Page 29 of Heart of Iron
There it came again.“No.Please.”
Adele.In the library.
Anger burned through her, white-hot.She slammed open the door.A single candle flickered, highlighting the daybed by the cold fireplace.Adele was wilted over it like a fading flower, blood dripping down the smooth column of her throat.Her bodice was soaked, the bright scarlet vivid against the white silk.
A man looked up, his lips painted red and the black of his eyes reflecting the candlelight.Benjamin Cavendish, the eldest son of Baron Rackham, and one of the younger pack.
He wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve, an insolent smile on his face.“Ah, the main course arrives.”
“Get off her.”
“I was done anyway.”His gaze slid over her sinuously.“It’s Miss Todd, isn’t it?”
Adele whimpered, her hands on her throat.Her frightened eyes met Lena’s.“Run.”
Lena’s fists clenched.The bastard thought he had her cornered.Will’s silent presence gave her strength she hadn’t realized she’d had.She snatched a poker from the fire set and faced him.“You get away from her now.”
“A feisty one.It’s much more fun when they put up a struggle.”He laughed.
Lena hefted the poker as he took a stealthy step toward her.“You’re a coward.Stalking young ladies at balls… It’s all you’re good for.You’re not a man; you’re just a little bully who’s grown up.”
Cavendish’s eyes narrowed.“Youare going to regret those words.”
He made a snatch at her skirts.Lena brought the poker down with relish.Takethat, you slimy little cretin.“Get your hands off me!”
The next few seconds happened too quickly for her to keep track of.One moment Cavendish was hissing at her, clutching his injured hand.The next he was slammed up against the fireplace, Will’s hand wrapped around his throat.
“Will!You’re not supposed to show yourself!”
“He put his hands on you.”
The depth of his voice sent shivers through her.Dangerous.Brutal.A voice that had no give in it, no means of reckoning with it.She had to stop him before he killed someone.
“He barely touched me.Will!Let him go.”She dropped the poker and grabbed his arm.It was useless.Her slight weight didn’t so much as shift him.“Will!If you hurt him, they’ll kill you.”
“You!”Cavendish gasped, his eyes full of malevolence.They shifted to her.“Little verwulfen slut.I’ll—”
Whatever he’d been about to say was choked off as Will’s fingers tightened.
“Look at me,” he said, the predator within him riding just under the surface.Cavendish was helpless to disobey.“You ever come near her again I’ll kill you.And it won’t be quick.”He smiled and Lena shivered.There was a wealth of viciousness in that smile.“Don’t think there’s anywhere you can hide.I can get to you, no matter how many guards you think you have.Do you understand?”
Cavendish’s fingers tore at Will’s hand.His face was rapidly turning purple, but somehow he managed to nod.
Will let him go and Cavendish staggered back, slumping against the fireplace.
“If there’s even a whisper about tonight—about Lena—I’ll come for you,” Will promised.“Now get the hell outta here before I change me mind.”
Cavendish scrambled for the door.
The ease with which Will did it… Lena felt a brief stab of jealousy.Oh, to be a man, to be strong, to be feared…
A strangled cough came from the daybed and she turned, her skirts swirling around her ankles as she ran to Adele.
“What happened?”Lena knelt, turning her friend’s face to the side to look at the damage.He’d cut her deep, using one of the elegant little blades the Echelon preferred.Some of the crueler blue bloods filed their teeth into points, but the majority used blades.
At least he’d had the presence of mind to lick the wound afterward.Whatever was in a blue blood’s saliva, it promoted swift healing.
“Here,” she murmured, tearing a strip off her petticoat.Rolling it into a pad, she tore another strip and bandaged the pad to the wound.
