Before the Fire Page 13

  Brantly shrugged. “I was not made privy to their destination, my lord. I imagine ‘tis in the contents of the note.”

  George scanned the note quickly, relaxing as he read it. “Ah. They’ve only gone walking in the gardens.” The earl nodded, placated. “Thank-you, Brantly. That will be all.”

  “As you will, my lord.”

  “Say now,” Chester beamed as the butler made his exit, “what do the deuce of you say to taking a stroll? I wish to see my lady.”

  Alex rolled his eyes, laughing. “Uncle, you will see Lady Julia at the Walcott soiree this eve. Good God you are besotted, man!”

  George laughed with Alex, his humor returning. “I’m game for a quick stroll. Alex?”

  “Oh very well then,” he smiled. “Let us go find the Countesses of Blackmore.”

  * * * * *

  “I must confess, dearest Kane, this is a jolly good time.”

  Kane drew herself up from the ground and scowled at her wicked mother-in-law. “I’m glad you so enjoy spilling me on my backside.” She dusted off the black material molded to her buttocks and shook her head in agitation. “I can’t believe you managed to bring me down,” she muttered. “Hell, grown men can’t bring me down.”

  Lady Julia clapped her hands together in glee, her giggling resembling an evil banshee-like predator Kane had once encountered on the planet Zyphon. “The data injection and I have taught you too well,” she complained through set teeth.

  “Now, now,” Lady Julia chided in her “your acting like a child” voice that she usually reserved for her son, “it isn’t at all the thing to get worked up over being brought to heel.”

  “Brought to heel?”

  The dowager’s eyes narrowed. “Aye. Brought to heel,” she whispered with an unmistakably underlying menace.

  Kane smiled her “I’m going to get you for this” smile that she typically reserved for Commander Linder. “Shall we spar again, milady mother?”

  The dowager assumed a fighting stance and nodded. “Come get me if you can.”

  “If I can? If I…ooohhhh!”

  Kane assumed a fighting stance and began circling her prey. Both women moved with feline grace, each of them waiting for the opportunity to strike. At last, Lady Julia found the advantage. She struck out with her right fist, aiming for Kane’s shoulder blade. Kane blocked the move, dropping toward the ground for a roundhouse kick. Lady Julia diverted the kick at the last second with a jack knife to her daughter-in-law’s calf. Both women winced from their various bangs, but continued.

  And then they really went at it.

  Arms flew, legs knifed, heads butted, and the sound of “hiiiyaaas!” continually coursed through the air.

  Three stunned, slack-jawed noblemen took in the scene before them, wide-eyed and speechless. They watched with growing amazement as two noblewomen seemingly tried to annihilate each other, oblivious to their audience. Viscount Blake was the first to regain his power of speech, befuddled though it was.

  “I-I say,” Chester sputtered, “I do believe my lady just knocked your wife upside the head, Blackmore.”

  The trio watched in much fascination and more than a little growing horror as Lady Kane regained her position, back-flipped four times toward Lady Julia, and charged toward her like a bull in Pamplona, screeching like a wild animal at the top of her lungs.

  George could only stare, dry-mouthed and disbelieving at the sight unraveling before him. Alex wondered briefly if he was fated to discover what it felt like to swoon for the first time. Chester sputtered like an old horse, unable to do anything else.

  “Prepare to be brought down!” Kane raged at her mother-in-law through gleaming, narrowed eyes.

  “Prepare to feel my foot up your arse!” Lady Julia challenged.

  The men gasped.

  It was the sound of noble male gasping that drew the women’s attention toward their unwanted company. They both turned around immediately, halting their spar session at once. It was then that the gentlemen noticed their scandalous attire.

  Kane swallowed harshly as she stared at her husband in morbid fascination. His face had turned into a throttled shade of purple she’d never before played witness to. His nostrils flamed, his teeth looked ready to shred her to bits. She was afraid to glance at his ears, for fear she’d see steam rushing from them. And the damn vein at his temple was ticking again. She decided it would be best to diffuse the situation immediately.

