Daniel could not help but feel a rush of exhilaration as the ladies roared in pursuit. Danger was, after all, what he had been constructed for. Even as he ran, he calculated risks, scanned for potential weapons, and consulted his mental map for the best escape routes. The Wisteria Society might be wicked villains, but he was something far moredangerous—a professional hero. They would not catch him. And he would kill every single one of them before they even touched Alice.
The name fluttered softly, like fine, rose-scented fingers, beneath his heart. He almost stumbled.Alice?Since when had Agent A, Miss Dearlove, rival and mission associate, becomeAlice? And why did his pulse shiver when he glanced at her, seeing several locks of hair tumble from her coiffure as she withdrew the miniature dagger concealed therein?
A shadow loomed at the corner of his eye and he looked over just in time to realize he was about to collide with a tall vase at the edge of the corridor.Focus on where you are going, he reminded himself sternly.
Alice reached inside her bodice to withdraw another dagger.
He crashed into a statue.
“Are you all right?” Alice asked, glancing at him.
“Left,” he snapped in response. They turned into a narrow corridor leading to a rise of stairs, and Daniel pushed Alice ahead of him. Her red petticoat swirled around her like a—a—red swirly thing. Her hair fell completely from its pins in the manner of—of—
Damn.He almost wished for the pirates to catch him before the urge to romantically similize completely destroyed his brain.
Besides, Alice Dearlove was truly incomparable.
“Left,” he said again at the top of the stairs. As they ran, the pursuers shouted advice:
“Just give up!”
“Surrender!”
“At least slow down, I’m getting too old for this kind of thing!”
But their voices were diminishing, and Daniel began to think escape was just around the corner.
Then he turned the corner.
“Damn,” he swore with uncharacteristic passion, coming to a halt as he stared at the dead end ahead of them.
“Well, that’s a nuisance,” Alice remarked. “And no door, no window, to escape through.”
“Aaaaaahhhh!!”added the approaching mob.
Turning to face the way they had come, Alice set her feet apart and spun the tiny daggers in her hands. Daniel himself had no knives, and the spare gun in his concealed holster was obviously useless if Miss Darlington had been telling the truth about stealing their bullets. But he did have his bare hands, which were registered weapons (the paperwork had taken him hours). He and Alice did not need to glance at each other to share a battle plan.
Go Down Fighting.
Alice squinted as she aimed her dagger at an imagined foe, then spun it again with casual proficiency and used the tip to scratch at her eyebrow. Daniel considered whether he had enough time to push her against the wall and kiss her until they both swooned.
The floor began to tremble. The horde was growing closer. Probably no, in that case. He took a step forward.
Suddenly a panel in the wall swung ajar. A hand emerged, beckoning.
“Quick,” someone urged from the shadows. “In here!”
Immediately Daniel grasped Alice’s arm and sent her through the doorway, hurrying in behind her. They found themselves in a tiny, bare room only just discernible in the faint light coming through the open door.
“Thank you,” he whispered to their rescuer.
“My pleasure,” the mysterious figure said. Then she shut the door—having first exited through it.
Darkness clamped down.
“I’ve got them!” therescuervillain shouted. “They’re in here!”
Daniel cursed beneath his breath. How could he have been so stupid as to trust someone in a pirate’s house?
