Tempest of Passion (20 page)

Chapter
Twenty-
Four

Blood rushed
in her ears as she raced through the London streets.
She wanted to cry,
but tears would not come. She ran blindly, with no destination in
mind. Her only thought was to get away from it all. Away from the
animals, the death, the paranormal.

People shouted at her to slow
down. Men laughed, clearly thinking her deranged. Her pins tumbled
to the floor along with her bonnet. Her hair fell around her face,
creating a curtain of shadows and glowing yellow eyes. She wanted
to scream. Couldn’t they see it? The wolves were all around them.
There were animals in disguise, waiting in the shadows to rip out
their throats. Couldn’t they see it? It had happened a few blocks
away, in a darkened street. She wanted to drag them back there and
have them see the animals, the blood, the pain, the madness. Two
men, turned into beasts and fighting to the death. One of them was
her husband.

Her
husband
.

What had she
married? What was William? A beast? A monster? A creature from
another world
...

He was not
her husband.
He was not a man. He could not be.

She tripped.
A woman glared at her. She continued to run.
No one would believe it. It
mattered not that she screamed the truth for everyone to hear. No
one would think it true. Zounds, she herself barely believed what
she’d seen. Men turned into animals. Murder. Blood. Blood dripping
down the muzzle of a red wolf. Eyes the color of molten gold
looking at her, staring right into her soul. She stopped in her
tracks. Someone pushed her and screamed at her for being in the
way. She barely heard them. Her hands flew to her mouth. William.
She took in gulps of air desperate to fight the feeling that
threatened to overwhelm her and drag her into a madness that would
know no return. He—

She
glanced back the
way they had come. He was there. A beast and yet, yet, he’d saved
her from his deranged cousin. An animal. A hurt animal, bleeding to
death in a murky London street.

She dragged her hands over her
eyes, blotting out the light. It was not he. It couldn’t be him.
William had died when the highway thieves appeared and killed their
horse and kidnapped her. William couldn’t be an animal.

“
God.”

Who was she
fooling? She dug her fingertips into her eyes. She’d seen him shift
with her own eyes. He was human and yet also an animal. He was a
beast with human eyes. Eyes that showed intelligence, relief,
remorse and love.
Love
.

“
No.”

Her legs gave way but she did not fall.
Strong arms held her upright and shook her slightly.

“
Emily. Mrs. Dalton. Emily,
look at me.”

She shook her head. No. If she
removed her hands from her eyes she’d see it all again. William
shifting. The wolves … fighting. The red wolf, looking straight
into her soul.

“
Look at me.”

The man grasped her hands and pulled
them toward him. She closed her eyes.

“
No.” She struggled against him.
She would not open her eyes and maybe then this nightmare would be
over, maybe then, she’d wake up next to William in bed or alone in
her own house, in peace.

“
Emily.”

“
No!” she screamed. “He’s dead.
He’s dead. He’s dead.” The tears she’d been holding back slid down
her cheeks like a sudden summer storm. The arms that held her hands
released them. A jacket was thrown over her shoulders and she was
dragged into a warm embrace that smelled like freshly laundered
clothes and reminded her of home.

“
Hush, it’ll be all right. I’ve
called for help. William will not die.”

“
No, you don’t
understand.”

She pushed back against the arms
holding her and looked up into clear blue eyes filled with concern.
Reeves.

“
He’s not William anymore.
He’s not William. He’s dead.”

“
Hush, Emily,
hush.”

Reeves pulled her close again
and ran his fingers through her hair in what she recognized was a
soothing gesture. She shook her head. He didn’t understand. No one
would ever understand. Even she didn’t understand what she
mourned.

***

Emily stared out the bedroom
window. She tried not to move. Every little movement caused her
bones to ache. She was bruised inside and out, couldn’t sleep, and
could hardly eat. She lived because she breathed and nothing more.
Numbness permeated, every moment of her time consumed by a
single-minded thought: William and his nature.

They’d told
her she was safe. They told her William would be all right. They
told her many things, yet she understood none of it. She did not
feel safe. She did not feel like herself. S
he felt stretched, like a drop of
water trying to fill a large empty basin. She burrowed deeper into
the blankets. Hiding. She was hiding like a mouse in a burrow and
she couldn’t care less. She closed her eyes in a vain attempt to
whisk the images away, but they were there. His eyes were there.
William’s eyes in wolf form. He stared at her after his vicious
fight with his cousin and what she saw in their depths… Emily
shuddered. Intelligence, love, relief. Human emotions. Yet, it
could not be. Not after he’d turned into an animal and savagely
broken the other man’s neck. She chewed on her lips. It wasn’t only
him. She focused her thoughts on him alone, but she knew, she’d
seen that he wasn’t the only one. His entire family was like him.
Animals. She was surrounded by madness and she had to leave. The
permanent ache that was lodged in her chest expanded to her stomach
and she heaved. She could no longer stay here. She could no longer
remain ensconced in this bedroom, listening to his family move
about the house, feigning sleep when they came to check on her, and
being acutely aware that William was next door.

She’d been there, three days ago when
they brought him into the house. She sniffled and curled into a
smaller ball. He’d been so pale she’d assumed he was dead and she’d
flung herself at his corpse like a deranged woman. The sight of him
had undone her. She remembered their moments together as man and
wife. His unexpected laughter, his warmth, his gentle nature. He
was broken, bruised and cut up and so was she.

