The Charleston Chase (Phantom Knights Book 2) (22 page)

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A pungent odor floated through my nostrils and stung
my brain. It was like death and onions, perhaps death by onions.
There was something hard beneath me. I could not be dead for
everything stunk too much to be heaven, and surely not enough to be
Hell.

I heard voices somewhere above me. “Touch him again,
and it will be the last mistake you ever make,” a deep voice
said.

One of my eyes fluttered open, then the other. I was
lying on a cold stone floor, and there were five men huddled in a
group near some iron bars. Another man was standing in front of me.
There was something not right to that picture, so I started to push
myself up. The man in front of me lowered to his knees without
taking his eyes from the men near the bars.

“Slow does it, Mr. Jack,” Abe’s deep voice
instructed as his hand helped me to stand.

Swaying and using the stone wall to keep upright,
the back of my head ached something fierce, and it hurt to touch
it. A lump had formed where I had been struck.

“Abe, what happened?”

“Sheriff,” Abe replied without looking at me. “Knew
me and that’s why I’m here.”

His meaning would not be comprehensible to the
others in the cell, but I knew what he meant. Subduing Levi could
have cost him his life if it was viewed as Abe had been the one to
attack.

Focusing on the group by the bars, they were all
excessively dirty. Torn clothing, no shoes on their feet, two with
bloodied lips, one with a bloody nose and the other two with
swollen eyes, and all possessing yellow teeth.

“What’s the altercation?” I asked Abe in a low
voice.

“Them there tried to steal your coat and shoes.”

“Did you do that damage?”

“Only enhanced their beauty,” Abe replied in a
sneering voice.

The men took a step forward.

Making a quick decision, I stripped out of my coat
then started undoing my crumpled cravat. All eyes were upon me,
most in astonishment.

“What are you doing?” Abe hissed at me.

“Trust me,” I replied. “Who approached me first?”
Abe pointed to a man at the far right. I stepped to the left. “Who
was the first to fancy my coat?”

They stared at me like I was daft, but one of them
stepped toward me.

“It is a fortunate day for you. Here is my coat. I
make you a gift of it.” The man stared at me, but I tossed the coat
to him then turned to the man next to him. “You look like a man who
knows how to tie a cravat.” I tossed my white cravat to him.

Unbuttoning my waistcoat, I tossed it to the third
man then removed my boots and gave them to the smallest of the men.
His feet were black with dirt and dried blood from walking around
without shoes, but his feet looked like they might be as small as
my own. There was nothing I would give to the man who started the
altercation.

“I be takin’ yer fine shirt off ye,” he said.

Meeting Abe’s eyes, they were smoldering. Turning
toward the man who had spoken, he had squared his shoulders as if
that would make his words more threatening. There was no doubt that
he would try to enact his words, but he had misjudged his man.

“You will not, and if you have any ideas of trying
to wrest my shirt by force allow me to assure you, though I may
appear small I was boxing champion of my regiment.”

Abe remained standing as I sat on the stone floor.
My feet were covered with my stockings, but the cold from the
stones and windowless cell was quickly making me regret my decision
of giving away my boots. The reason I had done so was simple, and
it quickly proved correct. The attention of the men focused on
fighting over the clothes and no longer on fighting Abe.

“Tell me where we are,” I said to Abe.

“The roundhouse. At first I thought they might take
us to the fort, but at the last minute one of the people what
witnessed the murder of those men came to speak for us.”

“Why are we here then?”

“Disturbing the peace and destruction of a fruit
stand.”

That was not so bad, but then
again, no one knew we were here, except Guinevere and Levi, and I
was not fool enough to believe they would come to our rescue. If
what Guinevere said was the truth, the royal guards were after the
artifacts. It also appeared that Levi was now working for the Holy
Order, though why he would choose to work for the enemy was
something I did not understand. Levi was a Phantom—family—we did
not turn our backs on each other.

Boots clicked against the stone floor then a soldier
appeared and unlocked the cell. “Move back, you scum,” he shouted
as he pushed the dirty men away from the door.

“Martin and Coles, you are to come with me,” he
said.

We followed him out of the cell. The door was
slammed shut behind us.

