Belinda rubbed her bruised, cut, and swollen wrists. The familiar walls of the London office were little comfort. She didn’t like that they were underground. She’d had her fill of being below the surface and the comparison between the Company and the demons disturbed her.
Drake Cullum had just arrived and the questioning began. There was no doubt that Cullum was a general within the Company, and they were all soldiers under his command.
He stared at Lillian. “You say you killed the two priests on the left side of the room?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And, Tullering, you killed the other two?”
“I killed one and caused the other to fall into the pit.” Gabriel stood behind her chair. His hand rested lightly on her shoulder. “I do not know if that would kill the demon.”
The touch was reassuring. She had not realized how much she missed human contact while being the master’s prisoner. When she’d first heard Gabriel’s voice in the ballroom whilst hanging over the gateway, she had assumed that her mind had finally snapped. It was inconceivable that her husband was there. She had even convinced herself that she’d never seen him in the courtyard days before.
Cullum turned to Belinda. “Yet you are telling me that the master came through anyway. I thought he needed the priests. He needed you as a sacrifice. He didn’t have the priests and you are still alive. So explain to me how the master came through.”
Belinda took a deep breath and sighed. Her body ached in more places than she cared to enumerate. She was tired.
Thor had carried her to the carriage. Lillian and Gabriel had climbed up behind her.
The remnants of Fatum Manor cried out as bit by bit, the ground opened up and swallowed the house. Smoke and dust filled the air, as did the screams of hundreds of demons.
Hunters scrambled back away from the extending pit as it swallowed the embankment. The highest point of Fatum crumbled and crashed into nothing. A pile of rubble mounded where the manor house had been. The sound of straining timber was the only evidence that a structure had stood in the place.
Squeals, groans and falling rock continued, but slowed. It was over.
The ground shook so hard the horses bucked to get away.
Thor held them steady.
Lillian gasped.
Gabriel clutched Belinda’s hand.
Fire shot from the ground creating fifty-foot-high pillar. The heat seared the ground within a hundred feet.
Thor moved them further away.
With a final whoosh, the remnants of Fatum sucked down into the earth leaving behind only a gaping pit, no house, no barricade, no fire, and not a demon was in sight.
Belinda’s stomach churned. This will be our world’s fate if we fail.
They rode in silence all the way back to London. Belinda slept on the trip. She could have slept for a month.
Brice took Reece to Edinburgh to recover. The demon’s bite must have poisoned his blood.
The doctor at the headquarters would do whatever could be done, and it was closer than London.
Rather than explain their condition to Gabriel’s mother and sister, the newlyweds went to Clayton House to rest.
With only enough time for a bath and a few hours of sleep, they’d been summoned to the office by the head of the Company. Neither she nor Gabriel had spoken much in that time. They were tired, and the overwhelming scope of the experience was still setting in.
Part of what she had experienced would be for Gabriel’s ears only. She chose her words carefully when answered Cullum. “I cannot explain how I know that the one they call master came through. He was very close when I was rescued and he did come through. Once my husband cut me free, I lost sight of the demon.” That much was accurate. “He will most likely have been damaged. He told me that he could come through without me, but it would harm him and the recovery would take time. I would guess that is why all the demons were running inside the manor. They would likely find a way to get their master out and safely away to a place where he can recover.”
Cullum’s eyes darkened. He loomed over her with his arms crossed over his chest. “You had a conversation with this master?”
“Yes,” she said.
“I will require a full account of that conversation.”
“Of course.”
Drake Cullum paced back and forth in the dim light of the underground meeting-place. He was angry, though it was difficult to tell. He kept his face and tone completely neutral. But there was something in the stiffness of his back that alarmed Belinda. She did not wish to see what happened when the man lost his temper.
His anger was justified. The hunters had failed in their foremost mission. Their main purpose was a complete loss. The goal was to keep the master from getting into their world.
Yet when Gabriel had grabbed her, the master was already ascending. In the smoke, she’d seen his perfect face.
His desire for her burned in the vortex. It was that craving, which had kept her alive so long. The master had made an error in judgment. If he had used her only as a vehicle for his ascent, the hunters would have been too late. She would be dead and he would be whole. His greed in wanting her sexually cost him and saved her.
It was in those seconds that Gabriel was able to cut her down and pull her away.
She would never be able to wipe the horrifying hatred she’d seen in the master’s eyes from her mind. His desire transformed to pure evil as he’d looked at her husband. His beauty had waned in the way it often did in the sick. His mouth opened and emitted the terrible cry they all heard.
