Drex heard Manchester’s entourage arrive before he saw them. Cursing the dense morning fog, he could only hope his nemesis had not had adequate time to hide gunmen in the surrounding brush.
-154-
The Lady and the Dragon
A lone figure approached through the soupy gray mist. Drex walked toward the man and recognized Greg by the multi-colored hat perched atop his towering wig. His chalky face appeared ghostly in the pallid sunlight.
“Ready?” Greg asked.
Drex nodded, forcing himself to focus on the matter before him, not the woman behind him. “Are they armed?”
“Manchester refused to come without weapons.”
With a shrug, Drex accepted that fact. He had not come to meet an enemy without guns, either.
“Did you get a good look at Ryan?”
Greg nodded. “I feel certain I saw him behind his beard and bruises when I peeked in the coach.”
Relief spiked through Drex, followed closely by anger. Ryan was hurt, perhaps even bleeding or dying.
He swore. “Tell Manchester to bring Ryan to the middle of the field. I’ll meet him there with Christina.”
Greg nodded and spun away. Drex turned slowly and faced Lilli. Her face was set in tense, angry lines.
His stomach clenched up like a fist as he approached her. He’d only have these few minutes with her before she left his life forever, eclipsing him from her golden light. He wished they could have privacy, that he could tell her he did not want to let her go. That he cared, despite his better judgment.
He stopped directly before her. The cold fury spitting from her green eyes let him know pretty words and the truth would no longer redeem him in her view—a circumstance probably for the better, much as he regretted her pain.
They had too little in common. Just an electric desire that defied the laws of logic.
“You’re sending me back to Grandfather, aren’t you?” The accusation in her voice told him she knew the answer.
He nodded, unable to find his voice, to unearth the words to hide the tangle of his feelings.
“For amnesty?” She raised a sharp blond brow.
-155-
Shelley Bradley
“The less you know, the better.”
His answer came out in an even, modulated voice. Yet his emotions warred a bloody battle with logic, duty versus desire, responsibility versus yearning.
Forcing the dichotomy of his feelings aside, he reached for her arm to lead her away. She jerked from his grasp. “I hardly need your assistance to walk.”
Drex steeled himself against the rising need to drag her into his arms.
“Follow me.”
The trek across the lonely field seemed interminable. Drex surveyed his surroundings for surprise attacks, aware all the while of Lilli behind him. She smelled of scented soap this morning. That light lilac fragrance, combined with the damp morning chill, permeated his very being.
Resisting the urge to turn back and hold her, Drex concentrated on the crunch of brittle grass beneath his boots, on watching for emerging figures in the fog.
Lilli’s once-snug dress now fit as if it had been made for another woman.
He wondered when she had last eaten. Her fragility only magnified his guilt.
Damn it, shutting her out of his life had not been an easy task for him, either.
In fact, he ranked the feat blasted near impossible. But he’d done it. So why hadn’t she recovered her former fiery self?
In time, she would. She was angry because he’d planned this hostage exchange without her knowledge or consent. Of course, she would hate him for this. Which was fine, since he would come to think of her as a fond memory, someday.
The argument was sound and sensible and should have made him feel better. But he didn’t believe it.
Finally, four figures appeared, materializing out of the fog. He recognized Greg’s pasty countenance and Manchester’s tight one. Two soldiers flanked either side of them.
“You bastard,” Manchester growled. “Where is my granddaughter?”
Drex stepped to one side, revealing Lilli. She gasped and sniffled, and he turned to find her gaze focused on her grandfather. Tears floated down her taut, pale cheeks. She took two quick steps toward Manchester. Drex thrust an arm in front of her, blocking her path.
-156-
The Lady and the Dragon
Her impatience to be gone from him shouldn’t bother him, Drex knew. But bloody hell, it did.
The old man clenched his large hands into fists. “By God, if you’ve hurt her—”
“Where is your hostage?” Drex broke in.
“You’ll have to retrieve him. He’s in the coach, unconscious.”
Drex clenched his teeth, vowing he’d exact revenge, particularly if the Admiralty had caused Ryan permanent damage or death. “Point me in the right direction.”
At Manchester’s side, Greg gave a nearly undetectable shake of his head, then chimed in with his phony falsetto French voice, “Excuse us. Oui?”
Drex watched with confusion as Greg approached and took his arm.
Grabbing Lilli, he allowed his friend to guide a few steps away from the gathering. “Don’t go to the coach. I heard some of Manchester’s men arrive just moments ago. I don’t doubt they all have guns pointed at that vehicle.”
Drex cursed. His mind raced. He could send someone else to the coach, but refused to risk another’s life when his own should be at stake. He considered using Christina as a shield, but cast the idea aside. Risking her safety was unthinkable.
Still, the duke’s latest tactic gave Drex little choice but to counter with a new plan.
“Follow me,” he said to Greg, then strode back to Manchester, holding Christina’s wrist in his grip.
Once he reached the older man, Drex commanded, “You will go back to the coach and drive it to this spot.” He pointed to the ground before him. “Then I will release your granddaughter.”
Manchester paused, then nodded.
“And when I leave this field, no one will follow.”
“No one,” the duke choked.
He nodded. “Good.”
Manchester walked away. Drex stood tensely.
-157-
Shelley Bradley
Inside a minute, the coach arrived, with Manchester on the box. The older man stopped the vehicle and dropped down.
Drex peered into the window. Ryan’s identity was unmistakable, even relaxed in slumber and covered by welts of purple and black.
Euphoria swirled through Drex. His life would again be his. He could return home, plant his crops in the earth, see his fortune prosper, give up danger and war and treason. Then he spotted Lilli by his side, her face ashen and angry, and wondered if anyone would really win this battle.
“Take him out of the coach,” Drex demanded.
Manchester paused. “He’s injured and should be moved as little as possible.”
Frustration and anxiety gnawed at Drex’s stomach. Based on his visual assessment, Manchester was right. He motioned to Greg, who nodded. “Get someone to bring the coach over here.”
“Oui,” Greg answered in a single-high pitched syllable, then disappeared into the fog.
A long moment of silence fell over the small group. Drex felt Lilli’s small wrist in his hand, warm proof of his sacrifice to his brother’s damned sense of adventure. A tangible reminder of the woman he feared he would never forget.
As he turned to her, a pool of tears gathered in her huge emerald eyes. Drex used his grip to pull her close. She resisted, but proved no match for his strength.
Words eluded him as he stared for an endless moment into her fair features. The wind brushed an errant strand of her golden hair from her upswept style. Drex caught the curl with his fingers and tucked it behind her ear.
Christina opened her mouth. Drex saw the protest coming before she voiced a single word.
“Don’t—” she began softly.
He silenced her with a kiss.
Leveling his mouth atop hers, Drex allowed himself to taste her nectar this last time. She stiffened against him, but her silent refusal couldn’t dampen his