Page 72 of A Duke Under Her Spell
The brothers approached the castle stealthily so as not to warn those inside. As they came around the side toward the front entrance, they heard a woman scream from within the castle walls followed by the sound of a gunshot. “Marybeth…” Oliver whispered her name his breath catching in his throat. Lord Alexander’s back stiffened, and he kicked his horse into a gallop riding his horse straight through the entranceway. Drawing his knife, he cut the bonds holding Oliver to him and leapt from the horse.
Oliver searched the room and found Marybeth lying in Felix’s arms, a pool of blood surrounding them. Seeing Oliver, Felix’s eyes met his filled with agony. They were too late.
Chapter 32
“He shot her…” Felix felt as if his heart had been ripped out of his chest. He had removed his jacket and pressed it to the bullet wound in her torso in an attempt to staunch the flow of blood.
“Marybeth!” Oliver cried out sliding down from the horses back.
“Who did this?” Lord Alexander demanded kneeling down beside Marybeth’s prone body. He laid his head down upon her chest.
“It still beats, but barely,” Felix informed him. “The Earl of Bredon is responsible for this.”
“Where is he?” Lord Alexander ground out in anger clenching his fists so hard that his knuckles turned snow white.
“The tunnel,” Felix answered gesturing with his chin toward the hole in the floor. “I would have pursued him, but I did not want to leave Marybeth alone. She is fading fast.”
“We brought the contraption you made for your mother. It is in the forest. We can take Marybeth back in it. I can take her back in it while you go after that scoundrel.”
Felix looked down into Marybeth’s face and pressed his lips to her forehead. “I do not want to leave her, but Bredon cannot get away with this. He must be stopped.” Felix turned and met Lord Alexander’s gaze. “As must your father,” he informed him.
“Where is he?”
“I do not know. He had the good grace to leave the castle before he had to witness to the violation and death of his own daughter. There is no place in this world for a man such as he to live. Every breath he draws is an insult to God himself,” Felix bit out. His rage knew no bounds as he imagined his hands closing around the neck of the monsters who had harmed the woman he loved.
“There is no place that he can hide where we cannot find him,” Lord Alexander promised, steely determination in his grey eyes.
“And you are willing to commit patricide?” Felix asked doubtfully.
“For Marybeth, yes,” Lord Alexander answered indefatigably. “But first, the Earl.” Lord Alexander stood and moved over to stare into the hole in the floor. “Thomas,” he called for one of his brothers who stepped forward.
“Yes?”
“Tell Ewan to go back to the forest and have Mr. Wheatly return with the contraption to take Marybeth to Arkley Hall. Have David and Jacob take the remaining men from here and meet with Benjamin and Christopher in the forest. Tell them to take all of the captured men into the magistrate. I need you to ride as fast as you possibly can to get the nearest doctor for Marybeth. His Grace and I are going after Bredon. Oliver will stay here with Marybeth until Mr. Wheatly and Ewan return for her.”
Thomas nodded and left the castle to relay Alexander’s orders. Lord Alexander turned back to Felix. “How many men did Bredon have with him?” he noted his eyes running over the unconscious forms of three other men littering the castle floor.
“None, he is on his own now,” Felix answered.
“Good,” Lord Alexander nodded his head in approval of Felix’s handywork in spite of the situation he had found himself in. “You are good and brave, Your Grace. My sister deserves nothing less than such a man.” His knowing eyes letting Felix know that he knew the truth.
“I love her,” Felix admitted. “I cannot lose her. I will not lose her.”
Oliver walked over and laid his hand on Felix’s shoulder. “I will keep her safe. Upon that you have my word. I will deliver her safely to you at Arkley Hall once you have captured the man who did this to her. I swear it.” Oliver sat down on the floor and slid his arm under Marybeth’s torso. He placed his hand on the jacket just as Felix had done to stem any further loss of blood. Felix stood and hesitantly laid Marybeth into Oliver’s arms.
“Live, my love,” Felix whispered into her hair as he kissed the top of her head. “Please, live, for if you do not, I shall surely die from the loss of you,” and with that Felix wrenched himself away, snatched up two pistols from the floor, then leapt down into the tunnel with Lord Alexander close on his heels. “If she dies, so does Bredon,” he ground out as he lit a torch with a spark from a flint. “I will not wait for the hangman’s noose.”
“He is already a dead man and he does not know it,” Alexander promised, his tone of voice leaving no room for argument.
The two men started down the tunnel together, moving as quickly as they could in the dark, cramped space. They watched in front of them at all times wary of any traps that the Earl might have set for them, a torch in one hand and a pistol in the other. Felix knew that the servants at the house would have no idea what had transpired and therefore would have no cause to stop the Earl from doing as he wished once he had reached Arkley Hall. Felix prayed that they were not too late to apprehend him.
They moved in silence, no need to speak to one another past the determined looks on each other’s faces. There would be no mercy shown, no quarter granted. Felix’s heart pounded in his chest. The coppery smell of Marybeth’s blood that had soaked his clothing still filled his nostrils, like a drug fueling his fury. He ran forward his feet pounding the earth with every beat of his racing heart.
I will avenge you, Marybeth, if it is the last thing I ever do upon this earth.
They ran for a long time until they reached the end of the tunnel and came to stand under the trapdoor that led into the manor house. Felix pushed up on it, but it did not move. He pushed harder putting his back into it, but it did not budge. Alexander moved forward and did the same both of them pushing together and yet it naught but groan under the pressure.
“He has locked it somehow,” Felix panted in frustration. He paced back and forth like a caged animal staring at the door, attempting to think of a solution. “I will not turn back when we are this close. There must be a way though.” Felix moved forward running his hands over every surface of the trapdoor in an attempt to find a flaw, some way to break through.
