by C. J. Archer
"I only thought to speak to the authorities on the demon realm. But they sent me to the Purgatory administrators when they couldn't understand me."
"You're lucky they didn't shred you into a thousand pieces." Quin didn't sound too glum about the prospect.
Myer wiped the pad of his thumb over his top lip, swiping at the beads of sweat there. "The Purgatory administrators gave me him."
All eyes shifted to de Mordaunt. He held Quin's steadily.
"I didn't know he had a grudge against you." Myer held up his hands, his eyes once more huge as he watched the two fierce warriors glare at each other. "Surely his presence cannot be blamed on me."
I had to agree with him. Myer was a fool and untrustworthy, but he hadn't asked for de Mordaunt and couldn't have known his connection to Quin.
"She knows where I've been." Myer stared toward the house, now shrouded by dusk's blanket. "She'll kill me when she sees me. We have to get to her first."
"Wouldn't she have tried to kill you already if she suspected?"
"Not with my guard dog at my side."
De Mordaunt snorted. "I am not your anything."
Myer edged away from him.
"Do you know she's a spirit medium?" I asked him. "It's one of her demonic talents."
"I wondered after you told me about Percy Harrington's spirit possessing that other banker. It seemed too coincidental not to be her."
"Did she kill him too, do you think?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. She may have, once she learned she would inherit the Harrington fortune too. But if so, it would seem they came to some sort of agreement after his death."
"She helped him possess that poor fellow, and used him to continue his sick ways with young women." Poor Charity came to mind, but her indomitable spirit had seen that Harrington's soul suffered for his crimes against her and the others.
"I do believe he held some sort of affection for Edith," Myer mused. "It's the only explanation I can think of for his thorough dislike of me during his lifetime."
"And for telling us that you went through the portal. He didn't have to do that."
He shifted his weight. "How did he get out of Hell to do so?"
"It's a long story, but there were some problems while you've been away. Thanks, I might add, to you."
"Me?"
"Aye," Quin growled. "Your actions released evil spirits into this realm."
Myer waved his hand. "That wasn't intentional."
"That isn't the point!" I spat. "Mr. Myer, you need to begin taking responsibility for your actions. Better yet, stop performing such dangerous and irresponsible acts altogether."
He held up his hands, attempting to calm me. But I didn't want to be calm. I advanced on him, my hands on my hips. He cleared his throat. "Once Edith is gone, I'll keep my interest in the supernatural to purely academic studies," he said. "Not, uh, practical ones."
"Be sure that you do."
I asked Myer a few more questions about the reception he'd received in the demon realm, and how he'd communicated with them. It seemed the communication had been the problem, and not wanting to deal with the alien figure in their realm, they had called on the Purgatory administrators for help. I only half listened as Myer enthused about the things he'd seen in the other realms, his current problems momentarily forgotten.
They weren't forgotten by Quin or de Mordaunt. The two men stood on either side of the lane like sentinels, watching the street for Edith, although I suspected Quin was keeping de Mordaunt in his sights too. Darkness had descended while we'd been talking, punctured only by the candles visible through windows and the two hissing street lamps. The light from the latter struggled to reach our laneway entrance and certainly didn't illuminate the entire length of it.
My stomach protested at the lack of food. I'd hardly eaten all day. Hopefully no one else had heard it. Correction: I hoped Quin hadn't heard it. He might use my hunger as an excuse to get me to leave. I was surprised he hadn't told me to make my way home already. I suspected it was too late now. He wouldn't want me wandering around the dark city alone, nor would he want to leave his post to escort me. He'd been assigned to watch de Mordaunt, and it was one task he wouldn't want to fail.
Thinking of his warrior duties reminded me of the book and getting him out of Purgatory. I tapped Myer's shoulder, startling him. I pressed a finger to my lips and indicated he should follow me into the further reaches of the lane. He hesitated and gave me an arched look that I pretended not to see.
