Seeing Danger (Sinclair and Raven #2)(52)

Dev and his siblings formed a circle and while they closed their eyes, he changed his vision and focused.

“I hear men, three, possibly four. They are discussing a woman,” Eden said. “Where they are to take her, and what is to be done. It's Lilly, I'm certain, and she is in very real danger. We must get to her now.”

“She's near, I can detect the faintest trace of her scent,” Cam added.

“Fear,” Essie whispered. “She's scared because it's dark, and she's alone.”

“The warehouse is just down there,” Toby said, his eyes wide as he tried to understand what he was hearing.

They trod silently to where the old building stood. Dev looked around for people and saw two men standing at the front of the building. A black carriage stood waiting for someone, and Dev wondered if it belonged to this Dominus Toby spoke of. Looking toward the building, he opened his senses and found Lilly, her unique color among the others inside. She was alone, and relief nearly buckled his knees as he watched her move. She was alive and her color strong.

“I see her,” Dev whispered. “I'm going to get inside through one of the open boards. Cam, you come with me and watch my back. You others stay here.”

“I should come with you.”

“I know you want to, Toby, but I need you to go back to the end of the street and keep an eye out for anyone approaching.”

He didn't want to; Dev could see it in the narrowing of his eyes and jut of his jaw.

“Trust me to get her out safe, Toby.”

“I do.”

“Can I take your scarf with me? I may need it.”

Nodding, the boy quickly unwound it from his neck and then left.

“No risks, Dev, you call to Eden if you need help, and I'll come,” James said.

Leaving their family looking grim, he and Cam walked along the building until they found some broken boards and a space big enough to slip through.

I'm coming, Lilly.



Lilly was dirty, hungry, and in the light of day, she had also been bloody angry. Now, however, the darkness was making her fear for her sanity. Moonlight helped, and showed her she was alone in the room, but still the shadows had appeared, and with them the fear.

Her hands and feet were bound, and she had been bundled into a cart and carried for hours—well it had felt like hours—to her current accommodation.

The small room she had been thrown into had nothing to sit on or look at. In fact, it was dark, damp, and airless, with only one window above her in the roof.

She feared for Bee and Wilson, and hoped they had survived the attack. Where was she? Would anyone come for her?

Looking up, Lilly tried to focus on the glass and the sky beyond, anything to force back the terror that was rising inside her. Could she see stars? Just one that she could focus on.

Biting her lip to stop the moan of terror, she inhaled a deep breath and slowly released it.

“You are strong, Lilly. The dark will soon give way to light, and you will be safe until then.” She forced herself to focus on those words. She was intelligent and knew that her fear was irrational, but it had been that way since she was a child.

Did anyone know, besides her staff, that she was missing? Who would come and find her? Toby, definitely, Wilson and Bee if they were unhurt. Mr. and Mrs. Davey, perhaps. Her brother? Definitely not. In fact, he would probably rejoice in her disappearance. A pair of green eyes slipped into her head and Lilly quickly banished them.

Lord Sinclair would come for her if he knew she had disappeared, because he was an honorable man, but who would tell him? Blinking several times, she forced the tears away. She would not think of him now, or the prospect that she would never see him again. It really was ridiculous how she felt about him, and all simply because he had been nice to her.

Liar, there is a great deal more to your feelings for him than that, a little voice inside her head said. Lilly pushed it aside.

Had she been kidnapped because of her interference with the missing children? It now seemed likely. If whoever was taking them had enough power, he could have her removed—as he had—successfully. Yet, she was still the daughter of a nobleman, so kidnapping her would not go unnoticed. Presumably she was a threat that made this worth doing.

Relief filled her as a key fitted into the lock on her door. She didn't care who walked through that door; whoever it was would take her mind off the dark and the thoughts spinning around inside her head. Lilly struggled to wedge her bottom into the corner of the room and lever herself to her feet. If she was to face her captors, it would be standing and defiant.

“I ’ave food.”

Not exactly a cheerful face, yet the man was not fearful-looking either. Short and round, he could be everyone's favorite uncle and not their feared jailer, and better still, he had a lamp. Lilly felt the muscles in her body slowly ease as light began to fill the dark spaces in the small room.

“Why am I here?”

“Not my business. Eat and drink or don't, I care nothing either way.”

“Charming. I bet you have trouble with the ladies,” Lilly muttered, wondering if she antagonized him enough, would he leave and forget to take the lamp with him. “It's not as if you have the physical attributes to fall back on either.” Lilly clamped her knees together to stop them shaking. She would not show this man she was terrified. Her grandmother had told her to never show fear when faced with adversity. “Attack, Lilliana, when others expect you to cower!”