Silk and Shadows(149)

Dragging Sara from the room and up the stairs, he continued, "I thought you were a lady, worthy to be Eliza's step mother. Instead, you betrayed me for a rutting foreign bastard. Tonight you will pay for your treachery."

Thinking it might deter him, Sara considered saying that Mikahl would arrive at any moment, but she rejected the idea. If he knew that his enemy was coming, Weldon would tie her up again and wait with pistol in hand.

Weldon took her to an empty bedroom at the end of the upstairs hall and shoved her inside.

Sara staggered as her weak leg twisted, but she managed not to fall. "Have you ever considered blaming yourself for your problems?" she said, reckless with anger. "Surely Eliza was kidnapped on your orders, not Mrs. Kent's."

"She frightened my daughter. She shouldn't have done that. And the guard—he hurt Eliza. They deserved what they got," he said with glittering eyes. "Now, you little whore, you will also get what you deserve." With one hand he pulled Sara close while with the other he fondled her coarsely, his fingers digging deep into intimate flesh.

Revolted, Sara shrank away from him, but it was impossible to avoid his probing hand. Even through layers of petticoats, she felt violated.

Weldon smiled with vicious satisfaction. "Don't play the virtuous lady with me, Sara. You'd like this if I were the bastard, wouldn't you?" Releasing her, he reached to turn the key in the lock. "Before the night is over, you are going to do everything for me that you do for him."

While his attention was on the key, Sara reached under Weldon's coat in a desperate attempt to take the pistol. Her fingers had just touched the weapon's handle when he felt her action and whirled around.

"You will regret that," he snarled. He untied her cloak, which slithered to the floor in heavy folds. Then he seized the neck of her gown and ripped the fabric down to her waist.

Sara raked at her assailant's face with clawed fingers, but Weldon easily slapped her hands aside. Then he forced her to the floor and dropped down to trap her under his solid body.

Impact with the floor temporarily stunned Sara, but as Weldon tore at her with feral hands, she screamed and began struggling frantically. In her naiveté, she had thought she understood something of Mikahl's furious need for revenge. Now that understanding paled beside the deep, visceral rage she felt at Weldon's abuse.

But even rage was futile against her assailant's brutal power. As Weldon tore at her clothing, Sara made a despairing prayer for strength to survive the horror that was to come.

* * *

Before approaching Mrs. Kent's house, Peregrine checked the alley where Kuram had kept the carriage the night they had rescued Jenny. Once again the alley was occupied, this time by Peregrine's own armed and watchful driver.

He asked the driver a few quick questions and learned that Sara and Kuram had gone inside about twenty minutes earlier. A few minutes ago, a man and a little girl had come out of the brothel. The man had put the child in a waiting carriage, then returned to the house.

From the description, the people were Weldon and Eliza. So the girl was safe, but Sara and Kuram were in danger. Peregrine swore under his breath at the sheer bad luck that had brought Weldon to the brothel at the same time as Sara.

Seething with impatience, he sprinted to Mrs. Kent's house and knocked on the door. Unsurprised that no one answered, he studied the building's facade with narrowed eyes. The lower-level windows had always been barred, and bars had also been installed on the upper floors since Jenny's escape.

Frowning, he recalled from his previous visit that the front door and lock were solid. However, he also had a vague impression that the door frame had been old and brittle-looking, and a lock was no better than the wood that surrounded it.

Hoping his memory was correct and that he didn't break his foot, he kicked the door hard, striking beside the lock. With a sound of splintering wood, the door shuddered and moved inward. After two more kicks, the lock ripped from the frame and the door swung open. He pulled his pistol out and cocked it, then entered cautiously, weapon ready.

The racket of his entrance should have drawn everyone in the house, but the building was eerily silent, with no one in sight. Peregrine looked around, puzzled. It was not too surprising that there was no sign of children or patrons, but what about Mrs. Kent? And surely there would be a guard to keep order. Soundlessly he crossed to the madam's office and looked in.

Mrs. Kent's body sprawled across the floor in a puddle of blood. Peregrine whistled softly, wondering what had happened. More important, where were Sara and Kuram and Weldon?

As he returned to the hall, he heard a muffled scream coming from upstairs. Impossible to be sure with the soundproofing, but it sounded like Sara.