The Black Lotus (Night Flower) (31 page)

“Nah...” The other answered, sniffing as he did so. “Cause too much scandal. They’ll pin summat else on im or drive im to Southampton and put im on a boat. If word gets out that he was in her room, then that’s it for any marriage for ‘er. Poor little lass,”

“Heh.” Alun grunted with no real humour. “’ow about poor us? I got to be up tomorrow early and they have me guarding a stable door. They’ve only trussed ‘im up like a turkey. ‘E ain’t going nowhere.”

Melissa backed up until her fingers hit the rough stone of the wall. Pressed back against the hard surface, she struggled to think. Justin was only a few feet away and she couldn’t get to him. Biting her lip in frustration she stared up at the sky, watching the shades of light and dark that made up the clouds above. Even with the cloud cover, they would see her if she got too close. For several long moments, she stood in the darkness, pondering her options. The main door was barred to her, but that didn’t mean they had guarded the door from the servant’s quarters. Gritting her teeth in determination, Melissa left the scene and hurried back to the house.

Chapter 32:

Justin lay slumped against the back of the stable, arms lashed to rings on either side of the box. His ribs ached and he could feel the blood slowly crusting above his eyebrow. John had known what he was doing when he ripped out that picture. Whatever
damage afflicted Justin from now on would remain unhealed. He sighed and shifted position, hoping to alleviate some of the pressure on his arms, but to no avail. Marcus De Vire’s grooms were extremely thorough and there was no give in the bonds at all. In all honesty he couldn’t blame the young man for casting the blame his way. Had the situation been reversed, he probably would have done the same. The minutes slipped into hours and he drifted into an uncomfortable sleep.

A noise in the corner of the stable jolted back to full alertness and he stared into the gloom. Had Marcus come to deal with him? Footsteps, light and quick, hurried nearer as his eyes strained to see. A blur of movement to his right and a slender set of fingers pressed
against his lips, stilling his mouth.

“Hush,
” Melissa’s voice breathed softly against his ear, sending shivers down his spine. “I’m getting you out of here.” Her fingers slowly left his mouth and began pulling at the tight hemp knots that held his wrist. In the dim light of the stable, she was a pale blur as her fingers worked furiously at the rough rope Stunned by the sudden turn of events; he did not react as she tugged free the first knot. The ropes loosened and feeling rushed back into his arm.  Released from its bondage, his arm dropped limply to his side, sending ripples of pain through him as his muscles returned to a more natural position. Grunting with satisfaction, Melissa switched her attention to his other wrist. Fighting an uncomfortable wave of nausea, he reached for Melissa with his free hand, dismayed at his weakness.

“Melissa.” His hand brushed her shoulder, feeling her skin beneath the soft cotton of her nightgown.

“Shh,” She whispered, a tremor running through her at his touch. “You don’t want to rouse the guards.”

“This isn’t going to work,” He hissed back, his fingers reaching for her wrist and drawing her hand away. “You can’t let me go.”

“Why not?” Melissa turned to face him and her breath ghosted across his lips. “They won’t know it was me.” A desperate hope sounded in her voice and he wished with all his heart that he could make that hope come true.

“They’ll know.” Justin argued, his voice low yet urgent. He felt her toss her head in annoyance and he reached forward, holding her chin with a strength he did not have. “You have to leave me here.”

“My father will have you hanged,” Melissa whispered back, her voice breaking with emotion. “It wasn’t you who attacked me. I know it wasn’t and I can’t and won’
t let you take the punishment for it. If they think you broke free?”

Justin shook his head sadly, hating himself for the being the voice of reason. “Your brother tied these ropes himself and he’ll know how tight they were. He won’t accept that I broke them or worked my way free,” Melissa stiffened and he could feel the warm wetness of her tears on his hand. “He’ll know it was you. Your reputation…”

“I don’t care about my reputation,” Pulling her head free, she reached once again for his bonds, only to be stopped by Justin’s free hand snaking around to seize her wrist. “I can’t let you be killed.”

