Lords of Honor (88 page)

Charlie’s eyelids fluttered open.

“You hold on, Charlie
.
I’m going to go get some light-“

A
t that moment the entry hall
beyond
filled with loud male voices
and the thunder of boots upon the marble floor
.

“I need some light in here
!
Charlie and Libby are hurt!” Micah called.

Micah knelt beside Charlie
.
“
Help’s coming
, Charlie
.
Hold on
, my friend
.”
Micah laid a hand on Charlie’s shoulder
.
He looked to
his wife
.
He t
ook in her torn clothing
.
“Sweetheart, did Davitt, hurt you?”

“No
.”
She shook her head. “He was about to
.
I screamed
.
Gabriel told me to scream
.
Afterward,
he hit me in the face
again
.
I blacked out, I think.”

“He did not have
a
chance
, Micah
.
You came…
right after
…
he hit her
,” Charlie rasped
.
“I would have
got
him
,
still have a pistol
…
in m
’
coat
.”

Micah nodded to his friend.
“I know you would’ve, Charlie.”

Harry, Trevan, Gabriel and Owen entered carrying
lit
candelabra.

Micah stood and removed his coat
.
He
helped Libby into it
to cover her
torn garments
,
and pulled her gently to her feet.

When the light arrived, Owen and Micah
looked over
Libby, while Harry and Trevan checked on Charlie
.

Gabriel
went to
look at
Davitt
.
“
We got
Davitt and Crow?”

Micah nodded.

“How did they get in?”

“I have no idea
.
I don’t know where Tristan is either
.
He was on watch with Charlie.” Micah supplied.

Charlie spoke
.
His voice was weak
and raspy
.
“They got Lachlan
…
one of Trevan’s cousins
.
They came through the kitchens
.
That’s where
…
Davitt got me
.
H
eard a noise
,
I left Tristan upstairs
.
I
did not see him
…
after
,
”
Charlie sai
d with much difficulty
.
“I tried to make it back to the stairs…I couldn’t.”
He clearly was
having trouble breathing.

Trevan rose to his feet
after inspecting Charlie’s wound
.

“
Should we move Charlie upstairs and
make him comfortable
while we await the doctor
?” Harry asked
concernedly
as he knelt beside his friend
.

Tears glittered in Trevan’s eyes
.
He shook his head
.
“No
, Harry
.
We just need to make him comfortable here.”
Trevan opkked to Charlie.

Charlie nodded.
Bloody bubbles f
ormed at the corner of his
mouth
.
Harry wiped them away with his handkerchief
.
“Stay still, Charlie
.
Just rest
for now
.
”

Trevan
walked
to
ward
Libby
. He whispered to Micah and Owen
.
“You both need to stay with Charlie. He doesn’t have much time.”

They nodded solemnly.

“Libby, I’m going to take you upstairs to your bed
.
You’ve got a nasty gash on top of your head that needs tending, and it
appears
you took a
nasty facer
.
I’ll have the ladies look after you until the doctor arrives.”

“I should stay with Charlie,” Libby protested.

“No, Pet
.
Mic
ah and I will stay with Charlie,
”
Owen shook his head
.

“You go on, sweetheart
.
I’ll be up soon.” Micah placed a kiss to her forehead
.

“Tell Charlie…” Libby
found it difficult to speak
.

“He knows we love him, Libby,” Owen k
issed her temple
.
“Go upstairs.
Charlie wouldn’t want
you here
.
He would not want you
to see him this way, p
et
.”

Libby nodded
.
Tears welled in her eyes
.

“Once I deposit Libby upstairs, I’ll search for Tristan
.
I’ll be back as soon as I can,
”
Trevan said as he carr
ied
Libby from the room.

They nodded
.

Libby looked
up
at Trevan
as he carried her
, “Charlie’s going to die?”

“Yes, Libby
.
He was stabbed too near the heart and through the lung
.
There’s nothing can be done
,” Trevan said softly.

