Echoes of Magic (21 page)

“
How many Hawksbridge
people are within the walls?” she asked Leoma.

Grayson’s mother tore her gaze from her son
and focused on Adrianna. “I’d say at least fifty. We used to house
many more, but people have left over the years. Not that I blame
them.”

“
You could have left,”
Grayson said.

“
And leave my people to
suffer Nigel’s rule?”

“
I don’t see how you’ve
made it any better. They’re in rags.”

Adrianna had heard enough. She glared at
Grayson, daring him to say more. “Leoma, would any of your people
willingly take up arms against Nigel’s men?”

“
A few,” she said.
“Why?”

Grayson smiled at Adrianna.
“What plan is forming in that beautiful head of yours?”

She tried not to show how pleased she was to
hear him call her beautiful. Instead, she thought of the strategy
she had been thinking over for the past hour.

“
The gates are closed,” she
said. “If we can get the knights in the dungeon before Nigel
returns, there’s a chance we can hold him off.”

Grayson drummed his fingers
on the table. “It’s a good plan, Drina. I could manage to get a
couple of the knights myself but, unless the people take a stand,
it won’t work.”

“
Then we make them see how
it can work.”

“
Do you ever give
up?”

She thought of the future
she desperately wanted with Grayson, the future she was doomed to
never have. “Nay. Never.”

“
It could work,” Leoma
said. “The people aren’t content, but they fear Nigel.”

Adrianna stood, resolved to do what she
could. “Let’s find out, shall we?”

Grayson grasped her hand as she passed him.
“We only have a few hours.”

“
Then we needn’t laze
around the hall.” She winked at him, glad to see when he returned
her smile.

When Leoma turned toward the kitchen,
Grayson called out to her. “Take Adrianna with you and, if anything
happens to her, you’ll feel my full wrath.”

“
Nothing will happen to
her,” Leoma replied and turned on her heel.

Adrianna caught up with her. “He needs
time.”

“
It’s something we don’t
have, I’m afraid. Nay, even if he had a score of years, I fear he
would never forgive me.”

“
He thought you dead all
these years.”

Leoma shook her head sadly.
“I wish I was. I’ve waited for so long to see his face again, to
look upon the man he had grown into. It’s bittersweet.”

No more was said as they reached the kitchen
and she and Leoma began to talk to the servants. Many flat out
refused, their fear palpable. Yet, a few were willing to stand with
them.

* * * * *

Grayson strode to the stable. He counted
fourteen knights in the bailey and on the battlements. Once inside
the stables, he let his eyes adjust to the darkness before he
walked to his mount.

The horse stuck his head over the stall
door. Grayson scratched the grey in his favorite place behind his
ears. “Are they treating you good, lad?”

In response, the horse bobbed his great head
up and down. Grayson patted him on the neck and turned. Only to
stop in his tracks at the two men before him.

“
We know who you are,” the
eldest said.

Grayson looked at the man’s balding head and
ragged clothes. “And who I am?”

“
Lord Grayson, Baron
William’s son.”

The second man nodded, his straight blond
hair swaying. “You look just like yer father.”

Grayson studied the two men. They were
frail, old. But they could hold a sword. “Do you know why I’ve
returned?”

“
Aye,” the eldest said.
“You’ve come to defeat that devil.”

“
I have. Will you stand
with me?”

For a moment, he thought the men would
refuse. They glanced at each other before their mouth’s split into
grins.

“
Aye, milord,” the second
man said. “I’ll gladly stand by yer side.”

The first man nodded eagerly. “Just tell us
what you need, milord. And call me Henry.”

“
I need as many of you as
will volunteer, Henry. Nigel is due to return by nightfall. I’d
like to have the knights locked in the dungeon by then.”

The men nodded. “We’ll see to it.”

“
There are plenty of
weapons in the armory. Come to the castle, one by one to get your
weapons. We need to hurry though.”

He waited until they left before he sagged
against the stall. Adrianna’s plan could work, but the possibility
of innocents dying was a definite. When he returned to the bailey,
he saw two knights standing near the castle door. The sooner he got
them in the dungeon the better.

Grayson walked to them and smiled. “Just the
men I was looking for. Lady Leoma asked to see two knights
immediately.”

“
What does she want?” one
asked testily.

Grayson shrugged. “I’m just a guest here.
Let’s find her, shall we?”

He followed behind them as they walked into
the castle. As soon as he closed the door, the knights turned to
him. He wasted no time in elbowing one in the face. The second he
kicked in the knee. As the first crumpled to the ground
unconscious, the second held his leg, his screams echoing in the
great hall.

Grayson stepped over the first knight and
leaned down to the one that screamed. “You’re a knight. Act like
it,” he said before he punched the man out.

“
Well. That’s one way of
doing it,” Adrianna said.

He turned his head to find Adrianna and his
mother walking toward him. He straightened and lifted a shoulder in
a shrug. “Where is the dungeon?”

“
Below. I’ll show you,”
Leoma said.

Grayson slung one knight over his shoulder
and started after his mother.

“
What about the other?”
Adrianna asked.

He glanced at Adrianna. “I’ll be back as
soon as I can.”

The knight was heavy upon his shoulders,
dead weight that he carried down the narrow stairs. The lower they
tread, the mustier the air smelled. He heard water dripping down
the walls as they reached the bottom. His eyes had grown accustomed
to the darkness, and he was able to follow the outline of his
mother. She stopped at the first door and swung it open.

Grayson, not trusting her, didn’t step
inside the cell. He lowered the man to the ground and gave him a
push that rolled him farther inside so they could close the
door.

When he turned around, his mother stared at
him, one black brow arched. “Do you think I would lock you in?”

