1901 The Society File: Book 3 of The Paranormal Research and Rescue Institute Series

by Lora Edwards

  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have screamed at you like that, it just feels as if these people are always one step ahead of us and I am tired of standing over the tortured and the dead.”

  “We will catch them.” The flat tone of his voice left no room for an alternative. “But we can’t do that in here. We have to go out and pretend there is nothing wrong, pretend we had no connection to the woman. She was just someone you talked with in the baths yesterday, and while you are saddened by her death, an excessive display of emotion will tip our hand.” He put his finger under her chin and lifted her face to his. “Do you think you can handle it?”

  Delphine closed her eyes, and with a deep breath, she plastered on her court face: a small disinterested smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

  “Yes, sir. That will not be a problem.”

  Flynn placed a soft kiss on her lips. “Good. When this is over, we will allow ourselves to grieve for the ones who were lost.”

  Delphine nodded and let herself have one more cleansing breath. Flynn was right; wallowing in the injustice was not going to change anything. She needed to put her best foot forward and help him nab the society so no one else had to die.

  Delphine rang the bell and Victoria came in with a sad look on her face. “I am so sorry about your friend.” Her genuine sympathy tugged at Delphine’s heartstrings, but she needed to be strong.

  “Thank you, but now is the time to fight. We will mourn the dead once we have stopped the society.” Delphine’s eyes glittered, and her voice took on a hard edge.

  Victoria nodded and helped Delphine into a day dress. She stood behind her and began to wind her hair up into an elaborate knot.

  “The humans seem to be affected as well. They found another young woman next to the river bank this morning,” Victoria told her as she pushed pins into her hair.

  “Do you think they are connected? The society has never killed humans before.”

  “No. I am afraid I know who is behind the killings, though I desperately hope I am wrong.”

  “Who is it, Victoria? Is it one of us?”

  “Once I have proof, I will tell you the entire story. I am just praying there is a rogue vampire in the area and it’s not a repetition of the past. The institute here will deal with the rogue and things will go back to normal,” Victoria said as she placed the last pin.

  Delphine frowned. It sounded as if Victoria was trying to convince herself as well as Delphine.

  Chapter 33

  Delphine smiled at their host. She was itching to find the society, and they had attended inane party after inane party with no results.

  “Dear, you simply must tell me who makes your gowns. They are absolutely fabulous.” The lady hosting the party looked over the dress Delphine was wearing. It was the rose cream silk, and it made her feel feminine and beautiful. She had chosen it as she thought it would cheer her up. For every day that went by that they hadn’t been able to pinpoint the society, she became more and more irritable. She missed Esme and her friends, and she wanted this mission to be over with. She wanted the society captured.

  “Thank you. It is an American designer who creates gowns to honor Mr. Worth.” Delphine sipped her punch and tried not to roll her eyes as the woman gushed about the gown once again. The women of that time had little on their minds besides gowns, jewels, and their daughters marrying.

  Delphine waited until their hostess was occupied with another guest then slipped away. She wandered down a hallway, admiring the architecture of the old home.

  “It must be one of them.”

  She heard a voice as she passed so she slipped into a small alcove next to the door.

  “How do we know?” Another male voice.

  “It has their stamp on it—dead human girls drained of blood.”

  “Drained of blood?”

  “We have kept that part quiet. The society has agreed to help us track this killer. They say there are more that walk among us and they are a threat to humankind. We need to join forces with them. They have ways to track these creatures and stop them.”

  “James, is that wise? We don’t know anything about these newcomers.”

  “Are you going to wait until it is your daughter? Or mine? Think about Lord Wellington—his family is destroyed, and his wife has not left her mourning bed since Abigail was found. They are hunting us, and it is time we strike back.”

  Delphine put her hand over her mouth to contain her gasp. They believed the human women were being killed by a supernatural, and she was inclined to agree. It needed to stop before more joined the society and hunted them out of existence.

  Delphine stayed hidden as the men left the room and went to rejoin the party.

  Slipping into the study, Delphine picked up a letter with a familiar symbol stamped on it.

  Opening up the creamy parchment, she frowned. The letter contained inside was in some sort of code. Symbols she didn’t recognize ranged across the page.

  Putting the letter inside her dress, she looked around but saw nothing else that would lead her to the society. As she moved out of the room, she ran into a man.

  “What are you doing down here?” A frown darkened his face.

  Delphine breathed heavily. She needed to think quickly before he became even more suspicious. She giggled and fanned herself, attempting to pretend to be one of the vapid shallow women this man expected her to be.

  “Oh, my lord, I am so glad you happened upon me. A young man lured me down here and I just escaped him.” She fanned herself harder, looking at the floor.

  The man’s frown cleared and a look of amusement crossed his face, causing Delphine’s blood to boil.

  “Well, I can see why—you are an exceptionally beautiful woman.” He looked her up and down.

  Delphine tittered. “My husband will be looking for me.”

  “He is a lucky man. Allow me to escort you back to the party.” The man held out his arm and Delphine took it lightly.

