The Assassin: (Mortal Beloved Time Travel Romance, #2) (27 page)

“I was not thrilled when I discovered Samuel had foolishly gotten involved with a Messenger,” Giulia whispered. “Good, God, what is that smell. You might want to think about bathing some day.”

“While I wasn’t surprised, I also wasn’t all that thrilled when you told me you were a Hunter. I hoped you were simply a classless mean girl,” I said.
 

“I should not be doing this,” the prison attendant said.

“Of course you should be doing this,” Giulia said. “My silver coins shoved into that threadbare purse you carry already convinced you to do this.”

“Why does the gypsy need to be here?” the man glared back at us and frowned. “You better not be planning something. I will tell my superior. You will be punished—”

“My silver is marked,” Giulia said. “The coins can be traced back to gambling houses and brothels. If discovered,
you will be punished
; therefore you will tell no one. The gypsy is my servant. Besides, I paid you to take me to Lord De Rocha, not answer unnecessary questions.”

The staircase narrowed and the next step down wasn’t wide enough for the both of us. Giulia pushed in front of me. “Make no mistake about it. The stakes are high. The situation with Samuel is dire. You are simply here to help me. At the end of the day, Samuel is mine,” she hissed.
 

“No wonder he wanted to get away from you,” I said. “Does nothing fall from your mouth except for complaints and threats?”

“You are a ridiculous Messenger; you waste my time as well as Samuel’s years in this lifetime with your foolish ventures. I won’t have it.”

 
“The messages we deliver matter. They can change one life or save many. Perhaps we can stop your Hunter tribe from corrupting everyone and ruining everything you set eyes on. Besides, Samuel’s not ‘yours.’ He’s a Healer.”

“Healers mate with Hunters, Madeline,” Giulia said. “Move on with what’s left of your pathetic life. Get over it.”

“Healers mate with whomever they want.” I said. “Just because you slept with him, Giulia, doesn’t mean he’s in love with you. Get over it.”

~ thirty-four ~

We stood in front of a dark cage hollowed into the side of the stone cellar.

“What?” Samuel pushed himself off the filthy floor, walked the few feet toward us, and peered out the bars. “What are the two of you doing here
together
?”

“Oh, Samuel.” My hand flew to my heart and I forgot to breathe. “Are you okay?”

“Leave now,” Giulia commanded the guard. “Give us time.”
 

He grunted. “Be hasty.” He trudged off.

Giulia turned and smiled at Samuel. “We are going to get you out of here,” she whispered. “I have money and power. Nadja plays gypsy convincingly and knows people who can help. I would never allow them to keep you here for any length of time.”

But Samuel only had eyes for me. “King Pedro killed Alvaro and Pero, yes?”

I nodded. “Yes, he—”

“He carved their chests open with his dagger and ripped their hearts out in front of the room filled with party goers,” Giulia said.

“That sounds like him. He needed justice to be served.” Samuel reached his hand out to me between the bars. “Just like I need to touch you one last time. Be real for me, Madeline. I need to remember you as real, not simply the girl from my dreams.” He smiled at me a little crazy, but I got it. Times weren’t normal. Adrenaline raced. Hearts that were closed now opened.
 

I took his hand and he traced my palm with his fingers like he was memorizing every line.
 

Giulia frowned. “Enough with your ridiculous poetry! We need a plan to get you out of here before the King cuts your heart out or takes your head. He crashes into madness, grows more volatile every hour, and we do not enjoy the luxury of time.”

 
“My real father, Diogo, was the only assassin to escape,” Samuel said. “He helped kill Inêz de Castro, and now he has vanished and he will not ever return. King Pedro will kill me in his place to find his justice.”

“You don’t know that, my love.” Giulia edged between us and reached for him.

But he pulled away from her. “I had my opportunity to escape with him when my father met me at the river.”

“That’s why you were there,” I said.

He gazed down. “I thought I had made my decision to follow him to freedom. But I heard you scream, Madeline, and I could not go. I changed my mind.”

“You came back for me?” I asked.

Giulia glowered. “You meant that you returned to help King Pedro.”

