Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Only one or twice in his life had Penny found himself in a situation where the mark he’d tried to lift a wallet or a pocket watch from turned on him with violent intentions.
He’d always tried to target clueless noblemen wandering Whitechapel for unsavory reasons, but now and again, he’d slid his hand into the pocket of a well-dressed gang leader with the capability of murdering him.
That was exactly how he felt when he hurried Lord Fabian onto the beach and started for their boat, which was far closer to the edge of the water now than when they’d left it, and found Dalhurst sprinting toward them from the path that wandered back toward the castle grounds.
“Stay right where you are!” Dalhurst cried out, reaching into his jacket.
“Get away from us!” Penny shouted at the man in return. “You’re evil, you are. You’ve kept this man a prisoner. I will not let you use him any further.”
He was surprised at how strong and noble his words sounded when all he really wanted to do was throw Lord Fabian in the boat and get as far away from Cornwall as possible.
“He’s mine!” Dalhurst shouted. “He’s mine to do with as I please.”
Lord Fabian let out a keening wail that had Penny’s teeth standing on edge. He was still far gone with opium and deeply confused, but his strength was growing. Unfortunately, he used that strength to claw at Penny and to struggle with him, despite the way Penny was trying to help him.
“I won’t let you anywhere near him,” Penny called out, trying to shift Lord Fabian so that he could protect the young man. It wasn’t easy, given the way Lord Fabian flailed in a haunted bid to protect himself. “Just let us go,” Penny finished, half turning to push Lord Fabian toward the boat.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Dalhurst shouted. Penny glanced back to the man, and his eyes went wide as he saw the gun Dalhurst had drawn from his jacket. “I’ll take back what is mine and make you rue the day you tried to cross me.”
Deep fear shot through Penny as if Dalhurst had already fired. Guns weren’t unheard of, but they were a last resort in the rough and tumble world of East London. He could count on one hand the number of times he’d actually seen one.
Simultaneous to Penny’s burst of fear, Greer came dashing over the sand dune, scrambling across the sand to join the scene.
“Get back! He’s got a gun!” Penny shouted pointlessly. Greer could clearly see as much, but it was all Penny could think to do to warn the man he loved that Death had been waiting for them.
“Give the boy to me and I’ll let the two of you go,” Dalhurst said, panting and sweating in the moonlight. “He’s mine to begin with.”
“No,” Greer said immediately, his firm resolve sending a much-needed jolt of hope through Penny. “You kidnapped this man and have been holding him against his will in the most unforgivable of circumstances. We’re taking him back where he belongs.”
Dalhurst’s mouth spread into a sick, toothy grin, and he laughed. “And just how do you propose to do that?” he demanded. “You’ve nowhere to run, no means of saving yourselves, let alone that worthless piece of trash.”
Lord Fabian groaned against Penny and sagged heavily, like he would sink to his knees if Penny didn’t hold him up.
“We have right on our side,” Greer said, glancing anxiously up at the dunes separating the beach from the grounds of Trebarral Castle.
Dalhurst laughed even louder. “Right? What good will right do when I have—”
Greer lunged before Dalhurst could finish his threat. He lowered his upper body and charged at Dalhurst.
Penny gasped even before Dalhurst fired his gun. Horrific fear cut through him, and he waited for Greer to drop dead on the sand, shot through.
But Greer didn’t drop. He kept charging and slammed his shoulder into Dalhurst’s gut, sending both of them sprawling. There was just enough light for Penny to see the gun fall to the sand in time for a stretching wave to lap up, wetting the sand around where Greer and Dalhurst grappled.
“Come on,” Penny gasped, twisting so he could get a more secure grip on Lord Fabian. “We have to move. To the boat.”
Lord Fabian was as pale as a ghost in the moonlight. His mouth hung open, and his eyes were as wide as stars as Penny tried to push him back. The situation was already nightmarish, but to Lord Fabian’s drug-addled brain, it must have seemed demonic.
“Please,” Penny urged him, grabbing the young man’s arm and tugging him toward the boat. “We must get to the boat immediately. The rest of them could be coming.”
That was enough to shake Lord Fabian out of his stupor. He dragged his feet and jumped when a cold wave raced up over his feet, but he did move.
Penny had another problem on his hands as they reached the boat.