  He chattered inanely as he led her down the hallway.

  Flynn frowned and strode over. “What is the meaning of this?”

  “Your wife became lost, and I am just escorting her back to the festivities. You have a jewel, sir—you must keep better track of her.”

  “Delphine, how many times do I have to tell you to not wander off?” Flynn grabbed her arm and pulled her close as if he meant to continue to chastise her.

  The lord looked smug as he turned and strode off back into the crowd.

  Flynn wrapped an arm more firmly around Delphine. “Are you all right,” he whispered in her ear, continuing to frown as if he was scolding his flighty wife.

  “I am fine, but I found something. We need to make our excuses—I have a lot to tell you.” Delphine looked at the floor, her eyes downcast, and she continued to nod as if trying to appease her angry husband.

  Flynn took her arm and strode over to their hosts.

  “My wife is not feeling well. I regret to say that we will be ending our evening,” Flynn said to the lord and lady.

  The lord smirked at Delphine, he being the one who had escorted her back to the party.

  “Oh Mrs. Kirk, I hope you will recover.” Lady Willington took Delphine’s arm.

  She continued to play the dutiful wife, looking at the floor. “Thank you, my lady. I am sure I will.”

  Flynn took her arm again and hustled her out of the room to the awaiting carriage.

  “Okay, what happened?” Flynn looked at Delphine’s triumphant smile.

  She pulled the letter out of the front of her dress and handed it to him. Flynn opened the paper and frowned at the encoded letter.

  “Are you sure this came from the society?”

  “Look at the symbol on the envelope and at the top of the letter.”

  “Ahhh, yes, that looks familiar. We will get this to the institute decoders ASAP. Good work Delphine.”

  She smiled and snuggled into his arm. Finally, there had been some progress.

  Chapter 34r />
  “Flynn, there has been another death.” Delphine came to him as he read the paper in the study, holding out a missive received from the local institute.

  “They found the body behind the church. The institute determined he was a shifter.”

  Flynn slowly lowered the paper from his eyes. “It is time that this stopped. I am tired of being on the defensive—we need to go on the offensive. What do you say to setting up a trap,” he asked her, leaning over the desk.

  “What kind of trap?”

  “We lure them out by showing them a true form.”

  “You want me to change in front of a society member and then let them capture me,” Delphine asked.

  “Not you. We need someone from the local institute, because if one of us does it, we will blow our cover. Come on, we will check on the progress of the decoding of the letter and set up the trap.”

  Flynn called for the carriage and in just a few minutes they were on their way to the local institute office. When Flynn means business, there is no messing around, Delphine thought to herself as the carriage bumped its way through the streets of Bath.

  The small telegraph office was empty as it was early in the morning. Flynn walked in the door and upon seeing the front office empty, he strode to the plain door at the back. He muttered something and the door clicked open then they entered the small satellite office of the institute.

  A large man looked up from the papers on his desk and smiled. “Welcome back. I am sorry to say we are still decoding the letter you brought us yesterday.”

  “We have a proposition for you.” Flynn stood in front of the desk, his hands in the pockets of his suit.

  The man sat back. “I’m listening.”

  “We are always playing catch-up to these people. We need to go on the offensive. I propose a trap.”

  “What did you have in mind?”

  “We have a supernatural captured, possibly looking into things they shouldn’t. When they are confronted, they change in front of a member of the society, who then captures them. If we spell them with a locator spell, we should be able to track them to where the society is hiding.”

  “And you want to use one of my people for this?” The man raised his eyebrows.

  “Yes. Delphine and I can’t break our cover. If the society members find out we are supernaturals, we will be barred from being able to investigate unnoticed. We already know they are recruiting select members of the ton to help in their mission.”

  “All right, let me go over it with London. We have a lot on our plates as of now with the murder of the human women, and there was another one found just last night, her body drained of blood. We are convinced there is a rogue vampire.”

  Delphine debated letting Victoria’s suspicions out to the institute. She didn’t want to betray a friend’s trust, but people were dying and the humans were taking notice. There was a chance if it continued, their kind would be exposed and the society would be the least of their problems.

  “You need to contact Victoria Litchfield. She is working as my lady’s maid and I think she may have some information about who the rogue vampire is.” Delphine looked at her hands and hoped Victoria would forgive her.

  “We will do that. We need to stop the deaths of these humans.”

  Delphine just nodded and ignored the look Flynn gave her.

  “I will talk to London about the proposed plan, and I will send a messenger to the townhouse soon.” The man turned back to his paperwork, signaling their dismissal.

  Delphine and Flynn turned and left, climbing back into the carriage and heading back to the townhouse.

  “What is this about Victoria?” Flynn looked at her, one eyebrow raised.

  Delphine sighed. “She only told me recently. She is a vampire, by the way, and believes she may know the identity of the vampire that is killing the young women. She looked terrified and didn’t want to say more until she was sure.”

  “Then why did you tell the institute to talk to her?”