I glanced at Quin's broad back then headed into the inky blackness lurking in the depths of the lane. Myer followed.
"What is it?" he asked. We were far enough away from the two men that we couldn't be overheard, but even so, he kept his voice low.
"Where's the book?"
He hesitated. "You don't want St. Clair overhearing you ask me that?"
I kept silent, hoping that would encourage him to talk.
"Understandable," he said, answering himself. "He and de Mordaunt are alike and I know what he's capable of."
"They are not the same," I hissed.
"Their predicaments are. I believe de Mordaunt took this trial because he knew I had the book and he wants it for himself. To escape Purgatory," he added as if clarifying for me. "It contains information on how one can leave and live here."
"I know. His ancestor accomplished such a feat and wrote the book."
"Is that why St. Clair seeks it too?"
"He's not seeking it." I didn't tell him Quin had once sought the book, to use the information to free himself, but I'd stopped him. Or that we'd since swapped our positions and I now wanted to use it to bring Quin here and he'd refused.
"De Mordaunt is," Myer whispered. "I promised it to him in exchange for his help."
I gasped then covered my mouth, but Quin didn't move from where he stood near the entrance to the lane. "Why did you do that?"
"He was the only one of those vile Purgatory spirits who offered to help me, and only then in exchange for the book. Don't worry," he added. "I'm not a fool. Unbeknown to de Mordaunt, I gave the book to the administrators for safekeeping."
I groaned inwardly. If the administrators now had it, I'd never get my hands on it. The situation was becoming more and more hopeless. I would never find a way to keep Quin here.
"Don't tell him, or he might…" He swallowed. "It might go badly for all of us. He's a rogue as it is. I don't know why he's even in Purgatory. He should have been sent straight to Hell, if you ask me."
I knew what he'd done to Quin during their lifetime—tricking him into taking the life of his own brother—but did Myer? "What has he done?" I asked.
"Nothing. Yet. But the threat of violence clings to him as badly as the smells in this lane."
"Do you know what the administrators have done with the book?" I wasn't sure what the administrators looked like, or if they even had a physical presence. Could they even hold onto an object from this realm?
He never had a chance to answer. Down by the entrance, both Quin and de Mordaunt stirred. Quin glanced over his shoulder and, seeing me further back with Myer, began to move toward us. I came forward and met him halfway down the lane. De Mordaunt was already moving across the street.
Edith Myer was returning to her secret house. And she wasn't alone.
CHAPTER 10
"Hold." Quin put his fist up in a military style signal, stopping Myer and me behind him. "De Mordaunt, get back here."
"You hold," de Mordaunt tossed over his shoulder. "I'm no coward. Myer, come."
"Er, I think I'll stay here until it's all over."
"Wait!" I called to de Mordaunt. "Don't do anything violent. We need to talk to her. And we don't know who those people are with her. They might be innocents, or perhaps other demons with superior strength."
De Mordaunt didn't break his stride or bother to respond. He wasn't as accepting of a woman's interference as Quin. I watched him watching de Mordaunt. His fingers gripped his knife, and I knew
he had others hidden in his clothing and strapped to his body, including Jack's otherworldly blade. Still, I knew he wished he had his sword with him.
"Let him go," Myer said from behind me. "He might succeed. Besides, he's already dead. What can she do to him now?"
I waited to see if Quin would answer, but he was too intent on de Mordaunt ahead. Edith and the three men with her had already rushed inside after inspecting the broken door.
"He's mortal in this realm again," I told Myer. "His body is, anyway. If it dies, his soul will return to Purgatory and it'll be back to the dungeons for him, having failed this trial."
"That doesn't sound so bad."
Perhaps not for someone who'd willingly spent centuries in those dungeons without requesting a trial. I suddenly felt less anxious and far more willing to let de Mordaunt confront Edith without us. Without Quin.
I sidled closer to him, but resisted the urge to wrap my fingers around his arm in an attempt to keep him with me.
"What's she doing?" Myer squinted into the dark street as shapes moved on the other side of the fractured door.
