“Make it one hour. Tell Bran it is now or never.”
Twelve
Ambrose bowed and launched into the air, his flight just slightly wobbly. “I shall return to save you, Lady Millicent. Have no fear!” He zipped out the window.
“Why does everyone think I need to be rescued?” muttered Millicent. “I have managed to take care of myself all of my life—” She spun on Gareth. “And you—you were supposed to just charm the vamp into talking. Not seduce her.”
He shrugged. “Old habits are hard to break, my lady.”
She snarled.
“But I promise you it shall not happen again.”
Millicent nodded, then flicked a gaze at Selena, who rose to her feet and wiped the blood from her chin with the edge of her sleeve. The foolish chit gazed lovingly at Gareth… again. She could not be that fickle. “You made her drink your blood.”
He winced. “We need her help.”
“And you must have deduced the duke’s schemes or you would not have sent for Bran. There is magic in your blood, then? This is why Ghoulston wanted it…”
Selena snickered. Gareth threw her a look and she hushed, clasped her hands to her bosom, and batted her eyes dolefully at him.
Millicent made a face. “How long do the effects last?”
Gareth shrugged. “I am not sure. And Selena says there is no magic in my blood. That over the centuries the magic has altered my blood into a natural sort of love potion.”
“Ghoulston’s gift for the queen! So that is what’s in the tea leaves… a concoction of your blood. But what would the duke gain by making the queen fall in love with you?”
“If he controls the relic, he can control me. To an extent.”
“You both have it wrong,” interrupted Selena. “Shall I enlighten you, my love?”
Gareth started. “Aye, lady.”
Selena threw Millicent a triumphant look as Gareth’s attention settled solely on her. She patted her disheveled hair and adjusted the black lace pelerine at her shoulders. “The duke experimented with my knight’s blood, and managed to find a way to add his own to it. The queen shall fall in love with His Grace, not Sir Gareth. But my master could not find a way to prolong the effects, so he added a bit of cocasha to it.”
“Cocasha?” asked Millicent.
“An addictive narcotic created by a Viscount Casha over two centuries ago,” replied Gareth. “Rumored to be made from the daydreams of pixies and the seeds of a bush germinated with the viscount’s magic, it is mild and relatively harmless in small quantities.”
“It tastes like chocolate,” added Selena.
“Then even if it is detected in the tea, no one will think anything about it.” Millicent began to pace the room, weaving between pillows and couches. “The queen will continue to drink the potion. My instincts were right. They gossiped about the arrival of Prince Albert at Lady Yardley’s tea party, and Ghoulston reacted strangely. He must have been anxious for me to get the tea to the queen before she met with the prince again, for rumors had it that she might fall in love with her cousin. Ghoulston said the queen should marry a loyal subject… and spoke of the vagaries of love.”
“Do you think your friend has already given the box to the queen?”
Millicent shook her head. “I have no idea. If she waited on the lady last night, it’s possible.”
“We must find a way to warn the queen.”
Millicent came to an abrupt halt. “Who would believe such a story? Even now it is difficult to imagine the lovely young queen in love with that overbearing, evil… frog. Perhaps it won’t work.”
“Perhaps. But we must do something.”
“We shall,” answered Millicent. “We shall get Nell out of this place to somewhere safe, so the duke cannot use her against me anymore. You both agreed to that, remember?” And she glanced between Gareth and Nell. “I agreed to stay until we discovered the duke’s plans. We can pass on this information to whoever might listen, but I will not get tangled up in affairs of the abovegrounders.”
Gareth’s blue eyes glittered, but he nodded his head. “As you wish, my lady.”
Millicent fought an odd feeling inside her at the expression on his face. Didn’t he understand that Nell must come first? That getting in the way of the duke’s plans would endanger all of them? Why must he think they should come to the queen’s rescue? Surely the lady had sorcerers and counselors who protected her. What could one were-cat, an old woman, and an enchanted knight do to change the fate of the world?
That he should make her feel guilty and selfish for protecting her own truly bothered her.
The door to their prison shuddered, and they all spun to face it.
“Lady Selena,” called one of the guards through the widening crack in the door. “Ye have been in there a long time.”
“Get rid of him,” hissed Gareth.
Selena crossed to the door. “And you are interrupting! Go away.”
But the crack widened farther. “The duke said to watch ye around the magic man,” continued the guard, his face now wedged in the opening. “And ye have had long enough for a spot of fun.”
“You’re just jealous,” snapped the vamp. “I told you, you don’t own me, Jok.”
Millicent rolled her eyes. “Jok? I thought you had better taste, Selena.”
“Oh, do be quiet.”
The door scraped the rest of the way open, and one of Ghoulston’s most trusted guards stepped into the room.
“Too bad it’s not the red-haired giant,” muttered Gareth as he drew his sword.
Jok took one quick glance around the room and drew his own sword with a grin. “Eh, lookin’ for a bit of sport, guvner? Most happy to oblige.”
Millicent shifted to panther, putting her body between the men and Nell. She hoped Bran and his gang would get here fast, for it appeared they were escaping. Now.
Jok did not have a chance of beating Gareth in a sword fight, and knew it within the first few seconds. His cocky grin faded and he reached for his pistol. Gareth sliced his hand. When Jok bent over to cradle the wound, Gareth shoved him with a well-placed boot to the back. At least Jok was smart enough to stay down.
Gareth spun his sword in a dizzying display of naked steel and faced the other guards crowding the doorway. “Next?”
His voice sounded arrogant, but Millicent knew him well enough now to hear the weary sadness that lay underneath. She did not wait for the other guards to take up the challenge, or draw their pistols. They possessed none of the honor her knight did, and would not hesitate to shoot him. They did not fight fair in the Underground.
Millicent let loose her fiercest panther scream and leaped past Gareth into the mob of guards. She caught a glimpse of frightened eyes before she bowled over two of the men. Muffled grunts and confused shouts followed as they tumbled across the corridor. Millicent bit and clawed, felt the cold slice of a blade on her right shoulder. The steel must have been coated in silver, because it actually cut her. She screamed again, turned on the man who held the dagger, and clamped her jaws around his throat until he quit struggling. He stank of ale and sweat and fear.
Millicent snorted. Both of the men she had attacked no longer moved. She spun to face the rest of the guards.
Gareth stood like some warrior god, a bloody blade in his hand, fallen bodies surrounding him. His eyes blazed a fierce blue, and his handsome face held little emotion. Until he looked at her. “Are you all right?”
Millicent nodded. Swished her tail for emphasis.
“’Twas a foolish thing to do, my lady. You could have gotten hurt.”
Millicent limped over an unconscious guard and nuzzled Gareth’s hand. His lips tightened but he gently caressed her head.