Page 49

Chapter Thirty-Nine

M arianne was losing hope. Not only was the night quiet but it was also cloaked in dense fog. The moon might be up, but its pale glow could not fully illuminate what was happening on the grounds.

“You’re hurting me!” she protested as Linpool continued to drag her.

While it was true that he was hurting her already bruised wrists, she was also dragging her feet. Her sandals could not provide her feet with enough friction to keep her in place, but she would try anything to remain in the estate.

His grip was unyielding, though, rough and tight and unafraid to hurt her. She’d called Dominic a hunter, but she could tell that Linpool was more like a scavenger. It knew where it could get its feed easily, and it would never apologize for it.

Gravel crunched beneath their feet, burning through her sandals. Everything hurt at that moment. Worse, she knew that she might not feel anything forever.

“Stop complaining! Do you want me to take something else and shove it into your mouth?” he barked at her.

They made noise on the gravel despite Linpool’s best efforts not to. However, Marianne knew it would not be enough for anyone to notice that something was amiss.

It was past midnight already, and everyone was sound asleep. Those who labored during the day would be sleeping far more deeply than the rest.

Suddenly, her ears caught something. Was it her imagination? Was she finally going insane? There was something, a fast-approaching sound like the clip-clop of horses’ hooves as a carriage rattled on. The earth beneath them seemed to tremble ever so slightly.

Yes, it was still subtle, but she knew someone was coming.

Unless the hunger, pain, and distress had finally won over.

“Do you hear that?” she managed to ask, to give herself hope and also to spook her captor.

“Stay quiet,” he hissed, his eyes narrowing at the direction of the growing rumble.

He must have heard it, too. His ears must have caught a sound because he pulled her closer, like a shield.

The following moments were surreal. The horses neighed their protests for having to pound the streets at midnight. The wheels of a carriage she was not quite familiar with rattled on.

Who is it?

The carriage was not Dominic’s, but the silhouette that emerged from it was certainly his. He was illuminated at the back by moonlight, looking like an avenging angel. His face was contorted with anger. They had argued before, but she had not seen him like this.

As he drew closer, she could see purplish bruises on his face and even a hint of blood.

“Oh, Dominic,” she whispered, even as Linpool held something cold against her temple.

It registered too late that he had pressed his pistol against her. He did promise that he would kill her tonight, but how much had Dominic’s arrival ruined the rest of his plans?

Bounding from the carriage were Dominic’s loyal hounds, Achilles and Beowulf. Their eyes glittered in the semi-darkness as they growled their warnings, their canines bared and ready to tear through flesh.

“Let her go, Linpool,” Dominic commanded in a soft but commanding voice. There was a coldness in it that belied his blazing eyes. “You know it’s over.”

“Over? Perhaps it’s over for you ,” the Viscount said.

Marianne didn’t know if he was bluffing. All she knew was the cold pistol dug harder into her skin.

“One step closer and she dies.”

The words seemed to trigger the dogs. Or perhaps it was their master’s distress that had them barking with rage, raring to charge at Linpool.

“Call your dogs off! Get them to stop making noise!” he yelled.

Dominic merely raised his hand, and his hounds immediately fell silent. However, they weren’t convinced that the danger was over. Their eyes were fixed on the villain before them.

“Let’s make this clear,” he said, his eyes just as intense as his hounds, if not more. “You are not walking away from this. Not this time.”

The damned bastard laughed bitterly, looking smug. He held onto Marianne’s waist even more tightly. She did not like it at all.

“Oh, I will be walking away from you and all of this. Not only that, but I will do it with her , and your fortune,” Linpool crowed.

Marianne could hear the sneer in his voice.

What was he really planning to do with her? Kill her or take her along? The latter seemed worse.

Dominic, on the other hand, did not look deterred. He stepped forward calmly, and Marianne’s heart felt like it would burst. Even under all the bruises and the haunted look in his eyes, he still looked devastatingly handsome.

She looked her fill. What if she would not see him again after this excruciatingly long night?

“Let her go, Linpool. I have a sack inside the carriage. I can offer its contents to you. Let’s negotiate.”

Again, there was calm in his voice; it was almost eerie. Marianne wondered how he was able to take it well, like this. Something did sound a little off, but she could not put a finger on it. All she knew was that there was a subtle change in timbre, and somehow that difference mattered to her.

