Oath

by K. J. Jackson

  Tieran.

  No. No. No.

  He stepped into the street, dragging a girl behind him. A girl in a scant shift with nothing to cover her bare arms and bare feet from the cold. A girl bound at the wrists with a sack over her head.

  Not one passerby even glanced in Tieran’s direction as he pulled the girl along the street. The girl stumbled, falling to her knees. He didn’t stop his stride, he merely yanked her upright, her bare feet slipping sideways on the frozen cobblestones with every step. They disappeared around the corner of a building at the end of the block.

  Liv stared at the spot where he vanished, willing him to reappear, willing her eyes to have mistaken what she had just witnessed.

  Willing herself to not remember that was what had happened to her, to Viola, to countless other girls. Virgin meat, sold to the highest bidder and dragged out into the night.

  The silence in the carriage stretched long, her world slipping into a vast, empty abyss.

  Viola broke the hush, broke through the dark veil of numbness that had just enveloped Liv. “You are convinced?”

  Liv could only nod.

  “Excellent. Then shall we go to the Jacobson’s ball? As we know, Lord Lockston will be attending, and I imagine you now hold no reservations about scratching him off the list.”

  Liv couldn’t nod, couldn’t agree, couldn’t speak.

  Viola flipped the trap door in the roof of the carriage, murmuring to Mr. Niles.

  The carriage jerked forward. It did nothing to jar Liv from her shock. From her heartbreak.

  She had thought she knew what heartbreak was. Thought she had experienced it those many years ago when she was sold in a brothel and then married Lord Canton, only to discover Tieran was alive.

  But that had been a mere wrinkle for her heart to suffer.

  For this time, it was not just heartbreak alone, it was a complete loss of her faith in humanity—the loss of faith in the one man she had believed to be above all others. The one man she had ever dared to love.

  And he was a monster.

  { Chapter 19 }

  Liv looked down, the swish of the blue skirt at her waist unsettling her.

  It was foreign—color set upon her own body. But what did it matter now? The color, the cleavage, the drape of the dress over her hips could only help her objective this evening.

  She had known changing into the blue dress would be beneficial—verified when she heard the gossips go into a whirl as she entered the main ballroom. Perfect. She wanted every last gossipmonger here talking about her tonight. Talking about the scandal she was about to unleash.

  Tonight, she would deal with Lord Lockston.

  Tomorrow, Tieran.

  She had been to the Jacobson’s townhouse many times before. The family threw a ball every few weeks during the season—and at least every month during the rest of the year. Men from the list had been analyzed here—flirtations started. And Liv had committed the floorplan to memory for that very purpose.

  She edged out into the hallway she was poised next to. This was the corridor that led to the billiard room, along with several smaller rooms for individuals or small groups to retire to. She had hovered near the corridor for hours, easily lost in the mass of the crush, waiting for one of the smaller rooms to clear and for Lord Lockston to move into the billiard room.

  Miraculously, both happened within minutes of each other.

  After letting an appropriate amount of time pass, enough for Lord Lockston to have a tumbler of brandy and perchance a game of billiards, Liv moved into the empty side room halfway between the ballroom and the billiard room. She hovered by the doorway, leaning slightly out to keep watch on the billiard room.

  Her patience was well rewarded when the door to the billiard room opened, and Lord Lockston exited, chatting with a man she didn’t recognize.

  With a swish of her skirts, she angled herself just beyond the partially ajar door to the side room. Giving wicked tugs on the opposite shoulders of her gown, she heard her sleeves rip free from the bodice. Angling her hands to her back, she quickly found the top ribbons holding her gown tight to her body, sewn into each side, and she yanked with all her might. Ribbons tore from fabric, and she threw the strips to the wooden floor behind the door.

  The top of her dress dropped down about her waist, baring her as she wore no shift or stays for just this purpose. It fell perfectly. She quickly gathered a handful of the blue silk in front of her breasts, her forearm holding the fabric in place.

  Footsteps approached, passing by the doorway to her room.

  “Lord Lockston.” Liv hid behind the door, her head popping out aside it. “Lord Lockston, please.”

