To Tempt a Knight Read Online Free PDF Page B

work. Whatever information you need is most likely there. It’s all I have left…”
    William hesitated a moment more, searching the area. For what? The house was on fire. Who would be lurking near such danger?
    A moment later, he kicked his horse into a gallop. He raced up the path. The heat intensified as they approached. Something exploded, spraying chunks of wood and ash outward, allowing the flaming tongues to escape and lick upward over the walls and toward the roof.
    Siobhan didn’t realize she was sliding from the horse until her feet hit the ground. She ran for the front door, desperate to save the scroll. Her body jerked to a stop.
    “Are you mad?” William gripped her arm, pinning her in place.
    “Let me go.” Siobhan brought her hand up to cover her mouth, shielding it from the smoke.
    “Where is it?” he demanded.
    “Inside the large clay urn at the turn in the stairs.” She coughed.
    “Stay here.” He released her arm, tore up the front steps, and threw open the door.
    Despite the heat, Siobhan shivered. How would he ever make it out alive? How could he expect her to stay outside and wait? She followed him up the steps. Heat and smoke blasted her lungs as she entered the hallway. “William!” Coughing, she fought her way through the smoke to the attic stairs.
    “Get out of here,” William called from above.
    She turned toward the kitchen. Hungry tongues offire marched across the wide, wooden table that sat at the far side of the room. With monstrous ferocity, flames devoured the wooden counters and the dried herbs she’d hung in batches against the wall.
    A figure surged down the stairs before her. The smoke had grown dense, and Siobhan could only dimly see William’s strained face. Then she noticed the leather casing in his hands and felt a profound rush of relief.
    “Get out,” William said hoarsely as he handed her the scroll and forced her back toward the door.
    They burst through the doorway, then stumbled down the stairs. Turning back, Siobhan saw a reddish aura rise from the growing core of heat and flames that spread into the afternoon sky. A heavy rolling mass of choking gray billowed above what used to be her home. A constant roar of flames deadened her ears to any other sound. A dagger whizzed past her head, narrowly missing her. She gasped.
    William drew his weapon, angling it at a shadowy figure who emerged from across the courtyard, his sword drawn. “De la Roche thought you may head back here. He left me to tend to you, Templar.”
    Siobhan’s heart hammered in her chest. The stranger charged. William’s blade blocked the blow. The sound of steel on steel rang in the air, punctuating the crackle and roar of the flames behind them.
    Siobhan had never seen a sword fight before. She’d imagined them in the darkest depths of her dreams. But in those imaginings, there was no blood and no death. Here the threat of both clanged with each sword stroke. William stepped back as his opponent swung his blade in powerful arcs toward William’s torso. He didn’t attack, but watched, seeming to wait for the moment to strike. The man’s blade arced up, and William’s blade followed, blocking the strike, then moved in, leaving aslash in the man’s sleeve that was soon replaced by a blossom of red that trailed down his sword arm.
    Blood. Siobhan hitched a breath and stepped back toward the house, toward the heat and the smoke, not knowing which way safety lay.
    She remained there as she watched the macabre dance that stretched out before her as the two men sought to kill each other. The crisp clang of steel echoed loudly, blending with the crackling of the flames.
    Another slash from the attacker left a gash in William’s forearm. Siobhan gasped. The sound drew the attacker’s attention to her. His pale gaze fixed on her face.
    With a sinister smile, he lunged toward her.
    Siobhan jumped back into a wave of heat. William surged forward. Before she could draw breath, William caught the