Not Without Juliet

chapter TWENTY



At the first landing, Percy handed her off to the tall guard, then followed them down the steps. Jules felt the others hesitate just a fraction of a second, just as she had, when the smell of a rotting body hit them. Continuing on, everyone walked a little slower, in no rush to be immersed completely in that invisible cloud.

Had Skully been the only one to die there? Probably not. And his bones looked far too bare for him to have died recently.

She shook her head to keep from imagining of what other atrocities the laird of Clan Gordon might be capable of. That head shaking put her off-balance, however, and she tripped. Percy, strangely enough, helped steady her.

The big guard returned her rather roughly to her cell. She felt rather than saw Quinn stiffen in the shadows. She took his lead and didn’t rush to the bars like she wanted to. They were back together, but it would be short-lived. And she didn’t want Percy to imagine more than he already had.

Or had he imagined anything at all? Maybe he’d been there, in the shadows around the arch, listening to their conversations. Maybe he’d known about the kiss. Maybe when he’d offered up Quinn as a punishment for her cruel mention of his brother, he’d known precisely how much it might hurt her in the end.

And if that was so, ignoring Quinn now would be wasting her last chance to speak with him, because she knew, in the pit of her stomach, that no matter how this all ended, she’d never be granted that dream again. This was it. All those practice runs were over.

This time, she was going to have to say goodbye.

She pushed her tears back. There would be plenty of time to cry later, once she was alone.

She turned to face the cell door and stole a look at Quinn. His worry was plain, though he tried to mask it. Her insides begin to melt and those tears threatened to defy her. It had been so very long since anyone had worried about her. If she let herself cry, though, he'd only worry more, and he was going to need his head in the game. Especially if he'd gone soft, as Gordon said he had. Quinn was the one they should be worrying about.

"I have good news and bad news," she said cheerfully, ignoring the finalistic clang of her prison door. "Good news is I'm back."

Quinn glanced at Percy, then shrugged his shoulders and leaned against the far bars. He folded his arms, like he was bored.

She sighed. “By the way, I’m pretty sure Percy speaks English.”

Percy didn’t flinch as he took the keys from Martin in exchange for the torch. Then he moved the old man’s arm to show him where the light must be held.

Still watching Percy, she said, “Notice how he wasn’t even curious when his name was mentioned?”

"Is that the bad news?" Quinn had sounded casual, but his fingers were digging into his own arms.

Percy began trying the keys in the door of Quinn’s cell.

"Not all of it,” she said. “The other bad news is the guy who claims to be my husband is Gabby's hitman. When I insisted I didn’t know him, he started ranting about needing satisfaction from whoever had been turning my head.”

She knew she was wasting time, but how did she tell him he might be about to die.

"And then?"

Quinn was no longer leaning. His hands were on his hips and he was looking right at her. He still stood on the far side of his cell, though. She got the impression he’d already guessed what came next.

"Percy told him it was you. You were right. He knows that I care about you and he used it against me. I don’t think he planned to, but he was angry because I mentioned...Skully.”

Quinn nodded slightly, but didn’t move any closer.

Jules couldn’t take it anymore and grabbed the bars that separated them. They were out of time.

“He already knows, Quinn. He already knows.”

A heartbeat later he was pressed against the bars, pulling her tight. She was so relieved she could have laughed. Percy and Martin disappeared in the background. It was only them. Together again. He was kissing her all over her face, missing her mouth in spite of her trying to help him find it.

“Your chances of escaping are much better above ground, right?” she whispered, since her mouth was currently not in use. “I still think my stand-by plan is better than nothing—bash him on the head and fight your way out. His nose might be broken, so I’d try to hit him there first."

Quinn kissed both eyes, then pulled back a little. By the look on his face, he wasn’t any more impressed with her plan that he was the first time she’d shared it. Then dread struck her in the chest like a boxing glove.

“You do know how to fight, don’t you?”

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Of course I ken how to fight. Am I not a Scot? We’re taught in Primary School. Now, go back to the part where you were lusting after the man in yer dreams, aye?"

A key clicked in the lock and they froze. Percy rattled it, but it did not turn. He tried the next key. For a dungeon with only two cells, there were a helluva lot of keys on that ring. But one of them was going to fit.

Their hearts were pounding like horses’ hooves. She could hear her pulse in her ear where his hand covered it. She could feel his heart beating in his neck.

It was time. This was it. That last chance for a kiss. And if he kissed her like a damned butterfly, she was going to rip the bars apart and make him do it better.

“Kiss me, damn it,” she whispered.

He smiled at her and winked, his eyes sparkling in the light from the torch that Martin silently held.

Obviously, Percy was too impatient to wait for a blind man to find the right key, but even Martin didn’t take so long to unlock the doors.

She popped up on her toes and stretched her neck at the same time Quinn’s mouth came down firmly on hers. He seemed to understand that she wasn’t looking for butterflies. And except for bumping into the bars a few times, they managed to make more than their jailers disappear. His short whiskers were a soft brushed against her chin. His hand moved across her cheek and into her hair, like he needed to know the texture of it as badly as she’d needed to know the feel of his lips. When she finally had to stop to catch her breath and give her toes a break, she didn’t back away, but leaned her forehead against his chest, and for the first time since she’d landed in Scotland, she didn’t envy her sister.

Well, much anyway. At least Jillian would still have her Highlander tomorrow. Jules didn’t know what she’d have beyond this memory.

He smelled good for having been in a dungeon for days. And his shirt was a little too tight, like it wasn’t meant for him, but it was clean. She reached through the bars and ran her hands up his arms.

"Please tell me you can protect yourself."

"I can protect myself,” he murmured.

"Really? Because Bond James Bond is in pretty good shape. He's probably planning to open up a can of karate on your cute arse, you know?"

"Cute arse?" He let go of her and turned, so they could both get a better view.

Him trying to get a good look at his own ass was going to be mental snapshot she would never forget.

“Very nice,” she said. “Now please don’t let him damage it.”

He grabbed the bars again, just a few inches above her own hands and she realized what he was trying to do. Letting go of each other would have been painful and he’d ripped that bandage off before she had a chance to think about it.

“No worries,” he said.

The haze from their kiss was fading, but the compulsion to renew it was as strong as ever. All she wanted was to kiss him again, but there was so much to say.

“If you can get away, go,” she said. “Promise me you’ll go. I won’t be far behind. I have that plan, you see.”

“Aye, a fine plan,” he said.

She noticed he promised her nothing. She wasn’t going to waste precious time arguing.

Metal clicked against metal. It felt like someone had just locked her heart.

The gate swung open behind him. His hands were still on the bars, but she dared not touch him again. She put on a smile and let her hands drop to her sides.

“Forget about me,” she said. “Just concentrate on winning the fight. Don’t let him hit you in the head."

A hand landed on his shoulder and he took a step back.

"Did Gordon say what I get if I win?"

She smiled and shook her head. “Me, I guess.”

“Well, then. I cannot lose.”