  The two men stopped by the doorway, looking in at her. Lockston recognized her immediately, his head inclining toward her.

  “Lady Canton.” He made motion to move onward, and Liv jumped.

  “Wait, Lord Lockston, please, don’t leave. I have a slight problem and I have seen not a soul come by that I know.”

  Lockston’s eyebrows arched as he assessed her, his eyes flickering to the door hiding her body. Suspicion laced his look. Well placed, for their last encounter at Wellfork Castle. At least the man had common sense.

  His companion cleared his throat.

  “Please, Lord Lockston,” Liv pleaded in what she hoped was pathetic desperation. “I have seen no one I can trust and I am quite trapped in here. This will not take but a moment of your time.”

  Lockston gave a curt nod to his companion and the man moved off down the hallway. He turned to Liv, his feet planted in the corridor. “What is it that you need, Lady Canton?”

  An embarrassed smiled crossed her face. “Has Tieran made mention of me?”

  “He has.”

  She exhaled, relieved. “Thanks goodness. This would have been awkward if you did not know of our relationship.” She nodded with her head toward the ballroom. “Can you find him for me? I seem to have had a rather disastrous mishap with my gown, and I was hoping for his jacket, at the very least, and then to sneak out.”

  “Oh. I…” Lockston fidgeted, looking to the ballroom. The bastard knew exactly where Tieran was. At a brothel buying a virgin. Worm.

  He looked back to Liv. “Reggard was here, but I have not seen him in hours, perhaps he left. Would a maid not be appropriate? I can request one.”

  She bit her lower lip, horrified, as she let loose on a flood of words. “It is just…the gossips…this is the first time I have worn color in years and the gossips are already in a frenzy and they will skewer me if I cannot even keep a gown about my bosom properly and I have no one I can think of that will help me without word getting to the gossipmongers, and I so did not want to do that to Tieran once our names are linked in public.” She attempted to squeeze out one drastic tear.

  Lockston glanced back to the ballroom, and then sighed, looking at her. “Perhaps I can help? Is it truly that bad? Possibly a ribbon can be used?”

  “Yes, perhaps, please, help me.” She reached around the door, catching part of his sleeve and tugging him past the doorway.

  He stepped in, moving to the center of the room. Holding the bodice of the dress tight over her breasts with her left arm, she turned her back to him, pushing the door near to, but not fully closed.

  She heard laughter at the end of the hallway. Perfect. Exactly what she needed. A woman. Any woman to witness this scene. The gossipmongers would do the rest.

  She awkwardly lifted her right arm, her forefinger pointing downward upon her exposed back to divert attention away from the door. “Do you see? I was pulling a rogue thread and I yanked it and I do not know how it happened, but it unspooled the whole back.”

  She took a step to the side, waving her hand, positioning herself in front of the open crack of the door.

  Lord Lockston moved to stand behind her, grabbing uselessly at the cloth just above her tailbone. “This is a mess. There are no eyelets. How was this together?” He pulled the fabric tight around her waist
, attempting the use the few hanging threads to cobble the closing together. He cleared his throat. “Forgive me for saying so, Lady Canton, but no stays, no shift?”

  She glanced over her shoulder at him, a blush filling her cheeks. Even if she was playing a part, and it was only her back, she still was not accustomed to anyone but Tieran seeing her naked flesh. She turned her face to the doorway, praying whoever was walking down the hall would walk a little faster. “I…well, we are adults, Lord Lockston…and I had assumed I would be going home with Tieran and he…well, it was a surprise for him.”

  “I understand.” She could hear the smirk in his voice.

  The footsteps got closer, and Liv could hear the woman talking. Only a few seconds more.

  “Ouch.” Liv shifted on her feet, tipping to the side, the top of her dress falling to her waist as she lost her balance, her arms flailing.

  Lockston caught her at the exact moment the passing woman glanced into the room.

  The woman disappeared past them.

  Blast it.

  A second passed as Lockston righted her on her feet, one hand on her arm, the other wrapped around her waist.

  The door swung open.

  “Livia?”

  Liv blinked, looking at the woman, recognizing the face from long ago. “Ara?”

