Everything had been eerily quiet for several minutes. Or was it hours? It could have been mere seconds for as long as Lyra waited in terror of discovery. She had just decided to risk another glance outside when a shadow passed by the crack in the slats. She instantly flattened herself against the wall and frantically looked around for something to use as a weapon. She spied a loose board and quickly pried the rotting wood away. Holding it above her head like a cricket bat, she was ready to strike down on whoever dared to come through that door.
After an indeterminate length of time, someone pushed open the door and walked inside. Lyra swallowed nervously as the figure came near, but she didn’t act until the stranger was almost in front of her. On a survivalist impulse, she swung the wood with all of her might, causing it to splinter against the man’s shoulder as he staggered to the side.
“Blast it, woman! Is that how you greet your husband when he’s trying to rescue you?”
She instantly dropped the remains of the board, her heart leaping. “Alister?”
“It was,” he returned dryly as he clutched his arm. “I must say I pity whoever is on the opposing team in a sporting match wherever you’re concerned. That would have surely been an impressive run.”
She set her hands on her hips. “Well, how was I supposed to know it was you?”
His gaze was perfectly steady. “Because I’ll always come for you.”
As the strain of recent events finally came to the surface, Lyra threw her arms around him and promptly burst into tears. “Oh, God…Alister,” she managed between sobs. “I was so scared. I thought…I’d never…see you again.”
He brought her up against his chest. “Hush, my love. I’ve got you and rest assured, I’ll never let you go.”
She cried until she had nothing left to give, and all the while he ran a hand down her hair and held her through the worst. In the end she pulled back, and the gentleness in his dark eyes caused more than just a slight twinge in her chest.
“Do you know how amazing you are?” he whispered.
His awestruck tone caught her off guard. “Why? Because I can hit people?”
“No.” He smiled and said softly, “Because you are brave. Because after everything that you’ve had to endure, you still come out swinging.”
She didn’t know what to say. In all her life, she had never thought of herself as brave. A coward who was unworthy and inferior, certainly, but never brave.
Slightly embarrassed, she glanced down at her dress and noticed a tear in the sleeve of her gown. With a small pout, she said, “I tore my new gown.”
With a hand under her chin, he lifted her face. His eyes seemed to caress her. “I’ll buy you a thousand more.” He drew her in for a tender kiss and then reluctantly drew back. “Let’s get out of here, shall we?”
He took her hand and paused to look around them before they left the security of the windmill. They ran across the yard when he was satisfied it was clear.
And that was when Lyra overheard the commotion—the shouts of men, the sharp report of firing pistols, and the metallic clang of swords. “It sounds like a battle is taking place,” she whispered in horror.
“Don’t worry,” Alister said reassuringly. “They’re on our side.”
After that, they didn’t stop until they reached the tilbury with the Eversleigh crest emblazoned on the side. “Roarke is here?”
Alister helped her up. “Yes. He came with Drayven and me.” He untied the horses and came back to hand her the reins. “If I’m not back in fifteen minutes or you feel like you’re in danger, you head for London as fast as you can go.”
Panic instantly gripped Lyra as his words sank in. “You’re not coming with me?”
“Not until I find Roarke.” He flashed her that adorable dimple. “You know his wife would never forgive me if I left him behind.”
As he turned to go, she grabbed his sleeve, causing him to look back at her expectantly. “Promise that you’ll come back to me.”
His brown eyes warmed. “You’re an amazing woman, Lyra. Don’t let anyone ever tell you differently.”
As he disappeared into the smoke filling up the night sky around them, Lyra realized that he’d left without promising her he would return. She clutched the reins until her knuckles turned white and anxious tears threatened. At this moment they were her lifeline, her only tether to this earth, because without Alister she was nothing.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
If Lyra thought the wait inside the windmill was unbearable, sitting here and listening to the cries and howls of injured men and wondering if one of them might be Roarke or Alister was infinitely worse. She kept imagining one of them bleeding to death and gasping their last breath while she sat there like some helpless female.
She was about ready to jump down and take off in search of them herself when two figures separated themselves from the haze. She gave a cry of relief as she recognized Roarke and her husband. Weary but wholly intact, they climbed up beside her. Her brother gently took the reins from her and gave a shout to the horse, which kicked into motion.
As Alister put his arm around Lyra, she gasped. “What about Lord Sussex? Didn’t you say that he came with you too?”