“He saved Micah
.
And me,”
Libby wiped at a tear that rolled down her face
.

Lyon met Trevan and Libby on the stairs
.
Lyon’s eyes searched Libby’s face
.
“Are you harmed, Libby?”

“I think I’m fine
.
How is Sophia, Lyon?”

“She’s come too
.
I was worried for a little while
.
Crow pushed her down the stairs, I don’t know if she broke an
ything
.
Chilcompton’s surgeon
is on his way.”

“Micah? Charlie? Tristan?” Lyon looked
to
Trevan.

“Micah is
unharmed
.
He got Davitt
.
No one knows where Tristan is
.
You need to get to the long gallery, Lyon and see Charlie
.
He won’t make it much longer
.
Was it you that got Crow, Lyon?
”

Lyon nodded
.
“
Yes,
I got Crow
.
Charlie
!
Damn
and blast!
”
he
cursed
softly
.
“I’m on my way
.”
With a lump in his throat and tears threatening, Lyon went to
find
Charlie.

“You’ll
look after m’sisters
…and my parents
,
” Charlie asked softly
.
He wheezed and made a gurgling noise.

“I will.” Owen nodded
.
He knelt beside his dear friend.

“W
e
all will, Charlie
,” Micah offered
.
“Don’t worry about them
.
We will always see that they are
safe and
well.
”

“You’ll see to it
m’sisters
marry properly
.”
Charlie made a choking sound
.
Owen wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth
.
“
No bounders
.
No
fortune hunters.
”

“Absolutely,” Micah said
.
Owen agreed.

Micah
stepped back when Lyon approached
, allowing
Lyon
to
take his place in the circle of friends gathered around Charlie, which now included Gabriel and Wyldhurst.

“Charlie?” Lyon
gazed upon
his friend.

“
Sophia
…
is well?”

“I think she’ll be fine, Charlie
.”

“
Miss Libby was
…
bleeding.”
Charlie’s breathing was raspier
.
More shallow
.
His breath
s
seemed labored
.

“
Libby seems to be well
enough
, Charlie
.
Rest
a little
while
,”
Lyon
said
as he laid his hand on his friend’s arm
.

Trevan
returned with Newt and Jack
on his heels.

“Did you find Tristan?” Micah whispered.

“He’s not in the house
.
No one’s seen him
.”
Trevan shook his head.
“I’ll search outside momentarily.”

Newt and Elveston knelt down beside Charlie
.

Newt laid a hand on Charlie’s shoulder
.
“We’ll get these bastards, Charlie
.
Don’t worry
, Jack and I,
we’ll
make certain
your family
is always
safe.”

“We’ll check on them often, Charlie.” Jack said somberly.

Charlie did not try to speak
.
He merely nodded
.

The sounds of Charlie struggling
to breathe
were painful for his friends to bear
.
Long minutes ticked by.

Jack
took Charlie’s hand
in his
when he began to panic because he could not get a breath.
Charlie squeeze
d his hand
tightly as he tried to breathe.
“We’re here, Charlie
.
We’re all here
with you
,” Jack said in as calm a voice as he could manage.

Micah
closed his eyes
.
He
took a deep breath and
said a quick prayer
asking
Archangel Michael
to
put an end to
Charlie’s
suffering and give him a
quick and
peaceful death
.
It was
becoming
difficult to watch
Charlie
suffer and try
desperately
to
draw a
breath
.

The group of friends stood in somber silence as Charlie began to slip away
.

“Ah,” Charlie gave a small smile
several minutes later,

“T
he Angel,
” Charlie gasped
.
His eyes closed
.
“Must go
.
The
Light must prevail-
”
He gasped deeply
.

Charlie’s chest stilled
.
There was another
deep
, rasping breath
to lift Charlie’s bloody chest
less than a minute later
.
Only c
hilling
silence
followed
.
A
peaceful smile
remained
on Charlie’s face.