  “Heaven’s blazes, Livia, what are you doing?” Ara rushed into the room, her hands frantically reaching for the front of Liv’s gown.

  “Ara Detton?” The question sputtered from Liv’s lips.

  The man that had saved Liv years ago from the brothel had tossed her into a coach, and Ara Detton had been the woman waiting in that carriage to help her. Ara had taken Liv to a home on Baker Street—a house where girls such as she could live, build a new life after being stolen from their families and sold in the brothel.

  Liv hadn’t seen Ara in the six years since she had married, as Lord Canton had always demanded she cut any tie to her past with the Baker Street house. So while she had respected her husband’s wishes to a point, Liv had always made sure large sums of money were donated to support the house and the girls.

  Still fumbling with the front of Liv’s dress and trying to cover her bared breasts, Ara looked up, her eyes going wide as they landed on the man behind Liv. The man with his hands all about Liv’s naked flesh. “Fletch?”

  At that moment, Liv saw the person Ara had been talking with in the hallway.

  Tieran. Tieran standing in the doorway, heaving, his fists tight at his sides.

  It stilled Liv. Froze her until she remembered.

  Monster.

  Ara yanked Liv sideways, ripping her out of Lockston’s grasp as she attempted to cobble the hanging silk of Liv’s dress up in front of her.

  “Ara—how do you know Lord Lockston?” Liv asked, grabbing the fabric from Ara to cover her frontside.

  Lockston advanced on Liv, his own fists clenched. “You little witch—you look to set me—”

  In one swift motion, Tieran slammed the door closed and stepped in front of Liv, blocking Lockston’s path.

  Lockston sidestepped him, looking back and forth between the two women, his voice a growl. “Ara, how do you know Lady Canton?”

  Tieran reached out, his hand flat on Lockston’s chest, holding him in place. “Don’t ask questions you shouldn’t know the answer to, Lockston.”

  Lockston’s glare left Liv, landing on Tieran. He stared at him for a long moment, then gave a curt nod as his fists unclenched.

  Tieran spun to Liv. He wasn’t about to let Lockston yell at her, but he held no restraint on his own tongue. “Bloody hell, Liv. I cannot believe you would do this. Not now. The idiocy—what the hell is it with this bloody list of yours?”

  He moved forward, towering over her. “You damn well need to tell me this instant, Liv.”

  Liv glanced from Tieran to Ara to Lockston and back to Tieran.

  No. Bloody well no.

  The men were seething, judging, and Ara just had the most peculiar look on her face.

  Liv stared up at Tieran, her heart shattering.

  Monster.

  She had to remember he was a monster. He bought virgins—stole their innocence. So no. She wasn’t about to tell him anything. Her mouth pulled into a tight line.

  “I have let this go on too damn long, Liv.” His voice was strained to near breaking. “If you ever—for the smallest blasted moment in time—trusted me, then you will tell me this instant why you have this mad list of men and why you are determined to ruin life after life.”

  Ara gasped.

  Liv’s look swung to her.

  “You have a list, Livia? A list of men?” Ara’s eyes went shrewd. “It’s the buyers, isn’t it?”

  Both men turned to Ara.

  Having edged away when Tieran barreled in, Ara took a step toward Liv. “You have a list of the men who purchase the girls at the brothel and you mean to ruin all of them, don’t you?”

  All eyes landed back on Liv.

  Hell. Ara didn’t know Lockston and Tieran were on the list. Biting her tongue, Liv gave Ara a warning shake of her head. No. Not in front of them. Not in front of the bastards that ruin innocents. She willed Ara to be silent.

  “What the hell are you talking about, Ara?” Tieran asked, his piercing look not shifting from Liv.

  “Livia—heaven to hades—you have what I have always dreamed of having—a list of the men.” Her words flying, Ara wedged herself between Liv and Tieran, her small hand going up to Tieran’s chest to push him backward. Tieran let her. Ara glanced over her shoulder at Lockston, her look whipping back to Liv. “Blast it, Livia—Fletch is on the list, isn’t he?”

  “Bloody hell, this is what you wouldn’t tell me?” Tieran stepped around Ara and seized Liv by the upper arms.

