Page 50 of The Hunter
The year prior, she’d taken Jakub to the fair and a traveling snake charmer had the most extraordinary creature in a glass box. A long-fanged terror, the length and width of her arm, with a dark, unsettling rattle at the end of his tail. The performer had called him a viper of the New World and explained that when the creature coiled into a perfect spiral, it was at its most dangerous. The rattle warned that attack was imminent. And when the beast struck, Millie had never seen speed and lethal force of the kind before or since that day.
When Christopher Argent spoke in his low, silken voice, it evoked the memory of that warning rattle. One note, one inflection that rarely changed. An unmistakable warning that death could strike at any moment.
“Your gladiator is worth every penny, I’d wager,” Throckmorton mused.
Something in the actor’s voice set McTavish to squirming. He buttoned his coat and inched toward the door. “Miss LeCour, Argent, I’m certainly glad tonight ended as it did. I’ll leave ye to yer evening for now, but expect a follow-up in the days to come.”
Millie stood and only released Jakub with one hand, which trembled as she offered it to McTavish, though her grateful smile was abjectly genuine. “Thank you, Inspector. I shall sleep better tonight knowing you have that fiend in your custody.”
If Argent allowed her to sleep at all.
“A sentiment I share.” McTavish paused. “And might I say I’m a rather fervent admirer of yers. I saw ye in Paris two years ago, if ye’d believe it. I’d just wandered into the theater needing to hear some of the Queen’s English, and it was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my entire trip.”
“You are too kind.” Millie turned and addressed Throckmorton. “Please make certain that the inspector here has tickets to the next production, gratis, of course.”
“Of course,” Throckmorton agreed genially, though his eyes dimmed when McTavish quit the room.
She couldn’t bring herself to look at Argent though his regard still raised chill bumps on her skin. Gratitude overshadowed her fear. He’d done as he promised and protected her boy.
But at a price.
Every time her eyes found the silent, disturbingly still man, his body hurled words at her that she’d rather ignore. His tremendous shoulders bespoke an uncompromising strength that hinted at a way of life far beyond her comprehension. What must a man do to build a frame such as his? What feats must he endure?
His arctic eyes said,Approach at your peril.
When in his vicinity, every survival instinct she possessed alerted the primitive woman within the cultured lady.Run,it told her. Run as fast and far as you are able, and pray that he doesn’t choose to follow.
But part of her acknowledged there would be no escape. Not from him. He wasn’t the sort of hunter to cull the weak from the herd. He honed in on his prey and was relentless in the chase, precise in the capture, and absolutely lethal.
Millie understood now, more than she had before, that evil had her and Jakub in its sights. That her destruction would be its persistent goal, turning her charmed reality into a twisted nightmare.
Christopher Argent was a creature born of nightmares, a man who looked evil in the face and challenged it to a duel. Millie acknowledged that in this instance, she didn’t need a white knight, but a shadow that could traverse the darkness with the cunning and speed of that lethal viper.
It was the only way she and her son would survive this. He’d proven that tonight, when he’d saved her precious child. Every time she looked up at him, she was reminded that everything in this world had a price. And she’d gladly pay it for the boy clinging to her hand.
Her belly quivered.
It was time for the devil to collect his due.
“Let’s get you home, my son.” Millie gathered herself and Jakub, but the stage manager blocked the door.
“But darling, you forget, the theater benefactors will be gathering at the Costumes and Cocktails soiree in the grand foyer. How would it look if our star was not in attendance?”
Millie made a sound of disbelief. “But Mr. Throckmorton, after such an ordeal, you couldn’t possibly expect—”
“No, no, of courseIwouldn’t, but the benefactors, you see, and the contract you signed… what would you say to the lawyers and solicitors?”
“I don’t know what I’d say to them.” The look she directed at Throckmorton caused him to step back. “But I’d take a word or two from Mr. Argent’s vocabulary. Now I am bringing my distraught sonhomethis instant and putting him to bed.”
“But if you don’t go, they might not pay you—”
“They’ll pay her.” Argent’s voice cut through the room like a guillotine. “And you’ll step out of her path.”
The stage manager blanched.
Millie put a hand to her own throat. Heavens, that voice could probably command the sea if he so desired. Mr. Throckmorton trembled, and the assassin behind her hadn’t even issued a legitimate threat.
He hadn’t needed to.
