Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26

S omething didn't feel right.

Fitz had hoped to avoid this night in the first place. He had been certain that Madeline would come forward and tell them of any plans she had been approached with.

But unfortunately, nothing had come to fruition and here they were.

His skin crawled just from being here, as if his body knew that it should be at home with Eliza instead of within such an establishment, even if his mind knew his true purpose, which was to bring this to a finish in order to protect her.

He had noted that all of the suspects were here – Baxter, Brighton, and even Mandrake, who he still considered as the person who would have most reason to want to do away with him.

He recognized all of the detectives situated around the gaming hell and had been sure to place his drink in opportune positions to invite poisoning multiple times.

When nothing occurred, Archibald's second man, Pip, signalled him to enter the private room. Fitz had leaned over to Madeline to tell her that it was time to move to the next step in their plan. She had nodded in apparent delight before leading him down the corridor to the agreed-upon room where Archibald was waiting, hidden behind a heavy curtain in the corner.

Fitz stepped in, surprised that the room which at one time in his life had seemed a haven away from the rest of the world now caused him nothing but discomfort. Archibald was so well hidden that even Fitz, who knew he was there, couldn't see him.

"What do we do now?" he asked the room itself. "Wait?"

"I believe that is the plan," Madeline answered him, even though she had not been the one to whom he was directing his question.

"No one reached out to you, Madeline?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he studied her, recalling Eliza's words.

"No," she said, shaking her head, although she was looking at the candle she was lighting and not at him. "Not directly."

Fitz's nerves were on edge. He couldn't say why, but all was not right.

"Archibald?' he called out. "Are you still here?"

When silence met him, he stood and began to pace across the room, flicking back the curtain where Archibald was supposed to be.

He wasn't there.

At least, he wasn't standing there.

Fitz's heart began pounding even harder when he found the detective lying prostrate on the floor.

He didn't have time to check if he was still breathing, for he heard the all-too-familiar sound of a click behind him as a pistol was readied to fire. He whirled around, only to find Madeline standing there with a gun in her hand, pointed directly at him.

Her hand was shaking, and while that told him that she wasn't completely comfortable with what she was doing, he also knew that a gun was often never more dangerous than in the hands of a scared holder.

He held his hands up in front of him. "Madeline," he said slowly, trying to reason with her. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry, Fitz," she said, true regret in her eyes. "I wanted to say no, but he upped the amount he offered. I couldn't turn it down."

"Who is he ?"

"The—the gentleman that I told you about."

As she spoke, a curtain across the room moved, and what had been a hidden door opened, revealing another woman he didn't recognize.

"Who are you?" Madeline demanded, her eyes flicking over to her in fear.

Madeline's concern did not bode well for Fitz.

"I am here in case you cannot do the job," the other woman said, her eyes cold and glittering. Fitz knew he might have been able to talk Madeline out of this, but he was certain this other woman would be much more determined to finish the job. Finish him.

"He didn't trust me?" Madeline said indignantly.

"You do not seem to be a person that anyone should trust," Fitz couldn't help but remark, although that didn't seem to help matters, for it only caused Madeline's hand to become slightly steadier when she pointed the gun at him.

Fitz sighed. Eliza had been right. He would have reminded himself to always trust her in the future, except he had a feeling that he wasn't going to have much of a future after this. If Archibald was down, Fitz didn't want to think about what that meant for the rest of the men who were standing in wait.

Madeline must have shared the part of the plan that she had been aware of with his adversary, but Fitz could only hope that she had been kept in the dark enough that some of the detectives could maintain their disguises.

His eyes kept flicking to the door, waiting for one of them to enter.

To his great relief, just as it seemed the second woman narrowed her eyes, likely about to pull her trigger, the door pushed open.

Only, it wasn't one of the detectives who entered.

It was Eliza.

Fitz's mouth dropped open as he forgot, for a moment, where they were and what was happening.

