The Dark Lady by Máire Claremont Read Free Book Online Page B

been Eva’s sister. In her pale visage was a grim resignation that she would now never be freed. ’Twas a look for an old woman. “Get in the coach,” he mouthed. “Do it now.”
    Mary’s eyes flared, but she needed no second telling.
    Ian jerked his own pistol free, ready to shoot. He spun back toward the pack of disgusting inhumanity. He would gladly kill Mrs. Palmer, woman or no.
    Eva yanked the door open and sprang in, Mary fast behind her.
    Mrs. Palmer’s eyes flashed with fury. “Close the gate doors!” And just as Ian vaulted toward his coach, another pistol shot cracked and wood splinters exploded from the swinging, still open door.
    He didn’t waste a second glance back, but threw himself into the vehicle as his coachman struck up the horses. They were too slow. He knew it in his gut. Yet they hadto make it. The fear of losing Eva to this nightmare of a place uncoiled in his innards. He would do whatever it took to protect her.
    The cool steel of the pistol weighed heavily in his palm, a familiar companion. He’d use it if necessary. And, damn it, it was about to be necessary. He swung his gaze to the door, but before he could start for it, he caught sight of Mary.
    Mary held herself rigid in the darkness of the rattling coach, her gaze traveling from Eva to Ian, then briefly back toward the asylum. She’d found some mysterious calm. Her delicate features were serene as she smiled slightly. God, she couldn’t be more than eighteen.
    “No matter what, Eva,” Mary whispered, “remember, I’m free now. I’m free.”
    “Mary?” Eva demanded, her voice twisted with confusion.
    Mary shoved the coach door open. As she threw herself forward, Ian grabbed wildly for her. His guts dropped as she tumbled back out into the yard, his hand grasping at empty air.
    “Mary!” Eva screamed.
    As the coach raced forward, Mary’s slight body rolled along the snow-covered earth before she was up again, her little feet planted on the frozen ground. “Come on, then, you bastards!”
    And she ran . . . in the opposite direction of the gate.
    The keepers, all of them, sensing the most important prize was within reach, turned and bolted for her. Mary’s body flickered across the yard, her little shift as fragile as the snow falling about her. A wild creature desperately trying to break free of its trap.
    The sudden feeling that all the carnage of battle would never compete with this one moment of savagery swallowed Ian.
    He watched, horror-stricken and in awe, as Mary tore across the landscape.
    Eva’s arm tugged at the socket as Ian attempted to jerk her away from the swinging door. She couldn’t bear it. She couldn’t tear her eyes from the heavy hands of the keepers as they twitched, bearing their rope.
    “Don’t look,” Ian commanded, his voice raw.
    But she did.
    Mary darted back and forth, a cornered animal, her feet sliding over the icy patches, a wild and defiant figure. “Mary!” Eva’s heart splintered at the sight before her, though she knew her friend couldn’t hear her scream.
    One animal grabbed Mary’s arms. Another seized her feet and in an instant they had her on the ground. The third yanked out a rope.
    And on the faint wind, she heard Mary cry, “Go!”
    The world exploded around Eva in pain. She couldn’t leave her friend. She couldn’t. Not after they’d survived so much together. She couldn’t look away, or draw breath.
    Suddenly she was in the air, yanked up by strong arms.
    Her body jostled as she met contact with Ian’s hard chest.
    “I’ll come back!” Eva shouted over the din of carriage wheels flying onto the rough road. She screamed with all her force, though Mary would never hear her proclamation. “I will!”
    The door slammed shut so hard, she thought it might suddenly drop from its hinges.
    With Ian cradling her tight against his unyielding chest, the coach raced off into the night. Away from hell, away from Mary, and back into the world.
    A world full of