Cullum turned to her again. “You are sure the master is in our world?”
“He is weak, but I saw him ascend. He is here, but he will need time to recover because he was vulnerable when I was rescued and the priests killed.”
“How much time?”
“I do not know. They do not measure time as we do. To the master, our lifetime is an instant. It could take him years to heal or perhaps hours. I just do not know.” Her voice began to take on a panicked crescendo.
Gabriel’s hand tightened on her shoulder.
Drake Cullum’s façade fell. The deep lines of his frown eased and his shoulders slumped. “I am glad you were saved, countess. I know you have been through an ordeal. We shall expect a full report as soon as you are able.”
Her throat tightened and she gave one quick nod.
Jamie rushed into the room and approached Cullum. “A message was left at the door.”
“Who brought it?”
“A boy, one of us,” Jamie said.
He opened the parchment and looked up at Gabriel. “I think this is meant for you, my lord.”
Gabriel took the note. Belinda rose from her chair and read the swirled writing. A chill ran up her spine. The parchment was old and browned around the edges.
It read, Capio meus vengeance in vestri cruor.
“I take my vengeance in your blood,” Gabriel translated.
“What does it mean?” Lillian asked.
Gabriel looked at Cullum. He narrowed his eyes “What makes you think this is for me?”
“From what we know, it makes sense. You stole Lady Tullering from the master. He considered her his property. Whom else would he seek vengeance on?”
“So he is going to come after me?” Gabriel’s voice rose and his shoulders pulled back. He welcomed that idea.
Belinda’s chest tightened as the meaning of the message dawned on her. She grabbed his hand. “No. We have to go, Gabriel. We have to get to your house.”
His eyes widened as the horror hit him. “Thor.” The name echoed off the walls.
“Let’s go.” The driver already ran toward the door.
They were up the steps and running down the alley in seconds. Belinda, Gabriel and Lillian were still in motion when the carriage was in motion.
“I have been the same fool your father was, Bella. I have put my family in danger.”
There was truth to what he said, but overall there was little comparison between Gabriel and her father. “My father perpetuated a lie for years. I would guess he still keeps secrets from us. You have had little time to consider the consequences. This is my fault. I dragged you into this and now your mother and Serena are in danger.”
“You are both jumping to conclusions. Let’s get to the house and see what we find before we make any judgments. Besides, if we find the worst, we shall have other obligations. Blame will not be one of them.” Lillian gave them both a stern look.
She was right, of course. There would be plenty of time for blame and remorse.
Belinda gripped the window frame and the bench seat to keep her place while Thor tore through the streets of Southwark, crossed the bridge and rounded corners at dangerous speeds.
Gabriel pulled his watch from the small pocket of his waistcoat. “They should be preparing for the evening by now. I have not the faintest idea where they were going tonight.”
“It is Wednesday, perhaps Almack’s.” They would likely be preparing for a ball or dinner party. Almack’s was a likely destination. Many socialites enjoyed the formality of the weekly event.
She held Gabriel’s hand as they approached the large townhouse. As soon as the carriage stopped, they jumped down and ran up the steps.
Gabriel pounded on the door until the stunned butler pulled it open.
“My lord?”
“Shelby, where are my mother and sister?”
The butler opened his mouth, but his words were cut off by the sharp tone of Gabriel’s mother’s voice from the landing. “I am here, Gabriel. What is the meaning of this?”
The now-dowager countess made her way down the steps in a burgundy gown.
“Mother, you are all right.”
“Of course I am.” She turned to Belinda. “Lady Tullering, you look pale. Are you unwell, my dear?”
It took Belinda a moment to recognize that Gabriel’s mother was addressing her. She was now the Countess of Tullering and his mother the dowager. “I am fine, countess. Is Lady Serena at home?”
Gabriel’s mother looked at Lillian and Thor standing in the doorway. “I do not believe I know your friend or this man.” She looked down her nose at the pair standing in the front doorway.
“Where is Serena, mother?” Gabriel’s voice rose above a polite tone. He fisted his hands and the muscle on the side of his jaw ticked. He climbed the stairs toward his mother.
“What is the meaning of this?”
“Mother.”
“She is up in her room getting dressed. Where else would she be?”
Lillian said, “Go and check. We will wait here.”
Gabriel took the steps two at a time.
Belinda followed him, equaling his pace.
The countess gasped, but Belinda didn’t know if it was because Lillian had issued an order or because she was running up the steps as if she was a hoyden rather than a lady. Gabriel’s mother’s questions and concerns would need a response, but later.
