A Dark Guardian (8 page)

He nodded solemnly.

“But you know of a way to stop it.”

He sighed, hating these questions. “With every creature we hunt ‘tis different.

We have never encountered the same creature twice.”

“In other words, you have no idea how to kill this one.” _Damn, she was perceptive. _ “That’s correct.” She paced the chamber while he watched Gabriel mix more herbs in water for Bernard. Hugh wanted to tell her they could kill it tomorrow, but only a fool would make a promise such as that.

“Hugh,” Gabriel called. “Help me lift Bernard so I can get this mixture down him.”

Hugh pushed off the wall and walked to the bed and lifted Bernard. Sweat covered Bernard’s body, and he shook so badly the goblet kept knocking against his teeth. Hugh began to wonder if the baron would survive the addiction.

In the next instant, the goblet went crashing to the floor as Bernard shoved Gabriel aside. “Ale,” Bernard called. “I need ale. Now!”

“By the gods, he has strength,” Gabriel said as he immediately began to mix more herbs. “We must get the water down him.”

“Mina, grab his legs,” Hugh called out as he grabbed one of Bernard’s arms.

Cole quickly captured Bernard’s other arm before he was able to hit Gabriel while Darrick helped Mina hold Bernard’s legs.

Even with all four of them practically on top of Bernard, he still fought the water Gabriel tried to give him.

“What is in the water?” Mina asked.

“It will aid him past the addiction,” Gabriel explained. “The sooner we get it down him the sooner he will get past it.”

“Ale,” Bernard murmured.

Mina bit her lip as Hugh physically opened Bernard’s mouth and Gabriel poured the water down his throat. For a moment, she thought Bernard might choke, but they got him to swallow somehow.

“I’m not strong enough,” Bernard said as he opened his eyes and looked at Mina.

She smiled and climbed off his legs. “You were strong enough to begin this, and you will be strong enough to finish it.”

“You don’t understand, Mina. So many lies,” he said and trembled.

She pulled the covers around him, thinking he was finally calm.

“Nay,” he said and swiftly took hold of her arms. He looked over her head to Hugh. “Get her out of here. She needs to be safe. She will die if she stays!”

“She will be safe,” Hugh’s deep voice said behind her.

“You don’t understand,” Bernard said, the frustration evident by the lines in his young face. “None of you understand. She can’t stay here any longer.” Before she could say anything, Bernard fell back onto the bed seemingly asleep.

She rose on shaky legs and turned to face Hugh.

“I don’t know what he means. This is where I was born and raised. I cannot leave.”

“Mayhap he just wants to see you safely away from the creature,” Darrick said.

She looked at her brother, so vulnerable and young on the bed. It would not be too long before he would take a wife. Where would she be then? His new wife wouldn’t allow her to stay for long, and she wasn’t naïve enough to believe she would ever find a husband. But the convent was not for her.

With her future clouded in unanswered questions, she took Bernard’s hand and resumed her seat by his bed. She would not leave him this night. Not even the creature that still circled the castle could move her.

Hugh watched Mina slowly wake. She had not moved from Bernard’s side all night. She had stayed to help get the healing water down his throat and soothe him in the long hours of the night.

But it had taken its toll on her. Dark circles marred her beautiful face, making her blue-green eyes larger than usual. Hugh moved on silent feet to her side as she worked the kinks from her neck.

He and his men had concluded there was more to Bernard’s ranting than he had let on, and they would get to that as soon as Mina was in her own chamber.

“Come,” he said and took her arm.

She tried to pull away from him. “I won’t leave my brother.” Hugh opened his mouth to speak, but Bernard’s voice, low and raspy came from the bed. “I will be fine, Mina. I couldn’t have done it without you, but you need your rest. There is a creature to kill,” he finished before his head lolled to the side.

She stood there and stared at her brother before turning her gaze to Hugh. “I suppose he doesn’t need me anymore.”

“He will always need you,” Hugh whispered. “I’ll walk you to your chamber.” The sun was just breaking over the horizon as they walked along the deserted hallway. The sounds of people waking from the hall below reached them.

