“Everyone down on the floor!” Virgil shouted.
Sobbing, whimpering, the women lay, covering their heads to protect themselves from further debris. The air was blue with curses as the men dropped to their knees.
Except for the sound of several women weeping, the crowded room fell deathly quiet.
“That’s better,” “Virgil said. “Now stay where you are till I leave. I’m in a hurry to get the lady away from here.”
“Where are you taking her?” Lily demanded.
“Someplace where we can be alone.” He laughed, a high, shrill sound that scraped across nerves already strung as tightly as bowstrings. He glanced around in triumph. “Don’t look so sad, ladies and gentlemen. After all, this is a house of pleasure. I’m just doing what any red-blooded Californian would do. Only I don’t want any cheap whores. I prefer the madam herself. And I’m going to have my fun without paying for it.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” Nevada’s tone was calm and steady as he stepped through a doorway directly in front of the gunman, blocking his path. In his hand was his six-shooter. “This is about to cost you dearly, Trent.”
For a moment Virgil froze, seeing the gun pointed at his chest. But it was the look in Nevada’s eyes that had him sweating. It was the cool, deadly look of a seasoned killer.
‘Virgil tightened his grasp on Jade and jammed his pistol against her temple. “Maybe you weren’t listening. I said I’d blow her away if any man drew a gun.”
“Oh, I was listening. And I decided to call your bluff.” Nevada took a step closer, until he could taste the stranger’s fear.
He forced himself not to look at Jade. For to look at her, he would be reminded of all he was risking. He couldn’t afford to lose his edge now. Instead, he stared directly into the gunman’s eyes until he detected the flicker of fear.
It was all he needed. His tone was deceptively soft as he said, “I’ve just run out of patience, Trent. Either you drop your weapon and release the lady or you’ll never see another sunrise. Or bed another woman.”
“You’re bluffing.” A trickle of sweat beaded Virgil’s forehead and began to run down the side of his face.
“There’s one way to find out.”
Virgil glanced around, seeking an escape. But the man in front of him blocked the only exit. His voice rose to a shrill chant. “If I can’t have her, nobody can.”
What happened next had everyone gasping. Virgil’s finger tightened on the trigger of his gun, alerting Nevada to the fact that he was prepared to make good his threat. In the blink of an eye, before he could fire, Nevada’s hand snaked out, yanking Jade free and shoving her roughly to the floor, out of the range of the bullet. There was a tremendous explosion of sound as both guns fired simultaneously.
For what seemed an eternity the two men stood facing each other, their faces twisted into masks of fury. Then, like a puppet dancing slowly on a string, Virgil’s hand relaxed and his gun fell to the floor. His eyes widened in surprise as he sank to his knees, then slumped facedown.
Chaos erupted as the crowd got to its feet and began to surge forward. But suddenly they fell back as Nevada turned and they caught sight of him. Blood spilled from his chest, soaking the front of his shirt. The hand grasping the pistol dropped to his side. His face was ashen, his features contorted with pain.
“Like I said,” he managed to gasp between clenched teeth, “this is my night for winning.”
It was clear that he was gravely wounded. It was only by sheer force of will that he was still standing.
Chapter Thirteen
“Help me!” Jade’s voice shattered the stunned silence as she caught Nevada by the arm before he could sink to the floor.
Several of the men hurried forward and urged him down onto a sofa.
Too weak to argue, he gritted his teeth against the pain. His eyes closed as he felt his life’s blood slowly ebb.
“Let me have a look at him. I’m a doctor,” came a voice close by.
But though Nevada could feel fingers probing and voices fading in and out of his consciousness, he couldn’t seem to rouse himself enough to open his eyes.
“Forget about me,” he whispered. “See to Lee Yin.”
“The Oriental will live,” came the same deep voice. “It’s just a superficial wound. The man you shot, however, is dead. And you’re going to join him, my friend, unless you put up the fight of your life.”
