Page 23 of The Lady and the Lion (Victorian Outcasts #9)

twenty-one

T he cold was so intense and the fall so sudden that Vivienne couldn’t scream.

One moment, she hit the hard ice. The next, the ground disappeared and she was plunged into the freezing water.

People shouted all around her. The more they tried to get out of the cold lake, the more shards of ice cracked. The sounds of bodies splashing into the water terrified her.

Samuel wrapped his arms around her and tried to push her up. But the mud sucked them down, and she couldn’t breathe because it was too cold. Their fingers didn’t find purchase on the ice.

A chaos of screams and splashes erupted around her. She couldn’t understand where the shore was.

Boats started to float through the broken ice, pulling crying people up.

Samuel tried again to lift her, but she couldn’t help him.

Her wet clothes weighed her down, and the water, heavy and sticky with mud, ice, and sludge, blocked her.

Her feet didn’t reach the bottom. She couldn’t haul herself up.

He flipped his fingers quickly in front of her, repeating, “I’m sorry.”

But it wasn’t his fault. If her ankle hadn’t been sore, she would have escaped with him. She’d slowed them down although he’d panicked.

Her teeth chattered as she shook her head to tell him it wasn’t his fault the ice had broken. There had been too many people.

She didn’t feel her body anymore. Even her throbbing ankle stopped bothering her.

He hugged her, but his warmth wasn’t enough to bring her comfort. Her eyelids became heavy. Fatigue washed over her. He tried to pull her up again but didn’t find a grip on the slippery shards of ice.

A shadow loomed over her, and she blinked the fatigue away.

“Miss, we’re going to take you out.” Two men on a boat grabbed her arms.

Samuel thrust her up as well. Mud and water splashed everywhere as she dropped on the boat where other drenched people were shivering. She took a deep breath and tasted the mud on her tongue. Her muscles spasmed with the cold.

The boat rocked hard, threatening to capsize.

“We’re too full,” the man said. “Sorry, mate. We’ll pick you up next.”

What? They were leaving Samuel.

“No!” She meant to shout, but only a feeble sound came out. “Don’t leave him.” She stretched out a hand, but the energy to pull herself up deserted her.

“We’ll capsize, miss,” the man said. “Do you want to go back into the water?”

“I’ll get out.” She reached out to touch Samuel, but he swatted her hand away.

“Go,” he mouthed. “Go.”

“Miss, stay still or we’ll all fall.” The man shoved her back none too gently.

“Samuel.” Her voice didn’t want to come out.

He shook his head with determination.

She lost sight of him as the boat sailed through other boats and people stuck in the cold water, begging for help. Even her tears were frozen. So many people were still drowning.

Once the boat reached the shore, she scrambled out of it, muttering, “Thank you,” to the people who had saved her.

The men barely nodded before returning to the lake for another round.

Shivering, she sat on the muddy ground, craning her neck to see Samuel through the people, but she couldn’t find him. Too many arms waved, and too many people shouted.

A woman in a nurse’s uniform wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. “Come with me, miss. We’re taking everyone to the hospital.”

“No, I can’t. I’m waiting for my friend to be rescued.”

“We must clear the shore to let the rescuers do their work. You can’t stay here.”

“I can’t leave him.”

“You’ll see your friend at the hospital.”

“No.”

“Miss, you must move.”

“No.”

The nurse and a man grabbed her, lifting her with brutal strength that was no match for her weakened state. She tried to shrug herself free, but her lack of energy didn’t allow her to oppose any resistance.

When they stashed her in a cart with other moaning people and closed the doors, she started crying.

By the time Samuel was pulled out of the lake and sent to the hospital, he’d almost lost consciousness twice because of the cold.

He had no idea where Vivienne was, but she’d been rescued quickly. She should be safe. She had to be because he would never forgive himself if something had happened to her.

He was sitting on a wooden bench in a white room with a dozen people. Everyone had thick blankets wrapped around them and a mug of hot tea in their hands.

A stove spread warmth through the crowded room, and the humidity lifting from the soaked clothes turned the air heavy and smelling of wet wool.

Every time the nurses brought in someone new, he sat bolt upright, but Vivienne was nowhere to be seen.

The scare had made him forget about Cade and Murdock, but as he grew warm, the sheer panic of seeing Cade caused him to shiver all over again.

Fear left a metallic taste in his mouth, and visions of Cade catching him flashed across his mind.

The more he tried to control his reaction, the more difficult breathing became.

He squeezed his eyes shut not to faint. If he lost consciousness, he would be vulnerable.

“Samuel!” the deep voice of Captain Jackson boomed in the room.

A wave of gratitude overwhelmed him as the captain ran over to him. When the captain hugged him, the visions faded; they didn’t vanish, but he breathed better.

“Bloody hell, lad, I can’t leave you alone five minutes before you nearly die,” Captain Jackson said, taking him by the shoulders.

He couldn’t stop himself from hugging the captain again. Captain Jackson returned the hug immediately.

“It was scary, wasn’t it?” the captain asked.

The ice, the cold, and the water, yes, but he wasn’t shivering from that.

The captain patted his back. “It’s all right, and I’m a doctor. That’s your lucky day.”

“Vivienne,” Samuel signed. “I lost her.”

“We’ll find her. The survivors have been sent here to Marylebone Infirmary or St. Mary’s Hospital in Paddington. First, you need to get warm and change your clothes. Then we’ll search for her. Let’s go home.”

He took the captain’s hand. “Cade, Murdock’s right hand. He saw me. He chased me. That’s why Vivienne and I fell into the lake. We were escaping from him.”

Captain Jackson’s eyebrows plunged into a deep crease. “How did he find you?”

“I don’t know.” He swallowed. “He called me Lion Boy.”

The captain ran a hand over his face. “Dobkins was right. Someone was following us. Maybe Cade doesn’t know exactly where you live, but I won’t take any chances. Can you walk?”

He nodded.

“We’ll go somewhere else tonight. I know a flat we can use.”

By the time Samuel entered an anonymous flat in South London, he was shivering again, and dusk cloaked the city in darkness.

Captain Jackson lit the cast-iron stove and a few oil lamps. “This place belongs to a friend of mine. He helped me during my darkest days.” He cast a glance at him. “Needless to say, you aren’t going anywhere else tonight. You’re running a fever.”

“Vivienne.” He moved his fingers slowly.

“I’ll find her, but you’ll stay here and sleep after I get you some dry clothes and something to eat.”

Samuel sat next to the stove and hugged his knees. A fear stronger than any he’d ever experienced poisoned his mind. Danger lurked in every shadow, and thoughts of Vivienne, pale and nearly dead, tormented him.

Murdock knew where he was, and Cade had been sent there to take him back.

Samuel would have to choose between being free and staying in London…between freedom and Vivienne.