She had to have entered one of the four passages, but which one? Mentally crossing his fingers, he went into the second from the left. It wound sinuously through the chalk, with gruesome, catacomb-style niches filled with animal bones.
Where the hell was Kit?
He rounded a bend and collided with someone coming the other way. Not Kit, unfortunately, but a burly guard with a pistol who must be on his way to investigate the gunshots. The impact knocked them both off-balance. By the time the guard recovered enough to raise his weapon, it was too late. Lucien kicked the gun from the other man's hand, then smashed him in the jaw with a hard right and an even harder left.
The guard dropped to the floor, unconscious. After confiscating the pistol and ammunition, Lucien tied the fellow up with his own shabby cravat. Then he stood and examined his surroundings. He was in a small chamber with another passage coming from the left. A table, two chairs, and a lamp were set in the center of the room, with cards splayed across the table, interrupted in the middle of a hand of solitaire.
Not a sign of Kit, but there was a heavy, iron-bound door on the opposite wall. He searched the guard and found a large brass key. It snicked neatly into the lock. As he turned the key, he prayed that Kira was inside. If she was, they could head for safety as soon as they located Kit again. She couldn't be far away.
The door swung open and he warily stepped inside, pistol in hand. He found himself in a well-furnished room that might have been a regular panor except for the lack of windows. One door led to a bedroom while the other opened to a stone-walled dungeon. It matched Kit's description exactly.
As he moved forward, he saw a flicker of movement from the corner of his eye. He turned to see Lady Kristine Travers. For an instant, shock immobilized him. The fact that Kit and Kira were identical twins had been at the heart of this mission. Yet it was still deeply disorienting to see a woman who looked exactly like Kit, but who was at the same time a stranger.
And while he stared, she tried to bash his skull in.
Lucien reflexively dived sideways so that her cudgel only grazed his right arm, knocking the pistol from his hand. Swift as a cat, she wound up to try again, her gray eyes wild.
He backed across the parlor, saying urgently, "Kira, put that thing down. I'm a friend of Kit's."
She froze, poised between belief and lethal violence.
"My name is Lucien Fairchild." He spoke soothingly, as to a frightened child. "Kit is somewhere nearby, too. She got lost while looking for you. Let's go find her."
Voice shaking, Kira said, "Kit is here!"
He nodded. "I've misplaced her in the maze of tunnels out there, but she can't be far." He stepped forward and took the club from her unresisting hand.
For a moment she rubbed her temples exactly the way Kit did. "I… I'm sorry I hit you," she said, her voice cracking. "I thought you were Lord Mace."
"Mace is the one who abducted you?"
She nodded. "He saw me perform and became obsessed. When I refused to become his mistress, he kidnapped me after a performance. Since then, he's, been forcing me to… to…"
He stopped her before she could breakdown again. Though she seemed physically well, months of captivity had left her emotionally fragile.
"You don't have to explain," he said quietly. "Kit learned the general outlines through her dreams of you."
That produced a faint.smile. "She would, bless her."
He studied Kira's face. The resemblance between the twins was truly amazing. The same slim figure and soft brown hair, the same gray eyes and pure, striking profile that had enabled him to identify Kit again and again.
But there were also differences. Kira's face and lips were a fraction fuller, and the fact that she was right-handed had given a subtly different set to her features. And, of course, her spirit was uniquely her own.
He had also never seen Kit wearing a short black satin chemise laced together with leather thongs that revealed dramatic slashes of creamy flesh, or knee-high boots and lace stockings. However, he knew that Kit would look as alluring as her twin did.
Seeing the direction of his glance, Kira said wryly, "I swore that if I ever got out of here alive, I'd be happy to wear white muslin for the rest of my life."
He smiled. Obviously she was beginning to get her wits about her. "Do you have a cloak? The weather is wretched, and we'll have a ride of several miles after we leave."
Kira darted into the other room and returned with a sable cape fit for a princess. As she threw it around her shoulders, she examined Lucien as thoroughly as he had studied her. "Are you the reason Kit has been feeling happy lately?"
Startled, he said, "I'd like to think so. You can feel her emotions the way she can yours?"
"Not so well as she does, but I usually get the general drift. Lately she's been horribly anxious about me, but there have also been flashes of intense joy."
Interesting, very interesting. Putting that aside for a more appropriate time, he asked, "Is there anything else you want to take? The sooner we get out of here and find Kit, the better. Unfortunately, the Disciples are holding a ritual tonight, and they've discovered our little rescue operation."
Kira's face paled, and he saw that fear was still very near the surface. '"The last time he was here, Mace explained that I was to be the main attraction for a gang rape by all of the Disciples,"' she said unevenly. "Afterward, there would be a private ceremony for him and his closest associates. The whole time I've been captive, he has been building toward tonight. Though he loved playing the role of sexual slave, the ultimate goal was for me to die at his hands."
Lucien caught her gaze with his. "Hang on a little longer, Kira," he said forcefully. "You can't fall apart just yet."
She closed her eyes, looking painfully brittle. Opening them again, she said, "I'll manage." She gave a crooked smile and brushed her hair with the back of her hand in a gesture that was purely her own. "There's nothing here I want. Except…"
She crossed the room and opened a cabinet. Inside were whips of different weights and materials. Taking the heaviest, she explained, "In case I need a weapon on the way out."
He retrieved the pistol, then ushered her out the door. In the guard room, he said, "I came from that direction, but I'm not sure we can leave the same way because a portcullis is blocking the main corridor that lies beyond. Also, Kit must be on this side of it. Do you know where that other passage goes?"
She shrugged. "Haven't the foggiest, but we might as well find out."
They entered the broader passage. Lucien hoped to God that they would find Kit quickly, because his anxiety about her was growing by the minute.
Chapter 37
A good thing the enemy was retreating, for the smoke made Michael choke so badly that for a time he was incapable of firing. When he could speak again, he said, "Close quarters are rotten for fighting-give me an open field any day."
"I prefer shooting cannon from a ship myself." Jason reloaded his pistol. "Lots of fresh air, and the enemy keeps his distance. Shall we get out of this corridor before they rally?"
"Excellent idea." After another fit of coughing, Michael gasped, "Back up to the gallery. There was a door on the far side that might take us down on the other side of the portcullis."
Moving fast, they retraced their path to the cross corridor. They were about to head for the stairs when they heard angry voices in that direction. The guards were planning another assault. Since the sanctuary, complete with Disciples, was the other way, they darted across the intersection into the corridor that was a continuation of the one they had come from.
When they were safely across and out of sight, they halted to consider the next step. Jason said, "Shall we try the stairs anyhow? I suspect that we can outfight any of this lot."