I have two objectives right now: The first is to accomplish this damn mission so that I can journey back to you, and the second—to stay alive for the exact same reason.
Well, perhaps not in that order. Nonetheless, everything I do is so that I can return to you.
Yours forever,
Luke
RETURNED
Undisclosed location near a tributary of the Pra River
Luke unrolledthe classified correspondence and, upon reading the contents, exhaled slowly. Mentally calculating the timeline of the next thirty-six hours, he held the curling paper to the flame of his lantern and watched until the amber glow licked across the words. Only when it had crawled to his fingertips did he drop it onto the dirt floor and crush it into a million pieces of ash.
The enemy’s location had been identified and confirmed. This time, Luke was certain that there was no possible way for his men to be led into another trap. This time, his men would come out the victors. They would eradicate this particular danger once and for all.
The time was upon them.
The insurgents were pirates of a sort, traitors to the Crown who had amassed piles of weapons and ammunition—British weapons and British ammunition, which had been stolen secretly and methodically over the course of the past several months. Not only that, but they had attacked innocent civilians,people whose only mistake had been traveling down the wrong road at the wrong time. It wasn’t as if the monsters killed to defend their freedom or their territory, they had simply killed out of greed.
The pirates were nothing short of evil, but even worse was the fact that they did not appear to have been working alone.
Evidence discovered by War Office personnel pointed to a traitor from within, feeding the pirates information and sabotaging military efforts. Possibly someone under Luke’s command.
Luke’s veins had turned to ice when he found out.
He would capture whoever it was, and justice would be served. By the looks of things, this particular traitor was also behind the ambush that took the lives of six of Luke’s men, that took Gil’s life. All to serve his own self-interest.
Luke rose and paced back and forth within his tent, anger spurring his mind. He would know the man when he saw him. An English soldier would be easily evident amongst untrained fighters, by the manner in which he walked, the manner in which he carried himself. He would be made to answer for his crimes, along with all the rest of them.
Luke’s men would soon be ambushing the pirates’ compound, a location that appeared to be loaded with explosives, defended by the most dangerous type of foe—one who cared nothing for life or honor.
And, irony of ironies, for the first time in his life, Luke had something to live for, something more meaningful than his own selfish existence. He had a future.
Luke paused and stared down at his desk and quill. He needed to write to her in case… If he wrote an ‘if you’re reading this’ letter, she might never need it. If he didn’t write one, it would likely be his last regret.
Luke lowered himself onto the chair at his desk and opened the jar of ink.
To my beautiful, sweet Naomi…
“We will return as soonas the Season winds down.”
Although she was about to embark on a daylong journey by carriage to London, Lady Tempest didn’t appear as though she was dressed for travel. Instead of wearing something simple, something comfortable, she’d chosen a heavy black muslin gown with dark gray trim. Atop hair that was almost purple, she’d pinned a midnight velvet hat adorned with raven-colored feathers.
“Amelia will likely double in size by then,” Naomi joked as she watched the older woman climb into a heavy but lavish carriage. At the rate her daughter was growing, Naomi did not consider the prediction an exaggeration.
“You know I wouldn’t make the trip if dear Tempest didn’t require me to act as hostess for the state dinners required of him.”
“But of course,” Naomi reassured the older woman. Lady Tempest was nothing if not a stickler and would likely make this excuse dozens and dozens of times in the weeks to come.
Two weeks ago, Naomi had stood on the same steps and wished Lydia luck when she’d come to kiss Amelia goodbye the day before journeying to London. Blackheart had stood unsmiling at the bottom of the steps waiting for her, his wife, the new duchess, standing serenely at his side. He’d only had to glance at his timepiece three times before Lydia had given Naomi one last hug and bid her farewell.
Lucinda had already left to be with her husband and his family by that point. It had honestly been a little strange to see Lydia without her twin sister after all the time Naomi had spent with the two of them, but she supposed it was only natural that the girls would go their separate ways as they grew into adulthood.
She’d felt melancholy as she watched Luke’s family drive away on that day but felt mostly relief as Lady Tempest disappeared into her coach. And disappear, she did. Heavy drapes covered the windows, not allowing bystanders even the slightest glimpse of the lofty passenger.
Lord Tempest made to follow after her but then paused at Naomi’s side. “Instruct Mr. Webbs to send for me if you have need of… anything,” he offered with a brisk gesture toward the butler. Tempest didn’t speak to Naomi often. If he was at the estate, he mostly kept to his study or else wandered the grounds, which was fine by her. It wasn’t as though he’d ever spoken harshly or been unkind. It was just that the expression on his face was persistently ill-tempered.
On one occasion, when she’d been idling in the garden with Amelia, she’d caught sight of him striding toward the gardener’s hut. For an instant, she’d thought he was Arthur. Although physically he didn’t resemble his brother, his gait and his posture were very much the same as Arthur’s had been.
