Page 60 of Beauty's Beast

“No.”

“Stubborn, ain’t he?” Stocking Cap said. He drew a knife from inside his shabby jacket and ran his thumb over the blade. “I could maybe persuade him for ya.”

Top Hat nodded. “Have at him, Harry.”

Harry grinned, exposing a row of crooked yellow teeth. Tossing the blade from hand to hand, he swaggered forward.

Erik took a step backward. He should just take the mask off, he thought. No doubt the sight of his face would scare the devil out of them, but he could not bring himself to do it.

“The mask,” Harry said, pointing at it with the tip of his knife. “Take it off and show us what yer hiding.”

Erik reached into his pocket and withdrew his purse. Take the money.”

“We will,” Top Hat said. “Have no fear of that.”

“All in good time,” Harry said. Grinning, he reached for a corner of the mask.

Rage boiled up inside Erik. It spilled out in a growl as his hands closed around Harry’s throat. Lifting the man off his feet, he hurled him away as if he weighed nothing at all.

Top Hat yelled, “Kill him!” and fired his pistol.

Erik reeled backward, his hand clutching his right shoulder. The other men fired their weapons as well. One ball struck him in the left arm, another struck him low in the left side. With a roar of pain and rage, he lunged forward, but the men scattered like chickens before a fox.

He saw one of the men spring onto Raven’s back. Leaning out of the saddle, the man grabbed Harry’s arm and swung him up behind him in the saddle, and then they were gone:

Soaked to the skin, his wounds bleeding profusely, Erik sank to his knees.

“Kristine.” He murmured her name as darkness descended on him. “Kristine … ”

He woke slowly, frowning into the darkness, his nostrils filling with a sharp feral odor and the scent of smoke. He started to sit up, only to fall back as pain splintered through his arm, side, and shoulder. A low whine sounded to his right and when he turned his head, he saw a huge gray wolf sitting beside him, pink tongue lolling out of the side of its mouth. Moving just his eyes, Erik glanced to his left. A black wolf sat near his feet; another slept curled up at the side of the black wolf.

“Don’t be afraid.”

He turned toward the voice with a start and saw a woman kneeling beside a small fire near the back of the cave. “Who are you?”

“Who are you?”

“Erik Trevayne.” He struggled to sit up, only then realizing he was naked. He didn’t mind the lack of his clothing, but he felt vulnerable without the mask. “Where are my clothes?”

“The robbers came back after you passed out and took them, but don’t worry.” A smile crept into her voice. “We took them from the robbers.”

He knew without asking that the men who had accosted him were no longer a threat to anyone. “And my horse?”

“He is being well cared for, have no fear.”

“What is this place? Where am I?”

“You’re safe, for now.” She raised a slender hand and made a sweeping motion that encompassed the cavern. “I live here.”

“I’ve told you who I am. Now, who are you?”

“I am called Valaree.”

“And you live in this cave? Why?”

She rose to her feet and walked toward him. She was a tall woman, with waist-length black hair and luminous brown eyes. She wore a loose-fitting white robe that seemed to glow in the dim light of the fire.

“How do you feel, Erik Trevayne?” She peeled back the bandages from his injuries, then bent down and sniffed the wounds. Nodding, she replaced the bandages.

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