Elizabeth’s words shook him; Damon knew his behavior to be out of bounds. It was not like him to act so impulsively. He did not respond; he did not want to recognize the truth of her words.Yet he did slow his pace, letting her know—in the only way a man of honor could—that he would deal with her heartfelt sentiments. Just before they crossed the stile leading to the inn’s road and courtyard, he caught her hand. “Let me help you,” he said as he lifted Elizabeth over the opening. Setting her down gently in front of him, Damon murmured, “It will all be well, Elizabeth; Fitzwilliam is my best friend.”

“Thank you, Damon.” Elizabeth looked away. Too much was happening for her sensibilities. She could not deny her dependence on her husband’s cousin.Without him, Darcy’s life would still be in danger. For his efforts, she was eternally grateful; but Darcy was her sun and her stars.

The rest of the way, they did not speak.When they reached the inn, always the perfect gentleman, Damon blocked the view of bystanders, sending Elizabeth hurrying to her room before he casually followed.

Twenty minutes later, Damon tapped lightly at Elizabeth’s door. “I am off to make arrangements,” he said as she opened the door. He looked presentable once more. “I will meet you and Darcy in the fields. Make haste. Peter just rode back into the courtyard. Wickham will be going home.”

Elizabeth nodded and grabbed a shirt and overcoat from among Darcy’s things. She also took a flask of water, afraid to give him anything else for the moment.“I am going out the back of the inn. Should I take Trident?”

“No, it will draw more attention.” He left her standing in the doorway and headed towards the village after saying something to the innkeeper.

Elizabeth watched him go and then took the back stairway. At

Watching her approach, Darcy wondered about the exchange he had observed as his cousin and Elizabeth left him. Something happened between the time she touched Damon’s arm and the moment he helped her over the stile.Whatever it was, they had made their peace in those few minutes. Has Damon developed an affection for Elizabeth? The thought kept returning to Darcy’s mind. If so, would it not be better for her to spend her life with him? Damon Fitzwilliam would provide for her and treat Elizabeth with respect; but even more important, she would no longer be involved in the madness of my life. She would be safe with Damon. Darcy fought back the jealousy seeping into his heart. He knew neither his cousin nor his wife would ever act on any growing regard between them as long he lived. As long as I live. Despite the knot forming in his stomach with the thought of Elizabeth being with anyone else, he reconciled himself to the knowledge that, at least, with Damon, someone he trusted could be a part of Elizabeth’s life if things turned bleak for him.

Darcy got to his feet and made the effort to smile upon her approach. “You are beautiful, Mrs. Darcy,” he said as he painfully lifted her off her feet, welcoming her into his embrace.

Elizabeth laughed, despite the horrors of the morning. “I am happy to see you, my love.” She let her fingers trail down his face, as if memorizing it.“I am afraid, Mr. Darcy, that you will not have the comfort of a fire by which to change your clothes, but as your wife, I will enjoy watching you just the same.”

“Wife, you have no idea how I missed your relentless teasing.” Darcy set her on her feet and took the shirt and coat and water she offered. Before he did anything else, he gulped down about half of the flask.Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he leaned his head back in relief.“Thank you for thinking of the water, Elizabeth.”

She nodded her head to acknowledge his thanks before noting,“You may add the waistcoat and cravat at the inn.” Moving

Darcy stripped off the torn shirt and donned the clean one. Despite what she had said, Elizabeth did not look at him while he changed. Instead, she forced her eyes to look at Lydia’s face. “Thankfully, Lyddie did not shrivel up like the other woman.”

Darcy went quiet.“I suspect your sister still retained some small part of her humanity. She was under Wickham’s control for only a short time.”

“My parents will appreciate our efforts. I will write them when we reach the inn.” Elizabeth stood up and brushed the dirt from her skirt. “I was to be with them by now. I thought I might tell them we had a lead on where Wickham could be found, but we arrived too late. Does that sound reasonable?”

“Your parents will be thankful we recovered Lydia’s body.” Darcy paused, wondering if he dared hope that she would accept his next suggestion. “We should follow and go to Longbourn.” Darcy watched her face to see how she would react. Less than a week earlier, she adamantly refused the same offer.“Would you like that, Elizabeth?”

She waited, ashamed of how cruelly she had treated him previously. “Yes, Fitzwilliam.” Then, two heartbeats later, she rushed to encircle his waist with her arms, needing to find comfort. “I never meant all those awful things I said.”

