Page 36 of While Angels Slept (de Lohr Dynasty #1)

As he was laboring against intense grief, he noticed Myles as the man kissed Val on the forehead and quit the room, but he didn’t give the gesture a second thought.

He could hear Myles snapping orders to the others as he went, clearing out the rooms and getting the men moving.

Somewhere in the chaos, the voices of Simon and John could be heard, and a whole host of men-at-arms were being roused.

The viscount’s trusted men were in action once again, doing what they did best, but the viscount himself was unmoving.

Tevin remained on his knees beside his sister, becoming more despondent by the moment.

Val watched her brother, seeing the turmoil in his eyes. “There was no blood that I could see,” she told him. “Our baggage was missing as well. It was a robbery, I am sure, taking Cantia and the children simply because….”

“Because she is the most beautiful woman they have ever seen,” his lower lip began to tremble as he closed his eyes tightly against the horrific mental images that were swamping him.

The tears came and Val watched as her brother, the most powerful man she’d ever known, succumbed to bone-numbing grief.

When his dark eyes opened, they were intense against his pale face.

“It is my fault,” he hissed. “Had I not… I sent her away, I sent you all away, to escape Geoff and see how my plan has come to ruin. Had I only kept everyone here….”

Val grasped his wrist, squeezing. “You did what you had to do,” she insisted softly. “You had no choice. You believed you were doing what was best for all of us.”

He wasn’t soothed. He wiped at his eyes, fighting off a sob. “And Arabel,” he whispered miserably. “My Dear God, my daughter… what has happened to her?”

Val could see her brother was verging on a collapse and she struggled to sit up, to comfort him.

“Tevin, listen to me,” she held on to his big hand. “You are impeccable in your judgment, always. We all trust you with our lives. What happened… it was not your fault and you must not blame yourself.”

He dropped his chin to his chest, lowering his head until he fell face-first onto the mattress beside his sister. “I made the decision,” he wept. “There is no one to blame but me. If Cantia and Arabel have come to ruin, I… I cannot live with the guilt. I will not live without th em.”

Seized with horror, Val grasped his face, forcing him to look at her. She was angry, exhausted, weak, tears brimming in her dark eyes.

“Listen to me,” she hissed. “I have lost my mother and father and one brother. You are all I have left and I will not hear this, do you understand? I hate you for saying such things, Tevin. It was not your fault. None of this was. Take a stand and be the strong man that I know you are, for weakness and self-pity do not suit you. If Cantia and Arabel are still alive, you shame them with this behavior. They need your help and all you can think of is yourself.”

Tevin looked at his sister, so pale and angry, hearing every word like a hammer in his brain. But as he gazed at her, her meaning began to set in and he realized she was right. If Cantia and Arabel were indeed alive, they were waiting for him to save them.

Tevin was a smart man. He knew his power and he knew what he was capable of.

No matter who had taken Cantia and his daughter, he had the resources and the resolve to find them.

And when he did, no matter if it was Lucifer himself, he could and would defeat them.

No battle in his life would ever be more important than the one to come.

Perhaps all other battles he had been involved in were simply practice for this one. It was the only one that mattered.

“I am sorry,” he said after a moment, swallowing his tears and laboring to regain his composure. “You are right, you are entirely right. Forgive me my moment of weakness.”

Val could see he meant it. She could see the light of sanity returning to his dark eyes and she sighed heavily, with great relief, lying back against the pillow.

“There is nothing to forgive, brother,” she murmured. “We are all entitled to moments of temporary insanity. What matters now is what you intend to do. Myles is assembling your men in the bailey.”

Tevin drew in a deep breath, wiping his face of any remaining moisture and squaring his enormous shoulders.

He stood up, rather unsteadily at first, as he shook himself and regained his composure.

As he calmed, his mind began to work in only the way Tevin’s was capable.

It was steely, deep, and far-reaching. He drew on those characteristics to pull him through the crisis.

“Geoff will see the men assembling in the bailey and he will want to know why,” he said, hearing the muted sounds of men and horses. “I have no choice but to tell him the truth. There is no point in lying to the man. He will know that Cantia and Arabel have been taken and we must retrieve them.”