Their cases were still there, but the boat had moved sideways as the incoming tide had shifted it from its original position.
He pushed and shoved at the bow in an attempt to get it pointed in the right direction, but that meant letting go of Lord Fabian.
Lord Fabian dropped to his knees, his hands clutching his head as he stared back at the battle raging between Greer and Dalhurst. Penny kept one eye on his beloved grappling with the devil while working with all his strength to get the boat far enough into the incoming surf that they would be able to row it into the deep water.
Both things distracted from the other, which made him feel completely ineffectual.
Finally, as Penny’s entire body began to ache with strain, Greer managed to pin Dalhurst on his back in the surf and bring a fist crashing down on the man’s face. Dalhurst went limp, though he didn’t stop moving entirely.
Greer pushed back and stood, then turned to race toward Penny and the boat. “Hurry!” he called out. “He won’t be down for long, and chances are Hammond and the others will come from the castle at any moment.”
Penny nodded, his heart too much in his throat to say anything. Greer joined him on pushing the boat out farther, and as soon as it floated completely, though only on inches of water, Greer went back to fetch Lord Fabian.
Bringing the distressed young nobleman to the boat was more work than it should have been. Greer tried to help the young man to his feet and coax him to walk out to the boat at first, but Penny saw quickly that wasn’t going to work. “Lift him!” he called out as Greer grappled with the man.
Greer nodded and swept the young man into his arms. As he did, Dalhurst rolled to his hands and knees behind them, then pushed himself to stand with a grunt.
“Hurry!” Penny called out, holding the boat as it lifted over a wave, his heart beating so wildly he could barely draw a breath.
Greer splashed through the surf, reaching Penny and the boat just as another wave lifted it and threatened to turn it sideways again. He dropped Lord Fabian unceremoniously in the middle of the boat, then joined Penny in pushing it through the rolling, salty waves as they broke and rushed ashore.
They made actual progress, and once the water was up to Penny’s calves, Greer motioned for him to get in the boat and grab the oars. Wordlessly, Penny did as he was told, scrambling for the oars and bumping into Lord Fabian as he tried to make sense of what he was doing.
Lord Fabian continued to be more of a hindrance than a help. He refused to sit still, clawing his way to the side of the boat like he wanted to get out, which tipped it to the side and let water from the waves in.
“What are you doing, man?” Greer shouted at him as he pushed from behind to get the boat farther from the shore. “Stay still!”
Penny had just positioned himself correctly to row when he saw exactly what Lord Fabian was doing. Dalhurst had recovered and was charging through the surf toward them. He had one arm outstretched, and Penny caught a flash of metal as the moon flickered out from behind a cloud.
“Dalhurst!” Penny shouted, pointing at what Lord Fabian saw.
Greer turned to face the man and there was a click, but no explosion or shot fired.
Dalhurst paused, his eyes going wide. He tried to fire again, but for the second time, nothing happened.
Greer let go of the boat and turned to face the man, but Lord Fabian splashed into the water before he could do anything. Penny fought to keep the boat steady, but it bumped against Greer, causing him to lose his footing.
For one horrible second, Penny believed all was lost. Then, almost inexplicably, Lord Fabian stood from the water, the bedsheets that had been tied around him loose and sodden, and roared. He charged at a stunned Dalhurst, his otherwise beautiful face contorted in rage.
Lord Fabian slammed into Dalhurst, and the two of them disappeared under the water.
Penny jerked to the side of the boat, but he had enough on his hands trying to keep each successive wave that rolled toward them from toppling the boat entirely.
Greer had lost his footing and now struggled to stand against the tide, using the boat as an anchor.
The spot where Dalhurst and Lord Fabian had disappeared roiled with froth and foam as the relentless sea kept sweeping over it.
Penny could just make out the billowy white of the sheets around Lord Fabian under the surface.
The water couldn’t have been any deeper than his knees, but the depth didn’t matter.
“He’ll drown!” Penny shouted, finally finding his voice.
He had a feeling that was the point. For both men.
Greer had found his footing and lurched toward the mass of billowing sheets. As he thrust a hand under the water, Penny caught sight of lights on the top of the dunes from lanterns. He couldn’t make out whether the people carrying them were servants or Hammond and the guard, but it hardly mattered.
“We have to leave!” he shouted.