Page 275

A t some point, Andrew realized he was staring up at an old, cracked ceiling.

He didn’t know how long he’d been staring at it but, at some point, it occurred to him that he was, indeed, looking at it. The ceiling was low, attached to walls that were equally crumbling and cracked, and as he turned his head, he could see the floor that was piled high with old, moldy hay.

And the smell– it smelled heavily of urine in the chamber.

It made his nose twitch, but the twitching nose pulled at his mouth and made him realize that he was gagged.

When he tried to move, he was also bound hand-and-foot, tied to the bed.

The only thing he seemed to be able to move freely was his head, and he looked around, noticing that he was tied up on a bed frame. He had no idea how he got here.

There was some disorientation with that thought.

Plus, his head was killing him. It throbbed as if he’d been on a week-long drinking binge and the stale air in the chamber wasn’t helping.

There was a window cut into one wall, but it was covered with a dark oiled cloth that had holes in it.

He could see daylight streaming in from the holes and, beyond the window, he could hear noise that sounded like a busy city.

God Bones, he had no idea where he was, how he got here, or even what day it was.

He thought back to his very last coherent memory and he could recall leaving Edinburgh after seeing Josephine.

He could also recall his encounter with Ridge de Reyne.

Then, he came back to the tavern, but after that… nothing.

Clearly, something terrible had happened if he was tied up in a small room with a gag in his mouth. He didn’t even remember the fight that put him here. Maybe that was why his head was hurting so badly. Someone, or something, must have hit him in the head.

But that was all he knew.

So, he lay there, staring at the ceiling, realizing that he had to piss very badly.

Along with the aching head, it was a most uncomfortable feeling and the minutes passed as he lay there, wondering if he should simply piss his pants and be done with it.

He had no idea if he’d been left here to rot, or if someone was returning for him.

Minutes turned into hours. At least, it felt like hours.

As Andrew lay there and seriously considered his next move, the door to the chamber shoved open and someone entered.

Esme appeared in his line of sight and he looked at her with some shock. He knew his reaction must have appeared in his eyes because she looked at him with equal shock. Then, she smiled thinly.

“Are ye finally awake, then?” she said. “I’ve been wondering if ye ever would.”

Andrew didn’t answer; he couldn’t with the gag in his mouth. Esme bent over him, her big bosom spilling out of her bodice and the rank scent of her body odor filling his nostrils.

“Can ye understand me?” she asked. “Or did the knock on yer head scatter yer brains?”

He stared at her for a moment before nodding, wondering what in the hell was going on. Nothing was making any sense and Esme wasn’t someone he was particularly glad to see.

“I’m sure ye’re wondering what ye’re doing here,” Esme said, reaching out to untie the gag. “If I remove this, ye must promise not to shout. Otherwise, I’ll keep it on for good.”

Andrew was quickly coming to realize that Esme had something to do with his circumstances. Until he could figure out what, exactly, was going on, he’d have to play along with her. He spit out the gag as she pulled it away.

“Now,” she said. “It seems that I have ye where I want ye. ’Tis yer own fault, ye know.”

Andrew licked his dry lips; his tongue, everything was dry. He struggled to speak. “What happened?” he asked hoarsely. “Where am I?”

Esme only smiled, but it wasn’t a warm or humorous smile. It was something decidedly hard. “I’m going to keep ye,” she said firmly. “Ye toyed with me, Andrew, and that wasn’t right. Ye should never have used me as ye did. I have every right to seek vengeance for having been wronged.”

So that’s what this was all about? She felt used because he’d seduced her to gain information? There was no use in denying it because he had, but he didn’t think she’d taken it so seriously. Evidently, he was wrong.

“What did I do that was so heinous?” he said, playing somewhat dumb. “For whatever I did, I am very sorry.”

Esme cocked her head, her lustful gaze moving up and down his long body. She reached out a hand, laying it gently on his groin.

“Ye had yer way with me and then ye wouldn’t speak to me,” she said, beginning to rub his crotch through his leather breeches. “This is all I wanted and ye wouldn’t give it to me. Now, ye’re going to. And I will have it any time I want it.”

Andrew’s mind was working quickly. So she wanted a slave for sex, did she?

