Ascension (33 page)

While the men struggled with the durgots, Belinda assessed the problem of getting Serena down from the pendulum without her falling into whatever abyss lay below.

She had an idea, but it would require a man to help her.

Thaddeus was still tussling with one priest.

Belinda pulled a small knife from her boot, pulled back and let it fly. The small blade lodged itself in the demon’s temple.

It stopped, looked confused and then fell to the floor.

The Scot looked as stunned as the dead demon.

The grunts of men and demons along with clash of steel continued behind her.

“Douglass, climb up that stone from the side, cut her wrists and toss her to me.”

He looked from the round stone to the pit then back at Belinda.

“Do not think, just do it.” She tossed him a small blade hilt first and he caught it handily.

Thaddeus tucked the knife into his belt and ran to the side of the altar. He gripped the wall with one hand and the stone with the other, pulling himself up the side until he could get one foot on each surface and climb to the top where Serena’s hands were secured.

The girl screamed and cried.

He cut the first binding, and Belinda’s heart leaped into her throat. Serena hung by just one wrist and nothing lay below her, but death.

Gabriel screamed, “What is he doing.”

Thaddeus looked down at them, his eyes filled with terror.

“Do it! Take her hand and cut the rope,” Belinda said.

The young man wrapped his large hand around Serena’s tiny one and cut her bindings. She swayed above the hole, screaming.

“Throw her.”

“I cannot.”

“Do it.” Gabriel commanded.

Thaddeus lifted his fiancée up until he could grab her by the waist and then he tossed her across the hole to her brother.

Gabriel caught the girl while the Scot’s feet teetered on the stone altar.

“Jump,” Lillian yelled.

She needn’t have told him. He was already flying toward Belinda.

He didn’t make a good jump. His foot hit the edge of the hole and slid in.

Belinda grabbed his flailing hand. She leaned back, but his weight was too much. They would both fall in to whatever lay beneath the Palace of Westminster since the demons had made it their own.

His wide, terrified gaze stared up at her. His legs flailed to find purchase, but there was nothing. He gripped Belinda’s arm.

She pulled with all her strength.

He released his hold. “Let me go, my lady. Save yourself.”

She held on and pulled harder. Her booted feet slid across the stone floor. His weight pulled them both down.

A huge hand came around hers. Thor’s other arm wrapped around her middle and he pulled them both back until all three tumbled to the floor in a heap.

Belinda smiled at the carriage driver. “This is becoming quite a habit, Thor.”

“Yes, my lady. I have a habit of being a bit late. I shall try to do better.”

She laughed at that and allowed him to help her off the floor.

Gabriel held his sister in his arms. His wife and Thor were safe. No one had died. His heart still pounded in his chest. He’d nearly lost everything.

“You think you’ve won something, Hunters. I am Master. I have come.”

It was as if his head were being torn apart. His legs collapsed beneath him. He softened the fall for his sister’s battered body, but his own knees came down with a pain-searing thud.

“It is him,” Belinda said. She staggered on her feet.

“Let’s get out of here.” Lillian was still wobbly herself, but she put a hand out to steady Belinda.

Thaddeus reached to take Serena from Gabriel’s arms.

The last thing he wanted was to release his sister to another man.

He stared the Scot down, but the younger man did not falter. He had saved the woman he loved just as Gabriel had done in Scotland. He released Serena to the young man’s care.

“Are you all right, Bella?”

“Thanks to Thor.”

The driver ignored the comment. “Miss Lillian is right. We need to get out of here. It will need another day for investigation. The young lady needs attention.”

No one disagreed. The place below the Palace of Westminster would need investigation, but not that night.

* * * *

Relief washed over Belinda as she ascended from below ground to the open air of London. She didn’t even mind the horrible river smell. “I think I would like to stay above ground for a while.”

Gabriel hugged her around the shoulder before handing her up into the carriage.

Tubbs had waited with the horses and carriage. The footman’s face was bright red and his eyes warmed as they approached. He let out a great sigh, as if he’d been holding his breath until they arrived.

