Chapter 18 #3
Doubt flickered across Agatha’s face. “Why would you use her like that? It’s very unlike you.”
“She’s a beautiful woman. I gave in to temptation.” Jules shrugged. “As you said, my father chose well.”
Claire’s face paled.
Jules tore his gaze from the hurt in Claire’s eyes and narrowed his gaze on the woman before him. “You are a fool, Agatha. You only saw what you wanted to see. You are a fool and a coward.”
She spat at him. “Chain him up!” she shouted at the man who held Claire. The cloaked figure startled, then came forward and, with trembling fingers, gripped Jules’s right wrist, securing it to the wall.
For a heartbeat Jules fought the assault until he caught a glimpse of the desolation on Claire’s face.
Her pain was almost unbearable. He closed himself off to it, focusing on the madwoman who wanted revenge.
He had to make her think he wanted nothing to do with Claire. It was the only way to keep her safe.
The lackey pressed Jules backward against the stone and secured his left wrist in the all-to-familiar restraints that were fixed to the stone. His feet were next, until he was securely detained.
“Do you remember what it felt like, to be helplessly chained to a wall?”
He remained silent, fighting the desolation and panic he had lived with every day of his incarceration.
“No? Well, perhaps I should remind you of more than just the loss of your freedom. How about this?” She withdrew a whip from beneath her cloak, uncoiled it, and sent it flying across the space that separated them.
Pain bit into his chest as the lash reached its target. He bit back a groan, forcing himself not to react. “Why?” he asked, grateful his voice remained strong, not revealing the terror that threatened to swamp him. He had to stay in control.
“Eventually, you will beg for that which you once denied.”
“Never.”
She gave him a demented smiled as she sent the whip singing through the air once more, but in the opposite direction.
Claire!
Claire cried out at the biting sting of the leather as it connected with her shoulder. The lash tore her gown, leaving her shoulder and the welt beneath exposed.
With a growl of fury, Jules threw his body toward Agatha, desperate to be freed.
“Oh, yes,” Agatha said with a note of glee in her tone. “You will beg me for just about anything before I am through.” Murder burned in her gaze.
Jules fought against his restraints, like a wild animal caught in a trap. “You are right,” Jules bit out. “I will do whatever you ask, just leave the others alone.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Jules saw that David had almost sliced through his bindings.
“You want me to touch you, Agatha, I will, but only when we are alone.” He would touch her all right.
He would gladly wring her neck and willingly go back to gaol for her murder if only to protect the woman he lo—
Jules blocked off the thought. He could not lose himself to his emotions. Their survival meant playing along and convincing the madwoman before him that what he professed was the truth.
Agatha lifted the whip once more, and a thrill of fear clutched at Jules. “I am yours, Agatha. All you have to do is release them.”
Indecision clouded her eyes even as a maniacal smile tugged at her lips.
She hesitated, searched Jules’s expression, and must have liked what he reflected back to her.
“Very well—” Agatha’s words ended abruptly when David sent the second lackey flying backward.
David gripped Agatha about the neck, dragging her back against the wall.
Agatha’s eyes bulged from her head as she attempted to break free of David’s strong grasp. She struggled to breathe. Her fingers left David’s arm to disappear beneath her cloak.
“Watch out!” Jules warned a second too late as she brought a dagger up and slashed David’s forearm.
He grimaced, but held tight.
“You . . . will . . . pay . . . for this.” Again, Agatha brought the dagger up, this time aiming for David’s neck, but instead of striking out, she howled—the sound a mixture of rage, fury, and frustration.
The animalistic sound echoed through the chamber as Penelope plunged David’s dagger into the woman’s side once more.
“The first was for my finger. The second for Anna. And this is for Eloise.” Penelope struck a third time. She pulled her hand back, her once-pristine bandage now covered in blood.
“That’s enough, Penelope,” David said forcefully, jarring the young woman out of her vengeful stupor.
Penelope’s eyes went wide and her face paled with horror. She dropped the dagger at her feet. “What have I done?”
David released his grasp on Agatha. He snagged the blade from her hand a moment before the injured madwoman wilted to the floor. “You’ve served justice, where justice was due, Penelope. Nothing more.”
Claire took advantage of the chaos. She gained her feet and in the same moment she swung her bound arms at the head of the lackey behind her.
He staggered backward but did not fall. When Claire moved to hit him again, he forced his hood back, revealing his face.
Jules recognized the debt collector instantly. “Arthur Cabot?”
“Stop,” Arthur said, putting up his arms in a defensive stance. “It is my duty to follow you in an effort to recover what you owe your creditors. I have been pursuing you since your return to Argyll. Just as she has,” he explained.
The explanation did nothing to stop Claire. She swung at Arthur again, knocking him in the gut.
He groaned at the impact, but did not fight back. “I know where the girls are,” he said.
Claire froze.
“I followed her here to the cemetery and into the mausoleum. They took the tunnel on the right. At the end of it, while they were occupied, I peered into a chamber similar to this one and witnessed them putting two young women into a sarcophagus.”
Claire fell to her knees. She cried out as if in pain.
“No, no,” Arthur exclaimed. “They put them in there alive.”
Claire drew in a harsh breath. “They are alive?”
Arthur nodded.
“You’ll never . . . get to them . . . in time,” Agatha said between gasping breaths.
Jules let loose a growl. He pulled at the manacles as hard as he could. “Get me down from here.”
David was at his side a moment later, pounding the tip of his dagger against the lock.
Arthur held out a key. “This might be quicker.”
“How did you come to be here then? Dressed as you are?” David asked while he accepted the key.
“I unfortunately made a noise while I was observing. One of Agatha’s henchmen came to investigate. I knocked him out, took his cloak, and assumed his role in her schemes.”
Jules was freed a moment later. “Show us where the girls are.”
Arthur grabbed one of the lanterns and headed out of the chamber. David retrieved his sword and a second lantern, then helped Penelope to her feet. “Are you coming?” he asked Jules with a frown when neither he nor Claire moved to follow.
“Right behind you,” Jules said. “Claire.” He waved her toward the doorway.
She looked back at the woman on the ground, at the blood seeping from her wounds. “What about her?” she asked haltingly.
“We will leave her here and send the authorities back to get her.”
“If she dies . . . Penelope . . .” Claire broke off.
Jules shook his head. “Penelope is the victim, not this woman.”
“She’s not a woman, she’s a monster,” Claire said, her tone flat. “I knew it the moment she took the girls, then tried to manipulate me . . .”
“You are not to blame here either, Claire.” He held out his hand.
She moved past it, out of the chamber, leaving him alone with Agatha. Jules stared at the chamber that had been alive with Claire’s presence a moment before and wondered how or if they could move forward from here.
Jules reached for the remaining lantern.
“Don’t leave me . . . in darkness.” Agatha stretched out her hand, an appeal for mercy, despite all she had done.
A cold, blessed numbness settled inside him where his heart should have been. “From experience, I know you can survive in darkness far longer than it will take the authorities to arrive.”
She scowled. “You’ll pay . . . for this.”
“I already have.”
A howl of rage followed him down the passageway as Jules made his way to the others.