“I don’t know. I’ve not seen anything like them before.”
She couldn’t go, of course. She was small, human, and neither a warrior nor a witch. She couldn’t reliably shoot anything more than a foot or two away from her. In a pitched battle, she’d do more harm than good.
“Will you take anyone?” she asked, her eyes on the back of Stephen’s neck.
“I can’t,” he said, “Not unless Colin’s arm heals sooner than any of us think. If I catch Ward off guard, it should go all right.” He began to say something else and then stopped, so suddenly that Mina nearly ran into his back.
“What is it?” she asked, whispering again.
In answer, Stephen pointed to the window above the door, too high for Mina to see. “There are men out there. Two of them. And from the way they’re talking, they’re not moving for a while.”
Thirty-seven
Every curse Stephen knew, in a variety of languages, went through his mind in a moment. Rather than utter any of them, he bit his tongue and motioned for Mina to go back up the stairs. He followed her. Every so often, he turned to make sure the door hadn’t opened, but it stayed shut. The men outside didn’t seem to have heard their footsteps.
On the second-floor landing, they stopped. Mina sat down on the first step, and Stephen sank down beside her.
“They don’t know we’re here,” he said, once he’d started to think the situation through. “They’d have come in if they did. Or Ward would have.” Ward might also have sent demons after them if he’d known, but Stephen didn’t want to say that aloud just now. He glanced at his pocket watch: quarter past midnight. “He must have them guard the place regularly, this late.”
“Or someone else might,” said Mina. “He’s not the only rich man who keeps a secret or two.”
Even in the darkness, Stephen could see her grin at him. She seemed in no danger of panic. Her voice was a little shaky, but that was all. In that respect, as in others, she was a very good companion to have in these circumstances—even if her presence did bring with it certain complications.
The stairs weren’t wide. As they sat side by side, Mina’s thigh pressed against Stephen’s, the contact was thrilling despite their predicament, several layers of clothing, and the generally uninviting atmosphere of the staircase. He shifted his weight and fought a losing battle with his instincts.
At least it was dark.
“What now?” Mina asked.
“I’m not sure,” said Stephen, fixing his mind on higher things, or at least trying to. “I don’t want to kill the men outside—particularly not if Ward didn’t hire them.”
“No,” said Mina, quiet but firm. “You said you didn’t think they’d go away for a while?”
Stephen shook his head. “One of them said it was a long time until dawn. This place has no back door, either—at least not one we can get to from the staircase. We could break the lock on one of the ground floor offices and break a window from there—”
“—but that would get as much attention as going out the door.”
Stephen looked down at his hands, and the silver ring caught his attention. “I could talk to Colin, at least. I’m not sure what help that would be, though. ‘Excuse me, sir, but my brother and his friend snuck in there and would like to come out now.’ It doesn’t sound promising.”
“Doesn’t have to be him,” said Mina, sitting up as an idea struck her. “And it doesn’t have to be the truth. Have him hire someone to distract the guards. They could…I don’t know, start a fire or break a window round the back and start yelling, and then run for it. You could get a couple men for half a pound each, I’d think.”
“At this time of night?”
Mina laughed. “Especially at this time of night. It’s the sort of idea that’ll sound wonderful to drunk men.”
Without thinking, Stephen put an arm around Mina’s shoulders. “Cerberus, you’re a wonder.”
“A real criminal mastermind,” she said and laughed again, breathless this time. “You’d better talk to your brother, hadn’t you?”
She didn’t move away, though, or try to shrug his arm away. Beneath his hand, her shoulders began to relax a little. Stephen rubbed his hand along her arm gently, almost absently, as he triggered the ring.
“Colin?”
“Here. And not in the wine cellar, before you ask.”
Overhearing that, Mina giggled.
“I’d imagine you’d have no need to go yourself,” Stephen said. “You’d just make eyes at Polly and get her to bring you half the bottles down there. We’re a bit stuck here.”
He explained the situation in a few words and added Mina’s suggestion. Colin made a thoughtful noise. “I’d imagine that will work well enough. It’ll take a while for me to get it done, though. Can you hold out for an hour or two?”
“As long as we’re out before anyone else comes in,” said Stephen, “that’ll be good enough.”
“Right, then. Try not to set the place on fire while you’re waiting,” said Colin, and cut the connection.
“Well,” said Mina, sounding thoughtful. She leaned against Stephen’s side, possibly for warmth and possibly for reassurance of a sort he didn’t think she’d ask for, any more than he would. He put his other arm around her, glad for the human contact. He was also hard again, despite the clearly transient distractions of escape, and her breasts brushed against his chest when she breathed in a way that was going to drive him mad soon, but he was a MacAlasdair and several centuries old, and had at least a measure of self-control. He would be fine.
He realized she’d said something. “Hmm?”
“I said that we have some time on our hands.”
Surely she hadn’t meant that the way it sounded. She couldn’t intend anything suggestive, even if her voice had been like warm silk when she spoke.
“Aye,” he managed roughly. “It’s a pity we don’t have a deck of cards. And, er, a light, I suppose.”
“Yes,” said Mina, sounding almost annoyed. “Quite a shame.”
“You’ve my apologies for getting you into this,” Stephen said. He wished he could see her face better. Her body was tense again, though she wasn’t pulling away.
“It’s not your fault.”
“I could have kept watch on the building beforehand,” he said and tried to keep his voice even, tried not to think about the way she smelled and the way he could feel each breath as her chest rose and fell against him. “I might have seen—”
“We didn’t have time. You can’t know everything. Sometimes you’ve got to take a chance.”
She fell silent. Then she took a deep breath and looked up at Stephen, her breath warm against his face. “Especially at times like these.”
She leaned forward and kissed him.
As long as it had taken Mina to work up her nerve, as much as she’d hesitated at the last moment and almost backed down, that first kiss wiped away all of her remaining reservations in an instant. She clung to Stephen, every nerve in her body rejoicing at the strength of his arms around her and the heat of his mouth on hers.
If the kiss had caught him off guard, he didn’t show it. He met Mina’s invitation with equal parts skill and hunger. Already aroused by his nearness and by her wish to distract herself, she quickly found herself aching for more and welcoming the pressure of his body as he pulled her against him.
When Stephen’s hand found her breast, she whimpered and arched up against him, not-so-silently begging him to continue. Another time, such a blatant display of need might have embarrassed her, even through her desire. Now it didn’t matter. She and Stephen were alone together. They’d be alone together for a while, in the dark. Nothing counted. And the way he stroked her breast, then the harder pressure of his fingers on her nipple, felt so good she couldn’t have stopped herself anyhow.