Till Dawn Tames the Night (47 page)

"Don't do this, Vashon!" she nearly sobbed, but before she could make another protest, the captain forced her down the first steps. Her last look at Vashon saw him anxious for combat, staring at the doors leading from the antechamber, his green eyes already glittering with anger.

The years of running the streets of the
Casbah
gave Vashon a distinct advantage over his nemesis. He knew
Dragonard
and he knew how to hide. He made his way through the silent passages, his ears hearing everything—the breeze in the coconut grove outside the
northwest passage
, the distant slam of a shutter against the jamb, the alien sound of liquid as it fell somewhere ahead, plopping against the polished mahogany floors.

Barefoot and nimble, he crept along, the drip, drip, drip wearing heavy on his nerves. When he turned the corner, his expression hardened. He was appalled at what he saw but not surprised by it. He looked at the body tied and hung like a bat from the rafters. It was hardly disturbed at all—executed in the classic Peterborough style —one tiny slice placed carefully in the neck and the man had been doomed. As usual, Peterborough's surgical abilities were brilliant.

Vashon cut down the body and discovered it to be a young black diver from Nevis. The man had worked for him ever since he had married a servant from Mirage. Now he was dead, caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Disgusted, Vashon laid him in the corner,
then
thought better of it.

"Sorry, lad," he whispered to the young man before drawing him across the passage, the large pool of blood from the dead man's neck smearing the entire passageway. He reverently stepped over the body and continued around the corner to Aurora's apartments.

Silently he opened the door.
Koonga
chattered in the bedroom. The sitting room preceding it was empty and undisturbed.

He walked as quiet as a cat into the bedroom. The monkey sat atop the bed's upholstered canopy shrieking at something in the corner. He looked and came face-to-face with his brother.

"So we finally meet on my terms, Vashon," Peterborough said, walking out from the bed, a pistol in each hand.

The two men stared at each other, each so much like the other, each so completely different.

"Josiah, how good it is to see you again." Vashon's voice was calm and filled with loathing.

"And you too." Josiah waved his hand at his surroundings. "I didn't know where to find you in this magnificent palace you've built here. I'm glad you found me instead." He scanned Vashon's scanty attire, remarkably crude compared with the viscount's jonquil satin waistcoat and buckskin trousers. "I see we didn't dress for the occasion."

"And what occasion is that?"

"Your funeral."
Peterborough suddenly laughed.

"But I've got the girl. So how do you think I'm to die? As I see it, once I have the emerald, by all rights, the curse should dictate
your
demise."

The viscount sobered. "Where is she? The servant told us these were her apartments."

"Us?"
Vashon asked.

Peterborough nodded to the door. From behind it stepped a blond young man, too precisely dressed,
holding
a pistol in his trembling hand.

Discounting him, Vashon turned back to Peterborough. "I assume the dead boy in the passage told you Aurora was here?"

"He didn't cooperate as quickly as I like."

"No one ever does." Vashon looked to the canopy and held out an arm to
Koonga
. The little monkey gratefully climbed down and held on to his neck.

Peterborough smirked.
"Vicious animal.
It hissed at me."

As if
Koonga
understood him, she hissed again.

"You leave a bad odor, Josiah," Vashon said. "Little creatures hate it."

The viscount didn't hide his annoyance. "So where is she, Vashon? I hear from Azzedine that Aurora
Dayne's
quite a beauty. Are you sleeping with her?"

Vashon was silent.

"She's that good? Left you speechless? Wonderful." Peterborough laughed. "I need a good woman for the voyage back. I forget how long it takes to make a crossing and how one is forced to . . . make do." His gaze slid disparagingly to the young blond man.

"What makes you think I'll give her up?" Vashon asked.

Peterborough again met his brother's gaze. "Because I shall see you dead before I leave here without her."

"Then I suppose you must kill me now."

"But if I kill you I'll never know where the girl is."

Vashon smiled.
"Exactly."

"So where is she?"

"She's already gone from here. She's on her way to retrieve the emerald."

"She knows where it is?" Peterborough blanched.

"She's revealed many things," Vashon admitted.

"That emerald is mine! I shall have it at any cost!" The viscount moved forward with the pistols.

Vashon only laughed. He made a great gesture of turning around and presenting his back to him. "Shoot me, my brother! I beg you! Kill me as you should have years ago!"

Peterborough gasped and stepped back. His gaze slid between Vashon's mad laughter and the Blackwell dragon tattooed on his back. It was obvious he had never seen it before. Shock, horror, and surprise crossed his features in one fluid expression.

"Pull the trigger, Josiah. Or are you afraid?" Vashon turned and faced him once more. "Does the dragon frighten you? You thought I didn't care about the title, didn't you? How terrified you must be to find yourself so mistaken." Vashon began to stalk him. "Go ahead. Shoot me. Why are you hesitating? Because without the power of that emerald to guide you, you haven't the backbone, have you, you bloody bastard?"

"Keep your distance." Peterborough stopped him by waving one pistol. "As you yourself pointed out, if I kill you, I'll never get Aurora
Dayne
."

"Nor shall you, ever."
Vashon flashed a smile.

"Don't be too sure, brother." Peterborough raised the pistols. "If I kill you, I needn't have the emerald at all."

Vashon paused. As if he'd choreographed the entire thing, he reached behind him, disarming and grabbing Asher in a well-schooled motion. He held the gasping man up by the collar.

"Come along,
Viscount,
shoot!" he said, holding Asher in front of him.

"
Noooooo
!"
Asher squealed, holding his hands out for mercy.

Peterborough aimed. "I've got two pistols, Vashon. When he's gone, so will your shield be."

