Lorrie froze. She knew that voice—that low stilted growl. She’d know it anywhere. Her Viking!
“Ewan!” She tried to crane her neck to see him, but at most she caught a glimpse of light hair. Behind him, shouts and the sound of muffled thuds punctuated the air. She couldn’t see anything or do anything about the way he carried her into the woods and away from Welly. “Put me down.”
“No.”
“But Well—my dog. I can’t leave him.”
He swore under his breath, and that was his only response before he deposited her—none too gently—behind a row of shrubs. He took both of her shoulders and turned her so she could see his face. “Run.”
“But—”
“I’ll fetch the dog. You run.” To emphasize his words, he pushed her away from him.
She stared into his blue eyes. “Promise? You won’t leave Welly behind?”
Ewan nodded. Lorrie took two steps away, then three, then raced back to him. She threw her arms around him, hardly able to believe he was real.
“I knew you’d come,” she said, squeezing his solid form with all her strength and the love flowing through her. “I knew you’d find me.”
“Go.” He pushed her away again, this time more gently.
Lorrie ran.
Twenty
Ewan hadn’t expected the embrace. He hadn’t expected the words she’d given him. She’d believed he would come for her. She had trusted in him. No one in his life, save the men of Draven’s troop, had ever trusted in him or relied on him or believed he was capable of anything more than brute feats of strength.
His head felt strangely light as he turned and tromped through the overgrown garden. He almost wanted to smile.
In the midst of the clearing, Neil valiantly fought off three men who had surrounded him. On the left, Jasper dealt what looked to be a final blow to the guard he’d incapacitated. The dog—the goddamn dog—made whining noises, as if deprived of the pleasure of attacking the man himself. Neil needed his immediate assistance, and Ewan jumped into the fray, his back to Neil’s.
“Just like old times,” Neil said, throwing a punch.
Ewan ducked and jabbed. “Once again, I save your arse.”
Neil laughed, but when the next punch landed, Ewan lifted one of the abductors and tossed him into the man who had hit Neil. Both men went down, groaning softly. The third man, eyes wide, took a step back. Neil wiped sweat from his eyes, but Ewan wasn’t even winded.
“Go ahead,” he goaded the man, sticking his jaw out. But the abductor thought better of it and raced into the trees. Ewan started after him, but Neil grabbed his arm.
“We’ll let the locals deal with him. Help me tie up these two.”
“Three,” Jasper said, hauling the guard over. “Not a bad bit of work.”
But the woods were too quiet. The damn dog had stopped barking. He looked toward where Jasper and the guard had fought.
No fur ball.
“Where’s the dog?”
Jasper gave him a skeptical look. “How the hell do I know?”
Ewan turned a circle, scanning the entire clearing and the side of the gardener’s work shed for a bit of white and brown fur.
“I could use some help here,” Neil said, knotting the rope he’d pulled from his pack. Jasper bent to help him secure the men who’d abducted Lady Lorraine.
“Where’s the rum mort?” Jasper asked.
“I told her to run.”
“Good. I’ll track her, and we’ll have her safe in no time.”
“I have to find the dog.”
Neil wiped his brow. “What dog?”
“Her dog. I promised I’d bring it back to her.”
“Tell her we’ll find it in the morning,” Jasper said.
“No.”
“It’s a dog, Ewan. It will be fine outside for one night.” Neil tightened a knot on the ankles of one of the men. “We have to find the lady, send the constable this way, alert the magistrate, and I wouldn’t mind a drink and food.”
Ewan continued searching the darkening garden for the dog.
“It’s a dog!” Neil said again.
“She does love that dog,” one of the abductors chimed in.
“Shut up.” Jasper kicked his foot.
“I promised,” Ewan said.
Neil held up both hands. “Fine. Let’s find her and take her to safety, then you search for the dog while we deal with the law officers.”
Ewan’s gaze swept the area one last time before he gave a reluctant nod. “Let’s go.”
*
She couldn’t run any further. Her side felt like it had a knife plunged in it, and her feet stung from the sharp rocks and twigs. She didn’t see how her flimsy slippers were any better than bare feet, and she promised herself the next time she took Welly out for his nightly constitutional, she would wear boots.
Thick boots.
She leaned against a tree, lifted a foot, and rubbed at the raw skin. It was too dark to see much, now that night was falling, but she could feel the torn flesh. She lowered it and reached for the other when a dark shape stepped out of the trees in front of her.
She screamed, but the sound was immediately cut off as a hand clamped over her mouth.
“Quiet,” that voice she knew so well growled in her ear.
“Ewan,” she said, or at least tried to say. He lifted his hand, and gestured to the man who’d stepped out of the foliage.
“Mr. Grantham.” He gestured to another man she hadn’t even seen beside him. “And Mr. Wraxall. Good friends of mine. You can trust them.”
“You’re the men who saved me,” she said.
“The Protector saved you,” the one Ewan had called Wraxall replied. “We just came along for the entertainment.”
Lorrie looked at Ewan. “Where’s Welly?”
He sighed, his face looking pained. “I don’t know—”
She gasped. “He’s lost? We have to look for him!” Her heart started thudding painfully in her chest again, and she tried not to imagine her poor puppy alone in the dark, scared and cold. “I’ll look this way.”
Before she could start searching, Ewan grabbed her arm. “I will find the dog. You go with Wraxall and Grantham. They’ll take you to Edgware and find a room where you can rest.”
She clutched his arm. The prospect of Ewan in the dark scared her as much as Welly, lost and alone. “No. I can’t let you go alone.”
Ewan gave her an impatient look. “Wraxall and Grantham have to find the law officers. Three of the four men who abducted you are tied up in the gardener’s work shed. You aren’t dressed for a walk through the woods. I’m the only one who can go.”
As much as Lorrie worried about Welly, she couldn’t allow Ewan to walk away. Anything might happen to him, and she needed him. She needed to wrap her arms around him and close her eyes and feel safe once more. She didn’t know if she’d ever feel safe again, but she knew in Ewan’s arms, she had a chance.
“Don’t go,” she whispered.
A man cleared his throat behind them. “Ewan, are you coming or not?”
Ewan’s gaze flicked to the speaker and then back to her.
“Not.” He removed her hand from his arm. “I promised I would bring you that dog.” And he walked into the night.