Thaddeus situated Serena inside the carriage. He touched her cheek and his hand trembled. “Where are you taking her?”

The girl’s consciousness wavered, and she mumbled incoherently.

“Home,” Gabriel said. He narrowed his eyes at Lillian and Belinda as if daring either of them to challenge him.

Thaddeus nodded and left them to mount his horse.

Gabriel held his sister against his chest and crooned gentle words to her on the way back to the Tullering townhouse. She needed a doctor, but Belinda said nothing. Gabriel knew that Dr. Barns would be needed. If he didn’t want to let his little sister out of his sight for the time being, she could completely understand the sentiment.

“Do you need a doctor, Lilly?” Belinda asked.

Her friend touched the back of her head gingerly. “A hot bath and a good night’s sleep should be enough for me.”

A dark purple bruise swelled badly at the back of Lillian’s neck and shoulders. She’d hit that wall hard enough to be knocked unconscious for several minutes. “Are you certain?”

“There is nothing a doctor can do for me. I know my name and yours. I just need to rest and heal. Thor will take me home once you are safe.”

“You could stay with us for a few days, Lilly. I hate to think of you alone.”

Lillian was lovely when she smiled as she did in the dim carriage. “No, but thank you. I prefer my own home. I will travel to check on Reece in a week or so. I have it on good authority that Cullum will send some new hunters to watch over London. I have other business to attend to.”

She wouldn’t see Lillian again for perhaps a long time. Her chest clenched painfully. “I will miss you.”

Lillian touched her hand “I will miss you too, Belinda. We will see each other again. I feel sure of it. I am just thankful you are safe. I do not think I could bear losing you to the demons. I have always known it was a possibility that one of us could be killed, but seeing you hanging above that gateway nearly undid me. I expect you two to take care of each other. Now that you have his lordship, I am certain you can do without me.”

Belinda wiped a tear from her cheek. “You are my dearest friend, Lilly. I will always need you in my life.”

The carriage jerked to a stop.

“And I shall always be your friend. I will write often and let you know where I am.”

It really was good-bye. It was obvious by her friend’s tone that she wouldn’t see her again for some time. They both stepped down from the carriage and exchanged a quick hug.

“Take care of yourself, Lilly.”

Once Gabriel had handed Serena to Thaddeus and they started up the steps into the house, Lillian climbed back in and waved out the window.

The carriage pulled away, grew smaller and turned the corner out of sight.

“My lady, you had best go inside before someone sees you.” Tubbs nervously looked up and down the street.

Her trouser clad legs would cause a stir.

The footman followed her up the steps.

She turned before he opened the door. “Can you go and fetch Dr. Barns from the hunter’s hospital, Tubbs?”

He widened his brown eyes. “I’ll go straight away, my lady.”

* * * *

As the Countess of Tullering, Belinda climbed the staircase to a very spacious and grand apartment of rooms. She entered the lady’s chamber.

Claire met her there and had a bath already prepared.

After the fight, the hot water eased her sore muscles and the steam soothed her. Seeing the condition of Serena in the room down the hall brought back memories of her own recovery from a similar capture.

She tried not to think about her loss of control. She had always been a fierce fighter, but in the altar-room underneath parliament, she had become a creature she did not recognize. In the quiet of her new home, the idea that Gabriel had seen her in that state sickened her.

Instead of making her feel better, the bath only gave her time to think. Washing quickly, she let Claire wrap her in a towel and begin combing out her hair.

She took the comb from the maid. “Go to bed, Claire. I will manage on my own.”

Claire gave her a hard, knowing look. “As you wish, milady.”

Leaving her damp tresses loose, she smiled at the pretty room. The cream and rose confection was exactly what she would have wanted four years earlier. Belinda walked through the door leading to Gabriel’s rooms. She closed the door behind her.

Dark wood and burgundy drapes gave the room a masculine air, which she found much more appealing.

The countess’s room was feminine and appropriate, but she doubted she would use it for more than dressing. Her place was wherever Gabriel rested his head.

