Montverre sniffed.“Come up here, Capitaine, let me see it in the light.I am a man of honor.Vous pouvez me faire confiance.”
Caleb’s laugh was bitter.“I think not.Bring her to me.And tell your men to keep their distance.”
The marquis spat a string of curses that curdled the night air.With a violent tug, he dragged Desi down the steps, his jeweled fingers biting into her arm.Rage burned hot in Caleb’s chest at the flicker of pain on her face.And then, she was before him.Close enough he caught her fragrance and saw the sheen of tears that trembled yet did not fall.
“As you see, unharmed.”Montverre thrust out his hand.“The Ring.”
Leaves rattled overhead as a sea breeze wound through the clearing.A night heron’s cry split the silence, eerie as an omen.
“Don’t give it to him, Caleb.”Her voice shook, but her words cut with steel.“I am not worth the destruction he will bring.”
For a moment, the ground itself seemed to still.Caleb stared, undone by her courage.What an extraordinary woman.
Montverre’s laughter slashed through the hush.“Quelle tendresse!How touching, how noble.”He flourished a lacy sleeve, his men echoing his mirth.
Caleb gave Desi the barest nod, a silent vow that he would not fail her.She swallowed hard, eyes brimming, her lips whispering courage even as her hands trembled.
“Enough!”The marquis barked, wrenching Desi behind him.“I’ll have the Ring now or you’ll never see the woman again.”
Evil flashed across the man’s eyes, taunting Caleb, tempting him to lose faith in God, lose faith in truth and love.But he could not.Not this time.“As you wish.”Pulling the ring from his pocket, he dropped it into the marquis’s hands.Before the man could react, Caleb took Desi’s arm and drew her fiercely to his side.
A blade hissed from its sheath among the men, but Montverre lifted a hand, restraining them, his gaze fixed only on the prize.He raised the lantern, light reflecting off his face like the glow of hell itself.
“Enfin!” His voice trembled with rapture.“Three centuries my family has hunted this relic, and now I shall wield it.Power fit not for a man, but for a king!”
Bile burned Caleb’s throat.He crushed Desi’s hand in his, holding fast.“Then I leave you to your kingdom, monsieur.”
“Non.”Montverre’s smile was a blade.“Not so fast, Capitaine.Not until I test its power.”
Caleb’s throat turned to sand.Blood carved fire through his veins.The very thing he had prayed against, hoped Montverre’s vanity might delay, was now upon him.
“Now, whose honor are you questioning, monsieur?”Caleb forced iron into his tone.“You have the ring.I have Miss Starr.It is done.”He turned, tugging her with him.The scrape of steel answered—the hiss of a dozen blades unsheathed at once, slicing the night’s silence.
“Ah, ha,mon capitaine,” Montverre crowed.“You take me for a simpleton?I would be a fool not to test the merchandise,non?”
Desi stiffened beside him, breath quick and shallow.Caleb pivoted to face the sharp glint of ten swords leveled at his heart.Lord, I need Your help.
“By all means, Marquis de Montverre,” he said evenly.“Yet what spectacle can the ring produce here in the jungle?”
Montverre’s grin widened.“It is said to command the storm.”He lifted his gaze to the canopy of heaven, where a thousand stars burned like cold fire over a clear velvet sky.Slipping the ring onto his finger, he thrust it upward.“I command it, rain!”
The night answered with the chorus of katydids and the distant lap of waves.No wind stirred.No cloud darkened the heavens.
Montverre’s smile withered.His eyes narrowed, hard as flint.Caleb braced for the order,Kill him, seize the girl.His muscles coiled to snatch Desi and run.
Then,plop.A drop landed on his brow.Another kissed his cheek.More came, pattering upon leaves, drumming the soil, splashing against steel.Caleb lifted his face, blinking at the sudden veil of rain.Above them, a lone black cloud swelled, blotting out the moon.
Montverre’s laughter rang through the clearing, manic and triumphant.He spread his arms wide, rain streaming down his laced cuffs, and lifted his face to the heavens.“Voilà!The power is mine!”
Caleb’s gaze locked with Desi’s.Shock mirrored between them.She knew the ring was false.Then how did this happen?
And in the marrow of his bones he knew this was no sorcery, no trinket’s deceit.
This was the hand of the living God!
“Satisfied?”he called over the rainfall, swiping water from his brow.His voice cut sharp with defiance.“I believe we’ll be leaving now.”
Montverre lowered his arms, dripping lace plastered to his sleeves, and gestured for his men to step back.Yet as his eyes met Caleb’s, malice burned there, black and unyielding as night.