They reached her chamber, and he followed her inside where she immediately went to her bed and laid down. She was asleep before he took two steps toward her.

After he removed her shoes, he covered her with a blanket and quickly walked from the chamber before he climbed into bed with her and buried his rod deep within her tight sheath.

He lengthened his strides and hurried back to Bernard. Upon entering, he found Gabriel and Darrick helping the baron sit up in bed.

“How do you feel?” Hugh asked as he walked toward Bernard.

The baron laughed dryly. “Like I’ve been dragged behind a wagon being led by six wild horses.”

Hugh chuckled and straddled the chair, leaning his chin on the back. “You’re past the worst of it, thanks to your sister.”

“I saw her lip.” Bernard looked down at his hands. “Did I do that?”

“By

accident.”

Bernard sighed loudly and raised his eyes to Hugh. “I meant what I said last night. You must get her away from the castle. Now. Before ‘tis too late.”

“Why?” Gabriel asked.

Bernard hesitated for a moment and looked down at his hands again. “She will be safer away from here.”

“Everyone would,” Hugh said. “But that creature will only move on to another village if we don’t destroy it. You and Mina have already begun to mend your relationship. Everything will work out.”

“You don’t understand,” Bernard said and slammed his hand against his thigh.

Hugh decided it was time to stop playing around. “Then tell me. There is someone in the castle that let loose that creature, and I’ll wager that same someone has been drugging your ale. Do you know who it is?” Several tense moments slipped by before they had an answer.

“Nay,” Bernard said with a shake of his head. “I sorely wish I did though. So much has gone amiss.”

Hugh didn’t like this, not one bit. It was one thing to battle an evil he knew, but another to fight one blinded. His gut knew Bernard lied, but there would be no getting the truth out unless the baron wanted to admit it. It was Bernard’s tone when he spoke of getting Mina away from the castle that intrigued Hugh. Why Mina and not Theresa?

The questions were mounting, and it did little to soothe him.

“Darrick, keep an eye on Mina,” Hugh said as he studied Bernard. “Don’t let her see you, but make sure she stays safe.”

“What are you thinking?” Bernard asked.

“I just want to be sure no one else in your family is harmed. Cole, keep watch on Theresa.”

“Don’t bother,” Bernard said. “That woman could skin the creature herself if she put her mind to it.”

Hugh looked at Cole and Darrick pointedly and waited for them to leave the chamber. He turned to Gabriel and Bernard then. “We must keep a vigilant eye out to keep everyone safe. If something looks out of the ordinary, tell us immediately, Bernard.”

The baron snorted. “That is going to be difficult since I really don’t know what is ordinary anymore.”

He had a point. Hugh scratched his chin as he thought over their options. “I think it would be better if everyone still think you a drunk. Don’t change your attitude toward anything, especially toward Mina.”

“Aye, I can do that. What about Mina?”

“We will tell her ahead of time. We don’t want her acting any differently either,” he said.

“I don’t know,” Bernard hedged. “I’m not sure I could do it.”

“We’ll help you.”

Gabriel rubbed his hands together. “I see a plan forming.” Hugh smiled at his friend. “If everything goes right, not only will we kill that creature, we’ll free this castle and the village from the evil that holds it.”

“Then, by God, I hope your plan works,” Bernard said.

Mina opened her eyes and moaned. Her body ached from the position she had kept it in most of the night, but it was worth it to see Bernard over that awful addiction.

With a smile on her face for the first time in months, she rose from the bed. A bath would be just the thing to ease away these aches, she thought. She opened her chamber door and headed toward the bathing chamber.

Her step was light, as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She had her brother, and he treated her like a sister for the first time since she could remember. Things were looking up, especially with the arrival of Hugh and his men.

Just thinking about Hugh brought a flush to her body and a strange sensation between her legs.

She walked into the bathing chamber and came to a sudden halt. Inside the large wooden tub sat Hugh facing her, his arms stretched out holding onto the sides while his head rested back against the tub with his eyes closed.

If she were a proper lady she would turn and leave, but her legs wouldn’t obey her. Her eyes feasted on the expanse of muscular chest that glistened with water in the sunlight that streamed in from the window above him.

