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Chapter 21
Blake ran out of the house and looked around, Annalise’s slipper in one hand, the thug’s dagger in another. How in the devil would he be able to choose the right direction? Annalise could have gone anywhere, and the thug was on her heels.
An ear-splitting scream sounded at that moment, and Blake dashed toward it on instinct. His chest burned, and his breathing was shallow, but he couldn’t think about it now. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but Annalise.
When he finally reached the scene of a struggle, what he saw made his blood run cold. A burly bandit was dragging a thrashing Annalise by her hair.
With a growl, Blake rushed and knocked the thug off his feet. The bandit let go of Annalise and fell to the ground.
Annalise scrambled to a sitting position and propped her back against the building, her eyes wild.
Blake unsheathed the dagger and attacked the thug. The latter rolled off just in time, evading the blow, and Blake fell to his knees. Blake collected himself and scrambled to a standing position, wheezing with every breath. The thug stood and faced Blake. He was tall and broad-shouldered, like the others, but he was better dressed and groomed. His face, however, had a fresh scratch on it, and his eye was half-open on the injured side.
“Blake.” His name was a prayer on Annalise’s lips.
“Payne,” the thug said. “So you are the toff who gave us all the trouble. Well, the trouble ends now.”
The bandit flew toward Blake, swinging punches. Blake lost the dagger but managed to block some hits. Blake threw a punch and landed a solid blow to the thug’s freshly scratched eye. It broke the skin, and blood started dripping slowly down his face. Instead of grimacing in pain, the bandit smiled widely and renewed his attack. One of his blows managed to hit Blake hard in the nose. Blake staggered back, his eyes shut on impact, and stars appeared in his vision, while a sharp pain originated at the bridge of his nose. Blake wiped the blood and opened his eyes.
The thug was already kneeling over Annalise, but before he could grab her, Annalise took a handful of dirt and threw it into his eyes.
The thug cursed, trying to clear his eyes in vain. The dirt mixed with his blood stuck to his face. Blake picked up his dagger, walked over, and hit him as hard as he could in the eye with his fist.
The thug dropped to the ground with a grunt. Blake stood over him, his breathing shallow, his nose bleeding, and his chest burning. He clutched the dagger tightly in his hand, preparing to swing. This lowly thug didn’t deserve to live.
“Blake.” Annalise’s soft voice distracted him from his dark thoughts.
He turned to her, and nothing else mattered at that moment. Annalise was alive and well. She was beside him, if not for long. He slowly walked toward her and helped her up. She limped as she stood and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him close.
His ribs burned, but he didn’t care. He inhaled Annalise’s dear scent and ran his hands through her hair.
“Are you all right, my darling?” he whispered.
“I am now,” she whispered back.
Sobs shook her body as Annalise cried in Blake’s arms. He crooned soothing nonsense in her ear, the rest of the world disappearing. She finally disengaged from him and wiped at her teary cheeks.
“Your nose is bleeding,” she said in choked laughter.
Blake took out a handkerchief from his pocket and placed it against his nose. “And this is funny, because?”
Annalise let out another chuckle. “Apologies. It isn’t. I don’t know why I am laughing.”
Blake tsked. “I suppose I deserve to suffer, don’t you think?”
Annalise gave him a soft smile and shook her head.
“My friends, Ford the thief-taker and St. John, are here. We’ve apprehended the other bandits and should probably find something to tie this one with.”
He turned, only to see that there was no one there. The bandit had escaped. Annalise peeked over Blake’s shoulder and frowned at the empty place.
“He’s gone,” she breathed.
“It doesn’t matter.” Blake turned back to Annalise and brushed the locks of her hair away from her face. He tried to convince himself of the same thing. They’d figure it out later. At the moment, he needed to take his bedraggled wife home. “Come. There’s a carriage waiting for us not too far away from here.”
Annalise took a step and yelped in pain.
“What is wrong?”
