The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
And God had granted her safety both times. Only the Almightycould have knocked Gerald backwardandloosened his hold enough for Brielle to twist in the man’s arms.
The distraction had been enough.
With Brielle’s head lowered, Gerald’s full shoulder had been exposed. Evan hadn’t wasted a heartbeat dropping his gun, raising his knife, and plunging the blade into the man’s flesh.
It wasn’t a mortal wound, but Gerald would be tender in that spot for weeks.
And now they’d finished. Accomplished their mission.
Once Gerald was safely tied in the cell anyway.
All praise, glory, and honor to you, Father.
At last, they had Gerald secured in the cell, on the opposite side of the room from Hugo. The young lad was shooting foul looks at Gerald, clearly disabused of any hero worship—or even a kind thought.
Philip and Leonard offered to stay with Wesley to watch the two prisoners. Perhaps Evan should have volunteered also, but Brielle was his priority now. Both for his own peace of mind, and hopefully to be of help to her. And maybe once all the reports had been given to her father and the council, the two of them could find a quiet place to talk.
When he and Brielle entered her home, Brielle’s family waited with Audrey and her father, Martin.
Audrey gasped at the blood streaked across Brielle’s neck, but Brielle motioned her away. “I’m not hurt. Just need water to wash it off.”
Charlotte offered Brielle one of the seats by the fire, and Evan stood near the outskirts of the gathering as the woman he loved relayed the events for her father and the others.
Thankfully, Audrey found a bowl of water and a cloth, and used them to clean Brielle’s neck while she talked.
Brielle gave her friend a long-suffering look as her tending got in Brielle’s way a few times. Audrey’s lips only curved as she kept her focus on her task.
For his part, Evan couldn’t seem to pull his gaze from Brielle. When Audrey’s efforts at her neck exposed bright red gashes, even though they were clearly surface wounds, his stomach twisted. The bile in his gut tried to infuse a fresh round of anger into his veins, but he forced his focus to lift to her face.
The battle was over. That blackguard was being held and would be tried for his actions. There was nothing Evan could do to change the past.
Brielle’s features came alive as she told the tale, drawing his focus to her beauty. The intelligence in her wide eyes, the strong angle of her cheeks, the point of her chin, the sweeping curve of her lips. He needed another taste of those lips.
With effort, he pulled his gaze away from her to keep his blood from boiling for a very different reason this time.
At last, she finished the story, and her father eased out a long breath. His brows had dipped through most of the telling, no doubt from worry for his daughter. Though the man may be responsible for leading Laurent and trusted his daughter’s ability for the protection of their community, he couldn’t be immune to worry for his own child.
“The council plans to meet in the morning to discuss what should be done next. You’ve done well, Brielle.” Then the man’s gaze shifted to Evan. “You too.”
A hard knot formed in Evan’s throat. Something in the man’s gaze felt fatherly. A look he’d not seen in many years. He’d almost forgotten what it was like for a man to lookat him with pride in his eyes. “Thank you, sir.” The words choked as he forced them out.
Durand’s gaze hovered on him a moment longer, then shifted to Brielle, then back to Evan. “I suppose that’s all we need to do for tonight. I’ll call the council to meet in the morning to plan our next steps. You two might want to stretch your legs to settle from all the excitement.”
Evan barely kept from raising his brows at the obvious opportunity for them to talk. Instead, he managed a nod. “Good idea.”
A look at Brielle showed a bit of extra color in her cheeks. A sight that nearly made him chuckle. Maybe she wasn’t as tough as she seemed.
But as they gathered furs and stepped out into the cold, he knew the thought was at the same time very wrong and very right. Brielle’s strength, both inner and outer, was greater than any person he’d known. But she was vulnerable, too—how could anyone with her passion not be?
And he wanted to be there to protect her when necessary. He wanted to be the one to petition the Lord for everything she needed. Especially when her life was on the line.
Which brought up a point he had to get off his chest. He turned to her as they strolled through the courtyard in the general direction of the gate. “I’ve never prayed so much for one person as I have for you these past three days, Brielle. And while it’s certainly brought me closer to the Lord, I prefer you not put yourself in mortal danger quite so often if you can help it.”
She slid a sideways glance at him but kept walking. Her mouth formed a pert smile. “I’ll see what I can do, but I make no promises.”
Strolling along with the fur of her hood framing her beautiful face, sassy expression and all, Evan could barely keep himself from pulling her into his arms. That should wait until they were outside the gate, where there weren’t so many prying eyes.