Nevada had been carried up the stairs to Jade’s suite. The crowd had been dispersed. Only Jade, Lily and the doctor remained.
A hushed, breathless silence hung over the room, punctuated by the shallow breathing of the man on the bed.
Outside in the hallway, the women of the house milled about, speaking in whispers, peering intently through the partially open door as the drama unfolded.
The flicker of lantern light made eerie patterns on the walls and ceiling as the doctor’s hands moved through an intricate dance of cutting, probing, tying, sponging.
A clock ticked on the mantel. It could have been hours, or mere minutes. Jade had lost all sense of time and place. She knew only that this man had given no thought to his own life while saving hers. She would do no less.
She had been taught since infancy to bear all of life’s burdens stoically. But though she calmly assisted the doctor, handing him instruments, tearing strips of linen, her mind was in turmoil. She had been forced to accept the deaths of her beloved parents. Would she now have to face the death of the only man she’d ever loved?
Love. She was so stunned by the thought she could hardly breathe. How could she love a gunman? Especially one who had lied to her? Whose whole life had been a lie?
And yet, try as she might to deny it, she knew it to be true. Though it was completely illogical, she loved this man who hovered between life and death. Loved him as she would never love another man. He had broken through her wall of reserve. Had pierced the armor of her heart and claimed it for his own. And though she had fought to ignore him, had intended never to see him again, he had won.
“Jade?”
At the sound of her name she looked up in confusion.
Lily said gently, “The doctor needs more linen.”
“Yes. Of course.” She handed the dressings to the doctor and watched as he bound Nevada’s wounds.
“Is he…” Lily glanced at Jade and spoke the question she knew was in her young friend’s heart. “Will he live, doctor?”
“That’s up to a higher power than mine, Lily,” he said matter-of-factly. “I’ve done all I can.” He turned to Jade. “I’d advise you to have someone remain with him throughout the night.” He began to return his instruments to his bag. “The chloroform will keep him still for a while longer. But after that the pain will rouse him. When that happens, you may have to restrain him, for his own good.”
“Is there anything I can give him for the pain?” she asked.
He handed her a packet. “This powder may help some. But I’m afraid he’s going to have to suffer. That is, if he survives the night.”
Seeing the worry etched on her brow, he touched a hand to her shoulder. “He has youth and strength on his side, my dear. That should count for something. And if his will to live is strong enough…” He shrugged expressively. “The next twenty-four hours will tell the tale.”
Lily escorted him to the door. When she returned, Jade was seated in a chair beside the bed, her gaze riveted on the figure beneath the blankets, his hand held firmly between both of hers.
“You have to rest,” Lily said. “I’ll get one of the women to stay with Nevada.”
“No.” Jade waved her aside. “I can’t think about sleep.” She lifted anguished eyes. “Don’t you see? He’s my responsibility. If it weren’t for me, he wouldn’t be here, fighting for every breath.”
“Jade, you’ll make yourself ill. At least get out of those bloodstained clothes and rest for a little while.”
“Leave me. I’ll summon you if I need you.” The youn
g woman turned her head away, and Lily was forced to admit defeat. She had seen that stubborn look in her friend’s eyes since she was a child. Jade’s mind was made up. There would be no arguing with her now.
This was the hardest part, Jade thought. The waiting. And hoping. And praying. The long hours of the night seemed endless, the task before her daunting.
Each time Nevada’s chest rose, then fell, she found herself willing him another breath, another moment of life. At times his breathing was so shallow it appeared to have ceased altogether. At other times it was labored, as though he had climbed to the very top of a mountain.
There was no flicker of feeling in his expression. Neither pain nor ease. His skin had taken on a sickly pallor. The big hand sandwiched between both of hers was cold, lifeless. Occasionally she brought it to her lips, or pressed it to her heart, but he gave no indication that he was even aware of her presence. He had slipped to some other place, beyond this world. Beyond her reach.