  “Hello George,” she called, waving to him and smiling as though she was pleased by his visitation. “What brings you here?” She looked pleadingly toward Lady Julia, silently beseeching her for help.

  “W-We were just um…,” Lady Julia glanced from her son to her intended—who looked as if he’d just watched her sprout horns and a tail—then back to her son.

  “Yes?” George inquired icily, a hiss escaping from his throat.

  “Um, well…”

  “Do tell me, mother. What were you and my lady about?” he asked with a distinctive menace.

  “We were um…well as to that…” She shifted her gaze toward her daughter-in-law. “Kane?”

  Kane didn’t bother to mince words. “Tell me how much the three of you saw and I’ll tell you what we were doing.”

  Apparently her husband didn’t care for that bold answer. Unbelievably, his face grew even more purplish.

  The marquess pointed toward the two women, flipping his hand this way and that. “We saw the two of you issuing threat to one another. Kicking. Hitting. Charging.” He shook his head in wide-eyed wonder. “And flipping?” he asked hesitantly as he again imitated the act with his hand.

  Kane had the grace to blush.

  “And what of this clothing the deuce of you have donned?” Chester sputtered. “What sort of outrageous attire is that?”

  Kane grew indignant at that last bit. She was tired of defending her people’s ways. “It is the garment of a Warrior Woman!” she argued, her hands flying indignantly to her hips. “This garment is not outrageous. It is a badge of honor where I come from.”

  “But milady,” Alex whispered, thoroughly scandalized, “’tis indecent. It leaves naught to a gentleman’s imagination.”

  At the marquess’s pronouncement, George regained his faculties long enough to commandeer the situation. “Where are your dresses?” he raged at his recalcitrant wife and mother.

  “By the fountain,” Kane replied with a shrug.

  The earl pointed vehemently toward said fountain, his nostrils enlarged to wicked proportions. “You will both retrieve your proper attire and change into it behind that hedge! And you will do so this moment!”

  Kane darted a glare in the general direction of her husband before grabbing the dowager countess by the hand. “Come Mother Julia,” she answered furiously, “let us change our clothes. By Jupiter’s moons, we would not wish to do anything to upset his lordship.” She darted the earl one last fulminating glare to let him know what she thought of his highhanded behavior, then turned around and stomped off, the dowager in tow.

  It was then that the gentlemen saw the backs of their catsuits, noticing at once the narrow piece of red garment wedged in between their buttocks that rose upward and was attached to another piece of red material that clasped around their hips.

  George’s jaw dropped.

  Alex’s eyes all but popped from their sockets.

  Chester sputtered.

  All three of them had raging erections.

  Chapter 19

  George William Frederick Alexander Wyndom, the ninth Earl of Blackmore and the heir apparent to the Duke of Browning, had the headache. He shut his eyes and rubbed his temples as he sat behind his study desk and prayed to every god he could name, both Christian and heathen, for patience. He was taking no chances.

  The onlookers—his hellion wife, his mischief-making mother, the befuddled marquess, and the sputtering viscount—watched him curiously. Finally, his wife broke the tense silence. “I’m afraid that Alex and Chester have see
n too much, George. I really must tell them the truth of who I am.”

  She looked at him beseechingly, wishing she could force him to understand. Unfortunately, he didn’t open his eyes long enough to fall prey to her “innocent wife beseeching her domineering husband who should feel ashamed of himself” look. Kane ground her teeth in frustration.

  “She’s right, Georgie,” Lady Julia decided. “It’s not as if we can’t trust the gentlemen’s silence on the matter.” She laughed mischievously. “After all, if they spilled the beans, so to speak, who save the wards of Bedlam would believe them?”

  At that, the earl opened his eyes and regarded his mother. “I did not say I don’t trust them, madam. I just never expected to be placed in this position by my wife.” He turned to glare at her, hitting her full force with what he hoped was an effective look of intimidation. “And don’t,” he muttered through gritted teeth as he darted his eyes back toward his wayward mother, “call me Georgie.”

  Alex cast his eyes to the ground, lest the earl regard his amusement.

