“Stop!”
“Beth—”
“Put me down, Nathan.”
He lowered her gently.
“D-Do you have some money I may briefly borrow?”
He saw the bruises and swelling on her face and neck now they were out of the tunnel. Cold rage had his hands clenching.
“Please. Those boys are the ones who helped me, Nathan,” she lisped through her swollen lips.
Pulling out his money pouch, he took her hand and walked to where she’d seen the boys in the shadows.
“Thank you for looking after me.” She bent at the waist, and Nathan could only imagine how much that hurt her. “I would like to give you something.”
The boys looked up at him, then at Beth.
“We were taking you out but heard voices so left,” one of the boys said, nodding at Nathan. “We watched to ensure you weren’t hurting her.”
“Thank you for what you did for Miss Carlow,” Nathan said, opening the pouch and handing out money. “Should you need me, here is my card,” he added, holding it out. The one who had spoken took it.
“Take care of her,” he said gruffly, and then they were gone, merging back into the shadows.
“Nix has a hackney,” Gabe called. “Come.”
They climbed in, and Nathan pulled Beth onto his lap to accommodate them all. Walter sat on the floor, looking exhausted. The fear Nathan had felt when he’d known she was in the hands of Logan had not yet abated. Holding her was helping that.
After a brief struggle with her sense of propriety, she settled against him, her head resting on his chest.
“There are many things I must tell you.” The words were a whisper, but they all heard her. “But first you must know what I learned tonight.”
“Beth—”
“You must listen to me, Nathan.”
“All right.” He stroked a hand over her hair, the long locks tangled, having lost their restraints long ago.
“He said, Justin Logan, that tomorrow he assassinates the king. He said there will be rioting in the streets and that he has noblemen from the House of Lords at his side. Men who would betray their country as he has.”
His brothers watched her silently, no censure now in their eyes.
“But there is more. The book. The book!” She sat upright. “You must turn the carriage around at once and go back to the hotel.”
“We have the papers you sent me, Beth. I’m sure you copied those from Valentine’s book. There is little we can do to return the original now it is in Logan’s hands,” Nathan said.
“But it’s not! I did not give it to him. Don’t you see?” She placed a hand on his chest, looking at him through bloodshot eyes. “That’s why he had me thrown down there. I refused to give it to him.”
“What!” Nathan hadn’t meant to yell but it came out that way. “You’re telling me you could have delivered that book and returned home unscathed?”
“Nathan,” Zach cautioned from beside him. “There is no need to roar at Beth. She has been through quite enough this evening already.”
“Through her own making!”
“I had to at least try to get him to stop.” Her chin lifted. Bruised and swollen, she was still defiant, her spirit unbroken. “I could not simply give him that book. Not when it had information about you in it.”
“We read the book, Miss Carlow. And understand you know about Alexius,” Gabe said softly. “I would ask you to keep what you learned a secret.”
