Page 25 of Unseen

Tears ran down my face and pooled in the corners of my mouth. “It’s barbaric.”

“Indeed, I’m told it’s a rather dreadful way to die.”

Hendridge’s legs went stiff, convulsions running the length of his body, his arms held stiff against him. He jerked once, twice, and by the third time, he’d begun to go limp. Then his whole body seemed to collapse in on itself, and he was simply swinging. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

He was dead.

“What a pious woman you are, Evie.” Azriel ran a finger down the length of my arm. “Praying for this poor man’s soul, and even shedding tears for him.” He leaned closer, his voice dropping low. “Did you do the same for my father?”

“Why did you bring me here?” I asked, my voice cracking.

“I told you, so that you may make a decision about your future.”

I turned to face him, my lip quivering. “And what decision is that?”

His mouth quirked, and he rubbed his lower lip. “Either you agree to be my wife, and give yourself to me in all the ways a wife gives herself to a husband, or, well…” With a shrug he swept his open hand over the yard. “This is where you may find yourself.”

“And what is my crime?”

Azriel chuckled, baring his venomous white teeth. “You are rather committed, aren't you? To playing the innocent.”

“I am innocent.”

He frowned briefly. “I suppose no one would blame you really, not within themselves. A beautiful young woman like you, forced into marriage to a man old enough to be her grandfather?” He reached out, and stroked my veiled cheek with the back of his finger. “People would understand, and even pity you. But that pity would not save your life. You would be punished all the same, made an example of.”

I sniffled, trying to fill my lungs with breath even though I could not manage to breathe properly. “What are you accusing me of? What is it you think I’ve done?”

“I saw you, Evie. In the moonlight.” He placed his hand over mine, clutched still in my lap, and leaned close to my ear. “Just go to sleep, old man. Then it will all be over.”

What little air remained in my body rushed out of me, and I shook my head frantically. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re a filthy coward who hated your father. You probably killed him.”

“Me?” He sniggered into my ear.

“Yes,” I hissed through my tears. “You come back unexpectedly, and he dies? Suddenly? He was in perfect health, and then you show up.” I met his eyes and gritted my teeth. “It was you. You killed him for his money, and now you’re trying to blame me.”

He leaned back in his chair, hand outstretched on his cane, and he grinned. “Is that the game you’re going to play, beloved?”

“I am not playing games, you are, you filthy swine.” I rose to my feet, surprised I was able to stand at all. “Now take me from this place. This is what you had me break my mourning for? For this? You are the devil, Azriel Caine.”

He laughed softly, rising to his feet and offering his arm. “Come then, let me take you home.”

I took his arm only because I was unsure how far I could trust my own legs, and indeed I was unsure that I would notyet faint. I almost clung to him as we hurried down the stairs and through the once again crowded lane way, and out onto the street.

The rain was falling heavily, and we were soaked when we reached the carriage.

I pulled up my veil once the carriage began to move, and wiped away the rain and my tears with a handkerchief.

“You’re not crying for Hendridge.” Azriel said softly. “You weren’t praying for him, either.”

“I was.” I held a hand to my mouth, shaking my head. “It was vile, all those people, cheering on his death, like it was a show in the West End.”

“Yes, but you still weren’t crying for him.”

I looked up at him, and he ran a hand through his dark hair.

“I saw a man who deserved to have one person who believed in his salvation.”

“You saw yourself, a woman judged for a crime she felt was justified.” He tilted his head and smiled. “You would not want people cheering for your death, but believe me, they would. Like any other poor soul dragged up on to those gallows.”

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