Ascension (31 page)

“I killed one and caused the other to fall into the pit.” Gabriel stood behind her chair. His hand rested lightly on her shoulder. “I do not know if that would kill the demon.”

The touch was reassuring. She had not realized how much she missed human contact while being the master’s prisoner. When she’d first heard Gabriel’s voice in the ballroom whilst hanging over the gateway, she had assumed that her mind had finally snapped. It was inconceivable that her husband was there. She had even convinced herself that she’d never seen him in the courtyard days before.

Cullum turned to Belinda. “Yet you are telling me that the master came through anyway. I thought he needed the priests. He needed you as a sacrifice. He didn’t have the priests and you are still alive. So explain to me how the master came through.”

Belinda took a deep breath and sighed. Her body ached in more places than she cared to enumerate. She was tired.

Thor had carried her to the carriage. Lillian and Gabriel had climbed up behind her.

The remnants of Fatum Manor cried out as bit by bit, the ground opened up and swallowed the house. Smoke and dust filled the air, as did the screams of hundreds of demons.

Hunters scrambled back away from the extending pit as it swallowed the embankment. The highest point of Fatum crumbled and crashed into nothing. A pile of rubble mounded where the manor house had been. The sound of straining timber was the only evidence that a structure had stood in the place.

Squeals, groans and falling rock continued, but slowed. It was over.

The ground shook so hard the horses bucked to get away.

Thor held them steady.

Lillian gasped.

Gabriel clutched Belinda’s hand.

Fire shot from the ground creating fifty-foot-high pillar. The heat seared the ground within a hundred feet.

Thor moved them further away.

With a final whoosh, the remnants of Fatum sucked down into the earth leaving behind only a gaping pit, no house, no barricade, no fire, and not a demon was in sight.

Belinda’s stomach churned.
This will be our world’s fate if we fail.

They rode in silence all the way back to London. Belinda slept on the trip. She could have slept for a month.

Brice took Reece to Edinburgh to recover. The demon’s bite must have poisoned his blood.

The doctor at the headquarters would do whatever could be done, and it was closer than London.

Rather than explain their condition to Gabriel’s mother and sister, the newlyweds went to Clayton House to rest.

With only enough time for a bath and a few hours of sleep, they’d been summoned to the office by the head of the Company. Neither she nor Gabriel had spoken much in that time. They were tired, and the overwhelming scope of the experience was still setting in.

Part of what she had experienced would be for Gabriel’s ears only. She chose her words carefully when answered Cullum. “I cannot explain how I know that the one they call master came through. He was very close when I was rescued and he did come through. Once my husband cut me free, I lost sight of the demon.” That much was accurate. “He will most likely have been damaged. He told me that he could come through without me, but it would harm him and the recovery would take time. I would guess that is why all the demons were running inside the manor. They would likely find a way to get their master out and safely away to a place where he can recover.”

Cullum’s eyes darkened. He loomed over her with his arms crossed over his chest. “You had a conversation with this master?”

“Yes,” she said.

“I will require a full account of that conversation.”

“Of course.”

Drake Cullum paced back and forth in the dim light of the underground meeting-place. He was angry, though it was difficult to tell. He kept his face and tone completely neutral. But there was something in the stiffness of his back that alarmed Belinda. She did not wish to see what happened when the man lost his temper.

His anger was justified. The hunters had failed in their foremost mission. Their main purpose was a complete loss. The goal was to keep the master from getting into their world.

Yet when Gabriel had grabbed her, the master was already ascending. In the smoke, she’d seen his perfect face.

His desire for her burned in the vortex. It was that craving, which had kept her alive so long. The master had made an error in judgment. If he had used her only as a vehicle for his ascent, the hunters would have been too late. She would be dead and he would be whole. His greed in wanting her sexually cost him and saved her.

It was in those seconds that Gabriel was able to cut her down and pull her away.

She would never be able to wipe the horrifying hatred she’d seen in the master’s eyes from her mind. His desire transformed to pure evil as he’d looked at her husband. His beauty had waned in the way it often did in the sick. His mouth opened and emitted the terrible cry they all heard.

