Destiny of the Heart (Viking Destiny) (9 page)

On their third consecutive day of shopping, Kristen was
rather bored with the whole affair. She understood the reason
she had to go through the motions, but she still didn't want to.
As they were leaving Mrs. Tisdale's shop again, a thug ran up
behind Kristen and snatched her reticule. Not that Kristen kept
anything of value in the stupid thing, but it was the principal of
the matter. The thug took off running like a common thief who
was about to be caught.

Mel put her hand on Kristen's arm to stay her. "You
know perfectly well that his efforts are wasted as there is
nothing of value in that bag. Do not ruin your reputation before
it even begins."

Kristen sighed in exasperation, but rolled her shoulders
in an effort to let it go. Her adrenaline had kicked in and, for
the first time in days, she felt alive again. She didn't care for
this city life. Mel's footman arrived, too later for Kristen's
tastes, to see if they were injured. Mel assured him that they
were fine, but he skirted around Kristen as the anger rolled off
her in waves. Just before they climbed into the coach, there
was a commotion across the street in the direction the thug
had run off in. Kristen looked at Mel, pleading silently to take a
look. Mel laughed and hooked her arm through Kristen's.

"I'm only allowing this because it is actually acceptable
to be completely nosy." Mel said teasingly as the two walked
across the street to see what the commotion was about.

When they got there, Kristen's jaw hit the floor. The
thug was being slammed to the ground by none other than
Derrick Shane. She grinned despite herself. She knew he was
a worthy opponent, and she thought God must surely be
tempting her to bring him across her path yet again. But, she
didn't understand why as Derrick had already refused. Still,
she watched with fascination as Derrick managed to knock the
thief unconscious and took back her reticule. The crowd
cheered him loudly, and he gave a mock bow at their
applause. He spotted her in the crowd and began walking in
her direction. Kristen couldn't help it, she clapped slowly as he
approached her.

Derrick grinned as he handed her the reticule. "Am I to
understand that you are not terribly impressed with my
efforts."