De Mordaunt covered the remaining distance with a few long strides but stopped outside the doorway. Hands on hips, he appeared to be studying the shapes.
"She has barricaded herself and her new friends inside," Quin said. "Since the door was smashed in."
"Not my doing," Myer protested.
"Your dog, your responsibility."
Myer looked as if he would protest again when Quin moved off. "Stay there, Cara." He had only taken a few steps when he hesitated and glanced back at me. "I mean it."
He didn't wait for my nod. He jogged across the street and joined de Mordaunt, who was still pounding on the piece of furniture that had been dragged in front of the door.
Myer clicked his tongue. "What are they doing? Just break the bloody window and climb in!"
"And walk into a potentially fatal situation?"
"We just had this discussion, Miss Moreau. They're dead. You would save yourself a lot of worry if you accepted that fact."
My heart lurched at the harsh truth but I kept my eyes on Quin. He and de Mordaunt seemed to be having a heated discussion, their growls and the occasional snapped word reaching us but not the entire conversation.
"I am coming to get you!" de Mordaunt suddenly shouted at the house. "You think your pathetic efforts will stop me?"
He pushed against the barricade, causing something to crash and wood to splinter. It would appear the blockage wasn't quite stable, and the blockage wasn't quite stable.
Faces appeared at windows up and down the street, some holding candles and lamps aloft to see what the fracas was about. Someone called out for them to keep their voices down. In the house next door, where the little children had died, a child peeked over the windowsill, only eyes and hair visible. That window was closest to Edith's house. Should anything go wrong…
I bunched up my skirts to clear them from my boots. "Come with me," I ordered Myer.
"What? Why?"
"You need to hypnotize some people."
"No, no, no." He flapped his hands, warding me off. "It's far too dangerous over there."
I grabbed his arm and hauled him after me. He didn't put up too much of a fight, and I suspected he was curious to speak with his wife. With her inside, and Quin and de Mordaunt outside, the situation seemed secure enough. For now.
But I wasn't taking any chances with that child. We walked along the street on the far side then crossed and approached the neighbor's house from the opposite direction to Edith's. We still needed to get closer to speak to the child, but hopefully we could advance undetected.
Thumps followed by the cracking of wood reached my ears. De Mordaunt was attempting to kick in the barricade. Quin hung back, his eyes skyward. No, he wasn't looking at the starless sky, he was watching the upper windows. Someone could easily drop a heavy object onto their heads from up there.
I shoved Myer's shoulder and nodded at the child, still visible through his own window. Myer sighed and the child heard it. He stood—it was definitely a boy of about six or seven—and darted back inside when he spotted us.
"I tend to have that effect on children," Myer said. "They don't like me very much."
The child's mother appeared, her eyes swollen and red. She glared at us through the window then slammed it shut. She hustled the boy away and went to follow him, but my purse caught her attention. She picked it up and peered inside. She pressed a hand to her chest and then to her lips as they began to wobble. My throat tightened at her reaction and I almost smiled, despite everything. She swung back to face the window, catching me watching her. I stumbled back, bumping into Myer, and hurried away from her house.
"We didn't have to hypnotize the boy," I said, "but the others might be different." Up and down the street, people had emerged from their homes or openly watched through their windows. I doubted anyone would have fetched the police. Camden Town was the sort of district that took care of its own squabbles.
"I can't get to them all!" Myer cried. He peered up at the windows above Quin and de Mordaunt. "Besides, I need to be here. I may need to hypnotize her."
It was actually a good idea. If only she would make an appearance at one of those windows, he could try. All he needed was a moment or two. Hypnosis could work remarkably quickly.
A man's face and upper body appeared at one of the windows a second before he dropped a large earthen pot.
"Move!" Quin shouted as he leapt to his left. De Mordaunt jumped to his right, landing on his feet on the pavement. He hadn't even glanced up at Quin's warning. It was interesting that he trusted Quin enough to rely on him to watch his back. Or his head, as it were. They had once fought on the same side, many years ago, so it was understandable.
