Daphne froze. Icicles pierced her veins. He’d obviously been told by the barmaid she was a female, but how did he know her name?
“Rat got your tongue, my fine lady?” the hulking mass said in his thick Russian accent.
“What do you plan to do with me?” she replied.
The hulking mass wiped a dirty arm across his cracked lips. “We’re using you to lure Captain Cavendish.”
More ice encrusted Daphne’s heart. They had Rafe? They’d used her to capture Rafe? And they knew his real name, too? Had they already murdered him? Were they torturing him again somewhere? Perhaps in this very place? She scratched at her arms, frantic to get out of here and help him.
“But my friend and I, we thought we might have a bit of sport with you. Neither of us has ever been with a true lady.” The hulking mass waggled his bushy eyebrows at her.
Daphne pulled herself into a ball in the corner. She was going to be sick. “Your friend?” she choked out.
The hulking mass didn’t have to answer. Another man came barreling through the door. This man was much shorter, much smaller, and spryer, and leaner than the hulking mass.
“There you are, Billy. I’ve been waiting for you,” the hulking mass said. “You should be thankful I didn’t already have my way with her.” He laughed a disgusting laugh.
Daphne shuddered. Bile rose in her throat. Rape. She hadn’t considered rape. Pain, yes. Torture, yes. Death, even. But she’d been pretending to be a boy. The thought of rape hadn’t occurred to her.
Though Billy was considerably smaller than his friend he was equally unkempt and still much larger than Daphne. His cloudy blue eyes darted around the room haphazardly. He looked a bit mad. “Aye, she’s a fine one, just like ye said, Boris.”
“I don’t lie,” Boris answered. “Have you ever known me to lie?”
“I can’t say I has,” Billy replied, drooling a bit from the side of his wide mouth.
Daphne backed away even farther. Her back and hands against the stone, she moved slowly toward the far wall. She only had one knife. She might manage to kill or wound one of them but the other might overpower her. Her heart hammered in her throat.Think. Think.
“Billy?” she asked. “Is that your name? Billy?”
“Aye.” Billy nodded.
“What are you doing working with these Russians, Billy? Why would you turn against your own countryfolk?”
Billy wiped at his mouth. “Aye, don’t think ye can talk to me about loyalty and kinship, me lady.” He sneered. “I was wounded in the army and got nothin’ from me country. Not even a kick in the teef. I works fer who pays me best now. That’s wot I do. And if there’s a bit o’ fun ta be had whilst I’m at it, like a tumble wit ye, I’m all for it.”
Daphne swallowed hard and continued her crawl toward the far wall. Clearly Billy wasn’t going to be talked out of this.
Billy’s wild eyes tracked her movement. They devoured her. “Where do ye think ye’re going, me lady?”
“There’s no place to run to,” Boris added with a laugh that could curdle milk.
Billy advanced on her, his arms wide as if he would catch her if she tried to stand and run around him. It would have been no use at any rate because Boris’s girth filled the doorway. He laughed and rubbed his hands together as Billy stalked toward her.
“Tell me something,” Daphne asked, attempting to stall and wanting to know the answer.
“Wot’s that?” Billy asked, grinning at her through rotten teeth.
“Did either of you… were either of you there when my brother, the Earl of Swifdon, was murdered?”
Billy laughed. “Can’t say I did the honors, me lady, but I surely was part o’ the gang wot turned him over to those Frenchies.”
Daphne stood up, her back against the far wall now, and clenched her jaw. Just as she suspected. These two menwerepart of the group responsible for Donald’s death. She hated them with every part of her body, mind, and spirit.
Billy continued to slowly advance on her and Daphne swallowed hard again. The closer he got, the stronger his smell. He reeked of sweat and rotting garbage. She pressed the back of her arm across her mouth, fighting against the bile in her throat. Billy jumped at her and caught her arm, pulling her down onto the dirty floor with him. She screamed and bucked, trying desperately to push him off her. He pinned one of her arms above her head and began unbuttoning his filthy trousers with the other. “Don’t squirm so much, yer highness. It’ll be better for both of us.”
This was it. She might only kill one of them but she had to try. With her free arm, she reached into her boot for the knife. Billy was too preoccupied with his trousers to notice. The hulking mass didn’t seem to, either.
Billy sprang free, his erection pressing against Daphne’s leg. She fought her gag even harder. He yanked at Daphne’s breeches, ripping the material at her waist.