A sting of guilt clutched at her. She should be with her husband now.

Taking the robe from the chair near the bed, she wrapped herself in the too-big yet warm garment, before padding down the hall. Belinda listened at the door for a moment but no sound came from within Serena’s bedroom. Her stomach clenched. She didn’t want to be inside the sickroom. Still, she turned the knob and walked inside.

Gabriel sat in a chair alongside his sister, with his hands on the end of the bed and his head resting on his hands.

Serena lay pale, with her eyes closed and her dark hair around her shoulders. She had been bathed and put into clean white bedclothes. She looked peaceful.

For the first time, Belinda didn’t know how to proceed. Her heart was in her throat.

“If you have come to tell me to send my sister away, you should go to bed, Bella.” Raw emotion dripped from Gabriel’s words.

She took a step closer. “I came to be near you, nothing more.”

He sat up in the chair and turned toward her. Exhaustion drew his cheeks in and painted dark rings under his eyes. His skin was too pale as his gaze narrowed on her.

“Where is Dr. Barns?” She asked.

Gabriel closed his eyes and reached one hand out toward Belinda. She rushed across the floor that separated them and settled comfortably on his lap.

His arm wrapped around her and caressed a path up and down her back. “The good doctor gave Serena a draught to help her sleep and will return in the morning.”

“And Mr. Douglass?”

“I sent him away. He was tired and I’m certain he will return tomorrow as well.”

“Do you think he will still wish to marry Serena?”

Gabriel’s shoulders rose and fell. “If she is still the girl he fell in love with, I imagine he will.”

Belinda sat up. A myriad of emotions coursed through her mind. What she had to say caused a tight pain in her heart. “Gabriel, Serena will never be the same.”

He opened his mouth, and she placed her fingers over his lips staying any argument he might make.

“Listen to me. You and I have made a start together, which by your command has included honesty. I will not lie to you now, and lying to yourself or Serena, will not do her any good. She will be forever changed if she can recover at all. I think she is strong and will find a way to live with what she has experienced. We will help her as much as we can. Ultimately, it will be up to her to face the reality of what her mind and society will tell her is impossible. It will not be easy for her. If Thaddeus no longer wants her, then he does not deserve her. It will be a lot for him to accept as well.”

“I accepted it.”

She smiled and rested her head against his shoulder. His hair was loose, and she combed her fingers through the soft tresses. “You are exceptional. Most people need more time to adjust.”

He tightened his hold around her waist. “I would have lost you if I’d taken my time.”

His embrace gave her reassurance and sent a spiral of warmth coursing through her. “Perhaps. But it is irrelevant now. I am your wife and we shall make our way together.”

His lips pressed to the top of her head. She let the calm silence of the sick room and his even breathing sooth her frayed nerves.

“Do you think I should have taken her to the hospital?” Fear trembled his words.

“I think Serena will be better off to wake up in her own room with her family by her side. Your mother will be a problem. She is going to have to adjust.”

“Dr. Barns indicated that Serena should have round-the-clock supervision. She wanted to take her back to the hospital.”

Serena flinched and made a noise more like a wounded cat rather than a young lady debutant.

Perhaps the girl could hear them.

“We can give her a few days here and see how she is doing. Then we can go to the country for a while. It will be safer and give all of us a chance to recuperate. I, for one, am tired, Gabriel. Every square inch of skin aches and I need to rest. You must be tired too. You’ve barely eaten and slept less, in the past week. I’m sure that Tubbs and Faust can help to keep any demons away. Besides, I have a feeling that tonight was a great expenditure of the Master’s resources and he will not bother us for a while.”

Gabriel sat up and put her at arm’s length. “Why do you say that?”

“Not here.” If Serena could hear them through her drug-induced sleep, Belinda held her tongue.

Honestly, she would have liked to put the entire conversation off for a long time. She’d known since her rescue that she would have to tell Gabriel everything that had happened in Fatum, but she had hoped for more time.

Gabriel pulled the cord to call for Serena’s maid. Once the woman arrived, he escorted his wife down the hallway and into his apartments.