“I know they will,” Samantha said when inside she had her doubts.
They huddled into each other for comfort and warmth.
“I’m sorry, Maddie. Because of me you are here and not home with Harry, and your children.”
“As you are not with those you love, Samantha. Especially Warwick. Are you ready to tell me of your love for him, sister?”
“He is my Sinclair, Maddie, as I am his Raven,” Samantha said, her words sounding loud in the tunnel. “Tonight we told each other this, but I did not get the chance to tell him what lay in my heart.”
“He knows, darling sister. Neither of you would have claimed the other without love.”
“I hope so,” she whispered. “I think it will be hard for those with sight to see us down here, or those with hearing to hear us as we are below the ground in this tunnel with mounds of earth over the top. We must try and get our feet free.”
“Well, as you know from the many times our family have been bound, it is a great deal easier to escape when your hands are tied before you, which they are.”
“You are so calm, Maddie.” Samantha lifted her skirts and inspected the rope around her ankles. “I can think only of Lavigne and his sister and the cold. It’s icy down here.”
“We must stay strong, Samantha. Both of us have known hardship and despair. But now we have happiness, and I for one am not letting go of that. They will look for us, and soon we need to start yelling, because they will hear us, sister. I know they will.”
She was right. Samantha forced down her fear and tugged at the knots at her ankles.
They would be found, and she and Warwick would have a future together, and Maddie would go home too. She would allow it to be no other way.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-FOUR
His family had been through this many times. He’d ridden with them and felt fear of his own for the loved one in danger. But he’d never experienced this cold panic. The thought that he’d lose Samantha before he completely had her in his life consumed him. His wife, his lover, and the mother of his children. To think that his destined mate was out there somewhere suffering made him feel like someone had clenched a fist around his heart.
Harry rode, grim faced, beside him. Their family were around them. Some in front, others on either side, and the rest behind. Maybe to ensure Warwick and Harry did nothing foolish as well as for support. He’d do anything to get Samantha back, no matter how reckless or dangerous.
Thirty minutes later, they pulled to a stop before the cemetery and dismounted.
“There are many of us, so being quiet is not easy,” James said. “We will split into groups. Some will go left, the others right, and the rest straight ahead. If you see anything, say what you see, and Eden or Warwick will hear you. Harry, Wolf, and Dev in a group each.”
“Wait,” Nicholas said.
Wolf grabbed him as his eyes closed, and he swayed.
“What did you see?” Warwick asked when Nicholas opened his eyes again.
“Someone has been shot, but it is a man. Maddie and Samantha are bound but alive. They are close.”
“Thank God,” Harry rasped.
Warwick silently echoed his cousin’s thoughts as he walked through the gate and straight ahead with Max, Nicholas, and Dev.
He could hear leaves rustling around him and the footsteps of his family, the breathing of those closest, and then he felt her.
“She’s here, Nicholas is right.”
Max shot him a look. “How do you know?”
“I feel her.”
“I would smile that finally you are admitting your connection to her, but I don’t have one in me at the moment.”
He didn’t refute Max’s words. He loved Samantha and would be making sure everyone was aware of that when he had her back in his arms.Soon, he thought.
They reached an iron gate. Warwick swung it open.