All he could focus on was her beauty, her courage – and, he would admit, the way her breasts were nearly popping out of the most scandalous gown he had ever seen.

Then he remembered that the entire reason he had put this plan into place was to ensure her safety, and here she was, right amid the chaos and two guns, one which was pointed at him and the other at her.

"I knew it!" she crowed as she glared at the women who threatened him. "Take your guns off of my husband!"

Fitz didn't think he had ever loved her more.

Eliza's moment of panic at being caught had quickly diminished when the hands that had grabbed her dropped just as fast. Levi had come to the rescue.

The man certainly knew how to fight. She supposed years at war would do that.

She was never more grateful for her friend's choice of husband than at that moment. She had barely blinked by the time Levi had wrestled the man off of her and to the ground.

"Lord Brighton," she muttered in disgust, nudging him with her toe before she returned her attention to Levi. "What did you do to him?"

"A simple trick I learned years ago. He's asleep but he will wake up soon enough," Levi said. "We best act fast."

Eliza nodded as Levi bent, whipping off his cravat and using it to fasten the man's hands behind him. Eliza, however, didn't have time to wait as she pushed open the door and stepped into the room.

It was heavily scented in musky fragrances, with sweeping, jeweled-toned curtains surrounding the room. The bed was placed in the center of it all. She was nearly sick right where she stood at the thought of Fitz here with any of these women, but that was the past, she reminded herself. Their future was together.

All that fled from her mind, for there was Fitz, caught in the center of the room beside the bed, two pistols trained upon him by women on either side.

"I knew it!" she couldn't help but exclaim at Madeline's role in all of this, although she appeared rather uncertain. "Take your guns off of my husband!"

"I can't," Madeline said in just over a whisper, her eyes flicking to Eliza for a moment. "You don't understand."

Remembering what Fitz had told her about Madeline, her daughter, and her need to provide for her, Eliza took a small step toward her, more compassion filling her than she would have thought when it was towards a woman who currently held a gun aimed at her husband. "I understand that you are only doing what you feel is best for your family, but I can assure you that your daughter is far better with you in her life than as an orphan after her mother is hanged for murder."

Madeline began blinking rapidly as her eyes filled with tears.

"That is easy for you to say. You have no idea what it is like to be within my circumstances."

"You are right. I don't," Eliza said, hating that her heart did feel for this woman, as, no matter how dire her own situation might have felt, Eliza had always known that she would have someone to look after her. If not Fitz, then her father or her brother. This woman could only rely on one person and one person alone – herself.

"There are people who would help you if you'd let us. Fitz would. I would."

"It's too late," Madeline said in a shaky voice. "He'll kill me."

"No, he won't," Levi said from behind Madeline. "He is rather… incapacitated at the moment."

"I think you are all forgetting something," the woman from across the room interjected. " I have nothing to lose. I have no daughter to worry about, no cares in the world at all. I am not threatened by you, nor is the man who hired us, for you cannot prove anything."

She walked over toward Fitz, but her eyes were on Levi. She began shaking her head.

"I wouldn't try that, if I were you, Duke of Death. Oh, yes, I have heard about you. You might be quite the shot, but you best leave that pistol where it belongs, or I will kill your friend here before you can even remove it from your waistband. Some of us can be just as good of a shot without the benefit of war, did you know that? If the army would have taken me, they would have had quite the asset, let me assure you."

"You're Lady Danger," Madeline breathed out from where she stood across the room, her own pistol lowered, at least. "I have heard of you."

"Heard of me, perhaps," the woman said smugly. "Most who see my face once do not live to see it again."

Eliza's heart beat fast. If Madeline and Levi were scared of this woman, then what chance did it leave any of them?

Eliza locked eyes with Fitz, who was ignoring them all as he continued to stare at her.

"I love you," he mouthed toward her, and her eyes widened as she realized that he had given up – that he was going to give himself up – likely to save her.