"Not so much, no." Kristen said.
"Such a shame. I was hoping to impress you." He
tipped his hat and took a step backward. "Ladies." He bowed
and then disappeared into the crowd.
Kristen looked at Mel and grinned. "You know, if I didn't
know better, I'd say you paid that thug to take my bag just so
Derrick could make an entrance."
"What? That is absurd!" Mel linked her arm through
Kristen's, but Kristen didn't miss the wicked grin as they
returned to their carriage.
Kristen climbed in first, then allowed Mel to settle
before confronting her. "Mel, he said no. I think it best we
focus our efforts elsewhere."
"Have you considered that perhaps you caught him by
surprise and that maybe he has reconsidered that answer?"
"That particular perspective hadn't entered my mind."
"Well, consider it."
As the carriage ambled on, Kristen felt herself
beginning to hope that Mel was right about Derrick. Ever since
she had first laid eyes on him, she knew there was something
compelling about him. But, their first meeting in his study
confirmed what she suspected. She was undeniably attracted
to him, and despite his vulgar suggestion in the cave, she was
willing to consider life with him would be extremely
entertaining indeed.
As Kristen thought about the possibilities, their carriage
came to a screeching halt. Both Kristen and Mel were thrown
from their seats and landed in a pile on the floor. Kristen's
head slammed against the side of the carriage, and she
winced as the pain lanced through her head.
"Ow, Mel. I believe you've made your bloody point!"
"This wasn't me."
Kristen noted the fear in Mel's voice and was suddenly
alert. It had been almost two weeks since the last attempt on
her life. She had hoped she was wrong about those attempts,
that they were merely a figment of her imagination, but now
she wasn't so sure. And, what scared her more, was the fact
that Mel was with her. If anything happened to Mel because of
Kristen, she would never forgive herself. She crawled out from
under Mel and threw the carriage blanket over her.
"Stay on the floor, and be quiet." Kristen whispered.
"What are you doing?"
"Putting a stop to this."
Kristen opened the carriage door and quietly climbed
down. The driver and the footman were dealing with what had
happened. Scanning the area, Kristen noted that one of the
horses had slipped and broke its leg. The footman and the
driver were contemplating who was going to shoot the animal
and put it out of its misery. Kristen scanned the treeline. The
hair on the back of her neck stood on end, and she ducked
just as an arrow flew past her head, sinking into the back of
the footman.
The driver spun around and crouched low as the
footman fell to the ground, blood spilling from his mouth.
Kristen's lips thinned into a straight line as she turned in the
direction the arrow had come from. She could just barely
make out the shadow of a person in the treeline. She
narrowed her eyes. There wasn't much she could do with a
lone bowman at a distance. She would need to be closer to
cause any damage, and she was a sitting duck the longer she
stayed out in the open. Plus, Mel was caught in the crossfire.
She stayed low to the ground, but backed up to meet
the driver as he was crawling toward her.
"They're after me. Can one horse pull this carriage?"
"Not with anyone inside it, m'lady." The driver
responded.
Kristen was happy to hear that the man sounded
steady. There was no fear of the situation, but concern for his
charges. She smiled at him.
"Then take Lady Atchkinson and the good horse and
get her home."
"But, miss - "
"No arguments. I'll deal with this and be along shortly."
"I can't leave you here alone."
Kristen's eyes blazed in fury. "If something happens to
Mel because of your pigheaded notion of chivalry, I'll take it
out of your hide. You get her out of her now and don't make
me tell you again."
The driver drew back in surprise. He had never seen
Lady Kristen in such a state of anger, nor had he ever seen
her take charge of a situation better than most men. There
was something in her expression that told him to listen. Lady
Kristen was an unusual woman, and there were whispers
among the staff that she had shown up to the house bruised
and battered, but not the least bit crippled. Like she had been
in a fight and walked away leaving the other unconscious.
There was even rumor that it was a man. He couldn't credit
that at the time, but looking at her just now, he was beginning
to think perhaps the whispers weren't so wrong.
"Yes, m'lady."
The driver remained low and crawled to the door of the
carriage. He opened it and helped Mel down, keeping the
blanket wrapped around her. Kristen stepped in front of them
and made a broad target while the driver took Mel up front and
unlatched the remaining horse. He lifted her up into the
saddle, then jumped on behind her, digging his heels into the
horse's flank. Kristen kept her eyes on the treeline before her,
but she listened as the driver got Mel away from the road.