“Your bail has been posted,” the guard said.

He led us down a corridor and then to the front door
where Sam was waiting for us.

Sam looked us over then his eyes focused on my feet.
“Where are your boots, John?”

“I gave them away,” I said, meeting his eyes.

He stared at me for a long moment then laughed and
motioned for us to follow him to the door.

“One moment, sir,” said the soldier. “Your effects.”
He handed me my pocket pistol, my money purse, and a black
feather.

I stared at the feather feeling my face grow hot in
anger. Since I had left the Phantoms I no longer carried a black
feather. It had to have been Levi, thinking it a fine jest, who
added that feather to my possessions. Taking the feather and my
possessions, I followed Sam from the roundhouse. The sun was bright
as we stepped outside.

Sam’s carriage was waiting, and Abe climbed onto the
box with Jeffrey as Sam and I stepped into the closed carriage. As
the carriage lurched forward Sam asked me what happened. I told him
about the royal guards and Levi and the fruit, but I left out
meeting Guinevere.

“How did you know where we were?” I asked as the
carriage bumped along the street.

“Miss White came to my house and told me she saw you
being arrested at the marketplace. She knew you were staying with
me and thought I should know.”

“Did she indeed? Mighty kind of her.” And
confusing.

“What is between you and Miss White?” Sam asked,
staring at me with his intense gaze.

“What is between you and my sister?”

Surprisingly Sam looked away.

“I understand that I am to wish you joy,” I
said.

Sam, to my astonishment, grinned. It changed his
whole demeanor and appearance. He looked younger than his
twenty-five years. “Your sister wanted to string me up when I told
Madison that, but I have hope to come to an understanding
soon.”

There was a great chance that I was looking at my
future brother. Sam was the kind of man Bess needed, if she could
overcome her fears.

“When your sister first arrived I had a reputation
with women, and I am afraid that your sister heard of it.”

“Is it true?” I asked, curiosity getting the better
of me, mixed with my duty as Bess’s brother.

Sam leaned against the corner of the carriage and
sighed audibly. “Yes and no.”

“You will have to do better than that if you expect
my sister to marry you.”

I had a feeling that Bess liked Sam very much, but
she was being cautious, and rightly so. She had not the best luck
with men in the past. That was it, though. It was in the past, not
the present or the future. If Bess wanted to be happy, if she
wanted a life and a family, she had to let go of the past and live
in the present, aiming for the future.

“It was all pretense, a ruse to protect my cover in
the Phantoms. I never trifled with an unsuspecting woman. Every
woman who received my attentions was either married or knew it was
all a game.”

“Is that what you were doing with Guinevere? Playing
a game?”

“Not in the beginning,” Sam said slowly. “When she
arrived in Charleston she was affable, beautiful, I thought she and
I could suit.”

My teeth were grinding hard, but if I stopped I
might try to throttle Sam.

“I did not know who she was, Jack. Nor did I know
she was betrothed to you.”

“Now you do know, so there will be no more games
played. Do you understand?”

“More than you know.” His eyes closed, and he ran a
hand over his face. “I never let a woman into my heart, until your
sister came charging into my life with her stubbornness and her
orders and her rants.” Sam opened his eyes, smiling ruefully at me.
“I believe I first realized that I loved her when she slapped me
upon our first meeting in Charleston.”

I laughed, unable to keep it in check. “My sister is
nothing if not passionate.”

As I thought about his words, my laughter died. He
loved my sister. I angled myself in my seat to look at Sam. “She
has been hurt more than any woman should ever be. Bess has built a
mighty fortress around her heart, one that will take an army of
good deeds and visible assurance that you are here to stay to break
down the walls. Well that or a direct order from God.”

Sam’s lips twitched. “Then let us begin at once.”
Sam’s eyes ran over my state of undress. He grimaced. “But first
you must see to your attire. We cannot call upon your sister with
you looking like you have just come from rumbo.”

“With speech like that I would say it was you who
spent a few hours in prison.”

Sam closed his eyes again and leaned his head
against the squabs. “I believe I am going to like having you here,
Jack.”