"No," she shook her head as she cried out the words, ready to launch herself toward him – just as the small dagger went sailing by her, right toward Fitz.

Fitz knew when he heard the words "Lady Danger" that there was no way they were all getting out of this alive. The woman was known throughout England for her prowess. A hired assassin, one who had been taking the papers by storm, for she was unable to be caught by even the best detectives in the land.

There was only one way out – by sacrificing himself. He was who she wanted. If he could distract her long enough, Levi should be able to take care of her and save the rest of them.

As she reached her left hand behind her and closed it around something that he knew would be another weapon, he leaped forward to take her down with him – but when he went flying forward into the air, he landed with an "oof" on the sofa bed before him as the dagger went sailing over his head and landed with a thud in the wall behind him.

He scrambled to his feet to ensure that Eliza was well, only to first see Archibald, tying the hands of Lady Danger behind her.

"Archibald," he said in relief. "I thought you were dead."

"Fortunately, I have a hard head," the detective said, rubbing a spot on the back of his head, his hand coming away red when he dropped it. "It was sufficient, however, to knock me out long enough."

He looked around the room. "Is everyone well?"

Eliza stared back at him with an expression of disbelief as Levi was currently occupied with divesting Madeline of her pistol.

Then Henrietta's face appeared around the doorway, and Fitz groaned aloud.

"How many of you came?" he asked, his relief fleeting at concern that they had all put themselves in danger.

"Dot and Sloane are here too," Henrietta said. "But they were with Mouse in front."

"Is it over?" he asked, looking at Levi, who nodded slowly, his good eye fixed upon him.

"I hope so," he said. "It appears Brighton was the one behind this all."

"Brighton?" Fitz repeated, surprised. "I didn't think he had it in him, truly."

"There will be much to discuss," Archibald said. "But I think we would all prefer to do it in your drawing room rather than in the middle of this hell or brothel or whatever you call this place. Lady Danger will be coming with me, but as for Brighton and Miss Madeline. Their fates are up to you."

Fitz looked over at Madeline, who appeared near to collapsing.

"Eliza?" he asked his wife. He wanted to have mercy on Madeline, but he wouldn't if it would make Eliza uncomfortable. She was the one who now mattered most.

She crossed the room, stopping in front of Madeline, who appeared wary. Eliza reached out, surprising them all by taking her bound hands in her grasp.

"You will take your daughter and you will leave this city," she said firmly yet, strangely, kindly. "My issue with you is that you have now threatened my husband's life twice, and I cannot sleep well knowing that you are nearby, perhaps willing to do so again. If you leave us be, then I have no issue in seeing you go free without charge. You obviously care deeply for your daughter, and I have no wish to see a child motherless."

Madeline nodded slowly. "Thank you. I can do that." She looked from Eliza to Fitz and back again. "I am truly sorry."

Fitz rocked back and forth. He hadn't cared as much when he was the only one in danger, but now that Eliza was part of it…

"I am not certain how truly sorry you are, Madeline, or else you would never have taken such an action a second time. You are lucky, however, that my wife has a forgiving heart."

Eliza shook her head, not denying his words but also not taking the credit.

"I cannot see how, as a woman who is going to become a mother soon myself, I could advocate to take away the mother of another child," she said. "But I do have to consider my own family and safety. I can only hope that all of this is behind us now."

Madeline, her face pale, nodded and began to slip out of the room as though she was worried that they might change their minds – which was a valid concern.

Fitz had no problems letting her go.

"Eliza?" he said, turning to his wife. "Let's get out of here."

"Gladly," she said, smiling as she took a step toward him.

He couldn't wait to wrap his arms around her and show her how much he had missed her, even if it had just been for a few hours. He needed to revel in the feelings of relief and safety once more. The look on her face told him that she felt the same, but just as they took a step toward one another, concern flashed over her eyes.

She stopped for a brief moment before crumpling forward – his heart sinking to the ground along with her.