He shook his head. “I heard rumors that there were plans to assassinate Inêz. I tried to ignore them and pretend they did not exist. When I met Madeline, she was insistent about finding Inêz and warning her,” Samuel said. “She tried to save her but it was too late.”

“You tried, too,” I said. “We both tried.”

“I wanted to join King Pedro’s search party to help my father. But somewhere on our journey, I realized that although he made me,
I am not my father.
My entire existence I have felt that there was a piece of myself missing. I spoke with people from all walks of life that said they had a calling. Some were compelled to be warriors, others drawn to be scholars, or servants of God. But I never knew my purpose until I was on this trip. I am drawn to be a physician. A person who helps others heal.”

“You dragged me out of the river, pumped all the water from my lungs, and gave me back my breath,” I said. “You healed me.”

“I might have given you breath,” he said. “But you gave me life. Because of you, Madeline, I know what I am supposed to do with my years.”

“Lovely sentiment,” Giulia said. “But if we don’t get you out of here, you won’t see another birthday.”

The prison attendant rounded the bend and walked toward us. “That is all the time your silver buys.”
 

“I have more.” Giulia fumbled with a silken pouch.

“You do not have enough to cost me my head,” the attendant said. “The guards will be coming soon for this one. We need to leave now.”

“Go,” Samuel said.

I bit my lip. I didn’t know if I’d ever see him again. “But—”

“I cannot bear for you to see me tortured and killed, Madeline. Suffer me one last favor and please just leave.”

Giulia and I shuffled after the attendant when I heard a low whistle and I swiveled back toward Samuel.

“It is time for you to go home, Madeline,” he said. “Travel.”

~ ~ ~

“You were useless,” Giulia said as we walked outside the castle toward a small carriage and a driver who waited for her. “The both of you are stricken by what you believe is love. But I don’t agree with Samuel. I don’t think you should travel just yet.”

“You have a plan,” I said. “Tell me.”

“No,” she said. “Stick around and be ready to carry your end of this burden. We share a common goal: we both want Samuel to live.”

~ ~ ~

I glanced around the palace streets of Coimbra, horrified. Smoke billowed into the air. Panicked nobles and peasants fled as King Pedro’s castle erupted in fire.

This was Giulia’s plan.
She had found a way to torch the palace and its grounds to rescue Samuel who was trapped in the dungeons far below. This was her way to help him escape and it didn’t matter that an inferno could kill hundreds of innocent people.

I dodged flames in the royal courtyards that devoured the small flimsy merchant stands. I raced past the stables while grimy stable boys desperately unlatched paddock doors and shooed the horses as well as the other animals out into the common areas.
 

A few guards strained to open the massive gates snuggled into the tall stone walls surrounding the palace grounds.
 

One guard protested. “No. We are not allowed to open the—”

POP! POP! POP!
 

Merchant wares exploded like bottle rockets around me.
 

I smelled burning spices in the air and I shuddered. “Open the frigging gates!” I screamed. “No one lives unless we open the gates!”

“No. I cannot. That is not allowed—”

I decked him with the punch that Ryan taught me back at the dilapidated gym in Chicago. The guard spiraled onto the ground, grunted, and clutched his face.

I leaped over his fallen body, skipped past him, grabbed the bolt on the gate, and yanked on it hard. It creaked but it wouldn’t budge.
Was I really this weak?
I spotted Miri, her father, Dario and my dog attempting to escape on the back of Tomasis’s cart.

 
“Nadja!” Miri hollered and nearly scrambled off before her father grabbed her arm. “Let me go!” She struggled against him.

“No,” he said. “Nadja can come with us.”

“I can’t open the gates,” I said. “Help me?”
 

Tomasis hopped off his perch from behind the ponies and pointed a finger at his son. “Dario, stay!”
 

“Yes, Papa.” Dario looked around, mesmerized by the mayhem.

Tomasis and I tugged on the bolt as a crowd of terrified people surrounded and pressed up against us. “Harder,” he said.

“On the count of three,” I said. “One. Two. Three!” We lifted the bolt, heaved the gate open a few feet and people nearly trampled each other as they squeezed through. “It has to be wider for your cart and the animals.” I coughed and yanked on it again. Foot by foot it creaked opened. “Why is this gate so stuck?”