Val watched him pace in the tiny room. “He may want to ride with you.”

“Let him. But he will take orders from me.”

She didn’t say anything for a moment, watching as the great warlord made a strong return. This was the brother she knew, the deadly and cunning warrior that no man could best. She sought to help him as much as she could.

“As I told you, it took me about an hour to return to Rochester, and I am supposing Dagan and Gavril’s corpses are still where I last saw them,” she said quietly.

“That will be your starting point. As I recall, it was a rather wooded area, so they could have traveled in any number of directions but it should not be difficult to find trampled paths through the foliage. The trees worked both for and against them. It shielded them from our party, but it will also leave a trail for you to follow.”

Tevin nodded, his mind already moving to the ride south. He looked at his sister, seeing her wounded body as the result of the attack, and his focus shifted to her for the moment. “Has the surgeon already examined you?”

She nodded faintly. “Right before you came.”

“What did he say?”

“That I have a crack on my skull and I am bruised, but that I should heal.”

“Then I am grateful for small mercies this day.” His dark eyes bore into her. “Have no doubt that I will return, and when I do, it will be with Cantia and Arabel. ”

Val smiled faintly. “Do not forget Hunt.”

“Never.”

Forcing a smile at his sister, Tevin moved to the doorway but paused before he left the room completely. “Val?”

“Aye?”

He gave her a rather reproachful look, as much as he could muster. “Do not believe for one minute that I did not see de Lohr kiss you,” he said. “Take heed that I will deal with his bold actions upon my return.”

Val started giggling. “You will not.”

“I will.”

“Leave him alone or you will face my wrath.”

He scowled. “Are you saying that you… you approve of his actions? His forwardness? His slobbering lips against your flesh?”

“All that and more.”

His scowl turned into an expression of outrage. “What more is there?”

Val’s giggles turned into full-blown laughter, wincing because it hurt her head to laugh so much. She waved her brother on. “I will not tell you. Go now and find Cantia and Arabel.”

He broke down into a smile. “I will.”

“Do not come back without them.”

His smile faded and a deadly gleam came to his eye. “I swear I will not. With God as my witness, I will not.”

Val believed him implicitly.

*

It was morning . Lying on the same blanket that had covered her head for most of the night, Cantia could see the soft strains of early morning light infiltrating the shelter.

It was cold but she had her arms around Arabel and Hunt, both children sleeping soundly in the early morning.

But Cantia had never felt less like sleeping in her life.

She really wasn’t sure where she was, and she had no idea how long they had traveled to get here.

It felt like days. The men who had abducted her had hardly said a word between them, and they didn’t speak to her at all until they reached their encampment.

Then, their only words were directions to enter the shelter and stay there with the children.

She did, mostly because Arabel was weeping hysterically and she wanted to soothe the young girl.

She didn’t even bother to speak to them or ask any questions, at least for the moment.

All she wanted to do was make sure the children were well. She would deal with the rest later.

Now it was morning and she could hear the birds chirping, awaking to the new day.

She lifted her head, looking around the tent, hearing sounds all around them.

People were talking and there was the soft crunch of leaves as they moved through the forest. She smelled smoke.

Feeling some bravery, as well as outrage and confusion, she got up and dared to step outside.

It was brisk and clear. Cantia glanced back at the shelter that had housed them through the night.

It was made from leaves, rocks, pieces of wood, basically anything that would fit together and hold a shape.

They were in an area that had some rolling hills to it and this particular shelter was backed up into the base of a rise so that the back end of it was pushed into the dirt.

She stood by the door, looking around the area now that daylight had come, and she could see an entire camp spread out before her.

There was a surprising number of people milling about, collecting wood for the fire and water for cooking.

A small stream ran over to her left, about a dozen yards away, and she could see both men and women drawing water.

There also seemed to be a massive cooking fire off to the right, just outside of a hedge of trees, and she could see a few people gathering around it.

Increasingly puzzled, she stepped away from the door, growing more interested in her surroundings, when someone abruptly grabbed her by the wrist.