heed his warning.
“Helena!” she cried. “Helena, help! I’m being–errmmff!”
Lifting the duchess onto his shoulder, Lucas headed for the garden. While they’d been upstairs packing, the dark bloom of evening had deepened and nearly covered every inch of the yard. Tossing the valise over the white picket fence, he carried Persephone to the opposite corner and then crouched down behind a large thicket of bushes. Pressing a hand against her mouth, he tucked her protectively into the crook of his arm.
“Easy, love,” he murmured in her ear. “It’s going to be all right.”
Lucas could only imagine what she thought of him and how scared she must be. He could feel how fast her heart was racing. She was so small in his arms, like a tiny sparrow. And he hated that he was contributing to her panic. Despised himself for adding to her fear. But he knew she was safest with him.
He could protect her.
He would protect her.
Even if it meant kidnapping her first.
“Percy?” A woman with red hair ran out into the middle of the yard, followed closely by a tall man. “Percy, where are you?” she called frantically, spinning in a circle.
“Here!” the man shouted, having peered over the fence and spied the valise. “They must have gone this way.”
“Well, what are we waiting for?” the woman snapped. “Let’s go after them.”
Lucas waited until they’d climbed over the fence, and their footsteps had faded away, before he emerged from the bushes and reclaimed the valise. “I can let you walk unhindered,” he told Persephone, “or toss you up over my shoulder again. It’s your decision.”
“That’s not much of a decision,” she said bitterly.
He shrugged. “It’s the only one I have to offer.”
“You could leave me here. Those were my friends you sent on a wild goose chase.” She gestured to the fence. “They care for me. They’ll keep me safe.”
“Your so-called friends left you here alone to be abducted,” he pointed out.
“Yes, but you’re the one who is abducting me!”
“If it weren’t me, it would have been someone else. Consider yourself lucky, love.”
Her violet eyes flashed with both temper and tears. “Yes, I’m incredibly lucky. The luckiest girl I know. I’m just drowning in luck.”
“Your sarcasm is duly noted.”
“Oh!” She stomped her foot into the ground, forcing Lucas to bite back a grin. The duchess was adorable when she was angry, like a kitten with its hackles raised. “You’re…you’re…”
“Yes?” he said mildly.
“Wretched! You’re absolutely wretched!”
He shook his head. “We really need to work on your insults, love.”
“We don’t need to work on anything because I am not going anywhere with you.” She crossed her arms and angled her chin; the very picture of defiance. Unless one bothered to look past the artificial display of bravado and saw the pale cheeks, the trembling bottom lip, and the crescent moons that her nails were digging into her smooth ivory flesh.
“Let’s not make this any harder than it needs to be.” His voice was gentle but firm. He grasped her arm right above the elbow, and when she started to pull back, he gave her a stern look. “It would be foolish of you to mistake my patience for kindness, love. This is not a negotiation. You’re my prisoner, and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it. Now you can walk, or I can toss you up over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes, but either way. you are leaving here with me.”
“You’re a cold-hearted b-bastard,” she choked out, glaring at him through her tears.
“That’s better.” With a grim smile, Lucas pulled her into the shadows.
“She’s gone.” The feeling of utmost dread filled Helena’s stomach as she and Stephen, Earl of Cambridge and her husband-to-be, reached yet another dead end.
For the past three hours, they’d frantically searched every street from Hyde Park to Grosvenor Square with no success. Her legs were exhausted, and there were blisters on both of her heels, but it was her heart that hurt the most.
“Glastonbury took her,” she said hoarsely, her throat tightening.
“We do not know for certain that’s what happened.” Gathering Helena in his arms, Stephen hugged her against his chest, his chin resting on top of her fiery red hair. “And even if it is, we’ll get her back. Don’t worry.”
“Don’t worry?” Incredulous, Helena twisted free of her fiancé’s embrace. “All I can do is worry! You didn’t see Percy on the night that Calliope and I found her. You didn’t see the marks that–that disgusting, shriveling worm left on her.