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Archie lifted his head and immediately laid it down again. It was far too heavy. Perhaps if he stayed here a while longer, it would get lighter.
He tried to figure out what was the last thing he remembered. They’d stopped in at a dockside pub, he remembered that. Daniel had been using his Cockney accent and was dressed shabbily; Archie was dressed the same way but had been instructed not to speak. He did remember ordering a pint, and the realization filtered through the fog clouding his mind that he must have been drugged.
Daniel!
He sat bolt upright, then instantly regretted it as his vision swam and his head throbbed. Daniel. He had to get to Daniel. He pushed himself forward, trying to better see where he was as his vision cleared. There was no light in the room, only rough boards under his hands and knees. A storeroom, somewhere. The walls were damp, and the stink of the Thames filled his nostrils. He had not been taken far.
Which meant Daniel might still be close.
He groped along the door, willing his eyes to adjust to the darkness, willing the throbbing in his head to cease. If he could find the lock, and his picks were still in his boot, and if his memory of the few brief lessons Daniel had given him was up the muster…
The silence was cut by a scraping sound, almost imperceptible, but loud in the quiet of the room. Gaining his feet, Archie stepped back to take his chance at overpowering whoever might be coming.
And then heard a familiar voice curse under its breath. The door opened.
“Daniel!” Archie’s knee buckled and he went partway down.
Daniel was at his side in an instant. “My God, what have they done to you?”
“Nothing.” His mouth still felt packed with cotton wool. “Hardly anything. How did you—”
“Charmed my way past,” Daniel said dismissively. “We ought to be able to get away clean if we’re quick about it. I see you’re in no fit state to fight.”
“I’m sorry—”
Daniel clicked his tongue. “My dear, that is not what I meant. I mean that you must do your best to put one foot in front of the other despite your altered state because I can neither carry you nor hit anyone for you.” He slipped Archie’s arm about his shoulders. “Now, hold onto me. Yes. Left foot. Right foot. Exactly.”
They made slow progress and Archie didn’t relax until they had reached the busy Strand and were on an omnibus toward Cranbourne Street.
“We may have failed in that attempt,” Daniel said grimly as they rumbled through Trafalgar Square. “I’ll speak with your uncle tomorrow.”
“You could go now. I’m all right.”
“No.” Daniel laid a protective hand on Archie’s arm. He withdrew it in half a second but it was enough to make Archie’s heart soar through the fog in his brain.
“A bit too much to drink,” Daniel explained to the porter when they reached Archie’s flat. The porter looked puzzled as to why Mr. Curtis and his friend were dressed so shabbily, but he sent them up in the lift without comment. Almost the next moment, Archie found himself placed in a kitchen chair like an overgrown doll. He opened his eyes long enough to see Daniel go into the bathroom, hips still slinky in his rough trousers.
Then he heard Daniel’s surprised question: “What’s—?”
“Blast!” The memory of what today was lanced into Archie’s mind like a thunderbolt. He stood, scraping the chair back on the floor and stumbling as his vision went black.
Daniel was back at his side as quickly as if he’d flown there.
“Is it possible for you to stay where I leave you long enough for me to draw you a bath?”
“But you’ll have seen—”
“I hardly looked at all.”
“Do you remember what day it is?”
Daniel’s hand came up to curl around the back of his neck. “Believe me, my dear, it’s been on my mind.”
Archie smiled weakly. “I came to get you a year ago. You came to get me tonight.”
Daniel kissed his forehead. “And I should think after a year, it’s not a debt that needs to be repaid.”
“Of course not. Nothing like that.” Archie cupped Daniel’s cheek. “But I wanted to give you a special evening after we’d got our quarry.”
“Another night. I shouldn’t think you’d enjoy the wine in your present state.” Daniel let his fingers pass through Archie’s hair before standing up. “And I don’t have much interest in putting rose petals in the bathwater tonight. I just want us both clean and in bed—asleep—as soon as possible.”
“That’s fair,” Archie said reluctantly. It sounded good to him as well.
“It does cross my mind,” Daniel began, taking both of Archie’s hands in his, “that we may not wish to mark this particular date.”
“Yes, but—” Archie did not know how Daniel would respond to the word he wanted to use, but the memories of that night in the folly were front of mind, pushing away anything Daniel had experienced in the cave. But of course he wasn’t Daniel. Of course he wouldn’t want to remember the agonizing wait, unsure if Archie was even coming.
“...when eleven days later, you called on me.” He brushed his thumb over Archie’s temple. “And that was truly the start of everything.”
Archie could feel his heart begin to lift. That was a day worth remembering indeed. “And I spent the night.”
“That you did.” Daniel moved back up to stroke his hair, his fondness plain on his face. “My guardian angel. Perhaps that should be our anniversary?”
“Yes.” Archie stood and pulled Daniel into a proper kiss. He was disappointed when Daniel broke it, despite his own wooziness.
“In that case…” Daniel took his hand and led him to the bathroom. “Let’s have bath and bed and the anniversary will wait.”
Archie nodded eagerly and allowed himself to be led. Eleven more days would give him time to plan another surprise, too. This one had been rather spoiled.