  “Yes—and he deserves everything he gets, Tieran.” Liv’s lip snarled as she had to twist her hand awkwardly to keep her dress from falling from her chest. “As do you. I saw you tonight, Tieran. I saw you dragging that girl down the street, you bastard. You know exactly what happened to me and you still did that. So you need to get your bloody paws off of me, you monster.”

  The words lambasted him exactly as Liv intended—the one thing he feared above all about himself—he was a monster.

  He deserved every emotion that skidded across his face.

  The shock, the realization, the hurt, and then finally, the horrified expression that stuck in his eyes, unmoving. He now knew she recognized him for the monster he was. He couldn’t hide it any longer.

  For an instant, Tieran looked like he was going to strike her.

  But before he could move, Ara pushed Tieran’s left arm down and grabbed Liv’s hand, yanking her away from him. She jumped between the two of them, standing sideways, one hand splayed on Tieran’s chest to hold him away, the other gripping Liv’s hand. “Livia, Fletch is on that list you have because he is saving the girls—the same as my husband saved you six years ago and delivered you to me—the same as Tieran did earlier tonight.”

  “What?” Liv’s jaw dropped. “Who—who is your husband?”

  “Lord Newdale.”

  Lord Newdale. Liv’s head shook. Newdale had been on the list from the beginning. And Ara had married him? He had been the one to save her? “Are you positive? Lord Newdale was the one that saved me?”

  “Yes. You were one of the first ones, Livia.” Ara tugged on her hand. “My husband did it for years, and then he asked Fletch to help, and Fletch asked Tieran to help—they are saving them, Liv. Saving them.”

  Liv’s legs shook, nearly giving out. She focused on Ara and Ara alone. Ara had saved her once. Ara she trusted. “Tieran?” The question croaked out.

  “Yes, Livia. Tieran. He was there tonight—the girl he purchased is already safe at the Baker Street House.”

  Gasping for breath, her look slowly crept from Ara up to Tieran. “You?” She looked to Fletch. “You?”

  Hell. Bloody hell.

  The devil take her, she had been wron
g—so horrifyingly wrong.

  What other ones had she been wrong about? Viola had always procured the list and Liv had always trusted her, trusted what she said was on it, what Mr. Tillman verified, but…but…

  Her look whipped back to Ara, her eyes frantic. “Who—who else?” She jerked Ara’s hand shaking her arm. “Who else? Tell me.”

  “No one else, Livia. These two and my husband.” Ara positioned herself fully in front of Liv, her fingers snaking a grip along Liv’s forearm. “I tell you now, Livia, there is no one aside from these three.”

  Liv’s eyelids fell shut, a sigh of relief sending a tremble through her body. She had been so close to a tragic mistake. If she had condemned an innocent man…

  Her head shook, refusing to think on the possibility. On how close she had come to wreaking unjust havoc in Lord Lockston’s life.

  “Livia, this list.” Ara jostled her arm again and Liv opened her eyes. “Do you have a copy, can I get—”

  “No.” Tieran’s voice thundered, filling the room.

  “Absolutely not, Ara,” Lockston immediately echoed the sentiment, his voice stern.

  Ara’s grip on Liv’s arm fell away as Lockston grabbed Ara by the shoulders, tugging her away from Liv. “But Fletch—”

  “No.” Lockston rounded Ara to force her to look at him, keeping one hand on her shoulder as he blocked her from Liv. “Your husband would kill me in a very long and painful fashion if he knew I let you get your hands on a list like that.” He flicked his head toward Tieran. “And then he would kill Reggard.” He looked over his shoulder to Liv. “And I do not believe he would afford Lady Canton any quarter either—woman or not.”

  Ara’s arms crossed over her chest with a sigh. Her lower jaw shifted far to the side, but she nodded.

  Liv watched with curiosity—it was obvious the depth of loyalty these three and Lord Newdale had for each other. And she suddenly felt not so much alone in her crusade to help the innocent girls in the brothel.

  Ara glanced from Fletch to Tieran and her face went white.

  Liv followed her gaze and she realized she no longer had Ara as a buffer directly in front of her.