Page 112 of Dukes Are Forever
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The first timeAdele suspected she was being followed was as she made her way along the gallery behind the stairs.
There was no sign of Hattie, but several ladies laughed and twittered nearby, and a footman stood propped in front of the wall. The ballroom was mere feet away. So close, she had to be safe, didn't she?
It wasn't the first time she'd found herself stalked through ballrooms. And the woman behind her moved nonchalantly enough, passing laughing couples who'd sought some privacy in the hallway, pausing every now and then before a painting as if to examine it, that Adele almost doubted herself.
One could be forgiven for assuming she was just another guest, but there was a faint prickling sensation down Adele's spine. Something wasn't right, and she always listened to her instincts.
"Malloryn?" she whispered, touching the small auditory device in her ear. He'd told her not to use it unless strictly necessary.
Static shirred through it."Where are you?"he demanded in his usual clipped tones.
"Behind the staircase. Hattie wanted to see me. You didn't happen to send one of your agents after me, did you? For protection?"
She could almost sense him pausing in whatever he was doing."No,"he said slowly."Why?"
"I think I'm being followed. It's a woman," she whispered, hoping he could hear her through the communicator. "She's wearing a swan headpiece and a white dress."
So were half the bloody debutantes at the ball. White denoted a young woman searching for a protector. But there was nothing innocent in the way the woman moved, her eyes radiating a particular sort of menace as her attention locked on Adele.
She was definitely moving faster now, as Adele froze in front of a painting. The footman had vanished. The three ladies slipped past the woman stalking toward her, fans fluttering.
And the woman was between her and the ballroom.
"Blonde—very blonde—and... I think there's something wrong with her mouth. A scar, perhaps. Or one side of it is pulled up."
Silence loomed through the device.
Then her husband's voice cracked sharply through the auditory device in her ear."Adele, where precisely are you?"
There was something about his tone that made her heart skip a beat. "I'm behind the staircase, but she's between me and the ballroom. Should I try and circle around?"
"Don't go anywhere,"Malloryn snapped. "I'm coming for you, right now."
"What's going on?"
"You just described Jelena."
Thedhampirwoman who worked for Balfour. Adele's heart pounded. "I can't stay. She's herding me away from the ballroom."
"Find someone. Find people. You're not safe,"Malloryn said sharply."Gemma? Abandon Mowbray. I've got a possible sighting of Jelena near the back of the main staircase. She's following Adele."
Her device was only linked to his, so she had to assume the other woman answered.
Adele stepped back as the woman smiled and advanced upon her. There was light to her left. Laughter in the distance. Safety, perhaps. "I have to move," she hissed. "The ladies' powder room is just in front of me. I'll lock myself inside."
"Ava wants to know if you have your perfume,"Malloryn demanded.
Her perfume?
Clarity dawned. The pretty blonde scientist had doctored it with the Black Vein toxin. "Yes. It's in my reticule."
"If you're trapped, squirt it directly in Jelena's face. It won't affect you, but warn any other blue bloods in the area. She said she hasn't tested it directly, but it might be strong enough to incapacitate her."
Hemlock in her ring. Black Vein in her perfume.
Who did they think she was?