“Melissa think,” Justin urged, his whispers sounding hideously loud in the quiet of the stable. “Your father cannot hang me for assaulting you. If he did, your reputation would be damaged beyond repair. There would be those who would say that you invited me and that there was no a
ssault. You know how this works.”

She bent her head, feeling the tears slide down her cheeks, grateful for the dark that hid her grief stricken face. “But… they will send you away. I won’t ever see you again.” His hand reached up and cupped her chin, drawing her closer as he wiped the tears from her cheeks.

“It’s for the best. You know I can’t stay with you and now you can find someone else,” He felt her jerk back in dissent and he chuckled blackly. “It
’s not as though you don’t have admirers. You would have had to choose one to suit your family eventually.”

“But I wanted to be free..” Her words rippled in the space between them, heavy with tears and regret. “I wanted you. You’re the one I…”

Justin pulled her close, his lips brushing hers. “You don’t know how long it’s been since I felt alive enough to want more. But it was a dream,” He kissed her delicately, brushing her soft mouth with exquisite tenderness. She folded against him, her body soft and warm against his. With effort, he broke the kiss and gently moved her away from him. “Now you must retie me and go to bed before we are discovered.”

“Justin,” A soft plea entered her voice and she sat there, her body a pale flame in the dark. “I can’t.”

“The man who attacked you will know that you freed me,” Justin uttered into the space. “He will make it his life’s work to see you killed and in the worse way possible.”

“But why?” Her voice
rose in shock and Justin winced. For several moments they froze still, listening for the sounds of the guards on the door. One long minute stretched by, broken only by the sounds of their breathing before Melissa spoke again. “Why would he do that?” Her voice sounded lost in the darkness of the stable. “and why did he attack me?”

Justin drew a deep breath; his mind was working overtime, trying to decide how much to tell Melissa in case it terrified her. Once again, he cursed his own stupidity for failing to leave before things got out of hand.

“John is punishing me,” His voice was softly apologetic and he stared blankly into the darkness. Melissa shifted beside him and he could almost hear the question teetering on her lips. He sighed and continued to speak, reluctance coating every word. “Alistair was not the only victim of this curse.” Melissa sucked in a breath, stunned by the revelation. A bitter chuckle escaped his lips and he leant his head back against the wall, ignoring the stabbing pain from his ribs. “There were others..”

“Tarlington?” Melissa’s voice sounded softly in his ear and he nodded, gratified that she had made the connection.

“Yes. Tarlington was one, there were two more,” He threw back his head and laughed softly, cynically. “We experimented on our friends, only to find out too late what we had done,” He fell silent, lost for a moment in recrimination and old memories. “John was once a friend but that all changed once we realised what the curse meant. By then he had cursed others and it was far too late. He blamed me for it, led no doubt by my brother’s example.”

“But why does he blame you? You weren’t to know.” Her fingers squeezed his upper arm and he smiled sadly in the darkness. He wondered whether she would be so accepting once she knew the full truth about the danger he had put her in.

“Blame doesn’t need a reason. Suffice to say that he’s determined to make my life a misery. Alistair can be an irritant but John is dangerous in his passion,” His free hand reached for hers and he took a deep breath before launching into the meat of his tale. “He decided that no punishment would be sufficient, so he improvised. Once every decade or so, he tracks me down and makes it impossible for me to settle. He could set my house afire or mark me a killer.”

Melissa choked back a shocked breath as the meaning of Justin’s words finally hit her. She thought of Honesty and the other girls whose demise was loosely laid at Justin’s door and she felt sick.

“You mean he kills people so you would be blamed.” Her voice was a horrified whisper and cold fingers of dread trailed across her spine. “That’s inhuman. How could he kill another purely to spite you?” Outrage tainted every word and she clenched her hands into fists, her anger roused by what she had just heard.

