Before Fallon had given him cause to question his loyalty to Irish independence he would have said yes, but now, uncertainty made him doubt the Raven, the cause—all of it. He didn’t want to imagine that this was all some sort of personal goal toward heroism, or even redemption in his father’s eyes, but what if that’s all it was? Men had lost their lives because of what the Raven stood for. He had given an entire country hope, but had it truly all been a charade for a lesser purpose?
“What areyougoing to do now?”
Sean’s query brought Atticus back to the present. He lifted his head and offered a frown. “What do you mean? Nothing has changed. We continue on our present course.”
He glanced at the discarded mask on the desk. “I wasn’t referring to themen.”
Atticus shot him a warningglare. “The Raven’s true identity remains asecretto everyone beyond this crew.”
Instead of being properly chastised, Sean gave a smirk.“You really don’t know Fallon O’Malley very well, do you?” Theburly first mate quit the room asAtticus set his jaw.
Oh, he knew Fallon quite well, which is why it was best if she didn’t know who he really was. At least, for now. With Ireland nearly on the horizon, the last thing he needed was her accusations breathing down his neck when danger lurked around every corner.
Once Stephenwas finishedwith his examination, heclosed up his bag and handed Atticus a couple vials. “Her injuries seem to be mild. I think it was the shock that caused her unconsciousness more than the wound.I don’tthink she’ll have any serious repercussions, but I’ll leave some laudanum in case she has trouble sleeping and honey if any sort of infection starts to become evident. And I would alsosuggest staying with her until she wakes,in case there’s any repercussions I haven’t found.”
Atticusnodded abruptly. “You can be assured I’m not going anywhere.”
Steven nodded and left. When Atticus wasleftalone,he settled back in his chair and watched Fallon’s sleeping form across the room. He wished that she was awake so he could hear that lovely voice and look into those enchanting, green eyes.
And then, depending on what she said, he might considernotwringing that beautiful neck.
***
“No! Please, don’t do this!”
Fallon screamed into the darkness.She tossed and turned, desperately trying to get away from the nightmare that hadgripped her.
Her hands werethrown out in front of heras Francine dragged her toward Locklyn who was waiting for her with an evil grin. They each held her in their tight grip as they forced her to look at the dead bodies all around them.Fallonstruggled, but the more she tried to get away, the dark abysspulled hergreedily down into its depths. The intense fear was strangling her, making it hard to breathe. Every muscle in her body was taut with agony and then she was falling… falling…
Fallonlooked up and saw Martina standing above her and as she started heaping great mounds of suffocating earth on top ofher, she realized that they were trying to bury her alive!
Clawing at the sides of the freshly dug grave, Fallon shouted for help until her throat was dry and her voice was hoarse, but no one came. The dirt started to fill her mouth and even though she coughed, she got no relief. The blue sky above her slowly darkened and disappeared as desperation overcame her.
She was going to die.
“Fallon! Wake up!” It took several violent shakes of her shoulders before her eyes opened. Tears were streaming down her face as she tried to make sense of her surroundings, but everything abruptly froze whenshe stared into themaskedface ofthe Raven. She thought for sure it was just another trick of the mind meant to deceive, but he seemed even more real than the nightmare she had just suffered.
She tried to move away from his hold, but winced when a sharp pain struck the side of her head.She put a hand to her bandaged forehead, butthat wasn’t theonlything that registered. After a quick assessment of her body, she realized that the counterpane was thesolitarything separating her nakedness from him.
“Where are my clothes?” shedemanded, although it came out as more of acroak.
Instead of replying, he moved to grab a glass of water from the desk and brought it over to her. “Drink.” It was a gentle command, but a command all the same.
Fallonresented it when she blamed him for her current situation, but shedidn’t care to argueat the momentas she greedily drank untilevery last dropwas gone. When she was finished, he took the glass and set it back on the desk.
“Better?” he asked.When sheoffered a curt nod, he leaned againsthisdeskandcrossedhis legs attheankles. “Your clothes were drenched with sea water. They had to be removed so you didn’t succumb to fever.”
His explanation made sense, but her face warmed all the same. Even though this was thesingleman on earth who had been granted access to her body, the fact he’d looked upon her without her knowledge didn’t set well. Instead of dwelling on what was already done, she asked,“Where am I?”
“On my ship, theCrimson Rose. Themerchant ship you had boardedislikelyat the bottom of the sea by now.”His dark eyes flashed beneath his mask and Fallon shivered, although not entirely from fright. There was definitely danger in those midnight depths, but there was something seductive and exciting there too. “My question,” he murmured slowly. “Is what were you doing there?”
She ignored his query for the moment. “Why did you attack us?”
“A trusted source told me about the special cargo they had on board.” He grinned. “I felt the need to take it. And now, since I answered your question—”
“I’m not a spy, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Sheinterrupted harshly. He fell silent, but watched her so intently that she had toglance away, finding it difficult tothink properly.
He rubbed his jaw.“I’m not sure what to think, honestly.”
