Conor.
“Many of them offered to testify against Seth in exchange for a confession and reduced sentence. For the rest, we should be able to use the testimonies you have already given.”
Conor crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, giving a brisk nod.
“With the recovery of Ingrid, Christine, and Lowell, you are welcome to stay as long as needed,” said Benedict.
My heart began to beat faster. I understood the sentiment, but I didn’t want to stay longer. Now that everything was put to bed, I wanted to leave so I could finish the last bit of wedding planning before our big day. Adam squeezed my hand.
“All right. If you need anything, please let me know. Otherwise, we ask that you enjoy the last days of your trip. Use it like a holiday.”
He dismissed us, and I turned to Adam. “What would you like to do now?” I asked him.
“The sun is out. Would you like to walk around the garden?”
“That sounds lovely.”
Benedict cleared his throat. “Actually, Hazel, Adam, Jasper, could I speak to you a moment?”
The Wolf's Betrothed (The Wolf's Peak Saga Book 5) Page 20