He turned to the right at the landing, rushed down the hallway and knocked on the third door. They waited for a long second with no answer from within. He turned the knob and pushed through.
A mousy blond maid lay face down on the floor in a puddle of blood. The large mirror was cracked and tilted in its stand. The dressing table was broken to pieces that were scattered on the rug. The drapes blew in the open window. Serena was not in sight.
The roar that fell from Gabriel’s lips was not human. He sounded as if he was a beast in mortal pain.
Belinda knelt down next to the maid and rolled the girl over.
The maid’s eyes were wide in a deathly stare and she had a vicious bite taken out of her neck.
The pounding of footfall on the steps and in the hallway announced the arrival of Thor and Lillian followed closely by Shelby and her ladyship.
“Where is Serena? What has happened to Mary?” Hysteria laced the countess’s normally staid tone.
Lillian nudged the dowager from the room, shielding her from the sight of the dead maid.
Belinda stood up and crossed to Gabriel.
His face was taut with pain. He’d been through a lot. She knew he blamed himself for her capture. His hands were clutched in fists.
“Gabriel, look at me. It is not your fault. You have to focus so that we can get her back. Do you understand?”
He grasped her head between his hands and pulled her close.
She gasped, surprised by the sudden movement.
His gaze burned into hers. “I’m sorry. I should have said it earlier.”
“It was not your fault, nor is this.”
He took a deep breath and kissed her forehead.
“Take your mother downstairs and explain things to her. Lillian and I will search the room while Thor goes around to the garden and checks for tracks.”
“See if you can call for Tubbs. He is a fine tracker,” Gabriel said.
“I will send for him directly.” She was happy to hear him making sense and thinking rationally. They would need him sound if they were going to rescue his sister.
Gabriel walked from the room and put his arm around his mother’s shoulder.
“What is happening, Gabriel? Who are those people with your wife?”
“Come, Mother. I will explain everything.”
Thor did not need direction. He left immediately to go and find the tracks in the garden if they existed.
“Shelby.” Belinda said.
“Yes, Lady Tullering?”
“Send a footman over to Clayton House and have my footman, Tubbs, brought back here.”
The butler was wide-eyed. He bit his nails and looked from Mary’s bloody body back to Belinda. “Yes, my lady.”
“And Shelby?”
“Yes, my lady.”
“It would be best to keep this as quiet as possible. Only speak to servants who can be trusted. We shall have Lady Serena back in short order. No need to inform the neighbors of our troubles.”
The butler nodded. “What about Mr. Douglass?”
“Who is that?”
“He is about to request Lady Serena’s hand. He has been waiting for his lordship to be at home and has been on the doorstep daily. I believe he was expected as the ladies’ escort tonight at Almack’s.”
Another complication. If this Mr. Douglass planned to join the family, he would need to know the truth as well. “Contact Mr. Douglass and ask him to come directly. Do not tell him why.”
“Yes, my lady.”
The butler’s footfall faded and Lillian stood with Belinda in the ruined room. The damask draped bed was the only piece of furniture in the room not destroyed.
“What do you think, Lilly?”
Lillian knelt down next to Mary’s body. “This looks as if it is the same kind of bite that Reece sustained, though the wound itself likely caused this girl’s death. It would appear there was a struggle yet I see no human blood trail to the window. I think we can assume that she was alive when she was taken from here.”
Belinda went to the window. The light of Thor’s lantern moved in a back and forth pattern at the bottom of the two-story drop.
Thor looked up. “It appears they climbed up the rose trellis.”
Lillian said, “It would have been a tough climb down with a girl fighting them.”
“Perhaps she was not conscious. Serena is a spirited woman. She may have had to be subdued in order to carry out their plans.”
“I suppose we can assume that.”
Belinda walked to the glass. It was cracked in the center and a spot of black blood streaked down from the middle of the break. “The women managed to injure one of them.”
Lillian knelt by the window. “There is more demon blood on the sill.”
The two hunters looked over the entire room inch by inch, before making their way down the steps and searching out Gabriel. They found him in his study. The room had not changed since Gabriel’s father had been the Earl of Tullering. Nothing about the place gave an impression of the current earl. Several paintings of horses and ships hung on dark wood paneling. Law books lined the shelves. The dark carpet and heavy drapes still carried the stale odor of cigars. Gabriel never indulged in that manly habit. The ornate desk took up the center of the room. Several hard benches lined one wall. Besides the large seat behind the desk, two overstuffed chairs sat before it. Everything in the room was some shade of brown.