"If I wanted to kill them, I could have." A man's voice
rang out through the forest.
"I believe you." Kristen answered.
"I didn't because I wasn't paid to kill them. Just you."
"So what now? You stay hidden behind the trees and
continue to shoot arrows at me until you finally get me?
Seems rather a waste of good arrows, and of my time."
The man chuckled. "Afraid, your highness?"
Kristen furrowed her brow. The address made her think
that perhaps Mel's theories about the mysterious deaths of her
family might be correct. But, she wasn't actually afraid. She
had long ago accepted death as part of life, and knew that
when her time came, she would be reunited with her loved
ones.
"Not especially." She said.
The man sighed rather dramatically. "You know, it really
isn't any fun unless you're scared."
"Sorry to disappoint."
"I doubt that."
"True."
The man laughed. "I'll give you that you're witty, your
highness, but it won't save you."
"How about we drop the banter and get to business
then. It's unrealistic that you will be satisfied with the kill by
trying to pluck me off with an arrow at a distance. What say
you put down your bow and I put down my knife, and we try to
kill each other like civilized people, hmm?"
"Tempting offer, m'lady, but I've been warned about
you. I think I'll keep my distance."
"Suit yourself...coward."
Kristen crossed her arms and waited. She heard the
man nock the arrow, and heard it fly loose from his bow. She
dodged it easily enough. It was her turn to laugh.
"Unless you've got an endless supply of arrows back
there, this is a pointless exercise. Obviously you weren't given
a complete warning about me."
Another arrow came flying across the distance, and
again she easily dodged it. Her plan was to agitate him
enough to use all of his arrows, and then perhaps he would
come out and face her directly. She didn't have a shot of
reaching him until then.
"Oh, I was given plenty of warning. Don't you want to
know who hired me, your highness?"
"Not really."
He growled in frustration and shot another arrow. The
standard quiver held about thirty arrows. By her count, that
was only four arrows. She sighed to herself. It was going to be
a long night at this rate, so she concluded that she needed
another plan.
"You can't dodge me forever. At some point, I will
overwhelm you. It is inevitable."
His talking covered up the sound of him nocking the
arrow, but she heard it fly, and then him immediately nocking
another. She dodged the first and then immediately hit the
ground as another came right after it, followed by a third and a
fourth. Kristen was out of breath from the exercise of dodging
and moving out of the arrows' path. She heard the man
laughing in the treeline, and the sound irritated her more than
she cared to admit. That he laughed at another person's pain
was monstrous enough, but that he was causing it while
laughing was beyond Kristen's capability of understanding.
She retreated behind the carriage to think of another plan.
As she was behind the carriage, she noticed the horse
that had fallen and broke its leg. It was lying there, moaning
softly because the bowman had distracted everyone from
killing it. Her heart broke and her rage at the man trying to kill
her deepened. She had to find a way to put the animal out of
its misery without making herself a target. But, the moment
she stepped out from behind the carriage to reach the horse,
an arrow flew past her head. She jumped back behind the
carriage.
The bowman laughed. "Who's the coward now?"
His laugh turned into a gurgling sputter, and then
silence filled the air. Kristen strained her ears, but she heard
nothing. Still, her instincts told her to stay where she was.
Then she heard some rustling in the bushes near the area the
bowman had been.
"Kristen?"
Kristen's brow furrowed as she stepped out from behind
the carriage. "Derrick?"
Derrick walked out of the treeline and tossed the knife
he had used to slit the man's throat. "Are you alright?" He
demanded.
Kristen didn't like his tone and put her hands on her
hips. She glared at him. "Have you been following me?"
"You're welcome." He said sarcastically.
"I could have handled the situation myself."
"Oh yes, you were doing a bang up job of that, my
dear."
Kristen scowled, but kept her distance as Derrick came
closer. He saw the horse on the ground, moaning, and tsked.
"Such a waste of fine horse flesh." He said gently, then
pulled a pistol from his coat and shot the horse between the
eyes.
Kristen jumped with the sound. Her protective instincts
immediately flared up, but she tamped them down as Derrick
only did what she was trying to figure out how to do herself.
She realized she should be grateful to him for his assistance,
but she found herself wary of him instead. Would he expect
something more from her? The memory of him asking her to
be his mistress after refusing their marriage contract was still
fresh on her mind. He was a deplorable cad, as far as she was
concerned. Even if he had just saved her life.
Chapter 10

