Page 55 of The Agent and the Outlaw
I relaxed. I took a deep breath. I focused on my center.
Finally, I shifted. The pain of the transformation didn’t ebb as quickly as it had previously, and I looked down at my naked body to see dark bruises and scrapes all over me.Merde.It appeared the fight had damaged me more than I’d thought. I dressed quickly and hurried back to the cave, calling for Antoine and Van Helsing. I was met with silence.
The cave was deserted, save for the bodies of the threebêteswho had met their respective ends. There was no trace of Antoine or Van Helsing, and only a thin trail of blood led away, which I knew to be from the remaining injured vampire. The sun would rise in a few hours—I suspected he would be going to ground.
Try as I might, I could not catch the scent of Antoine or Van Helsing. The area stank of blood and battle and of the other creature, and with the pain of my wounds, it was difficult for me to focus. Perhaps they’d rode on to meet with Daphne and Étienne, and I would come upon them in the next town.
I trudged slowly back up to the road and walked for a while, debating what I would say to Daphne and Étienne when I met them. I was certain they would immediately detect my transformation, so prevaricating was out of the question. Besides, I would need their help cleaning up after Sade’s murder and exonerating Antoine.
Antoine.My heart stuttered and worry churned in my gut. He hadn’t looked well when I’d seen him in the cave. I hoped he and Van Helsing had made it safely away, and that I’d soon reunite with them. I wasn’t going betray my earlier resolution to part from Antoine. And while I didn’t think I necessarilyhadto explain myself to him, I wouldn’t soon forget the look of abject horror on his face when he saw me in my supernatural form. Perhaps it would be better if there was a little more honesty between us. He deserved that much.
The night seemed to linger, but finally, I spotted a small town in the distance. Grandrieu! That must be where Daphne and Étienne were—and possibly Antoine and Van Helsing. I tugged the hood of my cloak over my head and hurried on, hoping against hope that we’d be able to sort everything out.
18
ANTOINE
November 22, 1767
Grandrieu
I remembered verylittle about the days following our ambush and the battle in the cave. I’d flitted in and out of consciousness, plagued by the horrors of what we’d just endured. I was dimly aware that Dr. Van Helsing had tied me to Tartuffe’s saddle and led both of us, plus our horses, to the town of Grandrieu. It was smaller than Gévaudan but seemed to be a bit more cheerful—though I’d been to funerals that had more cheer than Gévaudan, so that wasn’t saying much.
We’d checked into another inn and Van Helsing, bruised and bedraggled as she was, insisted on tending to my wounds before seeing to her own comfort. After the painful poking and prodding, she informed me of three broken ribs, a stab wound to the side, numerous lacerations, a concussion, a dislocated shoulder, and two sprained fingers, but no vampire bites that she felt would cause infection of the blood plague. She stitched and bandaged what she could with her meager supplies and helped to set my fingers and shoulder, which brought on enough pain that I slipped back into unconsciousness for three entire days.
Dreams of Charlotte haunted my delirium. The sweetness of her lips, the angles of her face, the sparkle in her brown eyes when she teased me into—and out of—an ill humor. Damn, but I wanted her. I wanted to feel her again, wanted to taste her again. I wanted to make love to her endlessly and protect her from everything that would harm her or make her frown. I wanted to wake up with her every morning and share meals with her—even if it meant eating asparagus for breakfast. I envisioned a world where we could marry and have children—each one with wavy auburn hair and the glint of mischief in their gazes. My cracked lips formed a smile at the thought, until the fevered vision warped, and our children sprouted the fur, claws, and fanged teeth of the beasts we’d encountered in the cave.
Beasts.More than one. Was one of them the creature that had attacked Charlotte? What were they? Where had they come from? How many of them were there? Why hadn’t they attacked Van Helsing and me? Did they have some particular distaste for vampires? Was Charlotte going to become like them? Then, a more frightening thought emerged—what if one of themwasCharlotte?
I nearly vomited at the thought, just in time for Van Helsing to hobble into the room with a tray of food and her medical bag.
“Excellent timing,” she said. “I’m glad you’re awake. I would have hated to pull you from the rest you badly need. How are we feeling this evening, Lieutenant?”
“Restless. Injuries or not, I need to be on my way. Have you any news of Charlotte? Did you meet with your acquaintances here? Ouch! Would you stop poking at my ribs?” I twisted away from her, trying to ignore the pain from her ministrations.
“You are lucky,” she muttered. “Even without supernatural assistance, you are healing quickly.” She glared at me over the rim of her spectacles. “You heal because you have been unconscious, and you are here resting. If you leave now, all my good work will be for naught. Stay a few more days, eh?”
“A few days! Absolutely not. Out of the question,” I barked.
“Yes, I did find my friends here,” she continued, breezing past my retort. “They are most anxious to make your acquaintance. I told them I would be happy to introduce you once you were well enough.”
I blanched at the thought. Charlotte’s cousin was here and probably wanted to see me hanged. I’d heard rumors of the duchess before, of course. Once a cherished jewel of the court of Versailles, then stuck in that awful marriage to the Depraved Duke, and then widowed in mysterious circumstances. All of this was followed by her engagement and turning at the hands of the most famous blood-drinker in France, the king’s own vampire emissary. My stomach churned with anxiety.
“What news of Charlotte, Van Helsing?” I couldn’t keep the pleading from my tone, and it annoyed me.
“You have nothing to fear,” the doctor replied. “I’ll not have you reopening that wound on your side when it is healing so well, so please do be still. Here. Eat something.”
She pushed a tray of food into my lap, and before I could take a bite of some rather dubious-looking soup, the door crashed inward, and an impassioned vampire duchess whirled in. She was dressed in a sapphire-colored silk gown and fur-trimmed cloak that probably cost more than several years of my lieutenant’s salary.
“I know he is here and awake, Van Helsing, so stop trying to put me off!”
I made to stand and bow before her, but Van Helsing put her hand on my chest.
“Don’t even think about trying to get up,” she warned. “Duchesse de Durasunderstands that you are recuperating, doesn’t she?” The doctor flashed an admonishing look at our intruder.
“You!” Her strange violet eyes pinned me back to my pillow. “You are the man who kidnapped my cousin after murdering theMarquis de Sade? The man who has apparently run afoul ofGénéralde Vaux, the most formidable officer of His Majesty’s army, who has demanded an absurd bounty for his capture?”
Merde. Well, I can’t outrun the consequences of my actions forever. I may as well submit to the justice of the Order. It won’t be any different from the justice of the crown. Both see me dangling at the end of a rope.