“Where is your mother?” Belinda asked.
“She was hysterical. I sent for her maid and she has gone above stairs.”
“Did she believe you?” Lillian asked.
He shrugged and gave a disgusted look toward the door. “I have no idea.”
“It is a lot to grasp, Gabriel—”
She wanted to say more, to tell him his mother needed his patience, but Shelby cleared his throat in the open door.
“Mr. Thaddeus Douglass has arrived, my lord.”
Gabriel’s eyes widened and his fists clenched. His jaw ticked in anger.
“I sent for him. If he wants to marry into this family, he will have to understand.”
“What must I understand?” Thaddeus Douglass was uncommonly tall. He stood several inches over Gabriel’s head. His red hair hung loose around his shoulders and his cravat was untied, exposing his throat. Though he was in evening dress, he appeared to have stopped in the middle of dressing to answer the urgent call. He spoke with a hint of a Scottish brogue.
Gabriel looked Thaddeus up and down. His eyes narrowed on the Scot before his expression turned to resignation. “You had better come in. Serena is missing and we will need all the help we can get to find her.”
“Missing,” Thaddeus’s voice shook the study walls. “How is that possible?”
Lillian sat down in an overstuffed chair. She had a soothing voice that cut through the tension in the room. “Mr. Douglass, you should take a seat and let his lordship explain the situation. We do not have much time for questions, but there are things you need to know.”
“Who are you?” His voice was strained but not unkind as he looked from one woman to the other.
Gabriel answered. “This is my wife, Lady Belinda Thurston, the Countess of Tullering and this is Lillian Dellacourt, our good friend.”
Thaddeus bowed quickly and sat in the other chair near the desk.
Gabriel ran his hand through his hair. Dark rings around his eyes marked his exhaustion.
Belinda was sure she looked about to drop herself. She settled on a bench and listened as her husband told the young man in as few words as possible what was happening. He even went as far as to describe the type of creatures who had captured his would-be fiancée.
The Scot did not react as she expected. He did not call them all crazy and stomp from the room. He paid close attention and when Gabriel was finished, he gave one nod. “How do we find her?”
“I think we can help with that,” Thor said from the door.
“What did you find?” Gabriel came around the desk.
“Tubbs is several blocks away. We found a blood trail.”
Thaddeus jumped from the chair. “Serena is bleeding.”
Thor looked from the tall Scot to his employer. “My sister’s suitor.”
The driver nodded. “No. Not as far as we can tell. Likely unconscious or restrained, but not bleeding. The blood is demon’s and is heading toward the river. I took the liberty of changing to fresh horses, my lord.”
“Good thinking. Let’s go.”
An enormous black stallion clomped his front hooves on the street just behind Thor’s carriage. The beast pawed the ground and threw his head ready to bolt at any second.
“I will follow on horseback, if you do not mind, my lord.” Thaddeus pointed to his steed.
“As you wish.” Gabriel did not stop, but vaulted up into the carriage as soon as the two women were inside.
They moved in the direction of the river more slowly than she would have liked. She understood that they were following a trail, but the idea of what Serena might be enduring had her praying to make speed.
Gabriel pounded on the carriage’s interior wall, his frustration and fear uncontained.
Belinda put her hand on his forearm.
He looked at her in the darkened carriage. “Serena is not like you, Bella. She will not fare as well under the circumstances.”
“She will have to be strong. When we bring her home, we will help her deal with what she has endured. First we must find her.”
The conversation was a private one, but they were not alone in the carriage.
Lillian stared out the window. “We are heading toward Westminster.”
Outside, Belinda confirmed for herself that they were indeed rolling closer to the Palace of Westminster. The building where the Houses of Parliament met had been recently altered with a gothic façade. The Thames River’s filth stifled the confines of the carriage. They approached a less populated area of the city and at night and the streets were empty.
Thaddeus rode forward passed them as the carriage stopped.
The hunters stepped onto the street and walked to where Tubbs knelt near the riverbank.
“The blood trail ends here, my lady,” Tubbs said.
Thaddeus jumped down from the monstrous horse. “Have they drowned her in the river?”
The young man’s voice searched the water for Serena. He gripped the low stone wall.
She put her hand on his sleeve. “Serena is not in the river, Mr. Douglass. Please do not jump. We don’t have time to save you as well.”
“Where is she?” His eyes narrowed and he pointed a finger at Belinda’s face.
The large man might have intimidated someone her size, but she merely gave him a sympathetic look and went to help search the area.