"So, care to tell me why that man was trying to kill you,
and why he kept referring to you as "your highness?"" Derrick
asked casually.

Kristen had been in the process of opening the carriage
door to grab her belongings, but she stopped and looked at
Derrick. "How long were you standing there?"

Kristen closed her eyes and tried to steady her temper.
The footman had died needlessly so that Derrick could
appease his curiosity, and Mel had been in danger for a time,
as well. She closed the carriage door and walked up to him.
He grinned down at her, completely oblivious to her anger.
She barreled her fist straight into his nose. He staggered back
and instinctively covered his nose with his hands. She saw a
small amount of blood trickle out between his fingers. It didn't
make her feel better, but it was no less than he deserved.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" He demanded
angrily.
His voice sounded muffled behind his hands, and he
blinked several times. Kristen assumed it was to clear the fog
in his vision. She had hit him right at the bridge of the nose,
which could have broken it, and would have caused his vision
to blur over.
"That was for standing there and letting an innocent
man die, and putting Mel in danger simply to appease your
curiosity. If you had intended to help, you should have done so
from the beginning." She spat angrily and then turned back to
the carriage.
Derrick pulled a handkerchief from his coat and held it
to his nose. He didn't think it was broken, but he was sure he
would have a black eye come tomorrow. Kristen was certainly
proving to be a surprise. Despite her small form, she could
wallop a man with the best of them. That was a powerful
punch she had just thrown, and worse, she knew how to do it
without giving her intentions away. Derrick had no idea it was
coming until it was too late.
"The footman took me by surprise, but I would not have
allowed him to hurt Mel. Her husband would wring my neck,
I assure you."
Kristen peeked out from the carriage. "You know Guy?"
"Of course, he's my best friend. We grew up together,
went to school together, he's been there for me more than I
can ever repay. So, when he travels as the ambassador for
the king, I keep an eye on his wife for him."
Kristen narrowed her eyes but didn't say anything more
on the subject. She withdrew back into the carriage. Derrick
got the distinct impression that he had said something wrong
again and sighed. He walked over to the carriage and poked
his head inside.
"What now?" He asked.
"Nothing." Kristen replied, picking up her reticule and
putting the blanket back where it went.
"Obviously something."
"Look, thank you for your assistance, but I need to be
getting home. We'll need to send someone to collect the dead
and the carriage."
She hopped down from the carriage and walked down
the road back toward the main part of London. Mel's
townhome wasn't that far, but they had taken the scenic route.
Kristen liked the look of the trees along the road, and she
enjoyed a good carriage ride after a stressful day of shopping.
Honestly, for all of Kristen's blustering about things being
Derrick's fault, she was the one to blame. If they had taken the
direct route back to Mel's house, none of this would have
happened. Also, she couldn't forget that they were after her in
the first place, so Mel was in danger because of her, not
because of Derrick.
She glanced sideways at Derrick as he fell into step
beside her.
"I have a carriage, you know." He said kindly.
"I'll walk." She replied brusquely.
"Then I'll accompany you."
"I'd rather you didn't." She said.
Truth be told she was feeling rather guilty that she had
hit him. None of this was his fault, but she wasn't handling
things as well as she would like, and he made a convenient
target to blame. But, that aside, he wanted something from her
that she just couldn't give. She had too many other things to
worry about, and she didn't want to worry about constantly
being hounded to be his mistress.
Derrick cleared his throat. "I think I owe you an
apology."
Kristen looked at him but didn't say anything. He
cleared his throat again and continued.
"I shouldn't have asked you to be my mistress. That
was wrong, and in the heat of the moment, I wasn't thinking
clearly."
Kristen's brows shot clear up to her hair line. Derrick
searched her face, hoping to find forgiveness. He had been
the worst sort of cad, and there was no excuse for his
behavior. Whatever was going on with her, he wasn't helping
matters by making such crude suggestions. He had already
disappointed her once by declining to uphold the betrothal
agreement.
"Apology accepted." She said at last.
Derrick was certain he saw her relax a little, and he
smiled. "Excellent. So, do you know who it was that tried to kill
you today?"
"I have a fair idea, yes."
"I'd like to help, Kristen."
"You've already declined what help you could provide."
There was no censure in her tone, no accusation, but it
still made Derrick feel like the biggest jerk that side of the
Atlantic. He stopped and grabbed Kristen's arm.
"Listen, about that - "
Kristen shook her head and gently pulled her arm from
his grasp. "There's nothing to explain. It was a surprise to us
both. I'll manage, but I don't want anyone else getting
involved. One person is dead because of me, and I don't want
anyone else to go the same way."
She continued walking, and Derrick was struck by her
fierce sense of compassion. Not once did she mention
concern for herself or her own safety. Her concern had been
for others. That man in the woods had been trying to kill her,
but she had hit Derrick because the footman was dead and
Mel had been in trouble. He grinned. She was quite the
intriguing young lady. He caught up to her and smiled as she
looked sideways at him. She sighed.
"Derrick - "
"Listen, I get that you can take care of yourself, but
sometimes it's nice to have people who are willing to help, no
matter the consequences. You did me a great favor by not
forcing me into marriage before I was ready, now I'm here to
return the favor."
"Why?"
"Because I like you." He felt the heat rising to his
cheeks before he even finished that statement.
To his immense relief, she didn't laugh at him. But, she
wasn't convinced either.
"Be that as it may, I'm in London to find a husband."
"I understand." He said.
Derrick knew he didn't have the right to be jealous, hell
he didn't even know why he was. He just knew that he wanted
to help her. Maybe it was just his protective instincts as a man.
Perhaps helping her find a husband would be enough to
satisfy whatever it was he was feeling. But, the more he
thought about that, the more he realized he would just as soon
kill any man that dared court her.
Kristen was leery of his declaration. She appreciated
the apology, and she wanted to believe that Derrick was
sincere. She was attracted to him, despite the terrible things
he said to her in that cave. But, she wanted him, and here he
was. The trouble was he still wasn't offering to marry her. The
only option she had to protect herself from Ashby was to get
married. She supposed she could go to America, but that just
meant she would be running her whole life. The best option
was to settle down into a quiet life with an affable man who
might not mind her background. They walked the rest of the
way back to Mel's townhome in silence.