Even now she was rubbing his groin and it wouldn’t be long before, physiologically, he started to respond to her.

He wouldn’t be able to help it. Tied up as he was, she could remove his breeches and mount him, and he wouldn’t be able to stop her.

He’d already tugged on the ropes that bound him and they were strong.

He didn’t want to have intercourse with the woman, so he had to think quickly.

“Is that what you think?” he asked as if incredulous. “That I would not speak to you any longer? Why, that is not true. I have simply been very busy on business for the king. I have not had time for anyone or anything other than my duties. I was not ignoring you in the least.”

Esme’s expression changed somewhat, doubtful of his words. “I tried to talk to ye, but ye would run off when ye saw me!”

“Because I had no time to talk,” he said, knowing that if he was going to save himself, he would have to speak sweetly to her like he did the first time he met her.

She was stupid and pliable. “Esme, my love, it had nothing to do with not wanting to talk to you. I had planned to return to you when my business was done. But now you may have ruined those chances. I have business for the king that cannot wait, and I must return to him. How long have you kept me here?”

A spark of uncertainty flashed in Esme’s eyes. She was becoming increasingly uncertain. “I brought ye here,” she said. “When ye returned to yer room that night, two of my stable servants were waiting. They hit ye over the head and brought ye here.”

“Where is here ? Esme, you must untie me. I must return to the king.”

Esme stood up from the bed, confusion clouding her face. Clearly, she was mulling over his words.

“Then why did ye ignore me so?” she demanded. “Why did ye not tell me ye intended to return to me?”

He feigned exasperation, which wasn’t so much feigned as it was real. He was truly exasperated with the situation.

“Because I did not have the time,” he insisted.

“Had I known you felt this way, I would have made the time, but I did not know. And you… you abducted me because of it? Untie me this instant, Esme. If I do not return to the king, he… he will think I have abandoned him. He will send men out to execute me. Is that what you want?”

Esme was quite distressed over the situation now.

Had she done wrong? She was a bold woman, but she wasn’t a smart one.

She had no idea that Andrew was giving her an untrue story simply to get her to untie his bindings.

He seemed so very sincere and, being that she lusted after him, she was willing to believe everything he told her.

“Then… then ye will not leave me?” she asked.

He shook his aching head. “I will not,” he said firmly. “I told you I will return when my business is finished, and I will. Untie me!”

Esme sighed heavily, feeling scolded and sad. After a brief hesitation, she moved timidly to the bed, pulling a small dirk from the belt at her waist to cut off the bindings. Andrew felt the first one fall away with the greatest of relief.

“All of them, love,” he told her with as much gentleness as he could manage. “Now, tell me how long I have been here.”

Esme cut the bindings from the left wrist and bent over to cut them from the right. “Three days.”

That brought a strong reaction from Andrew. “Three days ?”

She nodded. “My men hit ye very hard,” she said. “I did not know if ye’d ever awaken.”

No wonder his head was killing him and he felt groggy.

He probably had a broken skull on top of everything.

As the bindings fell away, he realized his arms were numb from having been tied up over his head and he struggled to bring some feeling back into them.

As Esme went to cut away the bindings on his legs, he sat up, very slowly, and noticed his possessions were crammed into the corner of the chamber.

He even saw his broadsword propped in the corner, but what he didn’t see was Demon Slayer.

“Did you bring all of my possessions in here?” he asked as he rubbed at his wrists, trying to bring the blood back into them.

Esme nodded. “Everything that was in the chamber.”

Not everything , he thought. “Is it all there? My coinage and everything?”

Guiltily, she shook her head. “I gave some of it to my stable servants for helping me,” she said. “I gave them some coinage for keeping their mouths shut.”

It seemed to Andrew that she intended to keep him here, as a prisoner, for a very long time. As the last binding fell away, he swung his big legs over the side of the bed and sat there, trying to orient himself.

“Three days,” he muttered. God, he was in a panic to get out of there and make it to Josephine. Given how long he’d been away, she surely must have thought he’d run off and left her. “ Where am I, Esme?”

She stood over him, looking worried. “At the inn,” she said. “This is a room the servants sometimes use to sleep in. Are ye angry with me, love? I wasn’t trying to be cruel, but ye wouldn’t speak to me… I wanted so very much to talk to ye.”