“The title will die with my grandfather. He wants forgiveness, but absolution is something I will never give him.”
“You can’t mean that. Whatever he’s done, he’s still your grandfather, still family.”
Raven sighed at her endless, unquenchable optimism. “We share blood, but he’s not my family. Your brothers are my family, and my brothers in arms. Tony and Nic, Richard and Kit.”
She shook her head. “You should still forgive him. He’d lost his son and daughter-in-law. He could have had you, but instead he alienated you. You should pity him that money was more important to him than family.”
“Christ. You’re so much kinder than me, Hellcat. I can’t do it.”
She sighed and he steeled himself against her look of reproach.
“What did you think about?” she asked, clearly realizing he would not be drawn on the subject. “When you were alone in that cell?”
He considered lying to her. Considered telling her he’d quoted Shakespeare and dreamed of desert islands. But the truth streamed out of him and he was helpless to stop it.
“The same thing I thought of when that gun was at my head,” he said quietly. “I thought of you.”
Chapter 24
Heloise stilled.
“Me?” she whispered.
The air between them thickened. The look in his eyes stirred something primitive within her, like the warmth of flames or the need for food and shelter. He threw aside his stone, crossed to her in two strides, and gripped her shoulders so tightly she could almost feel the bruises forming on her skin. Heloise lifted her face, anticipating his kiss, craving it.
A cry of alarm and gunfire echoed from outside. Raven released her with a curse and sprinted toward the cave mouth. Heloise grabbed the lantern and followed him, stumbling in her haste. Two more shots rang out, their sound a monstrous echo that filled the cave, as Raven fired his own pistols.
She ran straight into a nightmare.
There was no sign of Mullaney, but Canning lay facedown in the dirt next to the bodies of two men she didn’t recognize. Raven must have shot them. Three more strangers, each armed with a knife, surrounded Raven, who threw down his spent pistols and drew his own blade as he advanced.
“Stay back,” he shouted to her.
One of the men lunged. Raven leaped back as the man slashed, then parried the knife and caught his attacker around the neck. He kicked out a leg and knocked over the second man. While he fell backward onto the ground, Raven put his hands around his captive’s head and gave a quick twist. There was a sickeningcrack.The man’s shoulders and torso contorted, and his limbs fell limp.
Raven dropped the body to the ground just as the third man leaped forward. The man swung and Raven hissed as the knife caught him across the ribs. He grabbed his assailant’s arm, pushed the blade aside, and punched him twice in the face, breaking his nose. Blood sprayed onto the dusty floor and the man howled in pain, but he didn’t go down. He swung wildly and managed to catch Raven on the jaw.
Heloise pressed herself against the uneven rock at the mouth of the cave, her breathing harsh and uneven. Bile rose in her throat.
The man who’d been kicked to the ground heaved himself up with a groan. Ignoring the fight between Raven and his friend, he advanced on Heloise, an ugly look of determination on his face. She shrank back against the wall, then realized she still held the lantern. As the man came closer she swung her arm with all her might and caught him across the shoulder.
He batted her arm aside with a roar and grabbed her hair, twirling her around to imprison her from behind. His scrawny forearm tightened across her neck and Heloise froze in terror as she felt the cold sting of a blade at her throat. His other arm caught her around the waist and he started to drag her backward into the cave. Heloise clawed his arm, but desperation had lent him a demonic strength. She cringed away from the overpowering stench of him, rank with sweat and dust. His hand cupped over her breast and he squeezed, hard. He panted something in her ear, and while she didn’t understand the words, his meaning was terrifyingly clear. He inhaled deeply, drawing her scent into his lungs, then sniffed her hair.
Heloise cried out in disgust and renewed her struggles. She threw a desperate glance at Raven and saw him deliver a brutal punch that sent his opponent sagging to the ground, unconscious. Chest heaving, he turned and advanced with the predatory grace of a stalking panther.
“Don’t come any closer or I’ll kill her,” her captor shouted.
Raven’s eyes flashed.
The man holding her must have read their murderous intent. “I mean it. Stay back.”
He pressed his knife harder into her neck. Heloise whimpered as it pricked a sharp slice into her skin and a hot trickle of blood slid down the side of her throat.
Raven tilted his head, as if pondering the many ways to end the man’s life. His relaxed smile was chilling. “Let her go and I’ll kill you quickly.”
His voice was low and mesmerizing, a total contrast to the other man’s panicked squeak. Her captor backed away, dragging Heloise with him, using her as a human shield. “I don’t think you’re in any position to make demands. Put down your weapon.”
“All right.” Raven made a show of straightening his fingers away from the knife hilt. He bent and placed it slowly on the floor. “Now what do you suggest?”