Stephanie Laurens - On a Wicked Dawn

Not that they'd discussed it, or even said so much in words, however private — they'd simply exchanged a glance, then Amelia had claimed that position as hers.

His mind drifted to her — his wife and so much more — to all he wanted to say to her as soon as fate gave him a chance…

With an effort, he yanked his wits back, focused them on the game at hand, one too fraught with danger to risk distraction. Lucifer was prowling downstairs; Martin was hovering in the shadows of the shrubbery. Sugden was out somewhere near the kennels. From a room at the end of the west wing, Amanda was watching the valley and all approaches from beyond the home farm. Phyllida was in hers and Lucifer's room, which happened to command an excellent view of the rose garden and the gardens farther along, beyond the east wing.

Night fell like a shroud over the house.

Through the depths of the night, they waited for the thief to show his face.

Two o'clock came and went. At a quarter to three, Luc left his position briefly; moving soundlessly through the corridors, he alerted Simon to cover the whole of the west wing, then checked with everyone else, eventually returning to his watch. They were all wilting. No one had voiced it, yet every one of them was wondering if they'd misjudged, and the thief would not, for whatever reason, appear.

Time drifted on; staying awake became increasingly difficult.

Propped up in her bed, Helena had much less difficulty than any of her guards in keeping alert. Old age left her less inclined to sleep, more inclined to lie in peace and sift through her memories.

Tonight, she lay on her pillows and kept watch over her necklace, and remembered. All the good times that had followed the moment when she'd received it — the moment when she'd most unwillingly accepted it, outwitted by Sebastian, and fate.

All the wonders of life, and love.

She was far away, reliving the past, when the door of her wardrobe, directly across the room, swung slowly open.

Helena watched as a cloaked figure stepped gingerly from the depths of the wardrobe. Glancing fearfully at the bed, the figure hesitated — too small and slight to be a man, but the cloak's hood was up, hiding all clues to identity.

Reassured by Helena's stillness, the figure drew itself up, then glanced around; its gaze fell on the table.

Lit by the faint moonlight slanting through the open window, the pearls glowed with an unearthly radiance.

The figure inched nearer, then nearer still. Then one small hand came out from beneath the cloak, fingers extending to touch the iridescent strands.

Helena saw the fingers shake, saw the last moment of hesitation. Realized in a flash who the figure must be. There was a wealth of kindliness in her voice when she asked, "Ma petite, what are you doing here?"

The figure's head jerked up. Helena pushed upright in the bed. The figure uttered a strangled squeak, halfway to a shriek; frozen, she stared at Helena.

"Come." Helena beckoned. "Do not scream. Come and tell me."

Heavy footsteps shook the corridor. The figure's head jerked toward the door, then she rushed — first this way, then that — in total panic.

Helena muttered a French curse and struggled to rise from the bed.

The figure yelped, rushed to the open window. She learned out — the room was on the first floor.

"No!" Helena ordered. "Come back!" Centuries of command rang in her voice.

The figure turned uncertainly.

Simon burst through the door.

With a shriek of pure fear, the figure jumped out of the window.

Simon cursed and rushed to look.

"Good God!" He stared. "She's landed on the loggia" Leaning out, he waved. "Come back here, you little fool!"

Helena rolled her eyes. Shrugging on her robe, she hurried to join him. The sight beyond the window made her lay a hand on his arm. "Don't say anything more."

But Simon had already fallen grimly silent.

Outside, the cloaked figure, weaving and staggering, was attempting to walk one of the beams of the loggia that extended away from the house over the flagstone terrace. If she overbalanced and fell, broken limbs would be the least of it.

The figure teetered precariously; time and again, she swayed, arms flailing — every time, she regained her balance. The heavy cloak swung about her legs, a dangerous encumbrance. Under her breath, Helena prayed.

"My stars," Simon breathed. "I think she's going to make it."

"Don't speak too soon and tempt fate."

In the gloom of the gardens, they could just make out Martin hovering by the shrubbery, and Sugden on the path to the kennels. Both remained frozen, silent witnesses to the girl's perilous flight. No one made the slightest sound, the slightest movement, did nothing to distract her.

After what seemed an eternity, the wildly lurching figure reached the end of the beam where it joined with an upright support. Simon tensed; Helena sank her fingers into his sleeve. "You are not following her."

Simon didn't even glance at her. "Of course not. No need."

They waited silently as the figure grappled and grasped, then partly swung, partly fell, partly scrambled to the ground, landing in an ungainly heap.

Simon immediately leaned out of the window. "She's on the ground by the loggia outside the music room!"

His ringing call propelled everyone into action. The girl jumped to her feet and tore off toward the shrubbery.

Then she saw Martin closing from that direction.

With a shriek, she pivoted and fled in the opposite direction, toward the rose garden and the darkness of the wood beyond.

She was almost there, almost to the path that led into the shadows, when she ran directly into Lucifer, who'd left the house through the front door and circled around the east wing.

Luc heard Simon thunder to Helena's room, but no one had passed either him or Simon, so how…? Via the window? But Martin, Sugden, or Phyllida would have seen… how had anyone got past them all?

Striding into the west corridor, he saw Simon dash into Helena's room. He paused, poised to react, then he heard Simon speak. Confused, Luc waited — there was clearly no drama occurring in the room, no danger to Helena.

What the devil was going on? He was about to stride to Helena's room and find out when he heard Simon's call.

"She's on the ground by the loggia…"

She.

The word stopped him in his tracks. The possibilities crashed down on him. Could they all have been wrong? Had Anne gone out of her window and around the outside of the house? Or had she not even been in her room but in Helena's?

Swinging around, he strode for the east wing.

Amelia was hovering outside Anne's door; she'd heard Simon's call but the house was too massive for her to make out his words. But she saw Luc coming, understood enough. She didn't hesitate.

She opened Anne's door. "Anne?" No reply. The bed was draped in dense shadows. "Anne!"

"Huh? What…?" Pushing her thick brown hair from her face, Anne groggily sat up, peering at Amelia. "What's the matter?"

Amelia beamed at her. Relief and newfound excitement rushed through her. "Nothing, nothing — nothing to worry about."

Sounds from outside reached them; Amelia rushed to the window, flung back the curtains, threw up the sash. Behind her, she heard Luc reach the room and step inside.

"What's going on?" Anne asked from the bed.

After the faintest pause, Luc replied, "I'm not sure."

Amelia heard the profound relief in his voice, could feel the irrational dread lift from his— their —shoulders. Holding back the curtains, she leaned out as Luc joined her. A second later, Anne, dragging a robe about her, pushed in alongside.

The sight that met their eyes was at first incomprehensible — a trio of figures wrestling on the lawn, detail obscured by the dense shadows cast by the huge trees of the wood. Then the trio resolved into two larger figures supporting the third toward the house; the smaller figure resisted, but weakly.