Gabriel walked along the wall that dropped to the river.
“There,” Gabriel said. He pointed along the walled embankment to a bit of white disappearing seemingly into sheer stone.
“What is that?” Thaddeus asked.
“Serena.” The name was not out of Gabriel’s mouth before ran toward where they had seen the girl’s skirts disappear.
The space in the wall was narrow. Belinda and Lillian would have no problems getting through, but the men would find it more difficult.
Thor put the force of his heel to the problem and chunks of rock fell away. He repeated the action.
“Let Belinda and I go through. You can follow. If we lose her…” Lillian didn’t finish the thought.
They all knew the consequences.
Thor stopped kicking.
Gabriel grabbed her by the shoulders. “I do not like this.”
She touched his cheek. “I know, but there is no help for it. I will be fine and you will be right behind me.”
She didn’t wait for a response. Lillian and Belinda crawled through the crevice, which led down some roughly carved out steps. It was damp and close. Belinda’s mind went to her underground prison. A shiver ran up her spine. It was a trap to lure her back to the master. She knew it. It was likely that Lillian did as well. It made no difference. Serena couldn’t be made to suffer for the decisions she had made three years before.
At the bottom of the steps, another crack in the castle’s foundation led them into a hallway. At least the men would be able to get through this larger entry. In the hall, Belinda dropped her skirts in favor of the trousers beneath, and Lillian pulled the drawstrings on her dress so that she could fight or run if need be. Belinda cut a square of fabric off the bottom of the skirt, halved it and tucked the pieces between her breasts. She had no doubt that they would come up against every manner of demon in these catacombs.
The men who built the castle above had not built these strange underground caverns. If they had, it was for other purposes. At some point, the demons had taken over the dank underground.
She needed to focus on finding Serena and removing her from the hands of the master or his minions. The demons couldn’t have been using the space for very long. The smell was only river and dust. It lacked the overwhelming foul stink that always accompanied demons.
“Belinda, over here.” Lillian pointed to a door as she whispered for attention.
The door was of heavy oak, but when she drew closer, weeping came through from the other side.
Where were Gabriel and the others? The corridor behind her was empty.
“I do not think we can wait,” Lillian said.
“No. Let’s go.”
“Are you sure you can do this, Belinda? You have been through a lot.”
“A bit late for that question now, Lilly. I will be fine. I can recover from my experience when Gabriel’s sister is safe.”
The redhead nodded and pushed on the door. Unsurprisingly, it did not open. Lillian tucked her sai knives into her boots, pulled two pins from her hair and crouched down at the lock.
A satisfying click sounded. Once she had recovered her blades, she opened the door.
The smell hit them first but six malleuses stood ten feet inside the doorway as if they’d been waiting for the invasion.
Across the room, Serena was strapped to a round object that looked as if it was a giant pendulum. The girl bled from a cut on her shoulder and her gown was filthy and tattered. Her hair, so similar to her brother’s, formed a nest around her head and face. She cried softly, but when she saw Belinda, screamed her name.
Belinda was not sure if the girl was trying to warn her not to enter or if she was happy to see a familiar face.
The demons seriously outnumbered them. They needed help.
Besides the malleus, there were two durgot priests and one of the nasty, hairy beasts with all the teeth. The demons at Fatum called these pravus. It was the same kind of monster that had bitten Reece and poisoned him, according to what Gabriel had told her. The priests were far too close to Serena for comfort. Their dark hoods were tossed back and they grunted through those wide bull noses.
Belinda remembered the one she had killed in the yard outside of Fatum and her heart pounded harder.
She hoped that was all they would find in the room and the others would arrive soon. How long could it take them to break off some crumbling stone?
There was no help for it, they had to go in. Belinda stepped through the door and moved to the left with Lillian directly behind.
As soon as they were inside the malleus demons moved forward. The six of them fanned out in front of the two women and started forward.
Belinda thought of one of these bulbous-headed monsters carrying her away from Gabriel across Scotland. It fueled her rage. The endless hours of life beneath the earth with no windows and only enough air to live consumed her. She wouldn’t remember lifting her sword, running along the wall or slicing off the head of the first malleus. Her body became the product of her training. Some part of her tried to keep Lillian in mind as she spun around, jumped, and kicked in the nose of the second in line. Her sword was an extension of her arm and found its mark in the chest of the third.
“Above you, Belinda.” Lillian screamed the warning.
The pravus’s open mouth and pointed teeth loomed overhead.