  “I say,” Chester sputtered, his face still blotchy red, “I am most curious as to your lady wife’s story, Blackmore. I fear I must insist that she tell it.”

  “Agreed uncle,” Alex seconded. “I have never beheld such a sight as the one in the gardens in all of my days. I fear that I too must insist upon hearing the countess’s explanation.” He crossed his arms over his chest, showing he would hear no arguments.

  The earl ran his long fingers through his mane of black hair. He let out a sigh of defeat. “Of course, gentlemen.” He shrugged his broad shoulders in acquiescence. “In your position, I would demand the same.”

  “George,” Kane whispered, feeling quite upset for the first time since she and Lady Julia had been caught sparring, “are you…ashamed of me?” she whispered.

  The earl’s head snapped back in his wife’s direction. He noticed at once the sadness harbored in the depths of her blue eyes and realized that her fear was a real one. He felt immediately contrite. “Of course not,” he genuinely insisted, frowning as he rose to his feet and strolled toward her. “How could you think that, madam?”

  Kane bit her bottom lip and chewed on it for a thoughtful moment or two. “I can’t help what I am, George. I can’t help that I’m different.” She took a deep breath and looked away from him before she added, “and I can’t live a life in which I’m forced to pretend to be someone I’m not twenty-four hours of the day. In public is one thing, but in my home is quite another.”

  “Kane,” George whispered, suddenly afraid that she was thinking of leaving him, “I would not have you change.”

  “Wouldn’t you?”

  She didn’t appear to be convinced and George could hardly blame her. “No,” he adamantly insisted, “I wouldn’t.” He grabbed her chin and forced her to look up at him. “I promise you that you will be given all manner of privacy in our home from this day forward that you might not feel overburdened whilst in it. I do realize, my lady, that you are thoughtful of my position in public. ‘Tis the least I can do for you.”

  Kane smiled brilliantly, inducing the earl to release a breath. She wasn’t going to leave him.

  She shot her gaze toward the bewildered marquess and viscount and gifted them with the same smile. “I’m glad this happened, George, for I want them to know. As much time as we spend with them…” She let the sentence trail off as she turned her eyes beseechingly toward her husband.

  “You are correct,” he supplied. He shook his head and chuckled. “I daresay now that I think on it I’m glad it came to pass as well. I’ve always shared my thoughts with Alex before.” He looked at the marquess and chuckled again. “It’s been a deuce of a time I’ve had trying to keep my mouth shut to him for this long. And about a subject so fascinating.”

  Alex came closer to the couple and held his hands out in supplication. “I don’t understand any of this, but I’m ready to hear the full of it.”

  “As am I,” Chester concurred with a regal nod. “Let us get on with it.” He turned his regard to his intended. “And I pray this story will explain my lady’s new found…talent.”

  Lady Julia rolled her eyes in exasperation. “I shall ring for refreshments before we begin. This epic shall take a while.”

  * * * * *

  Kane stared at Alex and Chester bemusedly as the two gentlemen sat on a late fifteenth century sofa in the Blackmore’s London study. She could call the thoroughly shocked, totally bewildered expressions on their gaping jaws déjà vu, for her husband and mother-in-law had harbored nearly identical facades a week past on a similar couch in another Blackmore study.

  And just as the previous telling had gone, so too had this one. Lord Asherby and Lord Blake had listened to her story with a look of amused indulgence on their faces, never truly believing her. And again as before, they had both changed their minds the minute she whipped out her laser-c and discharged an ominous pulse of light energy that burst apart yet another icon of King George to bits. At the rate she was going, she secretly wondered if even a single statue of the monarch would be able to be found in all of England before the year was out.

  With a grin, George watched his two friends come to terms with his wife’s future origins. Oh, he knew and appreciated exactly how the whelps felt. He too had been cast in similar straights a sennight ago. He found the situation more amusing, however, when he himself was not the one on the receiving end.

  “Are you two going to be all right?” George asked, feeling vastly superior in his fortitude. Of course, he had had a full week to come to terms with his wife’s revelations, whereas Alex and Chester had been given but a few minutes. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling of superiority and didn’t overmuch care to try to correct it.