Cullum turned to her again. “You are sure the master is in our world?”

“He is weak, but I saw him ascend. He is here, but he will need time to recover because he was vulnerable when I was rescued and the priests killed.”

“How much time?”

“I do not know. They do not measure time as we do. To the master, our lifetime is an instant. It could take him years to heal or perhaps hours. I just do not know.” Her voice began to take on a panicked crescendo.

Gabriel’s hand tightened on her shoulder.

Drake Cullum’s façade fell. The deep lines of his frown eased and his shoulders slumped. “I am glad you were saved, countess. I know you have been through an ordeal. We shall expect a full report as soon as you are able.”

Her throat tightened and she gave one quick nod.

Jamie rushed into the room and approached Cullum. “A message was left at the door.”

“Who brought it?”

“A boy, one of us,” Jamie said.

He opened the parchment and looked up at Gabriel. “I think this is meant for you, my lord.”

Gabriel took the note. Belinda rose from her chair and read the swirled writing. A chill ran up her spine. The parchment was old and browned around the edges.

It read,
Capio meus vengeance in vestri cruor
.

“I take my vengeance in your blood,” Gabriel translated.

“What does it mean?” Lillian asked.

Gabriel looked at Cullum. He narrowed his eyes “What makes you think this is for me?”

“From what we know, it makes sense. You stole Lady Tullering from the master. He considered her his property. Whom else would he seek vengeance on?”

“So he is going to come after me?” Gabriel’s voice rose and his shoulders pulled back. He welcomed that idea.

Belinda’s chest tightened as the meaning of the message dawned on her. She grabbed his hand. “No. We have to go, Gabriel. We have to get to your house.”

His eyes widened as the horror hit him. “Thor.” The name echoed off the walls.

“Let’s go.” The driver already ran toward the door.

They were up the steps and running down the alley in seconds. Belinda, Gabriel and Lillian were still in motion when the carriage was in motion.

“I have been the same fool your father was, Bella. I have put my family in danger.”

There was truth to what he said, but overall there was little comparison between Gabriel and her father. “My father perpetuated a lie for years. I would guess he still keeps secrets from us. You have had little time to consider the consequences. This is my fault. I dragged you into this and now your mother and Serena are in danger.”

“You are both jumping to conclusions. Let’s get to the house and see what we find before we make any judgments. Besides, if we find the worst, we shall have other obligations. Blame will not be one of them.” Lillian gave them both a stern look.

She was right, of course. There would be plenty of time for blame and remorse.

Belinda gripped the window frame and the bench seat to keep her place while Thor tore through the streets of Southwark, crossed the bridge and rounded corners at dangerous speeds.

Gabriel pulled his watch from the small pocket of his waistcoat. “They should be preparing for the evening by now. I have not the faintest idea where they were going tonight.”

“It is Wednesday, perhaps Almack’s.” They would likely be preparing for a ball or dinner party. Almack’s was a likely destination. Many socialites enjoyed the formality of the weekly event.

She held Gabriel’s hand as they approached the large townhouse. As soon as the carriage stopped, they jumped down and ran up the steps.

Gabriel pounded on the door until the stunned butler pulled it open.

“My lord?”

“Shelby, where are my mother and sister?”

The butler opened his mouth, but his words were cut off by the sharp tone of Gabriel’s mother’s voice from the landing. “I am here, Gabriel. What is the meaning of this?”

The now-dowager countess made her way down the steps in a burgundy gown.

“Mother, you are all right.”

“Of course I am.” She turned to Belinda. “Lady Tullering, you look pale. Are you unwell, my dear?”

It took Belinda a moment to recognize that Gabriel’s mother was addressing her. She was now the Countess of Tullering and his mother the dowager. “I am fine, countess. Is Lady Serena at home?”

Gabriel’s mother looked at Lillian and Thor standing in the doorway. “I do not believe I know your friend or this man.” She looked down her nose at the pair standing in the front doorway.

