The Price of Desire (25 page)

‘Now it's time for what you've all been waiting for,' he boomed into the night. ‘Now it's time for the virgin sacrifice!'

On the ground, still catching her breath, Georgie heard the crowd cheer again. She couldn't let this happen, she had to do something. But what? Someone would stop her before she even got close to Lily.

The priests resumed their semi-circle, all with their robes back on, all eyes drawn to the girl tied on the slab. One of them broke formation and stood behind the altar. Georgie knew from his build that it wasn't Gideon, and wondered if it was the mystery client he refused to name. The drumbeats reached a crescendo and the priest slipped off his robe...

But something distracted Georgie. She thought she heard another noise, throbbing under the beat of the drums. It didn't sound like it was coming from the garden, but from the ground below and the sky above. It was a thrumming, whirring sound from all around, enveloping and vibrating through her body. It was a sound she could feel. Then the sky split open and Georgie stared right into the mouth of heaven. A blinding white light pinned her in place and she froze, shielding her eyes. The ground beneath her began to rumble and the wind whipped up, forcing her to hug the grass.

The crowd quickly dispersed as people ran screaming in all directions, but Georgie was oblivious to the chaos that reigned around her. She tried to stand but the strength of the gusty wind forced her to keep low, to remain prone, desperately hugging the grass. A thumping noise loomed overhead and huge black creatures fell from the sky.

 

It all happened so quickly. Bunnie saw two bright searchlights carve through the night sky, illuminating the whole bizarre scene. Everyone looked up to see two black helicopters descending into the garden, the pulsing whoosh of the rotor blades deafening. Figures dressed in black camouflage fell out of the night and the crowd began to cheer, thinking it was part of Gideon's surprise entertainment. It wasn't until they saw the guns that shrieks of alarm began to ring out.

Panic seized the crowd and many tried to run, but it was too late; the whole property had been surrounded and a voice was booming out through loudspeakers. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, please stay where you are, you are all under arrest!'

 

Georgie couldn't work out what was happening. She turned to look for Gideon, but there were people running everywhere and she lost him in the confusion. Two figures ran towards her and lifted her to her feet. It was Bunnie and Richard. They untied her and Richard threw his coat around her shoulders.

‘Lily!' Georgie shouted over the uproar. ‘We have to untie her!'

They ran to the altar, the naked priest nowhere to be seen. Richard untied Lily and Georgie clung to her sister, tears streaming down her face.

‘Let's go,' said Richard, ushering them on, but they were stopped in their tracks by a voice Georgie recognised well.

‘Are you guys okay?'

They turned to see the Mistress, dressed in black combat fatigues and carrying a machine gun.

‘What are you doing here?' Georgie shrieked, utterly stunned.

‘There's no time to explain now. I'm gonna get you all out of here and we'll talk later.'

‘But, what about Gideon?' Georgie asked.

‘Leave Gideon to us, he can't have gone very far. My people are searching the property for him now.'

They followed the Mistress through the garden to a waiting car in front of the house. It looked like they were arresting everyone who had been at the party, and were loading groups of dishevelled revellers into a convoy of police vans. The Mistress only had time to briefly explain that she was Special Agent Alexis Cooper, and introduced them to two serious-looking colleagues. They would all be under government protection at the Manor until Agent Cooper could assure their safety.

 

‘So, you were on to them all the time?' Georgie asked Agent Cooper, sitting at the kitchen table the following morning.

‘We knew what Gideon had been doing for some time, but we never had the proof that would secure a conviction. No one would testify against him and any witnesses we did manage to convince to help us seemed to vanish. I've been working undercover in Coxham Marsh for a couple of years now, moving in the same circles as him, but it wasn't until you brought Reverend Greenacre to me that we had enough evidence to act.'

‘You played the role of a mistress very well, I must say,' Richard said, a cheeky smile on his face.

Agent Cooper winked conspiratorially back, but said nothing.

 

Georgie walked Agent Cooper to the front door. She still couldn't get over the fact that she had been an undercover agent all the time. She had to agree with Richard that she played a fantastic mistress, and she was almost sorry that she was a fictional character.

‘Thank you so much for saving me and my sister,' Georgie said, blushing slightly.

‘You're welcome. I enjoyed meeting you very much. In fact, I'd like to make you and Bunnie an offer. I was very impressed with the way you both dealt with the situation, and we need more people like you in the organisation, to help us in our more unusual cases. So how would the two of you like to work for me as sleeping agents?'

 

Georgie and Bunny are still getting into all sorts of sexy scrapes, so keep an eye out for more damsels in distress adventures!

 

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