Possession (22 page)

"You will
be when you cease your performances. And I can assure you, Theo isn't the sort
who'll want his betrothed to work as a spirit medium. I doubt he'll want to
work either."

"Oh, you
can assure me, can you? That's comforting." I shivered and my eyes burned
with tears. Didn't he understand what he was saying, how hurtful he was being? "He
is going to be a lawyer."

"Perhaps."

My lip wobbled
and I bit it. He frowned, half-shook his head. He didn't understand at all. It
would seem I had to spell it out to him. "Is it so difficult to believe
that he couldn't love me enough to give up his life of idleness? Do you think
me that unlovable?"

His mouth opened
and closed, opened and closed like an automaton. "That's not what I
meant."

The tears
spilled down my cheeks in a torrent. I couldn't stop them. No matter how
quickly I dashed them away, new ones followed. It was childish and humiliating,
but I was
so
angry. And sad. I turned to run up the stairs.

He caught my shoulders,
not hard but not gently either. I tried to shake him off, but his grip
tightened. "Emily, no." He whispered. Even with him pressed against
my back I could barely hear him. "Don't. Please. That's not what I meant. Don't
cry."

I tried again to
shake his hands off and this time he let go. I ran up the stairs, passing Cara
and Lucy on their way down.

"Miss
Chambers?" Lucy said to my retreating back. "Everything all
right?"

"What did
you say to her?" It was Cara, her girlish voice filled with righteous anger.
I imagined her little finger pointing at Jacob. "Well, mister?" she
shouted.

"Th...the
ghost is here?" That was Lucy. She whimpered. She'd probably gone as white
as her apron, perhaps even plopped down on the step.

Just as I opened
the door to my room, I heard Celia's voice. "Young ladies do not shout,
Cara."

"But
he
made Miss Emily cry."

I didn't hear my
sister's response. Or Jacob's. I slammed the door on them all. The things on my
dressing table rattled and the framed embroidery on the wall slipped on its
hook and resettled crookedly.

Then I threw
myself on my bed and wept into my pillow. It was bad enough thinking about what
he'd said. It was even worse knowing I had to face him again soon.

Mortlock had to
be sent back before he did something terrible to Adelaide. He wasn't going to
wait for my heart to heal.

CHAPTER 13

Cara ate a small
mountain of toast for breakfast. It was just as well that she was hungry
because I wasn't and Celia was too pre-occupied with replenishing Cara's plate
to notice.

I, on the other
hand, was too pre-occupied thinking about Jacob. Had I been unfair? After all,
he never
said
I was unlovable. It's just that his reaction to Theo had
been rather odd. Was he trying to protect me from a future pain if Theo's
attentions came to nothing, or was he simply jealous? My hopes were pinned on
jealous.

"He left
straight away." Cara shoved the last piece of toast into her mouth.
"Mr. Beaufort the ghost," she added, spraying soggy crumbs onto her
plate.

"Cara
dear," Celia said with far more patience than she would have shown me,
"ladies do not speak with full mouths."

Cara swallowed
hard and stretched out her neck as if she could force the toast down faster.
"But I'm no lady."

"Not
yet," my sister said. "But you will be." She spoke with a
determination that dared us to counter her. I knew better than to try, and Cara
simply blinked her long lashes over big brown eyes and nodded in earnest. She
seemed to be drinking up my sister's enthusiasm, which no doubt accounted for
the air of satisfaction in Celia's manner this morning.

"Did he say
anything before he left?" I asked Cara. I couldn't help it. I had to know
everything about Jacob, everything he said and did, and now I had an ally who
could see and hear him when I wasn't there. Despite my aching heart, I felt a
flood of affection for the girl. I was no longer alone, no longer the only
freak in London. We had each other, and we both had Celia. I was feeling very fortunate
on that score.

"He said he
was sorry and he didn't like making you cry." Cara screwed up her nose.
"I s'pose he looked sorry too. Kind of sad."

I swallowed the
lump in my throat. "Did he say anything else?"

"He said he
would come back today after he found that mean spirit, Mortlock," Celia
said. "I hope it's soon."

"So do
I," I murmured.

After breakfast,
I urged Celia to take Cara out. If Jacob returned, I didn't want her around.
She might insist on helping send Mortlock back since she felt partially
responsible for his presence, and I did not want to endanger her life too.
Celia agreed, albeit reluctantly. With a grim set to her mouth, she took my
hand and squeezed it. The look she gave me told me everything I needed to know
without words passing between us:
be careful
.

Cara didn't ask
questions when Celia told her they would go shopping for some new clothes. She
bounced on her toes, squealed in delight and hugged my sister tightly. Celia
smiled down at her with a soft shine in her eyes then pried the girl's arms
from around her waist.

"We cannot
afford much," she warned Cara. "But I think our budget can stretch to
a new set of underthings and some fabric for a new dress. As to a new coat, you
will have to wear one of Emily's old ones for now."

"Yes, Miss
Chambers," Cara said. Her smile was almost too wide for her face as she
trotted behind Celia.

I didn't have to
wait long for Jacob to appear. I was shocked to see him. I didn't think a ghost
could look haggard, but there was a bone-deep weariness to him that made my
heart swell.

I went to him
and he wordlessly enclosed me in his arms, resting his chin on the top of my
head. I breathed deeply, drawing air into my lungs but not his scent. He had
none. I felt his body relax into mine and it felt good to just hold him and be
held by him. I hated arguing all the time.

"I'm sorry,"
he finally said in a rasping voice I barely recognized.

"It's not
your fault. I…overreacted. I know you didn't mean I'm not unlovable."

The corded
muscles in his arms tensed. "It is the one thing I could never say about
you." He gently pushed me away but held onto my arms. His thumbs caressed
my sleeves and his eyes searched mine, until once more something came over him.
His features hardened and he let go of me. "I found Mortlock," he
said. "We must leave. Now."