“It has not been opened in at least a hundred years,” he said. “It was only built for emergencies.”

“I think this counts.”
 

“Everyone needs a back up plan,” he said. “Any news of Lord De Rocha?”

“He’s still in the dungeon.” I glanced back; flames consumed the north face of the castle and licked their way toward the center where Samuel was imprisoned.

“Go!” He strained to wrestle the gates open wider. “I know you care for him. Try to save him. I wish I could help but I must tend to Dario and Miri.”

“You already helped. Promise me you’ll be good to Miri.”

“You will probably beat me up if I don’t!” He cracked a smile.

I doubted it. My time in Portugal was ending.
 

“You’d better believe it!” I ran back toward the cart. “Miri! I love you!”

“I love you, too.” She held out her hand. “Hop aboard!”
 

I grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “I can’t. I have to help Samuel.” I let go and threw her a kiss. “No matter what, you will always be one of my best friends.” I blinked back tears as I raced around the flames toward the palace.

~ thirty-five ~

The fire was Giulia’s plan to help save Samuel. It was also her plan to be with Samuel forever.
 

At this point, I sincerely hoped her gamble paid off, but I couldn’t simply wait to see if she had arranged to break him out of his cell and lead him to safety. So I fled through the smoky cobblestone lanes toward an entrance in the north face of the palace where I could descend into the dungeon and hopefully discover that he had already escaped.

Out of nowhere, a strong boney hand gripped my arm and a knife poked into my side. “Ow!”

“You are not going anywhere near that part of the castle,” Sister Ana said. “We need to talk.”

I looked up at her. She didn’t appear like a pious bride of Christ. More like a pissed off chick who was tired of babysitting and just wanted to get back to her friends at the local bar. “No,” I said. “We don’t need to talk. You’re a Hunter. I’m not going anywhere with you. Frankly, I’m shocked you’ve waited so long to confront me, but now’s not the best time.”

“Walk.” She pushed me in front of her toward the opposite end of the palace.

I reluctantly moved. “Let me go and we’ll call this one even,” I said. “A draw. We can agree to meet up another day, another lifetime perhaps. We can finish this,
whatever this is,
then.”

“No,” she said. “I will not travel again for a second chance. I am done with this hideous calling. We finish it now.” She prodded me with her knife toward a small palace door. “Open it. Hurry!”

I pulled it open and entered the castle. “I will scream, I will holler, I will not go without a fight,” I said.

“Which is why I brought incentive.” She pointed to the vestibule just yards away where I saw Dario on the ground; his hands and feet bound together, a blindfold covered his eyes, and he whimpered. Scout lay next to him.
 

I rushed to them. “You’ve gone too far this time, Ana.” I pulled Dario toward me and whispered, “Shh. Shh.” I untied his restraints as Scout licked my face.
 

“My papa is going to be so angry I left the cart,” he said. “Please do not tell him.”

“It’s our secret,” I said.

~ ~ ~

I didn’t welcome conflict but it seemed inevitable. I had hoped Sister Ana’s plan involved fighting me somewhere in a forest, like where she ambushed and killed Jorge. Instead, she dragged Dario and me to the castle’s chapel where the flames were still a short distance away.
 

We were in the same sanctuary I’d been baptized in just weeks earlier. Sister Ana paced back and forth in the transept. I leaned back against a wall and held Dario’s hand as we gazed up at the domed ceiling and the painted frescos of angels, saints, and sinners.

“And that is the mother of Jesus, and those men and women with wings are angels. And those are the arches my grandmother told me about.” He pointed. “See—very high up, almost on the top.”

“Yes,” I said.
 

“When is Papa coming for me?”

“Soon, Dario. Very soon.” I turned to Sister Ana. “You need to let the child go.”

“But that is my problem.” Sister Ana stopped. “I cannot. I am supposed to be a Hunter; be on call for whatever emergency exists, leave my life and travel to whatever crisis requires my attention. ‘Pay attention, Ana. Report back to us, Ana. Really, you do not have to kill anyone this time. Just bring us the information.’ But then, I always do have to kill someone.” She paused and dropped her forehead into her hands for a few seconds.
“And that pains me.”
 

Oh, God. Ana was telling my story but from a Hunter’s viewpoint.