Her tears now stained his clean shirt, but Darcy paid no mind. Elizabeth sought solace in his arms, and the world was good.“I am sorry about Lydia—what I had to do back at Wickford Manor. I could not stand by and let her hurt you.”

Elizabeth swallowed. She was grateful for Darcy’s action.Without it, Lydia’s attack would have been Elizabeth’s downfall, but she could not be happy for Darcy’s involvement. “That was not Lydia; that was one of Wickham’s monsters. I have to think of it that way. The girl lying under that tree is the true Lydia.”

She leaned into his closeness, and Darcy settled his hands at her waist.“Damon and two other men are approaching,” he murmured

Damon told the undertaker that they had been looking for Lydia, originally suspecting she had eloped to Gretna Green. Darcy and Elizabeth came from Derbyshire, and he had traveled from London, trying to follow her trail, but, unfortunately, they had been too late. Lydia had slept out in the cold when she ran out of money. A legitimate physician would not be available to inspect the body, and the exorbitant fee the colonel promised would ensure that the story of a disgruntled runaway would be repeated.These were the same people who allowed the bodies racked by the evil that Wickham brought to be buried in consecrated land. Why should they take note of a stranger? No one would know what Lydia Bennet had endured as one of Wickham’s disciples, and the Bennets would be relieved to at least have a body intact, which they could bury and grieve.

“Thank you, Damon.” Darcy offered his hand.

Damon Fitzwilliam took it, as he always did, knowing that somehow they would get back to where they had been.

“You are not going back to that house tonight!” Elizabeth threw her napkin onto the table in frustration. They dined in Darcy’s room, needing the privacy to plan what to do next.“I will not have it, Fitzwilliam! Do you hear me?”

“I am afraid I agree with your wife, Darcy.You can barely move your arms. How can you face Wickham?” The colonel speared another slice of ham and lifted it from the platter.

Darcy knew they meant well, but he also recognized how Wickham would respond.The entire neighborhood would suffer. “If I do not face Wickham, he will wreak havoc tonight. He and his followers will feed on the innocent.”

“Darcy,” his cousin began to reason, “these people know the dominion that Wickham holds over them. It is an unspoken reality. I believe if the word is passed, some livestock may suffer, but no person will.”

“How would we go about doing that, Damon? How might we sound a warning?”

The colonel leaned back in his chair. “I know just the men… my drinking companions. Let us send them out on some horses to the neighboring farms. It is only ten in the morning. We have at least seven hours until dark, and many more before Wickham’s ghouls dance.”

Elizabeth began to process what Damon suggested.“What do we tell them? How will we explain we know what Wickham plans?”

“I suggest we tell them the truth. Obviously, we have to do more than eliminate Wickham. He has a graveyard full of ardent imitators.Yet many of those mimics are the loved ones of these very villagers.” Damon waited for them to comprehend his line of thinking. Many times in battle, the army first had to win the goodwill of the people they wished to help. As a soldier, he found the truth to be the most beneficial weapon in winning the war of wills. “We openly declare you are both a dhampir and a vampire hunter, and you came to free this village of the hold that Wickham has over it. However, you recognize that your challenge will likely infuriate your enemy, and you wish to warn them to protect themselves for tonight.Tomorrow night, you will lead a full assault.”

Darcy asserted,“You are absolutely mad, Cousin!”

“Actually,” Elizabeth began tentatively, “I like Damon’s idea. His assumptions are correct; we have to do more than addressWickham.”

“Neither of you understand,” Darcy argued.“You saw only two of Wickham’s underlings. I fought an army of them, and for each one I vanquished, another took its place.We cannot possibly overcome the number under Wickham’s control.”

“I disagree.” The colonel leaned forward to speak directly to Darcy. “Elizabeth knows more things about vampires than anyone could imagine. She knows ways to dispatch them. We can control how many we fight at one time, using the old military adage of divide and conquer.You need to listen to your wife and to me.We have skills that you do not, and despite all your powers, you will lose if you do this alone.”

Silence filled the room as Darcy assessed what his cousin declared. Obviously, Damon held a special fondness for Elizabeth, but the man had put that aside and would not act upon any blossoming feelings. Instead, he wanted Darcy to accept Elizabeth’s love without question and to accept her as an equal.What choice did he have? Following Damon’s lead, Darcy turned to his wife. “Are you sincerely of the persuasion we can do this?”

