Shana Galen Read Online Free Page B

assailant still had his palm wedged under Winn’s chin, but neither moved.
    “It is a lovely evening,” a woman said. Winn’s fingers clutched around the material of the greatcoat. It was Elinor.
    “I thought so,” her companion—a male companion—answered. Winn would have bet his life it was the puppy. “Look. There’s the North Star. Bright, isn’t it?”
    Winn was torn between revealing himself and interrupting the tête-à-tête, or remaining hidden. How was he going to explain what he was doing, fighting an assassin in the Ramsgates’ garden? He couldn’t, not without more lies and deceptions than even he, a master, could make believable.
    He was thankful the hedgerows provided shadows, but he and the man in black would be visible if Elinor and her suitor decided to go for a stroll.
    “The moon is full,” she was saying. “I so rarely take a moment to look at it.”
    Winn wanted to roll his eyes. How utterly predictable—lovers’ talk of stars and moons. If he was wooing Elinor, he would speak of…
    Winn could not think of what he would speak of, but it would be much more original, of that he was certain. All the talk of the full moon had reminded him of something. The pistol was lying on the paving stones just a few feet from where Elinor stood. The moonlight lit up the white stones. If she should happen to look in the direction of the vase…
    “Yours?” the man in black murmured.
    Winn looked down. “What?”
    “Is that woman yours?”
    “No.”
    “You seem rather annoyed that she is conversing with the younger gentleman.”
    Discovery be damned. Winn reared back and slammed the man’s head into the ground. Unfortunately, the dirt beneath them did little damage. His assailant shoved his palm up, and Winn’s head jerked back. He struggled to remain on top, but the two rolled, Winn ending up on top again and both of them blinking into the foliage.
    “What was that?” Elinor was asking.
    “Probably some beast or other. Don’t fret. I will protect you.”
    “Bloody hell,” Winn muttered. The man in black laughed. Winn slammed his head into the ground again.
    “Perhaps we should return to supper,” Elinor said.
    “I’ll escort you into the supper room,” the puppy told her.
    “Thank you.”
    Winn wanted to growl, but at least she was going inside. He prepared to finish the assailant off, but then he heard Elinor’s voice again. “Oh, dear!”
    He gritted his teeth. If she had seen the pistol…
    “I wonder how this vase was broken. I shall have to inform Mary.”
    Yes, go inside and speak to Lady Ramsgate.
    The puppy said something in return, but his voice was fading. Silence descended, but for the sound of the frogs croaking and the lonely call of an owl. Winn looked at his assailant, and the man looked back. By unseen cue, they resumed the fight. Winn slammed the man’s head into the ground again before the assailant bloodied his nose. They rolled and finally came apart.
    “Enough,” Winn, who was closer to the house, muttered. He ran for the discarded pistol. When he reached it, he saw the assailant had discerned his intention and was running the opposite way. Winn gave chase, but by the time he reached the garden wall, he knew he’d lost the man. He could go after him. Five years ago he would have stopped at nothing to catch him. Winn hunched over and attempted to catch his breath. He was tired.
    And he needed a drink. He wondered if Lord Ramsgate had anything more substantial than champagne.
    Ten minutes later, he peered in the mirror hanging on Ramsgate’s library wall. He’d come in through the window and had already drunk one snifter of brandy. He frowned at his reflection. He looked… old. Well, he looked like he’d just come from rolling about in the garden, but he could see lines about his eyes and a deep tiredness in their depths. It seemed impossible, but he felt worse than he looked. And he looked battered and bloody.
    He couldn’t enter the ball like this.