“I know,” He breathed the words, wondering how she would take his own abuses, would she be forgiving? Would she be able to understand what he had to do to survive? He shook away the maudlin thoughts and continued with his tale. “I should have left the moment the first body surfaced, but I wasn’t sure that it was him, I have been wrong before and I selfishly didn’t want to leave. I had not seen John in sixty years and I foolishly hoped that I was wrong. I was too enamoured with this life that I forgot about him.” His voice trailed away in shame as he revealed his reasons for not packing up and moving on.  

“What about Honesty?” Her voice reached his ears, filled with reproach, not that he could blame her. It was his fault that Honesty was targeted and sent to her death. “And what about me?” Her voice broke on the last sentence and he raised his fingers to stroke her cheek reassuringly only to have her pull away. “He attacked me because I was close to you?”

“Yes,” He replied in simple and matter of fact tones even as he felt his heart lurch in pain. “He attacked you to spite me.” As his words rang across the space between them, he stared across at her face, wishing he could see her face. Did she hate him? Had he killed what love she had professed for him? Should he grieve if she had?  It was the last thought that caused him trouble. Logically, he knew that Melissa should hate him and leave, it was the best course of events, the one that caused the least harm and yet, he did not want her to go. Selfish though it was, he wished that she could be by his side; join him in his hunt throughout time. Even knowing that he was saving her from hell, he could not help but hope for her to follow him.

Melissa remained silent, taking in his words with disbelief. He had known John was targeting people close to him and he had still courted her. He had knowingly brought her close to death and yet, he had made her feel more alive than she ever thought possible. A horse whickered in a nearby stall and she star
ted towards the noise in confusion. What could she say? She brought her fingers to her mouth and nibbled her nails absently, the old childhood habit betraying her inner turmoil.

“You
knew I was in danger,” She whispered brokenly, her fingers trembling near her mouth. “You knew and you said nothing.”

Justin reached for her, his fingers blindly seeking her cheek. “No.
. no. I didn’t know he was here,” His voice cracked on the words as her words shattered like glass against his mind. “I should have realised, but I didn’t know until Alistair told me and I immediately tried to end things, but it was too late,” Panicked, he tried to move closer to her, yet the remaining ropes and several cracked ribs put paid to his desires. He didn’t know why he was trying to explain, he should let her leave in a fog of anger but he had to try to fix this. “I didn’t want harm to come to you.”

“But it has,” She pushed herself away from him and stood. “And Honesty died because of you,” Her fingers seized his hand and she began to tie his wrist back to the wall as tears began to flow freely down her cheeks. “I have never felt this way about anyone before Justin. I loved you. How could you do this to me?”

“I’m sorry,” He winced as she pulled the knot tight against his raw wrist and pulled his arm back against the side of the stable. “Melissa please understand. I made a mistake. I thought he was not here and when I finally understood that he was, I made ready to leave. I couldn’t let him bring any harm to you because of me,” Raw desperation tinged his voice and he almost winced at the plea he could hear in his tones. “I never wanted this. Please hear me out?”

“No,” She stepped back and fumblingly she found the edge of the stall. “I can’t believe you let Honesty, the others die like that, never mind what you’ve done to me…” With tears blurring her vision, she staggered back the way she came, leaving Justin alone in the stable.

“God curse it,” He hissed as the stable once again rang with the sound of silence. “I’m so sorry; I never meant to hurt you. By all the hells, I didn’t.” He spoke to empty air; half wishing she would return to hold him, forgive him for his offences. His head flopped onto his chest and for the first time in two hundred years, he sobbed. Tears fell silently from his eyes and soaked into his breeches. “But at least now, you will be safe from him.”

Melissa staggered blindly from the stable and through the servants’ quarters, tears flowing like rain from her green eyes. Moving on light feet, she reached the main part of the house and slipped back into the parlour. In the dim light, she collapsed onto the chaise longue and buried her face in her hands. The tears flowed freely and she rolled over, pressing her face against the pillow. For an age she lay there, tears soaking into the fabric of the cushion as she cried.