CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
DRAGO COULD ALMOST hear Eva’s heart pounding while she tied the bandage around Gibb’s hand. A small vein in her temple throbbed madly. By the firm set of her beautiful almond-shaped eyes, Pakenham’s orders vexed her as much as they did him.
Still, she’d not acknowledged him since she first noticed his presence, and it took all his inner fortitude to refrain from swooping her into his arms and clutching her to his chest in relief. God, to breathe her in now would likely destroy him. But with her so close and so untouchable, tiny fissures in his heart splintered off with every tick of the clock.
How in the hell did they get behind the battle line? Where was Julian?
His gut clenched at the thought of Eva and Jacqueline unprotected and at the mercy of the British army. Raul would not have left them willingly. Something happened. One thing was certain. It would be much harder to execute an escape now. The risks he would have taken with the men would be too dangerous for her and the twins. And he sure as hell wasn’t leaving without them.
“Cadet Smythe, please enter.” Pakenham’s order was immediately followed by the opening of the door; a young soldier burst in and saluted smartly.
“Yes, my lord.”
“Dispatch the ladies to the hospital and the captain to the stockade,” he instructed.
“Yes, my lord.”
They preceded the cadet from the house. Drago’s arms ached to grab both girls into his embrace. Instead, he managed to whisper a short message in Jacqueline’s ear concerning the feline. They walked as far as the kitchen garden before Jacqueline stopped abruptly.
“Oh! My kitten!” She spun then paused to address the cadet. “May I go back for her? Please?”
He gave her a long blink and sighed. “Be quick about it, Miss. We’ll not wait long for you.”
Eva calmly folded her hands in front of her. “Regardless of the length of her absence, I will await her here, if you don’t mind.”
The soft tone of Eva’s voice contained both iron and silk, and Drago found himself once again admiring her strength and resilience. The robes and veil did more than mask her scar. It was easy to forget she spent most of her childhood a street urchin.
The cadet frowned. “My orders are to escort you back to the hospital and him back to--“
“Digging latrines,” Drago finished with false brightness. “A lovely task, that.” He lifted a brow, determined to distract the soldier long enough for Jacqueline to complete her assignment. “What regiment are you in, cadet?”
He leveled a cool stare at Drago. “The 15th foot soldiers, led by General Mullins.”
Eva took in a sharp breath. Slight as the sound was, he detected it and gave her a curious glance.
Her eyes widened. “That’s the one just ordered to the front line!”
“Sorry to hear that,” Drago said, shaking his head. They were definitely going to need help with their escape. Things might not be as bleak as he originally thought.
“Wh-what?” the cadet asked, eyeing both of them warily.
Drago expelled a sad sigh. It wasn’t hard to generate pity for him; the young man had yet to sprout his first whisker. He nodded toward Eva. “Your regiment has orders to carry the fascines and ladders to Line Jackson so that the troops who follow can climb the levee and attack.”
Cadet Smythe paled, then swallowed. “How do you know this?” He whitened further when he saw the horrified expression on Eva’s face.
The young soldier’s outlook truly was dreadful. But Drago wasn’t about to spare him any of the ghastly details. “You’ll receive the full brunt of the musket fire from the Kentucky sharpshooters. It will not be just the sugar cane fascines the other soldiers step on to traverse the water-filled moat.”
The young man paled and stepped back. He pulled up his coat collar, his hand trembling. “We...we must all do our duty to our king,” he said hoarsely.
“Your courage at this moment is impressive. But futile,” Drago observed. The recruit was a dead man walking. Or dead boy walking, sadly.
“Edward,” Eva whispered. “Come with us.”
His eyebrows jumped off his forehead at Eva’s words. Her compassion didn’t surprise him, but what did she mean come with us? Had they already devised a plan to escape? That thought terrified him.
The cadet stiffened and ground his jaw. “I’m not a coward. I’ll not be a filthy deserter.”
Drago didn’t miss the familiarity between them. “Young man, it’s obvious that you’re not a coward. If you wish to forfeit your life, that is your choice. If you help us get away from the camp, I’ll see that you have a place aboard my ship for as long as you desire it.”
“If you’d rather stay in America, you have a home here,” Eva added. “You’ve become dear to me, Edward. It would break my heart if you were killed tomorrow.”
Edward swallowed convulsively and looked away. “I cannot.”