Dark hair littered his torso, and there was no denying the taunt muscles bulging in his arms, shoulders, and chest. His hair clung to his head and water fell in ripples down the hard planes of his face as though he had just surfaced.

Breathing became difficult as she let her eyes wander over his splendor. She had seen many men without their tunics as they toiled in the bailey, but none compared to this warrior before her. Those muscles in his arms and chest came from years of wielding a sword and battle.

And if his arms looked that good what would the rest of him look like?

Her face flamed at her thoughts, but the simple truth was she would do almost anything to know. She bit her lip and let her eyes roam lower, wishing she could see through the water.

The water rippled from his movement, and her gaze jerked to his face to find his eyes open. And staring at her.

Her heart hammered wildly inside her chest, but it was the heat from his dark brown gaze that held her immobile when she should flee. Her lips parted and the breath rushed from her lungs when he stood.

Never was there a man that walked in this realm or another that could compare to the magnificence before her. He exuded power as if it were a second skin. She drank in her fill of him, following the water as it ran down his chiseled abdomen to follow a trail of dark hair that disappeared in the water just below his waist.

A small moan escaped her lips when he moved toward her and she caught a glimpse of his manhood as the water moved. When his hands gripped the side of the wooden tub, she knew he was about to leave the water and come to her. His gaze caught and held hers, as if he were giving her time to flee. But she wouldn’t take flight. She wanted this.

Wanted

him.

“There you are,” Darrick said as he came around the corner.

She didn’t turn towards Darrick for her eyes were riveted on the dark warrior before her.

“Ah, sorry,” Darrick said.

She heard his footsteps as he left the chamber. She closed her eyes, wishing they hadn’t been interrupted. What would Hugh have done once he left the tub?

“Forgive me,” she said and hurried from the chamber before she embarrassed herself more.

Hugh gripped the tub painfully as he watched Mina run from the chamber. He had been thinking of her creamy skin and full lips when he had opened his eyes to find her standing in the doorway. He hadn’t known how long she had been there and hadn’t cared.

His blood had surged to his rod as he watched her gaze roam over him and saw the desire flare in her eyes. He forgot where he was, what he was, and that she was a lady. All that mattered was having her in his arms while he molded her body against his.

He had been about to leave the water to do just that when Darrick walked into the chamber. Although he wanted to bash Darrick’s face in, Hugh probably owed him a debt of thanks for saving him.

“Aimery, you gutter pig. If you set this up, I will have my revenge,” Hugh muttered to the empty chamber. It was just like the Fae to meddle in affairs such as these if they thought it would ease him somewhat.

But what Aimery didn’t realize is that having Mina would only make it so much worse. She was like Heaven, just out of reach.

Hugh took a deep breath and stepped from the tub and began to dry himself off.

He had to kill the creature and leave this place before it was too late.

Though it might be too late for him anyway.

Mina shut her chamber door and leaned against it, her breathing harsh and labored. Even without closing her eyes, she could picture the perfection of Hugh.

Her body trembled with a need he had arisen within her with his heated brown eyes. Her breasts had grown heavy from wondering if he would touch her. He was a temptation she had never encountered before, and the yearning to have him overwhelmed everything around her.

She didn’t even care about the creature anymore. She just wanted…Hugh.

Marriage wasn’t even a necessity. All she craved was to feel his strong arms wrapped around her and make her forget the world and the evil that surrounded her.

But it was something that wasn’t meant to be. If he would have anyone, it would be Theresa. Everyone wanted Theresa. For the first time in years, she hated her sister.

She pushed away from the door and walked to the mirror she rarely gazed into, but she couldn’t look at herself. Nothing had changed since the last time she dared to peek, and it never would.

She was still as ugly as she always was.

The mirror forgotten, she turned and stripped off her gown to wipe herself down with the water from the bowl in her chamber. Once she had changed into one of her daily gowns, she plaited her hair and made her way down to the hall.

To her surprise, Bernard sat breaking his fast with Cole and Gabriel. But where was Hugh?