“Where is Serena, mother?” Gabriel’s voice rose above a polite tone. He fisted his hands and the muscle on the side of his jaw ticked. He climbed the stairs toward his mother.

“What is the meaning of this?”

“Mother.”

“She is up in her room getting dressed. Where else would she be?”

Lillian said, “Go and check. We will wait here.”

Gabriel took the steps two at a time.

Belinda followed him, equaling his pace.

The countess gasped, but Belinda didn’t know if it was because Lillian had issued an order or because she was running up the steps as if she was a hoyden rather than a lady. Gabriel’s mother’s questions and concerns would need a response, but later.

He turned to the right at the landing, rushed down the hallway and knocked on the third door. They waited for a long second with no answer from within. He turned the knob and pushed through.

A mousy blond maid lay face down on the floor in a puddle of blood. The large mirror was cracked and tilted in its stand. The dressing table was broken to pieces that were scattered on the rug. The drapes blew in the open window. Serena was not in sight.

The roar that fell from Gabriel’s lips was not human. He sounded as if he was a beast in mortal pain.

Belinda knelt down next to the maid and rolled the girl over.

The maid’s eyes were wide in a deathly stare and she had a vicious bite taken out of her neck.

The pounding of footfall on the steps and in the hallway announced the arrival of Thor and Lillian followed closely by Shelby and her ladyship.

“Where is Serena? What has happened to Mary?” Hysteria laced the countess’s normally staid tone.

Lillian nudged the dowager from the room, shielding her from the sight of the dead maid.

Belinda stood up and crossed to Gabriel.

His face was taut with pain. He’d been through a lot. She knew he blamed himself for her capture. His hands were clutched in fists.

“Gabriel, look at me. It is not your fault. You have to focus so that we can get her back. Do you understand?”

He grasped her head between his hands and pulled her close.

She gasped, surprised by the sudden movement.

His gaze burned into hers. “I’m sorry. I should have said it earlier.”

“It was not your fault, nor is this.”

He took a deep breath and kissed her forehead.

“Take your mother downstairs and explain things to her. Lillian and I will search the room while Thor goes around to the garden and checks for tracks.”

“See if you can call for Tubbs. He is a fine tracker,” Gabriel said.

“I will send for him directly.” She was happy to hear him making sense and thinking rationally. They would need him sound if they were going to rescue his sister.

Gabriel walked from the room and put his arm around his mother’s shoulder.

“What is happening, Gabriel? Who are those people with your wife?”

“Come, Mother. I will explain everything.”

Thor did not need direction. He left immediately to go and find the tracks in the garden if they existed.

“Shelby.” Belinda said.

“Yes, Lady Tullering?”

“Send a footman over to Clayton House and have my footman, Tubbs, brought back here.”

The butler was wide-eyed. He bit his nails and looked from Mary’s bloody body back to Belinda. “Yes, my lady.”

“And Shelby?”

“Yes, my lady.”

“It would be best to keep this as quiet as possible. Only speak to servants who can be trusted. We shall have Lady Serena back in short order. No need to inform the neighbors of our troubles.”

The butler nodded. “What about Mr. Douglass?”

“Who is that?”

“He is about to request Lady Serena’s hand. He has been waiting for his lordship to be at home and has been on the doorstep daily. I believe he was expected as the ladies’ escort tonight at Almack’s.”

Another complication. If this Mr. Douglass planned to join the family, he would need to know the truth as well. “Contact Mr. Douglass and ask him to come directly. Do not tell him why.”

“Yes, my lady.”

The butler’s footfall faded and Lillian stood with Belinda in the ruined room. The damask draped bed was the only piece of furniture in the room not destroyed.

“What do you think, Lilly?”

Lillian knelt down next to Mary’s body. “This looks as if it is the same kind of bite that Reece sustained, though the wound itself likely caused this girl’s death. It would appear there was a struggle yet I see no human blood trail to the window. I think we can assume that she was alive when she was taken from here.”

Belinda went to the window. The light of Thor’s lantern moved in a back and forth pattern at the bottom of the two-story drop.