As it dropped, Belinda’s world slowed. The air around her shifted as she jumped to one side.
The malleus with the broken nose grabbed for her.
She pulled her dirk from her belt and thrust it into his eye.
He clutched at the hilt.
Belinda’s sword sliced the air above and cut the strange hairy beast in two. Its bloody innards sprayed her and the room with gore.
Lillian’s blades had taken care of two more malleuses, but the last lifted the hunter off her feet and tossed her against the wall. She slid limply to the floor.
The cry that split the air did not sound human or familiar, yet it came from Belinda’s lips. She ran across the space.
The demon turned and roared as he lifted his arms to hammer down on her smaller body.
Belinda fell to her knees causing him to miss his mark.
While he recovered his balance, she thrust up with her blade impaling him through the belly so deep she must have pierced his heart. He fell forward.
Belinda rolled to the side to avoid being crushed.
She spun toward the movement in the corner of her eye, sword high. Midway through the cut, she stopped her blade as Gabriel’s concerned face came into view. “Sorry.”
He didn’t respond. His eyebrows lifted. He’d stood in the path of her sword and had faith that she would stop before she cut his head from his shoulders.
Belinda’s view had been blocked by the malleus, but now she saw the pendulum was a kind of altar suspended above a hole in the floor. Through the gap in the floor, there was only blackness.
The priests began to chant. One moved toward the hunters and the other lifted his ax toward Serena.
The girl started screaming as soon as she saw her brother and Thaddeus.
The Scot rushed toward the priest nearest to his fiancée.
Gabriel allowed the other one to come forward toward them.
The durgot lowered his horned head and rushed forward, intent on skewering them with the horns.
Both Belinda and Gabriel sidestepped and let the beast rush between them.
Gabriel turned back and lifted his gun, firing and hitting it in the back.
The ball did little damage as he spun around and charged at Gabriel again.
Thaddeus disarmed the demon that was about to carve up Serena and was engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the enormous beast.
While the men struggled with the durgots, Belinda assessed the problem of getting Serena down from the pendulum without her falling into whatever abyss lay below.
She had an idea, but it would require a man to help her.
Thaddeus was still tussling with one priest.
Belinda pulled a small knife from her boot, pulled back and let it fly. The small blade lodged itself in the demon’s temple.
It stopped, looked confused and then fell to the floor.
The Scot looked as stunned as the dead demon.
The grunts of men and demons along with clash of steel continued behind her.
“Douglass, climb up that stone from the side, cut her wrists and toss her to me.”
He looked from the round stone to the pit then back at Belinda.
“Do not think, just do it.” She tossed him a small blade hilt first and he caught it handily.
Thaddeus tucked the knife into his belt and ran to the side of the altar. He gripped the wall with one hand and the stone with the other, pulling himself up the side until he could get one foot on each surface and climb to the top where Serena’s hands were secured.
The girl screamed and cried.
He cut the first binding, and Belinda’s heart leaped into her throat. Serena hung by just one wrist and nothing lay below her, but death.
Gabriel screamed, “What is he doing.”
Thaddeus looked down at them, his eyes filled with terror.
“Do it! Take her hand and cut the rope,” Belinda said.
The young man wrapped his large hand around Serena’s tiny one and cut her bindings. She swayed above the hole, screaming.
“Throw her.”
“I cannot.”
“Do it.” Gabriel commanded.
Thaddeus lifted his fiancée up until he could grab her by the waist and then he tossed her across the hole to her brother.
Gabriel caught the girl while the Scot’s feet teetered on the stone altar.
“Jump,” Lillian yelled.
She needn’t have told him. He was already flying toward Belinda.
He didn’t make a good jump. His foot hit the edge of the hole and slid in.
Belinda grabbed his flailing hand. She leaned back, but his weight was too much. They would both fall in to whatever lay beneath the Palace of Westminster since the demons had made it their own.
His wide, terrified gaze stared up at her. His legs flailed to find purchase, but there was nothing. He gripped Belinda’s arm.
She pulled with all her strength.
He released his hold. “Let me go, my lady. Save yourself.”
She held on and pulled harder. Her booted feet slid across the stone floor. His weight pulled them both down.
A huge hand came around hers. Thor’s other arm wrapped around her middle and he pulled them both back until all three tumbled to the floor in a heap.
Belinda smiled at the carriage driver. “This is becoming quite a habit, Thor.”
“Yes, my lady. I have a habit of being a bit late. I shall try to do better.”
She laughed at that and allowed him to help her off the floor.