"
Noooo
!"
Asher screamed like a terrified pig.

"Pray you don't miss then, Josiah." Vashon calmly held the man out further.

"I beg you! I beg you, Josiah!" Asher pleaded pitifully. When Peterborough looked as if he was ready to pull the trigger, Asher put his face in his hands and sobbed. Disgusted, Vashon heaved him up and threw him to Peterborough. Asher slammed into the viscount, and that was just enough of a diversion to allow Vashon an escape.

Practiced in running from executioners, Vashon took to the passageway like the wind. Behind him Peterborough stumbled to catch up. Vashon met the corner,
then
leaped across the great smear of blood left from the viscount's slaughter. As he pounded the polished floors of the passage, he heard just what he expected. Peterborough took the corner, not anticipating the blood on the floor. He skidded several feet, both pistols going off in his fall.

Koonga
shrieked and clung ever tighter to Vashon's neck with the loud blasts. In seconds Vashon was gone, pulling the
firescreen
back into its place as if they'd never even been there.

Peterborough ran through the antechamber, covered in gunpowder and the dead boy's blood. He didn't pause until he ended in the bedroom. He spun around, looking at the five huge open windows, unable to decide which one Vashon had escaped from. But before he went farther, something familiar from the bed caught his eye. He went to the bed and saw the dragon locket glittering up from the mussed sheets. He picked it up, amazement and recognition in his beautiful green eyes. He ran his fingers over it, as if trying to recall something. When he found the secret latch, he flicked it open, obviously unsure of what he might find. When he read the inscription, he got more than he'd bargained for. He tipped his head back and laughed. The nasty sound echoed all through the empty chambers of
Dragonard
.

The mystery of Monkey Hill was solved. After they left Vashon's chambers through the underground passage, Isaac dragged Aurora through a beautiful coral cave of indescribable color, and they escaped from Mirage undetected. They went only a short distance before they reemerged through a cave on St. Kitts. Once in Basseterre, their wait aboard the
Seabravery
was agonizing, and when at last Vashon and
Koonga
arrived on the docks, Aurora almost wept with relief. With no time for even the briefest of reunions, they barely exchanged a glance before Vashon handed
Koonga
over to Benny and was called to the quarterdeck. The crew busied themselves for their departure, and Flossie took Aurora's arm and led her back to the widow's old cabin. There they shared a cup of tea and waited for full sail.

"You're terribly quiet, lovey. Is anything wrong?" Flossie asked after a long moment.

Aurora looked up from her teacup. She was so preoccupied she didn't realize what poor company she was being. "Forgive me, my thoughts were elsewhere—"

"Vashon?" the widow finished.

Letting out a deep breath, she nodded.

"I guessed as much." Flossie quietly stirred her tea.

Unable to bear much more, Aurora stood and began to pace the cabin. "I'm afraid the worst has happened. I've fallen in love with him."

"Well, take heart, lovey, that's not the
worst
that can happen."

Aurora glanced at her,
then
quickly looked away. She knew exactly what Flossie was hinting at.

"The worst has not happened, has it?" Flossie asked, a frown creasing her brow.

"I really don't know what you're talking about," Aurora said evasively.

"I'm talking about"—Flossie lowered her voice—"a baby. Have you missed your monthly time?"

"I—I don't know. I can't think about that now."

Flossie didn't look very relieved. "It's never too early to think of that, my dear. In fact, it's preferable to think about it before . . ."

Aurora turned away and bit her lower lip. "You think I'm terrible, don't you? I've dishonored myself and then fallen in love with the man who dishonored me."

"No, no, my dear!"
Flossie hugged her. "I shall never think of you as anything but a lady, no matter what happens." She hugged her again, but Aurora quickly composed herself.

"I'll be fine, Flossie. I guess I just need to get home and forget about this terrible voyage. I had no idea any of this would happen. I suppose I was a fool to have ever left the Home."

"But you are coming to St. George's with me, aren't you? You can't be entertaining the thought of going back to that wretched orphanage? Oh, what a bloody mess this is," Flossie finally exclaimed in her usual taciturn manner. "Pardon my language, my dear. When we ever return to St. George's, I shall vow upon my grave that I've never done nor said the things I have on this voyage, but now that I've been driven to the most wretched behavior, I cannot keep quiet any longer. The man must marry you! You're too wonderful for him to leave you like this! Why, he's a villain! Not even Isaac beds a woman, then—!" Shocked by her indiscretion, Flossie stopped speaking. Her hand flew to her mouth and she blushed to the tips of her toes. After a long, painful silence, she gasped, "Oh, what you must think of me."

Aurora emphatically shook her head. "No, no. We've both been driven to do things on this voyage we might not have done otherwise." She stared at her. "Is . . . is he going to marry you?"

"Oh, heavens, I'm not sure. But he's not going to be leaving me with child!" Flossie fanned herself with her handkerchief, obviously uncomfortable with the conversation. "Oh, my dear, I hope you can forgive me. I don't admit this often, but I've been rather lonely since Mr. Lindstrom died. He was such a good, dear husband, and his memory has always been enough comfort . . . until Isaac distracted me with his . . . attentions." She almost choked on this last word.

"Don't apologize," Aurora whispered, trying to comfort her.

Flossie waved her away. "I'm not confessing for my sake, my dear. I was wrong and I know it. I'm telling you this to point out that my guilt is the only consequence I shall have to pay for my actions. You, on the other hand, have greater worries."

"There will be no baby," Aurora said. "I'm sure of it."

"As much as you'd like to think that, love, there's only one way to be sure. I'm determined that Vashon shall leave you alone on this trip. You'll stay with me from now on."