“
In truth, it wouldn’t
surprise me. I will do what needs to be done to ensure Adrianna
leaves here alive.”

He turned on his heel and hurried back to
the hall. As he reached it, he found another knight kneeling by the
fallen on, Adrianna by his side, wringing her hands. Her gaze rose
to his, relief etched across her beautiful features. Grayson gave
her a small nod as he walked to the knight.

“
What happened here?” the
knight asked him.

Grayson shrugged and with one punch, the man
crumpled.

Adrianna smiled. “You’re rather good at
that.”

“
You learn quickly how to
survive,” he said. He looked at the two men. He didn’t want to
leave Adrianna alone again.

This time, he grasped each man by an arm and
began to drag them down to the dungeons. Once they were secured, he
entered the hall to see Adrianna and Leoma passing out weapons to
any who came to ask for one. Grayson was surprised at the number of
men and women who continued to pass through the castle.

“
If they don’t slow down,
they’re going to draw attention,” he warned Adrianna.

She only smiled. “I think that’s what we
want, aye?”

There was a loud commotion at the back of
the hall coming from the kitchen. Grayson turned and started toward
it when two men holding their swords at the throat of a knight
dragged him toward Grayson.

“
We caught one, milord. He
was sleeping when we found him.”

Grayson smiled. “Well done, men. I’ll take
him from here.”

The knight jerked his arms out of the men’s
grasp. “You have no right to hold me.”

“
Actually, I do,” Grayson
said. “This is my castle after all.”

The knight’s eyes widened, but he didn’t
duck in time to miss Grayson’s fist.

“
Why do you keep knocking
them out?” Adrianna asked.

Grayson chuckled as he
hefted the man on his shoulders. “Easier to handle down those
narrow stairs,” he said.

As he descended to the dungeon, her laughter
followed him. Despite what awaited him upon Nigel’s return, her
laugh could banish all his dark thoughts. It frightened him how
much he wanted Adrianna. She was all he thought about, day and
night. He craved her like a starving man craved food.

He would have to be careful. No one could
know how much she meant to him because, if anyone found out, they
would use her first and foremost to stop him. And the thought
chilled him.

It would be his plan, were he in Nigel’s
place. Already she was linked to him just by being at Hawksbridge.
If there was a way to get her to safety, he would have to convince
her to leave. Though he knew no one could protect her as he
could.

Yet, he didn’t plan to be hidden in the
castle. He wanted a battle with Nigel. The bastard would pay for
taking his mother, controlling Hawksbridge, and trying to kill
Drogan.

Grayson put the knight inside another cell
and closed and locked the door before he retraced his steps to the
great hall. Night was falling fast. Nigel would arrive any moment
and there were still many knights to be put in the dungeon.

It seemed near impossible
to get everything done, yet he had to try. He wasn’t going to make
it easy for Nigel, not this time. The bastard had had his run of
Hawksbridge for too long. Grayson reached the hall and looked
around. It was his home. He didn’t remember much of the castle, but
he remembered being happy here. That mattered more than
anything.

Shouting erupted as a group of men rushed
into the castle. Grayson could only smile as he watched the people
of Hawksbridge—his people—herd the knights to the dungeon.

“
The few who weren’t taken
gave themselves up,” Adrianna said as she walked to him. “All the
knights are now accounted for.”

“
Amazing.”

“
It is. Your people now
await your command.”

Grayson turned to find the hall filled with
people willing to defend the castle to their dying breath. He
inhaled deeply and began shouting out orders positioning people
along the battlements and towers as well as the gatehouse. Others
he positioned inside the bailey and near the postern door to make
sure no one tried to sneak out of the castle. When all was done, he
looked around for Adrianna but couldn’t find her. He glanced at his
mother to find her pointing to the stairs.

“
She’s in the tower,” Leoma
told him.

Grayson hurried to climb the stairs to
Adrianna. He found her standing by the window in the tower, her
arms wrapped around herself.

“
He’s been delayed,”
Adrianna said as Grayson approached.

He fingered the end of her braid.
“Nigel?”

“
Aye. Something has halted
him.”

“
He could still arrive
tonight.”

She shook her head. “Possibly, but I don’t
think so. Whatever made him stop has taken his full attention.”

It was all Grayson needed to hear. “We have
tonight?”

“
We have
tonight.”

Chapter
Twenty
‐
Five

Adrianna’s heart raced as Grayson’s eyes
burned with desire. Her blood sizzled, her body hummed, and the
ever present hunger roared to life.

She almost didn’t recognize
her own body. The insatiable need that flared whenever Grayson was
near made her forget everything but him.

His hands gripped her shoulders and turned
her toward him as he backed her against the wall. Cool stones made
contact with her back the same instant his hot mouth slanted over
hers. His kiss was hypnotic, awakening desires and need she hadn’t
known she possessed. He was turning her into a wanton.

And she loved it.

She matched him kiss for kiss, her arms
winding around his neck while her fingers delved into the thick,
silky locks of his midnight hair. His body molded to hers, his hard
rod pressed against her stomach. But it wasn’t enough. She wanted
to feel him inside her, sliding his delicious length in and out of
her.

Adrianna shoved aside his tunic and clawed
at the fastening of his breeches. His hands joined hers until at
last he was freed. She reached for him, but he grasped her wrists
in one hand and raised them above her head, holding her
immobile.

“
Grayson. Please,” she
begged.

He kissed down her neck then grazed his
teeth over her hardened nipples that puckered beneath her gown. She
hissed and arched her back, seeking more of the pleasure he
promised with every kiss, every touch.

Cool air met her bare thighs as he bunched
her skirts at her waist. Desire pooled, her sex clenched. How she
hungered for him and the desire that made her heart pound and her
blood heat. She wanted every part of him to hold against her heart
always.