Linpool scoffed at the offer. Marianne knew that if the man had not taken anything from Oakmere Hall, he would have been tempted. This man was motivated by greed and excess.

“Do you take me for a fool? I am not making deals with you. Your lovely wife and I are leaving.”

“Oh, is that so?” Dominic asked, glancing to his side. A subtle smirk formed on his lips.

Marianne rarely got to see him look like this, and it did things to her. She couldn’t understand how she was filled with desire for her husband while she was in the middle of a life-and-death situation. Perhaps she just missed him.

“Well, there’s something you haven’t accounted for,” Dominic continued, adjusting his stance.

“What’s that?” Linpool asked, dark humor dripping from his words.

It was clear that he didn’t believe the man whose mother had taken him as a lover.

“The goat,” Dominic declared solemnly.

The announcement was quickly followed by a loud bleat. It was the last thing anyone would have expected to hear at midnight. Perseus charged out of the darkness, ramming into Linpool’s back. Caught off guard, he lost his balance and his grip on Marianne.

Marianne did not waste time. She quickly elbowed him hard in the ribs. Then, she sprang free, running wildly. Meanwhile, Perseus was not done with his assault. He leaped onto Linpool, hitting him with his hooves.

But apparently, it was not enough. A loud yowl echoed through the air. It seemed that Serafina wanted to be part of the action. She pounced on the fallen Linpool, scratching at his face.

“Get this beast off me!” Linpool screamed as he tried to shield his face. His arms were a mess of red scratches.

“Which beast?” Marianne asked from a safe distance as she looked at her animals proudly.

Whoever said friendship with animals was for naught did not know how to do it properly.

Instead of stopping the animals, Dominic decided to call reinforcements. “Achilles! Beowulf! Now!”

The dogs had been waiting for this. They lunged forward, looking almost as if they were flying.

Achilles went for Linpool’s wrist, biting it hard enough for the man to drop his weapon.

Beowulf opened his jaw and snatched the weapon, bringing it to his master while his tail wagged as if he was merely playing a pleasant game of fetch.

Marianne watched as Dominic took the pistol from Beowulf and approached Linpool with it. The Viscount thrashed helplessly under Serafina and the hounds. The animals went hunting today and caught their man.

“I should have ended this long ago,” Dominic growled.

He looked more feral than his beasts as he grabbed Linpool by the collar.

It was only then that the animals scuttled away.

“But I thought that my mother’s death ended this.

I didn’t want any trouble. I didn’t want to hurt anyone, although the promise of vengeance lived inside of me, keeping me alive. ”

“Y-You don’t understand,” Linpool sputtered. All the exposed inches of his body were marred with scratches.

Dominic was no longer listening to him. He raised his arm, his fist clenched. There was a slight pause where he took a deep breath. Then, he rained punches on Linpool’s face.

Each punch carried years of betrayal. Of anger. Of hatred. Each punch carried a strength that made the blackguard’s face squelch.

The sounds frightened Marianne, not because she cared about Linpool. No. She cared about Dominic .

“You need to stop,” she said softly.

Her voice was low, but it was enough to snap Dominic from what he was doing. He stopped his assault, and Linpool groaned in a mixture of relief and pain. He managed to grin, blood covering his teeth.

Like a dark angel of mercy, Marianne approached. She bent down and slipped her hand into Linpool’s coat, easily finding the cloth he had used to drug her. With no hesitation, she pressed it to his nose.

“Sleep tight,” she murmured.

Linpool’s struggles weakened. And soon, he fell unconscious. No pain. No struggle.

Dominic used Perseus’s leash to bind Linpool’s hands and feet. He was quiet throughout it all, breathing hard.

Marianne wondered what he would have done if she were not there. He was not a murderer, but he was an angry man and an abandoned son. His mother had chosen her lovers above him.

“You came for me,” she breathed.

As her feelings crashed over her, she found herself crying silently. There were no heaving sobs, just streaming tears.

“Of course,” Dominic said as he pulled her into an embrace. “Always.”

He had tried to tell her just that before, but he was not good with words, and she was afraid of being shackled like she had always been. But now? Maybe she was free.

The night was silent again, except for Linpool’s soft snores and the animals’ gentle breathing. Even the leaves had stopped rustling.

Marianne’s heart was no longer afraid.