Page 49 of The Secret of the Three Fates
“Why, he’s being kept at Rivenly with the duke, miss. At least until the trial. Captain Lennox had you brought here after the two of you were found.”
The two of us. I dared not hope too much at that small word. “Where’s Ruan? Is he alive? Is he safe?”
She didn’t answer, instead she laid her cool palm on my brow with a quiet gasp. “You’re burning up, miss. Let me find Captain Lennox, he said to fetch him when you woke. He will be cross that I’ve waited.”
A thread of suspicion gnawed at me as I suddenly recalled my conversation with Lady Amelia before I’d been shot. How he’d been following Genevieve, the youngest medium—but there was no time to worry about Andrew Lennox’s perplexing motivations.Even Mr. Owen’s plight had faded slightly from the forefront of my mind. My hand shot out, grabbing hers. “Where is Ruan? Why won’t you answer me? Is he dead?” I was growing frantic.
“Calm yourself, miss. You’ve been shot. ’Tis only a miracle you survived. You need to rest, regain your strength, or else you’ll make yourself sick. Everything else can wait.”
Me… shot? That was impossible. I’d certainly know if I’d been shot and while I felt like I’d been kicked by a mule, I’d seen what bullets did to men and I certainly didn’t feel likethat.
However, like the sun breaking through storm clouds, memories of those final moments flickered back.
The silver overtaking Ruan’s eyes.
The dark shadow of his body over mine.
And the odd way his hand was fixed upon my chest, near my shoulder as we sank beneath the surface. My fingers went to the bandage covering the precise place his palm had rested.
Good God whathadhappened in the lake? I stumbled toward the open door and out into the corridor with the little maid trailing after me.
“Miss! Miss, you cannot go wandering here! You must stay in bed. The captain said you could do yourself lasting harm if you got up too quickly!”
With my right hand braced against the rich wood-paneled walls, I stumbled down the hallway desperate to find Ruan, to see with my own eyes what had happened. My head swam from loss of blood and I tried to catch myself but failed.
“Miss Vaughn…” Captain Lennox grunted, as he wrapped an arm around my waist, dropping his cane to the ground with a loud clatter on the herringbone floors.
I sucked in a sharp breath at the force of the impact. Andrew shifted my weight, and hefted me up to standing.
“… it seems you are awake. How does your shoulder feel?” He took my right hand and placed it against the wood paneling to help me stand on my own power, and then bent down, picking his cane up from the floor. “Uncle Owen told me you wouldn’t be the most cooperative of patients. But I had no idea you’d be quite this lively.”
My fingers curled against the wood, my chest tight. “Where… is… Ruan?”
He frowned. Why would no one answer me?
My dream had been right.Again.My voice came out little over a whisper. “Tell me he’s not dead.”
Andrew steered me to his uninjured side. “Your Mr. Kivell is alive at present—though I’m not quite sure how he is or how long he’ll stay that way. He has not awoken. And, Ruby, I must warn you… he may not.”
Mine. My Mr. Kivell.His words rattled around my brain. “Need to… I need to…”
“Yes, yes. That’s about enough sentiment for one morning.” He placed an arm back around my waist. “Give me your weight, I’ll take you to him.”
Putting away my pride, I allowed him to help me down the hallway in order for me to see for myself what had happened to Ruan. While I needed to get back to Manhurst to continue my search for clues, I was in no condition at present to do so—nor did I have the stomach for it if Ruan was dying down the hall.
Perhaps that was the point of shooting us in the first place.
Had I gotten too close—stumbled upon something that the killer did not want discovered? If so that was news to me, as all I had was a basket of clues that meant nothing. At this rate the killer could knock off half of Scotland before I figured out who’d killed Lucy Campbell.
We inched our way down the corridor until we reached the door on the far side. Andrew steadied me on the doorframe and paused before opening it, his hand lingering on the catch. “I must know. Though I suppose I have no right to ask considering the bad blood between he and I—Whatishe?”
“He’s a Pellar.” My voice cracked at the admission. It was the truth, after all, especially considering I had the sickening sensation that his inexplicable healing abilities were the reason I was alive at all.
Andrew furrowed his brow. “Uncle said the same. But I… I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Like… like what?”
“There is time to explain inside. Come along.”
