Page 56 of The Lady is Trouble
“That’s—” He halted, the wordabsurdset to follow, but the boy in that alley had, in all honesty, nothing to live for. Why flee a grand estate in his family for centuries for the most crime-ridden neighborhood in London if not to punish someone?
Abuse by his hand rather than the random cruelty his father had dished out.
Julian observed the passing countryside, the little he could see with rain-streaked glass and negligible moonlight. He considered eating, but when headaches were this bad, keeping what you put in wasn’t a sure bet.
“You’re going to take her goddamn help.”
He took another drink, the liquor hitting hard with nothing to cushion it. “Says who?”
The flask left his hand to pop like a champagne cork against the wall, liquid raining down on him. He rolled his head toward Humphrey, temper beginning to spark. “What the hell did you do that for?”
“I have responsibility in this, too, my friend.” Again, he stabbed his flask Julian’s way, rising from the seat. “For you most of all. Andyou”—he jerked his head in the general direction of Harbingdon—“forthem.” He settled back with a fast sip. “See how the bleeding structure works?”
Julian grunted, incapable of going rounds.He understood thebleedingstructure. Sliding low, he let his legs sprawl, hoping the indelicate slouch adequately expressed his wish to conclude the conversation. He was drained, chilled to the bone, and famished but afraid to eat. His clothing was damp and sticking to him in all the wrong places. And the interior of the carriage reeked like a scotch-and-lavender prostitute.
“You’ve been angling after each other for years. How hard can it be to let her in?” Humphrey paused, his voice folding in on itself. “I don’t care what that bastard Montclaire made you promise.”
Julian fumbled for the flask, but it was bone-dry when he lifted it to his lips. Blast Humphrey and his sulking moods. “If you know so much, why ask?”
“Because I don’t understand your reluctance!”
“It transferred, Rey.” He closed his eyes, willing away the dizziness, which was starting to send the world into sluggish, nauseating rotations. “In the vision, she was standing in the Duke’s room, right beside me. She could have described it as well as I.”
“But—”
“If I’m unsure about my being able to leave,” he interrupted, “what to do withher? Can she step out as easily as she seems to step in?” He swallowed, taking a harsh breath through his nose. “If you can guarantee her safety, or tell me a wayIcan, I’ll gladly accept her help. Herhealing. If not, I have to go it alone. At least for now.”
“Your plan, then?”
Julian was too weary to lie. “One night, then she’s going to release me. After that…” He lifted his hand from his lap in a meaningless motion. He did not feel well. And talking about Piper pained him on a good day.
“One night, as in—”
“Yes.”
A charged silence lapsed. Julian heard Humphrey take a drink. “Release you? Like you’re a dog on a leash?”
“If it amuses you to think of it that way. Hell, maybe it amusesmeto think of it that way.” She could tie him to the bedpost with her leash any time she liked.
“Scamp agree to this claptrap?” Humphrey grunted beneath his breath. “Doesn’t sound like her. Girl wants all of you, always has.”
“She knows me too well,” Julian said as if this answered the question, which it did not. We’reconnected, he could have added, but that was too private, too intimate, to share. “I think I’m inviting her inside the visions.” Without opening his eyes, he reached for the satchel, took a bite of cheese, and mumbled, “If we can get past this—”Fascination. “Maybe then, I can accept the healing without wanting the rest.”
“Isn’t my place to enforce society’s senseless rules, but won’t your one night amount to ruining her?”
Julian laughed when he wanted to cast up his accounts on the carriage floor. “We’re already ruined, Rey.”
The silence stretched, broken only by squeaking carriage springs and wheels churning over packed earth. Julian drifted for a minute, maybe two, then Humphrey’s voice, halting and unsure, split the calm. “Finn had another dream.”
Julian peeled out of his slouch. “When?”
“The day after you left.” Humphrey tapped the flask on his thigh. “The Frenchwoman was in London. Finn knew from the room, the street, something. He felt she was close, maybe to that damned party. And it’s killing him because he thinks he’s pulling her in, making us more vulnerable with what he can’t help sharing.”
“My God, the whole world was at that ball, so Piper is officially out of hiding. Ashcroft’s had them, too. Dreams.” He frowned, the ache in his head fair to splitting it open. “Why do they have them? And I don’t?”
Humphrey pushed his flask into Julian’s hand. “Drink, Jule. You’re looking the color of a cow’s teat.”
Julian laughed, having no idea what color a cow’s teat was. But following the directive, he drank while giving Humphrey a brief accounting of his meeting with the Duke of Ashcroft.