  “People are dying, Flynn. There have been five deaths of young girls in the past week since we have been in Bath. The humans are in an uproar, the society has surely taken notice, and it is only a matter of time before they alert the other humans to the fact that the deaths are being caused by one of us. The vampire has killed a member of the ton, and you know how human society works—they are now going to work even harder to find out the who is behind the deaths. When we get back to the townhouse, I will inform Victoria of my conversation with the institute and tell her my reasons for speaking up.” Delphine ended the conversation, spending the rest of the short ride staring out the window of the carriage and hoping she hadn’t ruined her fledgling friendship with Victoria.

  “Victoria, can I speak with you?” Delphine walked into the room where Victoria was smoothing out the rose cream dress.

  “Of course. I was just finishing up. How can I help you?” She turned and looked at Delphine, her expression expectant.

  Delphine took a large breath. “We have just come from the local office of the institute. There has been another supernatural death, and another death of a young girl. Whoever is behind the death of the humans has now killed two of the girls of this community and the humans are frantic to find the killer.”

  Victoria sighed and sank into a nearby chair. “I am going to have to reveal myself and accept the consequences. I cannot let her expose us.”

  “Who, Victoria? I told the institute you may have information. I didn’t want to betray your confidence, but I am afraid if this continues, the society will ramp up its plan and let the knowledge of our existence out.”

  “You did the right thing. I have been in hiding so long, and I am ready to face what comes. I haven’t stayed a lady’s maid just because it is what I know or out of not having a desire to go on missions. I was turned by a violent and possessive vampire. Once she realized she had turned me, she used me as her own personal lady’s maid, and the things I had to endure…the things she did were unbearable. One night I saw my chance and slipped away. I found the institute and they took me in. I knew Armand once in another lifetime, though I doubt he remembers me. I knew he was a kind and gentle man and if he was the founder of the institute, it must be good and would protect me. It has for all these years, but now it is time for me to stand and fight, to stop hiding in the shadows and rid the world of the horror that is this vampire.”

  “Who is it,” Delphine asked.

  “Elizabeth of Báthory,” Victoria whispered.

  “Who?” Delphine was puzzled; it was not a name she was familiar with.

  “She wouldn’t be known to you, being from the Siren isle, but she is quite famous in human history. Of course they don’t know of her true nature. She was believed to kill young virginal women and bathe in their blood to keep herself young. That is not the truth of what she did, just the story the humans have distorted and written down in their history.” Victoria stood. “I must go to the institute and tell them what I know. She must be stopped before she causes any more harm.” Victoria stopped by Delphine and put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t feel guilty, my friend. You have done the right thing, and now it is time for me to do the same.”

  Victoria lifted her chin and strode out of the room.

  Delphine sat and stared at the fire for a long moment.

  “I saw Victoria leave—are things okay between the two of you?” Flynn’s soft voice came from behind Delphine.

  “Yes. She is on the way to the institute to tell them the identity of the vampire that has been killing the young women.”

  “Who is it?”

  “She said her name is Elizabeth of Báthory.”

  Flynn’s eyebrows rose. He had been raised in the human world and had a good knowledge of its history.

  “I didn’t know the bloody countess was one of us. I thought she was just a deranged human.”

  “Apparently not, and she was Victoria’s sire.” Delphine wrung her hands. “She sounds dangerous. I hope V
ictoria will be alright.”

  “She will. The institute will keep her safe.” Flynn rubbed Delphine’s shoulders. “The institute man was just here, and the plan is a go. The trap will be set at the ball we are attending tonight. It is one of the biggest events of the season and it is assured that members of the society will be in attendance.”

  “It could be over tonight, Flynn.” Delphine smiled and took his hand.

  “Yes, and then we can go back to the institute and Esme.” He smiled into her eyes as he took her into his arms.

  Delphine nodded into his chest but found it hard to believe it would be that easy to corner the society. They had proven their cleverness before.

  Chapter 35

  Delphine held the glass of punch and nervously glanced around the large ballroom. She was worried about Victoria, as she had not returned from her errand at the institute by the time they had left for the ball. The institute had assured her that Victoria was safe and snug at the local office and had sent over another woman to help her dress and fix her hair.

  She’d chattered on endlessly and Delphine had found herself missing the low soft voice of her friend. Victoria was brave, and Delphine hoped her bravery didn’t get her killed.

  Flynn suddenly appeared at her side. “Everything is set up. The man is in the office rifling through papers now and our other informant has tipped off the lord of the household that someone may be in his study. It has been confirmed that he is another new recruit of the society, and apparently he is good friends with the lord and lady who recently lost their daughter to the vampire.”

  Delphine nodded. “Let’s dance. We need to appear as normal as possible while all this is going on.”

  Flynn and Delphine spent the rest of the evening dancing and laughing, eating and rubbing shoulders with the other guests. There was not any news from the institute, and Flynn began to worry their plan had not gone well.

  Finally when they were saying their goodbyes and being led to their carriage, they were approached.