Page 88 of Mesmerized

“We can scarcely deny it. The battle...the flight...my God.”

He straightened up, shoving his hands back through his hair in a familiar gesture. “They did not die.”

“No. Do you suppose he never knew it? Sir Raymond, I mean. Do you think he believed them dead and so didn’t hunt for them, as they hoped? He did marry twice again after that, though from what was said about him, I don’t suppose that the thought of bigamy would have deterred him from doing what he wanted to.”

“No. I imagine not. And what an odd alliance—Lady Alys and his mistress.”

“She sacrificed herself to save her child. She knew it was his only chance.” Tears swam in her eyes. “It must have been a horrible death. I cannot imagine how she got the courage to set the rushes on fire, knowing the pain it would bring to her.”

“That was why she wanted Alys to put the casket on the other side of the room, so the fire would not spread to it. She must have scraped all the rushes together close to her and that soldier. Otherwise, the heat would have damaged the box and its contents—”

“But the rosary—it was in her hand—it must have been the center of the fire—and it survived intact.” Olivia looked down in awe at the rosary, still wrapped around her hand.

Stephen’s gaze followed hers. “It would take—”

“A miracle?” Olivia asked, looking up at him.

So focused were they on the rosary and the past that neither of them heard the door open quietly. In fact neither of them heard a thing until an unearthly voice growled out, “Bitch! Whoremonger!”

Before Stephen could turn, something thudded against his back, and he went down hard onto his knees. Olivia jumped to her feet, gazing in horror into the contorted face of the woman she knew as Irina Valenskaya.

Only it was not Irina Valenskaya anymore, but a strange distortion of her, her height, her clothes, her hair, her face—but with the ice-cold eyes of a stranger.

And Stephen, on his knees, had the hilt of the knife she had plunged into him sticking out of his back.

Olivia screamed. In the next instant, Irina was on her. She grabbed Olivia by the shoulders and shoved her hard toward the open door to the secret room. Olivia staggered and fell, and then Irina was on her, her hands around Olivia’s throat, choking her. Olivia struck out with her clenched fist, the rosary still wrapped around it, and connected with the woman’s cheek. Irina’s hold loosened, and Olivia slid back, struggling to get away from the woman’s clutching hands.

She managed to get onto her knees, but then Irina slammed into her again, knocking her down. They rolled across the floor, kicking and hitting and scratching.

Stephen, the knife still in his back, managed to get to his feet and stagger across the floor to them. He reached down and grabbed Irina around the waist, pulling her off Olivia. Olivia struggled to her feet as Irina, insanely strong, turned and hit Stephen with all her force in the stomach. He staggered back, and she wrenched herself away from him. Irina grabbed the golden casket from the bed and slammed it into the side of Stephen’s head. He staggered sideways and went down. Irina, still holding the casket, charged at Olivia again. She slammed into her, and the two of them tumbled backward into the small inner room. The casket fell from her arms, and the contents spilled out over the floor.

“Mine!” Irina roared in a harsh, deep voice, the same voice that had rushed out of Howard Babington days before. “Bitch! I will have what’s mine!”

She straddled Olivia, her hands digging into her throat, painfully strong. Olivia struggled, her hands around the other woman’s wrists, trying in vain to pull them away. She could not breathe. The darkness seemed to swirl around her, a harsh buzzing filling the air. She gripped the rosary, its beads cutting into her hands.

And then suddenly power rose up inside her, filling her with a strength she had never known. She smashed her fist once, twice, hard against the other woman’s throat. Irina’s hold loosened, and Olivia rolled hard to the right, sending Irina toppling to the side.

“I am not yours!” Olivia cried, crawling to her feet. Her hand touched metal and closed around it. It was the hilt of a dagger, and it felt familiar in her hand. “For all eternity, I do not belong to you!”

Olivia surged up, her arm swinging forward just as Irina leaped at her. The dagger sank into Irina’s chest. Surprise flashed across Irina’s face, and a fierce, primitive shriek burst from her mouth. The evil of centuries past burned out of her eyes at Olivia and then was gone. Irina collapsed on the floor.

Olivia stood for a moment, staring down at her foe, stunned.

“Stephen...” She broke from her trance and started out of the room.

The outer door burst open, and Rafe’s voice shouted, “Stephen? Olivia? Who screamed? What the devil happened to the footman out here? He’s knocked out.” His footsteps advanced into the room. “Good God! Stephen!”

He hurried toward his friend, unconscious on the floor. Then he looked up and saw Olivia walking toward him, a blood-stained dagger in her hand. Behind her, on the floor, lay Irina. He gaped at her.

“Stephen...help him.” Olivia managed to say, then fainted away at Rafe’s feet.

* * *

WHEN OLIVIA CAME OUT of her faint, she opened her eyes to see Belinda hovering over her. “Belinda?”

“Oh, thank goodness!”

Olivia sat up slowly, feeling a little dizzy. She was lying on her own bed. “How did I get here?”