The Rebellious Rake (The Notorious Nightingales #4)

Chapter 30

CHAPTER THIRTY

F lora cracked her eyes open and winced. Her head hurt, and her mouth felt as if she’d been sucking on straw. Her hands were bound to a post above her head. It was freezing in here, and someone had removed her coat and bonnet.

Where was she?

Pushing herself upright, she scooted closer to the post, which allowed her to ease the rope down and reduce the pressure on her shoulders. Taking several much-needed breaths, Flora tried to steady herself. Her head was spinning. Resting it on the cold wood of the post, she took in her surroundings.

The room had thick gold brocade curtains open at the window, showing her the night sky but little else. A huge gilt-framed mirror hung on a wall, and the bed she lay on had gossamer white curtains twined around the four posts.

A lamp sitting on an inlaid set of drawers was lit, much to her relief. Flora was not overly fond of being bound to a bed in the dark, even if it was in a room anyone would love to sleep in had they been given the choice to do so, which she hadn’t. In fact, she would almost say it was fancy were she not furious. The only thing she would change if it were her room would be to light a fire in the grate. That air was icy in here.

Someone had taken her to lure Ramsey into a trap. That was the only reason she could come up with for why she was here after inhaling that foul-smelling drug that made her feel unsteady and odd.

Flora refused to be the bait. She had to find a way out of here. Ram must stay safe. Whoever was after him would not get their hands on the man she loved.

She heard the clop of hooves and roll of wheels. Clearly, she was still in London, and based on the inside of this room, she was not in one of the rougher parts.

Who had brought me here?

She wasn’t sure how long she sat there with her aching head pressed to the bedpost. She thought about family, and the brother she did not know and, of course, Ramsey.

Flora wanted to live her life with him, but to do that and at least see him again, she had to escape from this room, which would not be easy considering her hands were bound and she couldn’t stop her head from pounding.

A tapping sound had her eyes going to the window. A face was looking in and directly at her, but it wasn’t one she recognized. To Flora, it didn’t look like the face of a man intent on causing her harm, but she’d been fooled before.

Perhaps whatever drug they gave her was making her see things that weren’t there?

She watched as the man tried to raise the sash window and failed. She then heard the crack of glass. He cleared the bottom two panes with a gloved hand and unlocked the window latch. Flora watched in the detached way of a person who was present but not really as he lifted the window until it was open enough for him to sling a leg over the ledge and climb inside.

He pressed a finger to his lips as she opened her mouth, so she shut it again and watched him walk toward her.

“Quiet now,” he whispered when he was before her.

Flora nodded because even her addled thoughts told her that he was clearly here to rescue her. Or perhaps he was taking her for more nefarious reasons? Her head hurt attempting to understand what was happening.

He took her hands and pulled her upright. Warm, she thought. She staggered as she straightened, but he steadied her with gentle hands. Someone intent on harming her would not have gentle hands. Would they?

They moved to the window, and he climbed out. Flora braced her hands on the sill and looked down. They were a long way up. A blast of cold air made her shiver.

“I-I don’t think I can climb down there, sir.”

“I will help, but it is the only way out, Miss Thomas.”

“You know me.”

“I do. Trust me to help you down, please.”

Something about this man was familiar to her, but she just wasn’t sure why, as they had never met before. However, she wanted to trust him, so Flora nodded.

“I am going to climb to the small balcony below, and then you will do the same. I will catch you, should you need it.”

With those words, he proceeded to lower himself over the edge of the window and drop out of sight. Surely he did not expect her to do that? Flora was game to attempt most things, but in her current state, she wasn’t sure she’d accomplish this.

She heard a murmur of voices then and thought perhaps it was coming from outside the bedroom door. Climbing over, she clung to the sill.

“Let go. I have you. ”

Please let me not break anything.

Releasing the wood, she felt herself falling and waited for the impact. Instead, arms caught her.

“Good girl. Now we must do the same down to the ground,” the man said to her.

“Oh dear, must we?”

“I’m afraid so.” He released her and climbed over the railing. “This will be harder, but the fall is less.”

“Excellent,” Flora muttered. The cold night air was clearing her senses, and the nasty whirling in her head seemed to be receding.

She heard a thud, which told her that her rescuer—at least she hoped he was—had reached the ground floor. Inhaling an icy breath to steady herself, Flora let it out, creating a plume of white.

Raising her skirts, she climbed over the narrow iron railing and looked down. The man stood there, watching her. With her toes braced on the ledge, she maneuvered the other leg until she was balanced there, clutching the railing.

“Lower yourself down.”

It sounded easy, Flora thought, but the reality was far from it. But she’d just done it, so she lowered first one leg and then the other, and then her hands slipped, and she was falling again. He broke her fall as she landed on him. The air left his lungs with a whoosh.

“Oh dear.” Flora rolled off him. “Do forgive me.”

“I’m all right, Miss Thomas, but we need to leave here now.” He rose and looked no worse for wear. “Come along.”

“To where?”

“Away from here.”

“Where is here?” she said, following him out onto the street.

“Perhaps we could have this discussion with some distance between us and the house?” He strode away and then turned back to see if she was following, which of course she was, because he’d just saved her and whoever was in that house had captured her, so he was the lesser of two evils right then.

She picked up her skirts and hurried to keep up with his long strides. When they walked the street and turned into the next, he slowed his pace slightly to accommodate her now that they had put some distance between them and the house.

“Can I have your name, sir, and how it is you were there at the window… or, for that matter, knew I would be in that room?”