“I will remind you of that in a few weeks,” I said
and leaned back in my own corner. There was one more thing that I
wanted to discuss with Sam, so I said, “Do Rose and Guinevere know
each other well?”

Sam did not move, did not open his eyes. His voice
was soft, void of emotion. “You could say that they do.” Sam’s eyes
opened, but they were two narrow slits. “Guinevere is responsible
for the death of Rose’s husband.”

Bess

A
fter Sam
escorted me home and ushered me into the house, standing upon the
doorstep until I was safely inside, I had the best sleep of my life
that I remember. Sam had promised to call upon me, but with the
dawn of a new day, I realized what I should have done the moment I
knew I could trust Sam.

With great care, I dressed, and Mrs. Beaumont
arranged my hair, and I packed the artifacts into a small
portmanteau and went down to the parlor. Rose was there, and when
she heard where I was off, to she offered to accompany me. She had
some business to discuss with Sam. Together we set off in her
carriage, leaving Charlotte, who had yet to waken, and Betsy at the
house.

It was nearing lunch when we met Mrs. Lacey at the
door. She told us that Sam and Jack were from home, but Leo was in
the dining parlor. We went there, and Mrs. Lacey set places for us
to stay for lunch.

When I asked Leo about Jack, he said Jack had run
into some trouble at the marketplace, so Sam has gone to give him
aid.

As we dined on cold meat, fruit, and an assortment
of cheeses, I watched Rose and Leo, for they each were behaving
unusual. Rose asked Leo about his travels with Jack over the last
few months, and Leo answered her. Leo never spoke to people if he
could help it. It was a testament to Rose’s ability to put people
at their ease. She was genuinely interested in what he had to
say.

After lunch, I told Rose I wanted to look for a book
before we went home. I had thought about the symbols on the black
box and realized that some of them were Greek runes. Sam, who had a
book on every subject, surely had one on runes. I had searched the
book room for a little over half of an hour before Jack and Sam
arrived.

When I saw Jack’s state of undress, I was not
shocked, even understanding when I learned he had been in
confinement for brawling in the middle of the marketplace. When he
told me about the fruit fight, I laughed. Sam’s gaze snapped to me
for the first time, and my laughter faded under the scrutiny of his
intense gray eyes. I felt heat spreading over my neck and into my
cheeks, but I would not be the first to look away.

In the light coming in through the windows, Sam’s
eyes looked almost green instead of blue-gray. I allowed myself to
admire his face for the first time without guilt. I loved the slope
of his nose, the hair that decorated his face, how his lips were
the same size, neither one being larger than the other. They were
soft and perfect. I had never thought much about a man with curly
hair, but after Sam, I could not imagine liking anyone else half as
much. He had slowly, word by word, look by look, embedded himself
into my thoughts. His intensity had never once scared me, but
filled me with heat from the first time we met. I liked him, and
that is what scared me.

“I declare, Samuel Mason, I have never seen such
intensity until Bess arrived,” Rose said, breaking into Sam and my
holds on each other’s gazes.

Sam smiled at Rose. “Some mysteries I save for only
very special people, Rose Eldridge.”

Rose appeared pleased with that reply. Jack had gone
up to change his attire, and Sam led us into the parlor. His house
was not completely set to rights from the previous night’s party,
but his servants were busy at work in the rest of the house.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of having you pay me
a visit?” Sam asked casually.

“Bess had something she wished to discuss with you,”
Rose said, looking to me.

Sam’s eyes were upon me, and his brows rose in
inquiry. There was no sign of change in his demeanor toward me,
like last night had not occurred at all.

A slow burning anger and hurt twisted me into knots.
“Not so much discuss as something I wished to show you, Mr. Mason.
Allow me a moment to fetch it from the book room.” I rose and left
the parlor, going into the book room where I had placed my
portmanteau near one of the bookcases. Taking deep calming breaths,
to calm my mind from twisting everything that he did and said, I
heard the door close behind me. Turning to see Sam walking toward
me, I stood my ground, staring up at him without a hint of my
churning emotions showing on my face. When he reached me, his arms
went around me, and I was pulled against him. He did not kiss me
but buried his head against the side of my neck.