Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 97127 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97127 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
The back of her legs hit the edge of the bed and she gratefully lowered herself down to sit. Unable to prevent the tears that filled her eyes from falling, she wept.
Michael was instantly at her side, on his knees, grasping hold of her hand. “I am sorry I upset you with my threats. But I was angry that you risked your life when I should have been here to help Roarke. I worried even more when I thought that you might be with child and it was not only your life in jeopardy.”
She could not stop shaking her head. It made no sense to think all along she had been with Decimus. He had rescued her, protected her, and loved her. “I do not understand any of this, nor do I know if I should believe you.”
He squeezed her hand tightly. “Close your eyes, Mary, and listen to me.”
She stilled her head and stared at him.
“I know it is difficult for you to understand. I have placed a heavy burden on you and one that could prove harmful, but I ask for your trust.”
She looked upon the eyes of a man she thought vile and yet she heard the voice of the man she loved with all her heart.
“I know not what to do. I hear Michael, yet I see Decimus.” She shivered.
He held her hand firmly. “I understand your apprehension, but give me a moment to explain my necessary deception.”
“How do I know you do not continue to deceive me? How do I know that your deceit is nothing more than a trap?”
He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her palm softly as Michael had done so often. “Because I love you with all my heart and soul.”
His familiar voice caused her to ache for Michael, but her eyes could not shed the image of Decimus kneeling before her.
“Trust me, please, Mary,” he begged. “Give me a chance to explain.”
She warned herself against being foolish, but what if . . . ? What if Michael and Decimus were one?
“It is so hard for me to think of you as—” She stopped and turned away from him.
“Just listen to my voice. Do not look upon me, and after you have heard my story then you may decide.”
She turned back to him. “And if I do not trust your word?”
He hesitated. “I will see to your escape and you will be free.”
She closed her eyes slowly. “I will listen.”
He heaved a sigh of relief and quieted his own apprehension before beginning his story. “I lived in a village in Scotland, a quiet place where man and beast lived in peace. We practiced the old ways and beliefs, my mother an exceptional healer and my sister—”
He stopped and swallowed the lump in his throat and the ache in his heart.
“My sister was special, trusting all and believing only in good. The clerics came and called us pagans and attempted to reform all who did not believe as they did. They turned neighbor against neighbor until chaos reigned and the innocent suffered.
“My father was the first accused of heresy, he was punished and killed, leaving me responsible for my mother and sister’s protection. My mother urged me to take my sister and leave, hide before it was too late, and one day seek revenge on those who destroyed the family. I foolishly thought I had time, and it was when I was away seeking help from a nearby clan that they came for my sister and my mother.”
Mary felt her chest grow heavy with the pain he must have suffered.
“If it were not for Roarke, I would be dead. When I discovered how my mother and sister were made to suffer before they died, I lost all reason. I wanted nothing but revenge. Roarke, who had been my friend since I was a young lad, reminded me of my mother’s words. He urged me to hide and seek revenge not by killing those who had harmed my family but by freeing the innocent.
“What better revenge than to continually rob from your enemy what they wanted most? And to help those, the innocent, who needed it the most. I changed my identity and infiltrated my enemy’s camp. I quickly worked my way up and reached a position so powerful that no one dared question me or prevent me from doing as I pleased. And I have saved hundreds of innocent people from suffering and death. My mother had been right, her death was not in vain.”
Mary stared at him with wide eyes. “But you have killed people—”
“Only those in the Church who have proved a serious threat to me, only they have found themselves at Decimus’s mercy. All others have left here alive, though thought dead by the church leaders.”
Mary began to cry. “My parents?”