The unresolved
feelings between us would have to remain that way. Mortlock had to be our first
priority.

I threw on my
coat and hurried after him. We walked side by side to St. James's Street and I
listened as Jacob told me how he'd stayed all night at his parents' house, a
weapon nearby, and waited for Mortlock. But the spirit possessing George's body
had not arrived and when dawn peeped over the rooftops and the servants
stirred, he left in search of him. He'd found him at a gentleman's club in St.
James's Street. Mortlock must have realized George probably belonged to one of
the exclusive clubs where he could find a bed and dine like a prince on
George's credit. Jacob had visited each club in turn until he found him.

I watched from
across the street as Jacob went inside to flush Mortlock out. The gloomy mist
clung to my clothes and turned my hair into a frizzy mess in the five minutes it
took for him to reappear beside me.

"He's not
there," he said.

"You must
go in search of him again." I was about to add that he couldn't have gone
far, but that may not have been true. If Mortlock had caught an omnibus, he
could be out of London already. "Your family…"

He nodded and
scrubbed a hand through his dark hair. "I'll check on them now. Emily…"
An intense sadness settled into his eyes and I thought he would kiss me, but he
didn't. He tugged on the collar of my coat, his knuckle brushing the underside
of my jaw, and said, "Go home. Stay warm." And then he was gone.

I trudged home,
trying yet again to sift through my tumultuous emotions. I was so engrossed
that I failed to notice Theo approaching from the opposite direction along
Druids Way.

"Emily!"
He greeted me with a bow. "I was just coming to see you."

"Is
everything all right?"

"Fine,
fine. I came to ask how you progress with Mortlock. Did Jacob find him?"

I was about to
update him with the morning's news when a scream tore through the mist. It came
from the direction of my house.

"Lucy!"
I shouted.

We raced inside
and found Lucy on the drawing room sofa, Mortlock in George's body on top of
her. His hand covered her mouth and her skirts were up around her thighs. She
thrashed beneath him but not vigorously. Her dazed expression and the bruises
blooming on her face told us why
¾
he'd beaten her until she'd almost passed out.

My gasp turned
Mortlock's head. He gave us a twisted smile, a predatory gleam in his eyes. He
shifted his weight, showing us the knife in his hand. He shoved it under Lucy's
chin and she whimpered and jerked her head back.

"It's all
right, Lucy," I soothed. "We won't let him hurt you."

"You want
to risk that?" Mortlock squinted past me to Theo. I'd forgotten he'd lost
George's glasses. How much could he see without them? "Who's your
lover?"

Theo stepped in
front of me. "Let her go," he said.

"Or
what?"

"I'll send
you back," I said. I concentrated on steadying my breathing, wishing I
felt as calm as I sounded.

Lucy groaned
again. Her bosom heaved beneath her apron and her cap had fallen off somewhere
so that her pale hair fanned around her. She looked like the poor victim in a
Gothic novel, sublime yet tragic. I would not let Mortlock hurt her.

I inched closer.
How close did I need to be to send him back? How close did I dare get?

"No,
Emily," Theo warned, once more stepping in front of me. "Stay back.
Let me handle him." He undid his topmost coat buttons.

"No, I must
send him back," I said. Oh God, where was Jacob? I desperately wanted to
call for him. He could sneak up on Mortlock and use a weapon, but I knew that
as soon as his name passed my lips, Mortlock would cut Lucy. The risk was too
great.

As was the risk
of Theo fighting him, or trying to. But he continued to undo his coat, his fierce
glare stripped of all its usual good humor. There was a viciousness there that
almost matched Mortlock's. Almost.

Mortlock simply
laughed. "Come on, boy, let's see if you're man enough."

Theo growled and
threw his coat to the side.

"No!"
I caught his arm and used all my strength to hold him back. "He'll hurt
her." To Mortlock, I said, "Let me swap with her. You don't want her,
do you? You want me. You want to hurt
me
, Mr. Mortlock."

I had his
interest although he didn't set aside the knife. He licked his lips and grinned
like I'd never seen George grin before. It was full of malice and at that
moment, I knew evil existed. "God yes." He chuckled low in his
throat. "You're a pretty little thing for a darky. I'm going to hurt you
bad, see if you bleed red like a pure white girl. Then I'll make you beg me on
your knees."

"Enough!"
snapped Theo.

Lucy screamed as
the knife dug into the flesh at her throat. Blood seeped from the wound and
trickled down to her heaving chest. "Please, miss, don't let him hurt me,"
she babbled through her sobs.

I approached him
carefully, my hands out in front of me. "Swap," I said. "Her for
me."

Theo tried to
pull me back just as Mortlock grabbed my hands and jerked me forward onto the
sofa. Lucy scrambled away and ran for the door, tears streaming down her cheeks.
She was gone, safe. And I was touching Mortlock. It was close enough, I knew
that for certain.

"Go back
¾
"

My words were
slapped from my mouth by the back of Mortlock's hand. I cried out and fell onto
the sofa. My ears rang and fierce pain ripped across my jaw, still bruised from
his beating mere days earlier. I closed my eyes to hold the stinging tears in
check.

"You
bastard!" Theo cried.

I opened my eyes
to see him throw himself at Mortlock, shoving him to the side. The knife
skimmed across my thigh then fell out of Mortlock's hand when he landed heavily
on the floor. They struggled on the ground, each trying to get the upper hand.
George wasn't a strongly built man, but Mortlock had lived on the cruel London
streets for many years. He knew how to fight. He punched Theo, the blow
snapping Theo's head back. It hit the floor with a thud and Theo's eyes
fluttered closed. He'd lost consciousness.

It was up to me.
"Go back
¾
"