“You didn’t release him.” She wasn’t certain if she was relieved or terrified that Max was still safely where she’d put him.
“I was prepared to do so if you had not returned today.” His eyes carried concern and admonishment. “You should never have done that.”
“I’ll release him now,” she said, turning away. It had been for the best. She didn’t expect Kritanu to understand; he didn’t carry the same burdens she did.
For all of her hurry to get to the sturdy wooden door surrounded by silver crosses and blessed with holy water, Victoria found herself frozen when it came time to lift the bar that had blocked Max in. What would he say? What would she say?
She took a deep breath. The heavy slab of wood had been wedged tightly in its brackets; a sign that someone had violently shoved at the door, and its moorings creaked as she forced it from its place. Automatically, she stepped back, half expecting Max to come blasting out.
Nothing happened, so with clammy hands she opened the door.
He was sitting on the bed, his long legs spread out in front of him.
“Max.”
At the sound of her voice, he moved. With the grace of a jungle feline, he swung his feet onto the floor and stood, then strode toward her. Not particularly quickly, nor casually. But with general purpose.
Victoria braced herself for the onslaught-the railing, the anger, the accusation.
He walked past her and out into the hallway without a word, without an acknowledgment.
“Max,” she said again, turning after him.
He didn’t pause, but continued on his way down the hall.
She would have thought him deaf or blind if it had not been for the expression in his eyes: dark and angry.
The hackney lurched to a violent halt, and Victoria heard the clatter and subsequent roll of a wooden stake by her foot. She looked across the dark interior, catching Sebastian’s eye. “Shall we?” she asked.
“Most definitely,” he replied, bending to retrieve his weapon. There was relish in his voice and amusement in his eyes, and she knew that the carriage ride home would be far more interesting than the one they’d just completed. Perhaps, at least then, he would keep his stake well in hand.
The pair slipped silently from Barth’s vehicle, well hidden by convenient shrubbery that lined the wall of St. Heath’s Row most distant from the house. Shadows, in concert with the sliver of a waning moon and dark clothing, made them invisible.
Victoria led the way along the wall to a particularly dark corner. A robust oak spread its shadow over the area, and blocked any view from the rear of the house. Sebastian stood flush against the tall stone relief and she climbed up to stand on his shoulders; then, once atop the wall, she reached down to pull him up.
Once over the cross-studded wall, she led the way to the second servants’ entrance, where she knew the door would be unlocked. Verbena had been playing match-maker with the lower footman at Grantworth House and the belowstairs maid at St. Heath’s Row, both of whom were taking a postmidnight stroll through the gardens at this very moment.
Verbena had assured her mistress that the footman and the maid would be much too busy examining the night-blooming pink primroses to notice any trespassers. She had also ascertained, when arranging the assignation, that the Marquess of Rockley was expected to dine at home that evening and intended to remain in residence that night.
He had, in fact, declined any invitations for dinner or parties since the ill-fated carriage ride during which they’d gone to view the night sky.
When Victoria had returned from her brief captivity this morning and begun to attend to matters other than Max, it had been with great skepticism and suspicion in regards to James. Either he had been fully aware and involved in her kidnapping-which would make him a vampire or, at the least, a member of the Tutela-or he had been ignorant of it, as he claimed.
According to Kritanu, James had called on her home the morning after the nighttime carriage ride, explaining that there had been an accident, he’d been knocked unconscious, and when he came to, Victoria-Mrs. Rockley, as he’d called her-was missing. According to Kritanu, the marquess had appropriately wrung his hands and paced the parlor as he accepted the blame for whatever had happened to her, begging that word should be sent to him the moment there was any news.
Victoria listened to Kritanu’s description of the man’s agitation with a skeptical ear, and decided that, instead of returning his call or sending word of her return, she would find out the truth her own way tonight. Unlike Max, Sebastian had been delighted to see her, and more than delighted to join her in the excursion.
Max she had not seen since he stalked past her, and she had no need for his company anyway. She’d kept herself busy the rest of the day, and had sent an urgent message to Wayren by pigeon. She prayed that the wise woman would have some advice or information about Lilith’s prediction.
The unobtrusive servant’s door was well oiled in preparation for late-night assignations, and Victoria led Sebastian through the narrow hallway. She’d never had occasion to traverse the backstairs area of St. Heath’s Row, but she obviously knew the layout of the portions of the house common to the marquess and marchioness.
When they came to a hallway that gave an option for right or left navigation, Victoria started off to the right… but a firm hand on her arm drew her back. “This way,” Sebastian whispered, close to her ear.
“How do you know?” she whispered back. “You haven’t spent as much time here as I have.” She pointed. “The stairs are to the right.”
An amused smile tipped his lips and she thought he was going to kiss her right there, to which she would have put an immediate stop. But he resisted, simply responding, “You might recall that I visited your maid in the servants’ quarters while you were still staying here. She did, in fact, sleep four floors directly above us here. To the right is the kitchen. To the left are the stairs.”
Chagrined, and reminded that Max had also had to correct her navigation more than once-she always seemed to get turned around when inside a building-she followed Sebastian as he swiftly moved down the left passage. And soon they came upon a narrow, steep staircase. He glanced down at her, but she sailed past him, nose in the air. Even Illa Gardella wasn’t perfect. Once they were on the third floor, Victoria knew her way around the bedchambers.
Somewhere in the house, a floorboard creaked. A clock hummed, gearing itself up to toll the hour, and moments later, as they reached the third floor, Victoria heard the rolling strokes of two o’clock.
And she realized that the back of her neck was cold. She smiled in the dark.
He was here. He wouldn’t need to drink the elixir at night, unless he expected to be near her.
Which he obviously didn’t.
Stake in hand, holding it close to the loose black trousers she wore when she moved about at night, Victoria continued on her way. A myriad of thoughts ran through her mind as she, with Sebastian close enough behind that she felt the brush of his coat, eased through the rear hallway.
Of course James could be lying in wait for her, expecting such a visit. Or the undead she sensed might not be the new marquess at all. But there were ways to find out, and tonight she would do so once and for all. She knew he was in the house; the only question was what condition she might find him in.
When she and Sebastian reached the door to the marquess’s dressing room, she opened it and slipped in. Once inside the chamber filled with clothing and the smell of male grooming, Victoria turned to Sebastian and planted a hand against his chest in a clear message. She’d already told him that this was her task, and that he needed to be watching for any unforeseen problems. This was a reminder that she expected him to stay put.