“Oh, Nevada,” she murmured. “You were so brave, so bold. Please don’t give up now. Stay with me. Please stay.” Tears filled her eyes and coursed down her cheeks, but she took no notice as she brought her lips close to his ear and whispered, “Don’t leave me, Nevada. I couldn’t bear to lose you, too. I need you here with me.”
She thought she felt his hand move in hers. At once she pulled a little away to look down at him. The expression on his face hadn’t altered. And his hand still rested limply in hers. But his heart continued to beat. And his breathing, though shallow, was an indication that he was still fighting to live.
“I won’t let you go,” she muttered, linking her fingers with his. “Not without a fight.”
Jade’s head nodded and she jerked awake. Rubbing her stiff neck, she sat up straighter.
Someone had draped a blanket around her shoulders. A fresh log burned brightly on the hearth.
Her gaze flew to the figure in the bed. For a moment her breath caught in her throat. He was so still.
She leaned close and touched a finger to his throat. There was a pulse beat. Feeble. Thready. But at least he was still alive.
With a sigh she caught his hand between both of hers and lifted it to her lips. “The doctor was wrong,” she murmured. “He said the pain would rouse you. Instead I feel you slipping away. Why can’t you hear me?”
Her lids squeezed tightly shut against the pain. A tear slid from the corner of her eye and made its way to her jaw.
Suddenly she felt the touch of a fingertip, as gentle as the wings of a butterfly. Her lids snapped open. Dark eyes stared into cool green-gold ones.
“Why…are…you…crying?” He couldn’t believe how hard it was to speak. Each simple word was like a knife-thrust deep in his chest.
“Nevada.” His name was torn from her lips. “You’re alive. Oh, you’re alive.”
Without a thought to what she was doing, she climbed into the bed and threw her arms around him in a fierce embrace.
Pain crashed through him and he had to fight a wave of dizziness. But through the layers of pain he felt the warmth of her arms and the sweetness of her breath as she whispered, “I was crying over you. I thought…I thought I’d lost you. But you’re not dead. Oh,” she said, sighing and raining kisses over his mouth, his cheeks, his chin, “you’re not dead.”
“Not… dead.” Not if this pain was any indication. Still, he thought at this moment he’d endure anything, even the fires of hell, just to have her go on holding him, kissing him like this.
“I knew you’d come back to me. I knew it.” She couldn’t stem the tears. They flowed freely as she pressed salty kisses to his lips.
He let out a shaky laugh, then caught his breath as pain washed over him in great black waves.
“What is it? What…?” She studied the whiteness around his lips, the anguish he couldn’t hide.
She released him long enough to mix the contents of the packet with a tumbler of water. Cradling his head, she forced it between his lips. “You must drink this. All of it,” she insisted as he tried to push the foul-tasting liquid away. “The doctor said it would ease your pain.”
When he drained it, she lowered his head to the pillow and set the glass down.
“One more favor,” he managed to whisper.
“Anything. Ask me anything,” she said between tears.
“Could you… kiss me?”
She framed his face with her hands and brushed her lips over his in the softest, lightest of touches.
“Tell me… not dreaming.”
“You aren’t dreaming, Nevada. I’m real. My kiss is real.”
She lifted a hand to wipe away her tears. When she returned her attention to him, she could see that he’d slipped into blessed unconsciousness.
It was pain that woke him. Pain that started in his chest and radiated to every part of his body. Pain that seemed to come in overpowering waves until he was forced to clench his teeth to keep from raging against it.
Had he been in time to save Jade? Or had he finally gambled and lost?
There had been a time in his life when he’d been absolutely fearless. But that had been before Jade. Then he’d had no reason to care. Life before Jade had had no meaning, no purpose. Though she didn’t know it, that chance meeting with her had changed him forever.
Who would have thought that she would come back into his life, only to change him once more?
He clenched his teeth against the pain. As it passed, he returned his thoughts to Jade. Seeing another man’s hands on her, threatening to soil her, to hurt her, had caused him absolute terror. He’d been filled with an unreasonable rage. And he’d rushed in with no plan, no purpose except to save her. But had he succeeded?
