Free Glorious Victorious Darcys 01.5 - His Broken Angel by Beth Ciotta Page B

fit, are you?”
    “No.” Lily breathed deep.
Slow and easy
, she could hear Doc say. She calmed her spirit, determined to prove she wasn’t a mouse. “I am confused though. Spell it out for me, P.J.”
    “I’ll catch bloody hell for this. I just know it.” The woman grunted then sighed. “I can only tell you what I know and what we’ve surmised. The rest is locked inside your brain.”
    Lily drank more ale. She wasn’t sure she liked the taste, but she liked the soothing effect. “Go on.”
    “I’ll spare you tactical details. Just know that we spent weeks coordinating a plan that would allow us to abduct Prime Minister Madstone without any bloodshed. The
Britannia
was disabled midflight with one precisely aimed cannon blast. I remained at the helm of the
Crusader
. Jasper, Snoop, Viper, and Joey boarded the zeppelin as planned, but everything ran amok from there. The Prime Minister was not where he was supposed to be. Gunfire broke out on the deck above, alerting British soldiers to a hostile invasion. Those soldiers were positioned on the same floor as our squad, Deck B, and when they spotted us they attacked. Jasper and crew had no choice but to fight back, but I swear they had no part in the mayhem above.”
    “Who did?” Lily asked wide-eyed.
    “We don’t know. But you do. You must. The hostile attack took place on Deck A. The dining area, lounge, writing room, and several passenger cabins were on that deck.
You
were on that deck. Jasper caught sight of you running across a grated gangway, your gown billowing behind you. He said the ship rocked with a second explosion just as you were descending the stair tower.”
    Lily licked her lips as her ears started to roar. “I slipped.”
    “And plunged down the stairs amidst wreckage from the explosion. It’s a wonder you didn’t break your neck,” P.J. said, sounding more animated by the moment. “Your dress … it was torn and soaked in blood. Only some of it yours. The majority … It had to come from the massacre.”
    Lily’s stomach churned as her mind exploded with red. Gushing red. Dripping red. Flowing red. “A river of blood.”
    P.J. clutched her hand. “You remember!”
    “No. Can’t.” Lily squeezed back tears, summoned the blackness. She heard creaking, smelled bay rum.
    “What’s going on?” she heard a man ask.
    King
. He was back.
    Lily shook out of her daze. She would not crumble!
    “Go on and give me hell,” P.J. said, “but she asked and I told her. What I could anyway. I’m leaving. Need to keep watch for Jasper and a few other things that’ll keep me busy through the night. You can bunk in Viper’s room one door down,” she said to Doc, “or stretch out here on the floor. There’s an extra bed roll in the corner.”
    The legs of the chair scraped across the floor. “Sorry I upset you, Lily,” P.J. continued, “but ignoring the atrocity won’t change the fact that it happened. Recollecting could save other lives. Our lives to start.” P.J stalked out of the room and shut the door.
    Doc gripped her shoulder. “You all right?”
    “I’m confused.”
    “I know.” He pulled her up and into his arms.
    Lily took comfort in his strong embrace, his empathetic yet stalwart manner.
    “I’m thinking Snoop filled me in on the same tale you got from P.J. If they’re right, I don’t fancy you reliving the horror. But you need to, angel.”
    “Because it will help Jasper and his crew?”
    “Because it will help you.” He finessed her across the room and down onto the bed. Seated side by side, Lily’s
sweetheart
squeezed her hand. “Want to know what I learned? What I think?”
    She nodded.
    “Snoop’s a Freak. His supernatural gift is clairvoyance.”
    “He can read minds?”
    “Back in skytown, every time he was in your cabin he listened in on your thoughts, hoping to glean details regarding what you witnessed on the
Britannia
. But any time a memory welled you blocked it. Snoop also said you hadn’t been