Emily curled her hands into
fists around the blanket. She’d held him just as tightly and had
garnered no reaction. She’d truly thought he was gone. Charles
Dalton had pried her away from William and assured her he wasn’t
dead. Reeves had pulled her back into his arms as she screamed that
he was. She must have fainted at some point, because the next thing
she remembered was being tucked into bed by Mrs. Dalton. She
fainted. Emily Bunsbury, the maiden who never fainted, had
collapsed to the floor like one of those ninnywads. Emily snorted
in an attempt to force the tears back. How could she continue to
cry after three days? A soft knock at the door made her jump. She
held her breath and waited for them to leave. Instead, she heard
the creak of the door as it opened and closed. Soft footsteps
approached the bed. A hand was placed over her back.

“
Emily.”

William’s mother whispered her
name. Emily did not reply. She did not wish to speak. She did not
wish to see anyone. She had to leave. She needed to get away from
all this overwhelming sorrow and collect her thoughts.

“
Emily. I know you’re not
asleep. You must cease hiding, my child. William calls for
you.”

Emily’s
heartbeat tripled.
When had he awoken? Her hands shook. He wanted to see her.
Could she see him? Could she look at him without seeing the animal
he was?

After a few seconds of silence,
Mary sighed. Emily heard her leave just as quietly as she came. Her
stomach churned. She lifted the blanket and peered out. The burning
hearth emitted a soft orange glow that bathed the pink bedroom in
an ethereal light. Slowly, she pulled the sheets off her body. She
shivered uncontrollably but did not cover herself.

William calls for
you.

Her heart
constricted
.
It was time to face the wolf. Time to face the truth, whatever that
meant. She could not be in any more pain than she already was,
could she? She dragged her legs to the side of the bed, hissing
through her teeth as she placed her feet on the cold floor. The
mundane thought of a bath crossed her mind and she startled herself
by chuckling. Perhaps, when she escaped this madhouse she would
find a bath to relax into. Emily stood, chasing away the thought
that she’d never be able to relax again knowing what was out
there.

She had to leave.

Chapter
Twenty-
Five

Her teeth chattered as she knocked on
the door. She wrapped her arms around herself. After cleansing
herself as best she could with the water basin, she’d found her
trunks in her bedroom. Almost without thinking, she’d picked out a
riding outfit. She’d braided her hair and donned her bonnet. The
decision had been made. There was no turning back. All she needed
was for someone to call a coach and take her away from here. She
hesitated before opening the door to her bedroom. What if they were
there? She pressed her ear to the door but heard nothing but
silence. She slipped out and crossed to the bedroom next
door.

“
Come in.”

She breathed a sigh of relief as
William’s mother answered her feeble knock. He must be asleep. She
would not have to speak to him. She didn’t have to look at him. She
didn’t want to look at him. Then why was she entering his bedroom?
Why not go to Charles Dalton directly? Because she was
scared.

Emily
forced herself to
square her shoulders and lift her chin as she entered the sunlit
room. Her breath caught as she felt William’s gaze on her.
Dismayed, she battled against the urge to turn back on her heels
and run.

“
Emily, you’re
up.”

Mary
stood and made to
clasp her hands. Emily stumbled backwards.

“I’d like to leave, please,” she
mumbled in a voice so hoarse she barely recognized as her
own.

“
What?” Mary’s eyes widened. Her
hands dropped to her side. “What do you mean you want to
leave?”

Emily shook her head. She felt him
staring at her, drinking in her appearance and perhaps, wondering
what he saw in her in the first place. She sucked in her lips.
Maybe, maybe, he only married her because he wanted to rescue her,
just like George had said.

“
I’d like to leave,
immediately.” Her voice came out stronger this time. William’s
mother flinched.

“
But Emily, sweetheart, William
is not ready for travel … he’ll have to remain here for at least
another week before we can move him to London and even then…”
“Get her out…” William’s gruff whisper made her jump and her skin
break into goose bumps. A trickle of pain raced from her heart
across her veins. He wanted her to leave. George had been right.
William liked to be a hero and he’d only married her to keep her
safe. Now that the threat was gone, they were no longer
bound.

“
But William,
your wife
…”

“
Take her to wherever she wants
to go,” he repeated, wheezing hard.

Mary
turned to him.
Emily kept her gaze on the window. Outside the sun shone, birds
flew from one house to the other and clouds formed into
unimaginable shapes. Outside these walls the world would be what
she once knew it to be. Outside, she would be able to forget. She
hoped.

“
William, I…” His mother
insisted.

“
Just do
it.
”

He began
coughing. Emily tasted blood on her lips. She turned on her heel
and left the room. There was nothing more to be said. She needed to
get away and he wanted her gone as well. Staying would only hurt
them both. She returned to her bedroom, where she sat on the edge
on the bed, waiting and ignoring the hushed voices in the room next
door. A few minutes later,
Mary knocked on her door and
entered.

“
I’ve called the coach. We’ll
load your trunks. Where,” she cleared her voice and looked out the
window, the clear sky reflecting in her eyes. “Where do you want to
go, Emily?”

Emily shrugged. She didn’t care.
All she wanted was to be as far away from this pain as
possible.

“
Home
, I suppose.”

She wondered
though, where was home? William’s house
in Brookenshire? She’d never been
there. Her parents’ home? Her sister’s home? They’d all ask her
questions. Questions she did not want to answer. Questions she did
not know how to answer.

“
Brookenshire, then?”

She nodded and stared at the door
again. She was unable to keep eye contact with William’s mother.
The sorrow she saw reflected in those eyes was heartbreaking. Why
did she care so much? They didn’t know her. She didn’t know
them.