"I wonder who they are," Myer whispered, his gaze fixed on the upper floor. Quin and de Mordaunt hadn't spotted us yet, nor had the face at the window.
"Demons?" I suggested. "Escaped ones in a similar situation as your wife?"
"There are no other escaped ones. I learned that in Purgatory."
"Then they are probably spirits she gathered from somewhere and helped possess living bodies." I remembered the warehouse we'd passed around the corner with its burnt ghosts lingering out the front.
I needed to tell Quin and de Mordaunt. If they managed to get inside and had to fight, it would be horrific if they killed one of the innocent—possessed but very much alive—bodies.
I edged closer to Edith's house, not looking to see if Myer followed or not. Quin hung back a little from the doorway, perhaps mindful that his task was to watch de Mordaunt. Sending Edith back was de Mordaunt's trial; Quin was merely acting as reinforcement in case de Mordaunt failed.
"Quin," I called softly from the top of the staircase leading down to the basement.
He swung around, his brow scored with deep lines, and marched toward me. He grabbed my arm roughly and even in the poor light, his ice-cold gaze pierced me. "Cara, this is foolishness. Go!"
Anger rose at his tone. I wasn't so foolish as to place myself in the line of danger, and it wasn't out of some silly girlish fantasy to have him save me that I was there. "In case you haven't realized, I wanted you to know that the others with Edith are spirits possessing the bodies of the living."
"Are you certain?"
"No, but Myer says there are no other escaped demons on our realm."
"That we know of."
"True. But it's more likely she has encouraged those victims of the warehouse fire to possess the living. Don't hurt them. I don't want blood on our hands."
I didn't catch the word he muttered under his breath, but it sounded French.
Out of the corner of my eye I caught a movement at the upstairs window. Quin did too and he hustled me further away, into the middle of the street.
"Watch out!" I cried as a large pot was hefted onto the windowsill.
This time de Mordaunt was aware of the danger and leapt out of the way before
my warning had left my lips. Steaming water cascaded from the tilted pot to the pavement below, splashing over his boots but not his body or head.
De Mordaunt let out a string of words in what sounded like several different languages. I didn't understand any of them, but from the way he spat them, they were probably curses unfit for a lady's ears. He resumed kicking at the barricade in between glancing at the windows above.
Something inside clanked to the floor, and there appeared to be a gap at the top of the barricade now. It was dark beyond. Silent.
"That's it!" Myer urged. I hadn't realized he'd come up beside me. "Kick the bloody door down and charge in!"
"He ought to break through soon." Just as I said it, the large dresser blocking the doorway moved a few inches. De Mordaunt stopped kicking and applied brute force instead.
A figure emerged from the top floor window. Edith. Her hair had come out of its tight arrangement and gray wisps hung around her blocky jaw and flat face. She glanced down at de Mordaunt below, and I opened my mouth to shout another warning at him when she produced a revolver. She didn't aim at him.
She aimed at us.
I didn't see her fire the revolver but I heard it. Quin flattened me against the pavement, his body protecting mine. The move was so swift I didn't have time to resist or even register what he was doing until the hard uneven stones of the pavement pressed into my back. The moment I registered that he'd probably saved my life, I was being picked up and tossed over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
He sprinted down the street, his arm clamping across my thighs, my bustle pointing heavenward. My hat fell off and tumbled away. It was the most ignoble position to be in, and not terribly comfortable either, but I didn't fight him. He rounded the corner and deposited me on my feet once more. Another gunshot cut through the shouts of the onlookers but we were safe.
Quin checked around the corner and was almost barreled over by Myer. He leaned back against the wall and bent over at the waist, panting heavily.
"She's…shooting…at…us!" he gasped out.
Quin looked as if he would dare another glance around the corner, but I grabbed his shoulder, stopping him. Our gazes connected. I shook my head.