Enticing Eve: Scandalous Secrets, Book 2 (40 page)

He exited the catacombs on the second floor, searching each room.
 

“She’s not here, Colin,” Logan shouted from the other end of the hallway. “I checked. Perhaps he took her somewhere else?”

Keir’s note said Eve was in the house but what if he’d been playing Colin yet again? What if Colin had wasted time in this damned maze when all the while Eve was in danger somewhere else.

Eve could already be dead.

His heart skipped several beats at the mere thought. No, Colin refused to believe she was dead. Instead he led his friend down the hallway. A beam fell in front of them, blocking their path. Colin motioned to the other end. They must use the servants’ staircase.

He followed Logan down the narrow, winding staircase. They’d almost reached the last step when Colin heard a loud creak above them. He looked up to see a blazing beam fall from the ceiling. It slammed against the large chandelier, causing it to fall.

The chandelier whooshed past Colin and Logan, a hot breeze following in its wake. When it hit the tile floor, glass shattered into thousands of sharp fragments.

“That was too close,” Colin mumbled.

Logan reached the bottom step and turned, motioning Colin towards the long hallway. Thick smoke hung about the hall.

The two men crouched low, trying not to breathe the heavy black smoke. Furnishings, tapestries – the entire interior of the house was ablaze. Wood buckled under the intense heat of the flames.

They were almost to the door. He could feel the brisk night air, as Logan made a run for the exit with Colin quick on his heels. Colin reached safety in time to see Logan fall to the ground. He knelt beside his friend.

“Pity,” a hollow male voice jeered. “I thought he was you.”

Keir!
Colin snapped to attention, his head turning towards the voice. Illuminated by the raging inferno behind him, the man looked unearthly, like some beast from a brothers Grimm fairy tale or a monster Odysseus encountered during his journey home in
The Odyssey
.

“Where is my wife?” Colin thundered, standing upright, noting he stood several inches over his nemesis.

“Where is my wife?” Keir mimicked him.

Colin bridged the gap between them in three hurried steps, “Where is she?” he thundered, lunging at the man then grabbing him by his collar before slamming him hard against the ground.

“You’re too late,” Keir said in a controlled voice. “You’ve wasted too much time to save your darling wife.”

Colin’s heart hammered against his ribs.
No, dear God, not Eve!
He pushed against Keir’s windpipe, robbing the animal of breath.

“I shall ask you one more time. Where is Eve?” he demanded through clenched teeth. Keir wouldn’t have killed her, would he? Eve was Keir’s leverage over him.
 

Keir clawed at Colin’s arms, bunching the fabric of Colin’s shirt in his fists. He gasped for air.

“Tell me where she is,” Colin hissed.

Keir’s expression changed. In one instant his cocky demeanor was replaced by fear as if he now knew Colin would indeed kill him.

“The barn,” Keir muttered.

Colin slammed the man against the ground then stood, turning towards the barn.

God Almighty, it was gone! Fire had engulfed it, the wood framed structure with flammable hay possessing little chance at withstanding the blaze until it turned to a pile of charred wood. Several small orange flames lapped at the wreckage while black sooty smoke still billowed above the ground where the structure once stood.
 

The air, thick with smoke and the stench of scorched timber, caused Colin’s nostrils to burn.

Eve couldn’t have been in there. No, she would never have survived it.
 

Colin refused to believe she was dead as sharp pain sliced through Colin’s back, piercing the flesh between his shoulder blades. He turned as Keir took another blow. This time, Colin was able to grab the pitchfork before it further mutilated his skin.
 

The two men wrestled to gain control of the weapon. Colin pushed the handle upwards, striking Keir’s forehead. The man staggered back a few steps, dazed from the blow.

“Your precious wife was restrained in the barn,” Keir sneered, gaining his footing once again. “She was awake when I left her, screaming for help.”

“No!” Colin screamed. This couldn’t be happening. “Shut up!” Colin demanded, ramming him against the hard earth.

“She’s dead,” Keir continued, taunting. “The fire engulfed the barn in a matter of minutes. She never had a chance.”

“You’re lying!” Colin shouted, wrapping his fingers around Keir’s throat.
 

Keir smiled a sadistic smile that turned Colin’s blood ice cold. “I took her away from you much the same way you stole my inheritance.”

Colin squeezed tighter around Keir’s neck. “You son of a bitch!”

“She called for help, but you didn’t come. You disappointed her, even in the end,” Keir whispered, now gasping for air.

This animal killed Eve.

Dear God, Colin couldn’t comprehend it. His vision blurred, a haze of hatred he assumed until he felt his own wet tears fall onto his cheeks.

He was killing the man. Colin’s conscience warned him of it; however, a wave of hatred like none he had ever known washed over him, propelling Colin forward. He tightened his grip, constricting the man’s airway, well aware that he wouldn’t stop until the bastard was dead.

How terrified must Eve have been?
 

How much pain had she endured?

Colin wouldn’t allow her murderer to live.

“You will join Lachlan in hell,” Colin muttered through clenched teeth as the man kicked at the grass beneath him, clawing at Colin’s arms. With each attempt the monster took towards freedom, Colin squeezed harder ensuring he couldn’t escape his fate.
 

Through his tears, Colin could see the surprise in Keir’s eyes, and then the fear.

“Did you really think I would let you live after what you’ve done?” he muttered, squeezing even harder.

Even in the moonlight, in the haze of smoke and soot, Colin could see life draining from Keir Dunlop’s pale face.

The madman gasped for air, a gurgling sound coming from his throat. Keir’s eyes darted back and forth, “Y-you c-can’t.”