“Damon speaks the truth, Fitzwilliam. We have the means by which to end this nightmare, but we need time to put everything in place and to give you time to heal.You cannot face Wickham in your weakened condition.”

Darcy took a close look at his wife. He had always known her to be an exceptional woman, highly perceptive and quite opinionated, but it took his cousin’s acceptance of Elizabeth for Darcy to actually see her as a partner, someone he not only must protect, but also someone he must trust as an independent thinker. Deep in his soul, his heart leapt with joy; maybe hope still lived, beautiful—selfless love. Elizabeth trusted him, and she would always stand by him. He nodded his head in agreement. “Put everything in motion, Damon.” He spoke the words, but did not remove his eyes from Elizabeth’s countenance. She had changed somehow.

“I will find Gordy immediately.” Damon stood to take his leave. “You two need some time to talk. I will let myself out.”Then he was gone, leaving Darcy and Elizabeth to reconcile their differences.

Neither of them moved, but instead spent time memorizing the face of the other. “I have thought of little but you since you left Pemberley.” Darcy’s breathing became shallow.“Tell me that we still have a chance.”

Elizabeth dropped her eyes, needing to speak the truth, but not sure Darcy would accept the person she had become since she met him. She was not the perfect model of a lady. She could not give full control to her husband.“It seemed so simple at the start,” she began.

Darcy swallowed the emptiness filling his heart. Unable to look into those emerald green eyes any longer, he rolled his own up in an act of supplication. “I understand.We will do what is necessary,

Elizabeth was on her feet immediately, taking his face in her hands and forcing him to really see her. “Fitzwilliam Darcy, someday you will let me finish a thought before you jump to a conclusion. I am saying that I cannot be a passive female, waiting for my husband to tell me what to think or how to act. Do you really believe you are so unworthy of a person’s love? If so, I have an ordeal of my own after we finish this one, because I must convince you that I love you beyond reason.” She leaned in to kiss him. It was an act of tenderness—but also an act of incomplete submission.

Darcy pulled her onto his lap, but he never released the kiss. Instead, he deepened it. Like a starving man, he took her mouth fully. Nothing satisfied him; he could not get close enough—could not let Elizabeth leave his embrace.When she breathed out, Darcy breathed in—needing to fill himself with her. He hungered in a way he once would not have believed possible. It was a sexual thing, but it was more than that.True, Darcy wanted to ravage her, but he wanted to possess her—to cherish Elizabeth and bind her to him forever in an all-encompassing love. Darcy’s lips rested above hers.“How have I lived without you?”

“My love, neither of us lived before the Meryton assembly.”

CHAPTER 27

Tremulous cries of mortal terror reigned during the night. If anyone slept, he was the exception.Wickham led the attacks himself, and nary a house in the village or countryside was spared. Shrills of death filled the air as the mist moved progressively over the landscape. Those brave enough to watch it likened it to the finger of God and the plagues of Egypt, and—similar to God’s Passover—each household marked their door frame and all windows with signs of Christianity and crudely made crosses of ash, along with garlic, in the pagan way. Prayer vigils continued throughout the night, and the blessed streaks of dawn brought shouts of joy ringing from household to household.

Even more effective, the colonel placed sentries throughout a five-mile radius to keep anyone from entering the area during the darkness. No loss of human life occurred, and they congratulated themselves on their small victory. Darcy promised to replace the few farm animals lost, and most were satisfied with how well their precautions had protected them.

Besides the other safeguards, Elizabeth placed a score of salt outside each door of the inn, and she put a line around the barn to protect the animals and the stable hands.Yet no one celebrated at the inn. Few boarders stayed with the preparations, and those who did huddled together. Throughout the night, faces and hands clawed at the windows, glazed eyes pleaded for admittance, and bloody mouths sang out in warning. Darcy heard the innkeeper comment on being the proprietor of hell.

He and Elizabeth watched it all unfold from their bedroom window. Elizabeth leaned into his shoulder for comfort. “Will it ever end?”A blood-curdling scream caused her to start in fright.

“It is like something out of Exodus, but it will end with the

Elizabeth traced his jaw line with her fingertips. “No one would take a stand before now.”

“Am I up to this, Elizabeth? I mean, can I change this for these people? I am not some gypsy claiming vampiric powers in order to swindle good people out of their money. I came here to save my family, but now the blood of more than twenty families is my responsibility.”

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