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He barked a short laugh, coming toward her with the gun still raised. Josie tried to back away, but she was already pressed against the hedges behind her, and there was nowhere for her to go.
“Shut up, you stupid cunt. No questions. If you scream, I’ll kill you with my bare hands.” The evil light in his eyes said he meant every word.
Elijah
Rushing down the darkened path, only steps ahead of Rex, they both slowed when they saw a woman in green rushing back toward them. Mary—face pale, eyes wide, running flat out with her skirts hiked up.
“What took you so long?!” The question was shot at them in a whisper as soon as she was close enough. She whirled without waiting for an answer. “This way!”
They would have been able to find it without her, but Mary slowed, holding up her hand before they reached the courtyard, so they could sneak up to it, moving slowly.
“He has a gun,” Mary whispered, and Elijah waved her away. With a stony expression on his face, Rex grabbed hold of his wife and yanked her back behind Elijah.
“You will not get away with this.” Josie’s voice quavered so patently overdramatic, despite the direness of the situation, Elijah almost laughed. It brought back memories of their younger years when she, Mary, Lily, Joseph, Adam, and several of the other neighbors around their age had put on a play Lily had written. If she was playacting, he knew she was no worse for the wear, which reassured him momentarily. Now, it was his job to keep it that way.
“I already have, you silly chit.” The man’s voice was gravelly and full of annoyance. “I will not get to kill your husband now, but you will help me set another trap for him, then I will have the pleasure of killing both of you. Now come along.”
Letting the villain take Josie to another location was out of the question. Elijah stepped forward into the gap between the hedges, aware of Rex pulling Mary back away from him so they could remain obscured by the branches and leaves.
“Oh, really?” he drawled, playing for time, muscles tensed and ready to leap aside. The man turned toward him, gun in his outstretched hand.
Josie shrieked with outrage beside the villain, turning and grabbing his arms, pushing them up as the gunshot rang out—Elijah had already moved from his position, anticipating such a reaction from the blackguard, though he hadnotforeseen Josie’s actions. Putting herself in more danger…
He popped back up in the entrance just in time to see her pop the blackguard in the nose with a strong right hook. If it took Elijah off guard to see it, it took her attacker even more so to be on the receiving end. He spun around blindly, only to come face to face with Lily, who had appeared like an avenging goddess in the back entrance to the courtyard. Her face was slightly scratched, and small twigs dotted her hair and dress, but her expression was grimly determined as she went to work on their villain, effectively downing him with two efficient blows to the head, stunningly beautiful in their execution.
Falling against the base of the fountain, the man was utterly poleaxed. Elijah knew how he felt. Even with Josie’s claim, Lily was the superior boxer, he had hardly expected her level of expertise.
His focus turned to his wife, who was panting for breath and rubbing her arm where a hand-shaped bruise was already forming, thanks to the man’s hard grip. Hurrying forward, Elijah pulled her into his arms, swinging her away from her assailant. As he did so, he glanced down and was shocked to recognize the man.
“James Magruder.”
“Who?” Josie asked, her arms wrapped firmly around his middle as she hugged him.
“That is James Magruder, Cousin to Viscount Rawlings, I believe.” This was not the first time they had crossed paths. Elijah knew him because he’d caught Magruder cheating at cards, which had resulted in James being booted from the club in question. He was not considered goodton, but his connection to his cousin explained his ability to appear at their events without overmuch speculation. Elijah very much doubted Magruder was the mastermind behind everything, but with his grudge against Elijah, he made a very good henchman.
Still holding his bleeding nose, Magruder glared at him through rapidly blackening eyes. Josie and Lily had done a number on him.
Elijah smiled down at him menacingly.
“I look forward to having another conversation with you, Magruder.”
Things moved quickly from there. Father appeared with several men to apprehend Magruder. Another time, Elijah would have stood over the man and been part of binding his hands and hustling him out of Vauxhall, but today, his priority was his wife. Josie was unharmed but shaken, as were Mary and Lily.
“We have to get Lily out of here unseen. Does anyone have a cloak?” Josie asked, causing Elijah to give her an exasperated look.
“What?”
“Lily! Look at her!” Josie did not relinquish her grip on Elijah’s middle as she nodded toward her friend. “She’s a debutante on the Dark Walk, and she cannot step out of it looking like that. Her reputation will be ruined.”
Blinking, Elijah realized Josie was right. The marks on Lily’s skin, the twigs adorning her hair, and the tiny rips in her dress were from forcing herself through the hedges so she could sneak up behind Magruder, not knowing her appearance would be credited to far more vile reasoning.
Mary and Rex went to get Lily a cloak while she waited in the courtyard with Father, Elijah, and Josie. The men who had taken custody of Magruder bundled him off in the opposite direction, going deeper into the Dark Walk to go out another exit, farther from the revelers.
Throughout it all, Elijah did not relinquish his tight grip on Josie. The memory of seeing her disappearing onto the Dark Walk, chasing after an unknown villain, would give him nightmares. She was not going to sit comfortably for a month after this if he had anything to say about it. What the devil had she been thinking?
“That was quick thinking, but also very foolish,” Father said, dabbing at one of the deeper scratches on Lily’s arm with his handkerchief, blotting away the blood.
“Well, I could hardly stand around and do nothing.” Lily shook her head. Other than her disheveled appearance, she was back to looking like a prim and proper debutante, a little more modest than most. As far as appearances being deceiving, Elijah thought she might take the cake. “The man was going to kidnap Josie. I did not want a repeat of Mary’s situation.”