  “Wh-what?” Alex asked, his wide green eyes landing on the earl’s face. He shook his head to clear it, forcibly shutting his lax jaw in the process. “Yes, of course. Of course.” He nodded his head up and down like a marionette. “Of course.”

  George grinned. This was a deuce of a good time.

  “And you, Chester,” Lady Julia inquired with a flick of her hand in his direction. “Are you alright?”

  Viscount Blake sputtered a few more times, reminding Kane of the way a spacecar sounds when running out of energy and needing a fero-nitrum refuel. She glanced at her husband and grinned, then turned her regard back to Chester. He cleared his throat to speak. “I…I…I…I…I…”

  A bb gun from the Houston colony’s Museum of Ancient Weaponry. That’s what he sounded like now.

  “I…I...um…yes.” The viscount nodded up and down emphatically. “Yes, of course.”

  George crossed his arms over his chest and smiled in delight. Oh, he knew he shouldn’t find pleasure at their expense, but it was hard not to. Still, they were his friends. “Gentlemen, I hope my wife has not overset your delicate sensibilities,” he quipped. “Indeed, I should feel terrible were that the case.” He grinned unrepentedly, looking much like a cat would after having gulped down a particularly fat canary.

  Alex narrowed his eyes into slits as he shifted on his seat. “I do not possess delicate sensibilities, Blackmore. Indeed, there is nothing delicate about either my form or my faculties.”

  “Quite right,” Chester seconded. “We were just contemplating this situation, that’s all.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “’Tis true,” Alex insisted. “I’ve never been overset in my life.” He took a deep breath and ran the fingers from both hands through his wavy blond hair. “So I feel a little faint. ‘Tis probably from lack of food.”

  “But we just ate a snack,” Kane argued without thinking better of it. She then glanced away, wishing she’d held her tongue, when the Marquess of Asherby shot her a look as deadly as the kill mode on her laser-c.

  George grinned.

  Like a true commander on the battlefield, Lady Julia took over and proceeded to reign the gentlemen in and bring them back down to reality. “I realize this is
a lot to take in, my lords. However, you are both men of the world who have seen and experienced much. Therefore, you will be able to come to terms with my daughter-in-law’s origins, I pray?” She gave them a look that clearly stated she would be unimpressed and disappointed with anything less.

  “Of course!” Alex insisted as he shot to his feet and headed straight for the liquor cabinet. Chester followed on his boot heels, feeling a vast need for a spot or two of drink himself. The marquess looked up from his pouring and nodded to Kane. “Pray continue, milady, where you left off.”

  Kane turned to her husband to gage his reaction. He was amused, giddy almost, and he most certainly didn’t appear to feel hesitant toward her continuing. Still, she asked. “George?”

  George glanced over to his wife and smiled warmly. He winked down at her, telling her without words that all would be well with his two close friends. “Pray continue, sweetheart.”

  Kane sighed, then dove right back in to where she had left off prior to detonating the light energy beam from her laser-c. “So as I was saying, I need to find this plant as quickly as possible. The virus lays dormant with minor symptoms for about a year, but after that it hits full force with zero chance of the victim’s surviving it.”

  Alex swallowed down a snifter full of brandy, poured himself another for good measure, then strolled back toward the sofa and resumed his seat. “So this is why you are searching all the libraries, madam? Hoping to find something that can lead you to your kabitrail plant?”

  “Kabitross.”

  The marquess waved a dismissive hand. Semantics were the least of his concern at the moment. “Whatever.”

  George shook his head and chuckled. He walked over to Alex’s side and patted him on the back, taking pity on him at last. “It will be alright, Alex. God knows I was feeling worse than you when Kane revealed herself to me.”

  Alex found the first grin he’d been able to summon since he’d watched his king’s image shatter into a million pieces. “Do tell.”

  Lady Julia laughed, remembering the night not so long ago all too well. She opened up her delicate fan and aired herself becomingly. “Let us just say that my son and I soon discovered what it meant to be truly overset.”