Colin knew he could. In fact, he would.

As Keir gasped for his final breath, his eyes bulged in horror. Then his face turned blue, and his head slumped to the side.

At last, Colin was certain the man had indeed arrived in hell …

“I’ll see you there,” Colin muttered.

Chapter 19

The closer Eve ran to the main house, the hotter it became. Her nostrils burned from the heat and odor of charred timber and other materials.
 

Please let everyone be safe.

She saw the servants first. Some carried buckets in their hands. They must have attempted to put out the fire before coming to the conclusion that it was a losing battle.

“Mrs. MacAlistair!” a woman shrieked.
 

Eve turned to see Mary running toward her, followed by Norris.
 

“Mary, is everyone all right?” Eve demanded, rushing towards the woman and grabbing her arms.

“I-I don’t know,” Mary turned, her eyes resting on what remained of the main house. “The servants are accounted for but Mister MacAlistair and Mister Ambrose have yet to be found.”

Eve’s eyes darted to the main structure. The roof had collapsed and the interior was lost though most of the exterior stone remained defiantly intact.

“Colin,” she said. “Where was he last seen?”

“Mister MacAlistair was searching for you,” Norris’s voice, low and rough, sounded far away. “He and Mister Ambrose were both in the house as the servants evacuated.”

Eve turned towards him, surprised that he stood just a foot away from her. He wore his grief, his shoulders slumped with his head low.

“We haven’t seen him since he gave the order to evacuate,” he added.

Mary stifled a sob beneath her hands and Norris reached for her, pulling her into a tight embrace.

Eve’s own eyes stung with tears.

Colin hadn’t come out? No! This couldn’t be correct. Eve walked away from them, away from all signs of life, and rounded the corner of the house.

He can’t …
 

She couldn’t even consider the possibility. Instead, Eve walked further, the sounds of crackling embers and falling debris snapping her last nerves.
 

The horizon glowed with shades of violet and orange.
 

Sunrise.

Could life be so cruel to proceed without Colin? No, time should stop! She couldn’t fathom a morning without him, or an evening, let alone a lifetime.

She wanted to scream, throw something. Instead she ran. Where to she knew not, but she wound up at the back of the house where her eyes caught sight of him.
 

Colin knelt in the grass, his shoulders slumped.

Thank you, dear God in heaven!

He wasn’t moving, Eve noticed, as she walked towards him, her feet now dragging like lead. His shirt was bloodstained.

Something was wrong with him.

“Colin?” she muttered.

He didn’t move. It was as if he hadn’t heard her. Eve ran towards him. “Colin, answer me.”

Though he inhaled a deep audible breath, Colin refused to
 
open
 
his
 
eyes,
 
certain he
 
was imagining
 

Eve’s voice and wishing with all his might that he could keep her with him always.

Having gone to the barn, he found nothing but destruction and a hairclip he’d given Eve, lying on the ground. Hot to the touch, it had begun to melt from the heat.

He called for her to no avail.

That’s when he realized that she was dead, that she had burned to death and he had been unable to protect he when she needed him most.

“Colin!” there it was again – his name, her voice laced with desperation.

Squeezing his eyes shut harder, he answered. “If you’re not real, I don’t want to know.”

He heard a leaf crunch on the grass beside him and snapped his eyes open. Turning towards the sound, Colin caught sight of her. Her shirt and breeches were blackened from soil and soot, her wrists red with blood.
 

Eve tore her gaze from him to survey the ground beside him, her feet rooted firmly in place. “Colin, come to me.” She reached for him.

Alive or dead, he’d follow her anywhere, even to the bowels of hell if she asked him. So he obeyed, pushing himself to his feet and staggering over to her.

Colin reached for her face expecting her to vanish like vapor. Instead, his palm felt the smooth flesh of her cheek. That’s when he knew that she was real.

Gasping for air at the realization, tears again blurred his vision. Through the mist, Colin reached for his wife, squeezing her tight against his chest. “He told me you died in the barn,” he croaked, his usual baritone barely audible. “Dear God, I thought you were dead.”

“I managed to escape,” she whispered, her voice trailing into the distance as she studied Keir’s lifeless form lying in the grass.

Colin clutched her closer to his chest.
 

Relief that her husband was safe washed over Eve in a rush. Colin was alive, and Keir appeared to be dead. Fear seized her heart in a vise grip, squeezing it so hard that she could barely breathe.

Colin had murdered him.

Eve buried her face in his chest her mind already in preservation mode. They must find a way to ensure Colin wouldn’t be punished for Keir’s death. Keir kidnapped her, Keir burnt their house down, attempted to murder them and their servants. No, her husband would not be punished for doing something that she herself would’ve done if given the opportunity.

A loud pop echoed through the chilled night air. Eve jumped, aware that Colin was clutching her even tighter now.
 

Was it a gunshot?

She snapped to attention, looking up at Colin, her eyes searching his. Then he dropped to his knees.

“No!” she screamed, clutching his shoulders, cushioning him as he dropped to the ground. In the faint light dawn, she watched as crimson blood stained his shoulder, quickly traveling across his shirt front.

“Colin?” Eve placed her palm against his cheek, her eyes still locked with his. “Colin!”

Keir’s frail frame stood over them, pistol in hand. “This is splendid,” he jeered. “You can watch me kill her.”

There was another gunshot and Eve flinched, almost certain it was meant for her, though she was alive, whole, no pain. She searched Colin for a sign that Keir had shot him again when Keir staggered backwards. Eve watched him fall to the ground, when Colin reached for her, pulling her towards him.

“Don’t look,” he muttered, holding her face with his palms.