He thought he remembered seeing her in his darkest hour. And tasting her kiss. She’d been weeping, offering comfort. But maybe he’d only dreamed it. Dreamed those tears, and those soft, gentle kisses.
That must be it. A dream. Jade Jewel wasn’t the sort who wept. Or freely gave her kisses.
He opened his eyes, and even that small effort cost him. His lids felt gritty, as though he’d just traveled across the desert in a dust storm. His tongue was dry and swollen, his throat parched.
As he adjusted to the dim light, he realized he was in a bed. A soft feather bed, with satin sheets. Above his head were lace hangings as delicate as a spider’s web. He breathed in air scented with incense and perfume.
He turned his head slightly to glance at the fireplace across the room. A log hissed and snapped. Flames cast dancing shadows on the wall. Above the huge oak mantel was a jeweled sword beside a gown of richly colored silk.
Silk. Silk would always remind him of Jade. She was like that gown of many colors. Shy and sweet. Bold and obstinate. A woman of so many contradictions.
A slight sound on the other side of the bed had him shifting his gaze. What he saw made all the pain worthwhile.
Jade was curled up on the chaise beside his bed, a blanket draped around her shoulders. Her hair swirled forward to kiss her cheeks. Her bare feet were tucked up beneath her. Her breathing was slow and rhythmic.
He watched the gentle rise and fall of her chest and felt his own heart begin to beat once more. She was safe. It was the only thing that mattered.
As though sensing the change in the figure in the bed, Jade suddenly awoke. As she straightened, the blanket slipped from her shoulders, revealing her blood-soaked gown.
He half rose, a stricken look on his face. “You’ve…been…hurt.” Each word was wrenched from him.
At once she was beside him, her hands touching, soothing, as she studied him with concern. “No. No. I would have been, had it not been for your courage. But you saved me.”
“Blood?”
“Yours. I caught you before you could collapse. But your wound was…grave.” She shook her head, too overcome for the moment to find the words. At last she whispered, “What you did was the bravest thing I’ve ever known. You risked your life to save mine.”
“
Mine wasn’t… much of a life.”
Tears filled her eyes and she touched a finger to his lips in the sweetest of gestures. “How can you say such a thing? While the rest of us panicked at the sight of Virgil Trent’s gun, you calmly faced him down.”
“Trent?” He ran his tongue over his lips, struggling to get the words out. “Escape?”
“He’s dead.”
“Lee Yin?”
“He’s fine. The doctor said he’ll be as good as new in a few days, thanks to you.”
“And you?” Despite the pain, he closed his fingers around her wrist. Her pulse beat was strong and steady and sure.
“I told you. I’m fine. Hush, now. Save your strength. When your wounds have healed, I’ll find a way to properly thank you.”
He gestured toward the bed. “Whose?”
“Mine. I had you carried up the stairs. This is where you’ll stay until your strength returns.”
There was so much more he wanted to ask. And things he wanted to say to her. So many things. But it seemed too much effort. Against his will his eyes closed.
As he drifted on a cloud of contentment, he realized he would never need to make another wager on the cards. He’d already gambled for the highest stakes of his life. And won.
Chapter Fourteen
“Lily tells me our patient survived the night.” The doctor followed Jade through her sitting room into her bedroom. He paused beside the bed and touched a hand to Nevada’s fevered brow. “Is he lucid?”
“He drifts in and out.” Jade clasped and unclasped her hands. “He doesn’t always make sense.”
“That’s to be expected. See that he’s sponged often to bring the fever down,” the doctor said as he examined his patient and changed the dressings. “Fortunately the wound appears clean.” He handed her several packets of powder. “Keep him sedated for the next few days. His pain will be severe.” He studied her more closely, noting the circles beneath her eyes, and the wrinkled, blood-spattered gown. “Lily also told me that you have appointed yourself his nurse, and that you haven’t left his side.”