Page 6 of The Devil in Her Bed

“What?” she cried. “Why?”

“To cover their crimes, I suspect. To burn the bodies.” He nudged her back. “Can you climb down on your own, Pip? We have to get out of here.”

Seized by anxiety now that he was pulling away, she clung to him with desperate arms. “Don’t leave me,” she cried. Could they not stay here in the stillness forever? Could she not simply listen to his heartbeat until the rhythm drowned out her loss? “Why did this happen?” she whimpered.

“I don’t know, Pip,” he said gently. “I just know we have to get out of here. Now. Come with me. And whatever happens, just don’t let go, all right?”

“I won’t,” she vowed. “Not ever.”

She clutched at him as he led them through rooms with treasures she’d coveted and memories she’d stored away as they filled with smoke that seemed to billow in from every direction. He led her down the back hall toward the furnace room, the choking air forcing them lower and lower.

Francesca’s little body had disappeared from the hall, but Pippa fell to her knees atop the bloodstains, no longer able to contain her sobs.

“Come on, Pip.” Declan seized her. “I know. I know, but we must go. There will be time for that later. A lifetime for that.”

Pippa allowed him to drag her up, and she stumbledafter him. They navigated the furnace room, muting their racking coughs with cloths Pippa snatched from a shelf. She bounced from foot to foot as Declan scrambled through the coal door, checked to see that the coast was clear, and then reached back in to pull her out.

The smoke was a blessing in that it shielded them from view as they raced for the forest.

At least she thought it had, until a shout of their discovery sounded the alarm.

Declan used a string of curses Pippa was yet unfamiliar with as he yanked her into the tree line as the first shot rang out, showering them with chunks of bark.

She ran with all her strength. Her lungs burned and her legs felt as though they would tear open, but still she ran.

Another shot scattered the birds and creatures of the Mont Claire woods. A burning sting buckled her leg and she crashed down hard enough to scrape both her knees and the palms of her hands.

She didn’t even have the breath left to cry out.

Declan dropped beside her, calling her name.

“My leg,” she wheezed.

He checked frantically and she was comforted by his breath of relief. “Pip, it’s a graze,” he reassured her. “Can you walk?”

Pippa nodded, swiping at the tears burning hot tracks of pain down her cheeks. If he could be brave, she would be valiant.

Her calf buckled as soon as she put her weight on it, and she dropped with a devastating moan of pain.

Declan glanced around, his eyes going wide and wild as he heard the men crashing through the underbrush.

“Here.” He dragged her down a ravine and stashed her beneath the roots of one of her favorite trees, covering the system with fallen branches and other detritus. “You put this leaf on your leg and press down so it doesn’t bleed too much.”

“Come in with me.” Pippa scooted over, making room for him.

“No.” He shook his head, perking to a distressingly close sound. “You stay here. I’ll lead them away.”

“You can’t!” She reached for him. “They’ll find you!”

He leaned down very close, thrusting her deeper beneath the tree, his eyes more serious and frightening than any she’d ever seen. “You’ll be safe here. And I always survive best if I’m alone. Just trust me.”

She’d never trusted anyone more.

She kissed him then, full on the mouth. A desperate mashing of lips salted with tears and ash.

“I love you,” she said fiercely.

He blinked several times and opened his mouth before a crash to their right stole his attention.