This street had narrow two-story white houses all butted against each other in a neat row. They were tall with black iron balconies like the one she’d just fallen off. It was not a sinister place but somewhere she thought families would live. Odder and odder, she thought.

“My name is Mr. Brandon Hellion,” the man said, taking her arm and ushering her along the street.

“Ah, I see,” Flora managed to get out. But she didn’t really see at all.

“Do you?” He shot her an amused look, which she didn’t feel, considering the situation, was warranted. But his son had an odd sense of humor sometimes too.

“Oh dear.”

“What?” He stopped, facing her. “What is wrong, Miss Thomas?”

“I—ah, I can feel their worry.”

His head titled slightly, like she’d seen Ramsey do once, as he studied her.

“What do you feel?”

“My brother and Ramsey. Leo and Alex, they are near,” Flora said, desperate now to find them. She looked up the road and heard the clatter of hooves, and then a carriage was approaching at speed. “Good Lord, I do believe that is my brother up there clinging on to that driver’s seat,” Flora said, squinting.

Brandon Hellion waved his arms then, and as the carriage drew near, it slowed and rolled to a complete stop.

“Flora!” Charles leaped down and grabbed her, hugging her hard.

“Flora!” She was pulled from his arms and into Ramsey’s. “Thank God you are safe.” He crushed her to him, and she felt his tremors of relief.

Flora buried her face in his neck and held his coat in a desperate grasp.

“Well then,” another voice said. “It seems our heroics were not required.”

“Let me go, Ramsey.” She pushed against him.

“Never,” he vowed, but he relented and released her slightly.

“Lord Sinclair, Duchess, Mr. Sinclair.” Flora attempted to curtsy.

“There is no need for any of that,” the duchess said. She then disappeared back into the carriage, returning with a blanket, which she handed to Ramsey. He wrapped it around Flora. The warmth was bliss.

“Hello, Ramsey,” Brandon Hellion said.

Ramsey gave a curt nod.

“He rescued me,” Flora said quickly.

“From?” Charles snapped.

“A house not far from here.”

“I should explain,” Brandon said.

“Please do,” Ramsey said in a voice that could cut glass.

Flora looked at the Sinclairs, who showed no signs of leaving and a great deal of interest in the goings-on.

“We are safe here. No one is lurking,” Mr. Sinclair said after looking up and down the road .

All eyes focused on Brandon Hellion. Flora knew now why he seemed familiar to her. He looked like his son… the son he’d never had in his life.

“It’s a delicate matter, and one we should talk about alone, Ramsey.”

“Ah, I see the problem here,” Alex said. “We’re Nightingales, so we don’t stand on ceremony. Delicate matters are left to nobility, as nothing is a secret in our household. If you can clear up why someone has attempted to abduct Ramsey twice and taken my cousin, we would be grateful.”

“And we are the soul of discretion,” the duchess said. “And also have no secrets in our family. But should you wish it, we can give you some space.”

“You’ll both hear them anyway,” Lord Sinclair said.

“Perhaps we should move to the other side of the road to that small park,” Leo said. “At least we will not have neighbors peering down at us out of windows, demanding we be quiet.”

They walked as a group and were soon standing in a narrow park between two rows of houses.

She could feel the tension in the Hellion men and the anger in her brother for what had happened to her. She felt curiosity from the Sinclairs and something more. Something swirled in the air between the Nightingales and the Sinclairs that she could not identify. She thought it was power, but that was an odd choice of words.

“In the house where Miss Thomas was taken is a man who is trying to blackmail me,” Brandon Hellion began. “He knows a secret that I have and is intent on making me pay for it by handing over a lot of money.”

“The secret I am part of?” Ramsey said. Brandon Hellion nodded.

“I loathe secrets if I am not party to them,” the duchess said .

“Because I refused to pay, he had men attempt to kidnap you. When that didn’t work, he went after Miss Thomas.”

“The woman I love,” Ram said in a dangerous voice.

“Men approach,” Lord Sinclair said softly.

“Great-Aunt Constance wants us to run,” Alex said.

“I loved Great-Aunt Constance,” Flora added.

“She’s worried for you,” Alex said.

“Now is not the time to discuss this,” Leo said. “We need to get both Flora and Ram to safety. Those men may have found she has escaped by now.”

“They are looking for you, Miss Thomas,” the duchess said. “And quite frantic to find you from what I’m hearing.”

Flora couldn’t hear anything, but emotions were hitting her from every side. Anger, relief, rage, and fear.

“If they are in that house, then we should not leave without confronting them,” Flora said. “This could be the chance to ensure Ramsey’s safety.”

“No,” Ram said. “You are going home. We will confront them.”

“And yet surely she has as much right as any to see this through,” the duchess said.

“Well, you do have us to assist you, and the longer it takes, the less likely I will have to endure that concert,” Lord Sinclair said.

“Lead on,” Charles added.

Ram took Flora’s arm as they all started moving in the odd procession.

“I’m sorry, Ramsey, this must be hard on you,” Flora said. Her head appeared to have finally cleared.

“I have you back. Nothing else matters.”

“You will have to speak to him about everything.”

“Now is not the time, Flora. Now we rid our lives of those who want to harm us.”

“Yes. I want that more than anything. ”

“You have to stay safe now, Flora. I won’t let you be hurt again. The last hour has been the worst hell of my life.”

“I will, and it was for me… well, not all of it, as I was drugged, but?—”

“They drugged you!”

“Ramsey,” Alex hissed. “Shut up.”

“I’m killing someone.”