“According to Emmerich, it’s probably one of the coffins that hasn’t been assigned to anyone yet,” he said. “It’s a tomb for some future von Westen.”
“Right.” That made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. “So if nobody has occupied that tomb…”
“Those claw marks are relatively recent,” he said.
“Oh my goodness.”
“It’s not necessarily Berta.” He paused to look over his shoulder, as if to make sure that the others were out of earshot. “Maybe this has happened before.”
“What?”
“I mean, if you wanted to kill somebody and get rid of them, this would be the perfect place to do it. This might not be this castle’s first murder spree—”
“Stop.” She closed her eyes, desperate to take a second to gather her wits. When she opened them again, she looked right into Gabriel’s green eyes. Green eyes that seemed to burn with their own flames. There was no fear on his face. None.
Instead, she saw resolve. Beneath that, something else. Passion. No, something far more primal. His gaze was possessive.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.
“Like what?”
“Like you’re the hunter and I’m the prey,” she replied, a tingle running down her spine.
“If you want to accuse me of something, then spit it out.”
“Tell me you have nothing to do with any of this.”
“I have nothing to do with this, Jane,” he said flatly.
Jane wanted to believe him. To trust him. Every part of her body demanded that. She craved his touch too much to give him up now. “How can you be so calm, then? So unafraid after what we just saw?”
“Goals have a way of keeping me focused,” he said. “Right now, my goal is you.”
“Me?”
He leaned forward, his gaze unwavering. “I will protect you.”
She shivered at the hunger blazing in his eyes. “I thought you said no knight was coming to my rescue.”
“I’m not a knight.” He got up, threw the gun sling over his shoulder, and held out his hand to her. “Knights have honor. I have none. Which means that I’ll handle anybody who comes after you without mercy.”
The place between her legs quivered and she almost forgot to breathe. Reaching for his large hand, she allowed him to help her to her feet. The sensation of her hand enveloped in his much larger one made her stomach do flips. No matter how hard she tried to stay calm around Gabriel, she couldn’t help but react to him.
No man had ever been so driven to protect her before. Most of her relationship with men had been all surface-level. Though she had longed for passion in her own life, she had never experienced this intense sort of attraction. They were explosive together. It scared her. Being this out of control with a man was a brand new experience for her, and it shook her to her core.
When she stared into his eyes again, she thought about asking him to reconsider. Thought about telling him there was no point in him risking his life just for her. She wasn’t worth the trouble, when he had his own safety to think of. But when she looked into his eyes, she wavered. The hard stare that dared her to contradict him silenced her. There was no talking him out of anything. Least of all this.
He’d kill for her. Jane knew that without having to ask.
With her hand still in his, they walked to the others to talk over their next plan of action. They soon settled on getting something to eat and then barricading themselves in one of the enormous bedrooms on one of the upper floors. There was a bathroom and a kitchenette close by, so the room seemed well chosen.
Ordinarily she would have found the room cozy, but terror pervaded everything. Jane was too exhausted to point out her fear. That in trying to keep the danger out, they might have been unwittingly locking themselves in with the killer. For all she knew, the manservant was just waiting to turn his rifle on them all and finish them off.
She shivered as she headed over to a mattress to claim it.
Though the storm was still raging outside, the groundskeeper made yet another phone call to the authorities to inform them about Berta’s disappearance. Once again the police promised to get to Wintergarten as quickly as possible, but they were having a hard time getting through so many feet of snow.
There was nothing they could do but try to stay alive and wait out the storm. When night fell, they got onto mattresses and into sleeping bags that Agnes had insisted on laying out for them. Then, with Gabriel taking charge, the men decided to keep watch through the night, with the groundskeeper taking first watch.
It took forever for Jane to sleep. Between the howling wind and her fear that she was trapped in the bedroom with a murderer, sleep didn’t come easily at all. Only Gabriel’s presence, as he got into the sleeping bag beside her, calmed her enough to eventually drift off to sleep.
She woke up the next morning to the smell of coffee.
Gabriel was shaking her shoulder gently, a steaming mug of coffee in his outstretched hand. “Morning. Thought you could use this.”
Jane took the mug gratefully and took a sip that warmed her. “It’s chilly in here.”
“The fire died down, so the groundskeeper is getting it going again,” Gabriel said, gesturing to the fireplace. Everyone else was already awake and seemingly glued to their cell phones for some reason. “Sleep well?”
“Well enough.”
He helped her to her feet and they moved to sit by the fireplace. “Got some good news this morning.”
“You’ve found Berta?”
“No, unfortunately,” he said with a sad shake of his head. “Cell phone service and Wi-Fi are back.”
“So, does that mean the police are on their way?”
“They’re trying to get through the snow now since they’re still unable to fly in this weather,” he replied. “The storm has died down somewhat, so they’re going to
