Page 60 of A Governess' Forbidden Flame
Right at that moment, she felt his grip harden, and his fingers dug into the flesh of her shoulders, bringing her closer to him. She could smell sweat emanating off of him, and a few droplets of it shone on his forehead. He was still smiling, but that smile had turned into something sinister, something ominous, promising terrible things.
“You will tell me what you found immediately, Miss Wycliffe,” he whispered so close to her face that she smelled his sour breath. She frowned in disgust, focusing on his words, which painted a vivid picture of the danger she had so unexpectedly found herself in. “Or I will be forced to harm you in ways you cannot even imagine.”
The cold chill of his voice felt like a blade to her throat. She knew that he meant every word of it. Both he and his sister had obviously been pretending to be Sebastian’s cousins all along so they could gain access to the manor and find the treasure themselves. Amelia immediately remembered Anna’s words about him “reading” the flowers. Now, it all made sense. He was not looking at the flowers at all, but rather underneath them, atthe soil, searching for evidence of the symbols and the Templar treasure.
This knowledge made him a dangerous enemy, one that would not shy away from harming even women and children. The thought of Anna being in danger also emboldened Amelia into a fiery disobedience.
“I will tell you nothing!” she snarled at him angrily, which only seemed to amuse him.
“It is quite a shame that I am already married, Miss Wycliffe,” he revealed. “For you are quite a catch, with that fiery spirit of yours, protecting those who do not care one bit about you. But we dally…I will ask only once more nicely. Tell me where the symbol is located.”
She stared at him, silently vowing that she would rather die than reveal anything to this scoundrel.
“No,” she told him through clenched teeth. “You will never get it out of me, you scoundrel.”
He sighed heavily, letting go of one of her shoulders and, instead, seizing her throat with the other. She could feel the pressure of his fingers against the delicate skin of her neck, squeezing tighter and tighter. A million stars exploded in front of her eyes as she kept them closed, the sunlight now too harsh and too bright.
Her mind was a blur of nothingness as her body fought for breath, when suddenly, she was allowed to inhale deeply, and she was brought back from the nothingness she had gotten lost in for that frightful moment.
She felt the cold metallic touch against her abdomen, pressing into her. She looked down only to see a pistol.
“I was not planning on harming you, Miss Wycliffe,” he said, obviously possessing some innate obsession with saying her name. “But I will if you force me to do it.”
“You would not dare shoot,” she growled at him, having absolutely no idea where that strength and boldness came from. “Everyone will come running.”
“Yes,” he retorted in a murderer’s voice. “But it will be too late for you. And I will know that the symbol is somewhere around here. How long do you think it will take me to find it among these blossoming flowers, Miss Wycliffe?”
She didn’t wait a single moment, deciding instead to seize the opportunity of him pointing the gun away from her and at the flowers around them as he spoke. She used his knee to hit him in the groin as hard as she could, which forced him to immediately release her neck from his grip. He bent forward, dropping to his knees, with his pistol dropping to the ground.
She hesitated, thinking of grabbing it for herself, but the next moment, he had already regained his composure, reaching for the weapon himself.
She turned around quickly, starting to run as fast as she could, because she knew that her very life depended on it.
***
Sebastian was still wondering why Amelia did not open her door to him. Didn’t she want to see him? Was she regretting everything? Or perhaps she was, just like him, questioning it all?
He knew that he would not be able to get any work done in his study, so instead, he joined Nicholas in the garden. The scent of freshly turned soil mingled with the delicate perfume of blooming flowers. They had been working side by side, the rhythmic sounds of digging and planting filling the air. The occasional banter between them added to the sense of camaraderie as the garden, a canvas of earthy tones, awaited the promise of new life.
However, at that moment, he saw something that made him drop the shovel from his hands. Amelia was running toward him, her hair a complete mess, flying around her beautiful face, her eyes wide with fear and shock. He rushed toward her, meeting her halfway.
“Amelia!” he called out to her, concern filling his being to the very brim. “What happened? Is Anna all right?”
Anna had been the first thing to come to mind upon seeing Amelia in such a state of disarray. But relief washed over him as soon as Amelia shook her head.
“No, not Anna…” she spoke, her words cut by her ragged breathing. “It’s Frederick!”
“Frederick?” he echoed, looking behind her, but there was no one around.
At that moment, Nicholas joined them, the lines on his forehead etched with worry as he gazed at the scene unraveling before him.
“What about Frederick?” Sebastian demanded to know, keeping a firm grip on Amelia’s shoulders because she felt so light on her feet that he feared she might drop down to the ground. He cradled her in his arms patiently, waiting for her to find her words.
“He…he tried…to hurt me,” Amelia spoke hastily, barely able to breathe properly, which in turn made her words chopped.
“To hurt you?” Sebastian repeated again. “That bastard!”
The thought of anyone harming Amelia made his blood boil. He was ready to leave her there with Nicholas while he went to deal with Frederick. He would not be demanding any explanations. Amelia’s word was enough of an explanation for him to make Frederick wish that he had never stepped foot on the soil that belonged to Ravenscroft Manor.
