She slashed his shirt open then reached for a cloth inside the bowl of water. Georgina rang it out and pressed the cool water against his flesh.
He hissed and she glanced up at him. She’d borne the sting of the lash. Knew the searing agony of water as it seeped into the shredded flesh. “I am so sorry. I know they must hurt.”
Blakely remained silent while she cleaned his wounds. Next, she applied the balm.
He sighed in response. “That is heaven.”
“If this is heaven, I don’t want to see hell.” She dropped her cloth onto the tray.
“Miss Wilcox,” Mr. Stone’s voice thundered from above stairs.
She bit her lip, ignoring him. “Here.” She loosened the length of the captive’s constraints enough that he could reach the bread she placed on his lap. “Just a moment,” she called over her shoulder at the still-closed door. Georgina reached for the glass of warm lemon water and held it up to his lips. “Drink,” she said softly.
When he’d drained the glass dry, she picked up the empty tray and carried it over to the door.
“Can you help free me?”
Georgina swallowed hard. It was time to shove aside the selfish fear and cowardice that had driven her. “I will. I promise.”
And Adam. She needed to free these men…somehow.
“I must go,” she murmured.
She needed to see Adam.
Mr. Blakely nodded. His gaze seared her back as she climbed the stairs to confront Mr. Stone.
She nearly ran into him.
She would have tumbled down the stairs if Mr. Stone hadn’t reached out and grabbed her, pulling her to safety.
She didn’t want to be beholden to this man or anyone. “Thank you,” she bit out.
He smiled but didn’t relinquish her. “You sound like you’d rather have fallen down the stairs then talk to me.”
Georgina looked pointedly at his hand. “I think perhaps I might prefer that than speaking with you.” She arched a single brow. “You called me, Mr. Stone.”
“I’m here at ‘The Sovereign’s’ request. I’ve come to help. We must be quick if we are to get Mr. Markham and Mr. Blakely out of here.”
Her heart stopped.
Other than that.
She did want to discuss that with him.
Emmet is inordinately interested in pikes. He has made several trips to Bristol to meet with an arms manufacturer to discuss design innovations to the weapon.
Signed,
A Loyal British Subject
Chapter 5
Surely she’d heard him wrong.
Or this was a neat, little trap orchestrated by her father to test her loyalty.
Either way…
“Miss Wilcox, I am here to help Mr. Markham and Mr. Blakely.”
“Liar,” she hissed and backed away from him. Her heart thumped hard against the wall of her chest. Oh, how she wanted to believe him, wanted to believe she wouldn’t be alone in freeing Adam, because then maybe, just maybe, Adam could escape the guards stationed outside and live.
His onyx eyes snapped fire. “We don’t have much time. Your father is off meeting his superior for directives on what to do with Blakely. When they return, they’ll bring with them the order to kill Markham.”
She gasped and, folding her arms under her breasts, imagined a world without Adam in it. Even if this was a scheme on Father’s part, she had to act because the alternative would be watching Adam die in this place.
“There are men outside,” she said.
“I killed the two guards out back while you were caring for Blakely,” he said, his pronouncement devoid of emotion.
Georgina swayed.
Stone caught her about the waist. “You can’t be weak.”
Georgina nodded. If Adam were to live, she had to be strong. “What do I do?”
“See to Markham. I’ll see to Blakely.”
“He’s in the cellar.” Georgina gestured to the door.
“I know. We need to get them outside. There is a black carriage waiting out front. It has red drawn curtains.”
A sob escaped Georgina’s lips as she realized this was finally happening.
Stone misunderstood the reason for her emotion. He wouldn’t know of the longing for justice that had burned in her since she’d failed the nameless man killed in her kitchen.
“You will be safe, too,” he said. “We are not ignorant of how you’ve helped.”
“How—”
He continued through her fog of confusion. “We appreciate that you’ve cared for our members, Miss Wilcox.” He pressed a key into her palm. “Now go,” he commanded, giving her a gentle push toward the door.
Georgina didn’t hesitate. She flew up the stairs, taking them two at a time, stumbling over her skirts in her haste to get to Adam. She ran down the hall, gasping with the exertion of her efforts and the precariousness of their situation.
Still, an inevitable sense of doom hung over her.
“Adam,” she cried against the door.
“Georgina!” His deep baritone, muffled through the door, shattered the rest of her composure. “What is it? What’s happened?”
Her fingers shook so badly the key tumbled to the floor. She cursed. Georgina bent down, retrieved it, and jammed it into the lock. It made a satisfying click.
Georgina shoved the door open and tripped through the entrance. “We don’t have much time,” she rasped. “There is a man. He is here to help you.”
Us. He is here to help all of us.
Racing to his side, she set to work untying him.
*
The muscles in Adam’s body went stiff.
He stared at Georgina in mute silence as she struggled to free him. He’d dreamed of this day for months. When Fox and Hunter had beaten him, nearly broken him like a battered animal, Adam had told himself that it had been the promise of seeing Grace again that had kept him alive. Only now could he be honest to admit to himself that it had been this woman, Georgina.
Close. They were so very close to freedom. A surge of desperate panic numbed his soul, froze his heart.
His stare alternated between the door to freedom and Georgina who knelt at his feet. He held his breath, expecting to see his captors storm in.
“Hurry,” he rasped.
His words seemed to fuel her panic.
She lifted her eyes for a moment. “I’m sorry.”
Adam forced himself to take a deep breath. Panic wouldn’t help either of them. He managed a half-smile. “It’s fine, love. Easy. Just focus.”
Georgina returned to picking at his constraints.
And then the knots were loose. The cords slipped over his wrists.
She tugged on his hands. “Hurry,” she cried.
He stood and nearly collapsed. Georgina wrapped her arm around his waist and led him to the door. She pulled it open and peeked outside.
She glanced back at him. “They are gone. I don’t know when they’ll return.”
For the first time in three months, Adam stepped outside his prison cell. His heart thudded painfully against the wall of his chest. Fox and Hunter could return at any moment and crush all hope of his liberation. His jaw hardened. Not again. He’d not be their victim again. If he died trying, he’d not surrender to their foul clutches.
Georgina guided him down the hall toward the stairs.
Two men stepped into their path.
Adam froze. The air left him on a whoosh.