The Wolf's Pursuit (London Fairy Tales #3)(62)

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Hunter awoke to complete darkness. Gwen moaned next to him, and then he heard a door shut. He jolted awake as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Someone was there. At his house.

He quickly searched for one of the discarded candles on the table and lit it. His eyes had yet to adjust as he made his way through the trees and out into the entryway.

Nothing looked amiss, but the door was wide open. He went to shut it and cursed. As he turned, his eyes caught something on the far wall.

He walked closer and lifted the candle. In blood red lettering was one word. Traitor.

Hunter almost dropped the candle. He steadied his breathing and studied the handwriting. It did not appear familiar.

Something was horribly wrong. The only people who even knew of this house or knew he would be here had been Dominique and Montmouth. Then again, he had told Wilkins, considering just a few days previous he had turned in his resignation to the Crown.

He began pacing across the floorboards. Someone must have followed them home last night, which meant they'd either waited for him and Gwen to fall asleep or broken in early this morning.

The clock in the hall chimed six. Well, it seemed his honeymoon was already over. He could not have Gwen in danger. He refused to allow anything to touch her. He quickly went into his study and wrote a note to Dominique and Montmouth, letting them know of what had just taken place. As he finished up, he looked down and saw the packet of codes Wilkins had recently given him.

He lifted the first code to the light and then reached into his desk drawer for the older note, the one Redding had tried to burn, and compared them.

The first part of the note, where it named the location, was in one code, but the word death was in an entirely different one.

The same code as on the supposedly old ciphers. Which meant Wilkins had given him entirely new ones? What the devil would he do that for? Why would Wilkins give him packets of new codes, ones that had yet to be seen by anyone, if…

Suddenly feeling ill, he took a seat as he replayed images of his meetings with Wilkins, his sudden cheerfulness and changed body language, and then finally the last meeting, where he'd given Hunter the ciphers as evidence.

Why give him new evidence?

Unless he was planting it.

He cursed and ran back into the ballroom to wake Gwen.

The minute he walked into the room, it felt different. Call it a sixth sense, or perhaps insanity or paranoia, but when he reached the fur blankets…

She was gone.

And in her place was a note.

In code.

Hunter donned his clothes as fast as possible. Knowing he probably looked a wreck, he ran out to the stables and saddled his horse, and made for Lainhart's residence straightaway.





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A sharp pain inched itself across the back of Gwen's skull. She opened her eyes in confusion. Blurry images stood before her. After blinking a few times, she was able to make out the first person. Hollins glared at her with cold, lifeless eyes.

"How do you feel?" he asked as he pulled a knife from the inside of his jacket.

Gwen glared and shook her head. A gag had been stuffed inside her mouth, so she wasn't able to respond.

"Ah, such expressive eyes, don't you think, Wilkins?"

What?

Gwen's eyes focused on the other figure across the room. Wilkins sat in a chair, a predatory smile gleaming from his mouth. "She's always been hard to tame."

Outraged, Gwen kicked her feet and moved the chair, trying to free herself from the bonds that held her.

Hollins laughed and took a long swig of his drink, then nodded to Wilkins. "How much longer?"

"About an hour." Wilkins examined his pocket watch and sighed. "He will need to take the code to Lainhart. By the time he figures out where we have her, it may be too late. After all, I've been wanting to taste her for over a year. And now that her blood will be on Hunter's hands, I find myself even more… aroused."

Gwen screamed against the gag but the sound was muffled.

Wilkins approached her. His clothes were dark and dirty, as if he hadn't bathed in days. He leaned down, his knees popping as he came to eye level with her. "Stupid woman, thinking she can do a man's job. Though I have to admit to being impressed. After all, you tamed the Wolf, the man who I thought I had broken."

Gwen tried to speak again but the gag ate it, so all that came out was another scream.

"Do you love him?"

She stilled.

"Ah, you do! This is even better!" He jumped to his feet and slapped Hollins on the back. "Imagine that! We aim to catch a Wolf and we gain another sad ending to a love story. He shall take his own life the minute he finds out he lost another woman by his own hands. It will be such a tragic tale, don't you think?" Wilkins' fingers moved to Gwen's chest. When she was kidnapped, her dress from the night previous was discarded. The man who abducted her had thrown a much too tight dress in her direction and ordered her to put it on. It resembled something a prostitute would wear. The gown was dangerously low, and of course red, as if mocking what she had done for the Crown for a year.

Hollins smirked and tilted his head to Gwen. He was dressed impeccably in tight pantaloons, boots, and a perfectly fitting jacket, almost as if he were getting ready to go pay a visit to someone important.