Page 30 of Heart of Iron
“Came looking for you,” Adele whispered.
“I was only going to the powder room.”
“Colchester…arrived.”
Lena’s hands stilled.Then she continued cleaning away the blood.“You still shouldn’t have come alone.”
“Saw Colchester talking to Cavendish.”Adele swallowed.“He left the room and I thought—”
“They set you up.”Damn Colchester.He’d deliberately sent one of his cronies out to ambush Adele.Her actions the other night must have drawn his ire.
“Who’s Colchester?”
Lena froze.She’d forgotten all about Will.Her skirts rustled as she turned to look at him, her mind racing.She’d seen the look on his face when he’d choked Cavendish.If she told him about the duke, then there was a chance he’d go after him.
“The Duke of Lannister,” she replied carefully.“He has some grievance against Leo.”
Adele shifted and Lena squeezed her hand in warning.Don’t say a word.
Will stared at her, his face expressionless.
Beside her, Adele cleared her throat.“Who…is this?”
“He’s Blade’s man,” she replied, turning her attention back to her wounded friend.The bandage slowed the bleeding.There was no saving the dress, however.They’d have to get her out of here without anyone seeing.
“Cavendish said he was…” Adele trailed off.
Lena had never seen her look frightened before.World-weary and cynical, yes, but not truly frightened.She looked up and then paused, realizing how it would seem to Adele.Will hovered in the shadows, but everything about him was intimidating to someone who didn’t know him.And even then…
Adele would have heard stories—blue blood stories—about verwulfen and their violent, unrestrained passions.To the Echelon, Will was dangerous and nothing more than a monster.
“Verwulfen?Yes,” she replied, helping her to sit up.She smiled at Adele and leaned closer to whisper, “Don’t be frightened by the scowl.He thinks it’s impressive.But he’s a soft-heart beneath the grim exterior.”Lena couldn’t help smiling.“Some boys were drowning a bag of kittens once and he rescued them.For months they followed him around the warren.I’m afraid it’s quite ruined his carefully cultivated reputation in my eyes.All I can see is Mother Hen and his little charges.”Her smile faded.“The only monsters here are Colchester and his little friends.”
Will’s eyes were sleepy looking.A dangerous sign.It meant he was thinking and she didn’t want that.Meeting his gaze, she tipped her chin up.“We have to get her out of here without anyone seeing.If they do, she’s ruined.”
Will shrugged out of his coat and offered it.Adele flinched but took a slow breath and let Lena drape it around her shoulders.It was deliciously warm and she breathed in, filling her nose with his scent.
Will rolled the sleeves of his shirt up and candlelight gleamed on his bronzed forearms.Not for the first time, she wondered if his skin was that same molten gold all over.
Dangerous thoughts.She looked away quickly.
“Here,” he said, trying in his own way to be polite.“I can carry you.”
Adele’s eyes widened, but she nodded and let him slip his arms around her.Will straightened, lifting Adele easily.His gaze sought Lena’s.“Where to?”
With Will at her side, negotiating the dark hallways was easy.His superior senses saved them from discovery several times over.Slipping out through the servant’s entrance and the garden, they hastened toward the Hamilton’s steam carriage.
Weak from the loss of blood, Adele settled into the carriage sleepily.Lena tucked the lap rug over her and checked her makeshift bandage, then turned to murmur to one of the waiting footmen.“Will you fetch Mrs.Hamilton?”
There was one last matter to attend to.Stepping up onto the carriage’s step, she turned to face Will reluctantly.“Thank you.For helping me with Adele.”
He stood with his back to the gaslight, his face cast in shadows.A thin gleam of amber indicated his mood.“You and I need to talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”She turned, intending to settle inside the carriage, but he caught a fistful of her skirts.
“I ain’t goin’ away, Lena.”
A glimpse over her shoulder revealed the aggressive truth of that on his face.
