“Watch out, Lillian!” Fi called.
Wilkes grabbed Lillian’s leg, yanking her off-balance. Fi gripped her dagger, ready to wade in, yet afraid of hurting Lillian while she wrestled with Wilkes on the ground. The pair rolled, trying to get control of the dagger. They came to a sudden halt with Lillian on top, Wilkes beneath her…Wilkes’s eyes widening as he looked down at the knife embedded in his chest.
Fi helped Lillian up. Wilkes remained unmoving, his last expression one of utter disbelief. As if he couldn’t fathom that he had been bested…by a woman.
“D-did I…is h-he…?” Lillian’s cheeks were blood-splattered, her pupils dilated. As her fury wore off, shock rapidly took its place.
“You defended yourself. Did what you had to.” Fi was tracking Hawk, saw that he had dragged Sterling up against the wall and was continuing to work out the rage of betrayal. “Now you must go down this chute. I’ll join you once I’ve helped my husband—”
“If I’m not leaving with my money, then neither are you,” Sterling suddenly snarled.
He reached up and grabbed a lantern from its hook on the wall, a crazed look in his eyes.
“Don’t—” Hawk roared.
Sterling smashed the lantern onto the ground.
Hawk jumped back, a wall of flame springing up where he’d been a heartbeat ago.
Sterling screamed as the fire leapt onto his flour-speckled clothes.
“Go.” Fi shoved Lillian toward the closest chute. “The whole place is going to burn!”
With a frightened nod, Lillian climbed into the chute and vanished from sight.
Fi ran to Hawk, pulling him back as he tried to get through the barrier of flame to his shrieking former colleague, now engulfed in flames. She grabbed his jaw with both hands, staring into his storm-filled eyes.
“You can’t help him,” she said. “We have to get out of here.”
Hawk’s gaze cleared. He grabbed her hand, and they raced to the chute. The flames chased them, swallowing the floorboards behind their pounding steps. Smoke billowed through the room, stinging Fi’s eyes and filling her lungs. Coughing, she stumbled, but Hawk dragged her to the chute. She went first, sliding into darkness. She landed with a thump, the world wobbling; she was on a small boat roped to a dock. At the end of the waterway, she could see a foggy moonlit sky…the Thames.
An instant later, Hawk slid onto the boat, landing beside her. Cupping the back of her neck, he pulled her in for a hard kiss.
“Let’s go,” he said.
Wordlessly, they worked together. She unanchored the boat; he found the oar. Within moments, they were gliding through the passageway as explosions sounded overhead.
“I hope our friends got out,” she said worriedly.
“They did, love,” he said with calm assurance.
They made it out from under the building into the openness of the Thames. The fog shifted, revealing a sky studded with stars. Lanterns twinkled on the nearby bank where the Angels were helping Lillian ashore. Hawk’s colleagues were there as well.
Fi exhaled with relief. “You were right.”
“I usually am.” Hawk set down the oar, taking her hands in his own. “Except about you. Can you forgive me, Fiona, for not supporting your dreams? For failing to see who you are? It is no excuse, but you were right—Iwasafraid of losing you, the love of my life that I’d given up hope of finding, and because of that I acted like a fool.”
“I am equally at fault,” she said tremulously. “When we started falling in love, I should have told you the truth about the Angels. About what I want and who I am. But I was scared of disappointing you, of losing you, and fear prevented me from being honest.”
“You have nothing to fear,” he said ardently. “I love you, Fiona. Your ambition, passion, and boldness.”
“You can truly accept that I am an investigator?” she whispered.
“I amproudof you. Of your derring-do and genteel accomplishments and everything that makes you who you are.” He cupped her cheek. “My beautiful wife who is my perfect match in every way.”
Joy flared inside her.
“You have stolen my heart,” she said. “And something else, apparently. Remember this?”
