Chapter 22

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

" T ell me everything you saw," Leo demanded as he looked at Ellen. She was seated across from him in the hackney. Her face was tight with worry.

"A man was bent over Hyacinth, and his hand was around her neck, Leo." She reached out a hand toward him, and he took it.

"It will be all right, Ellen." He moved to her side. "I promise we will get to her, sister."

She leaned into him, gripping his fingers hard.

He soothed her when inside, he was ice-cold with fear. When he knew with a certainty, even if Ellen hadn't told him, that Hyacinth was in danger.

"How do you know what direction we must go in, Leo?"

"I had an urge to find her ring." He wouldn't lie about that. For years, he had denied what he saw or felt, unlike his siblings, who had embraced what they could do. But no longer. His gift had saved Hyacinth from drowning, and now, when she was in danger, it was directing him to her again.

"The urgency inside me is growing," Ellen said. "I also saw a lion, Leo. It was sitting on top of a building. Ask the driver if he knows of one nearby."

"There are lions everywhere in London."

"Do not use that mocking tone with me," Ellen said.

"Sorry."

"Why Hyacinth?" Ellen asked. "Why are we now charged with finding her, Leo? Why is she the one you must seek again?"

Leo had a feeling he didn't want to know the answer to that, so he pushed it aside.

"I don't know, but I do know that if anything happens to you, your husband will likely kill me with his bare hands."

Ellen sighed. "I carry a pistol at his insistence, as well as my umbrella, but only because he taught me to fire it."

"If I tell you to go and get him and Alex, will you do that for me, Ellen?"

"No, I won't leave you."

"I didn't think so. Well then, sister, have a care, and protect yourself if the need arises for us to fight. I find I would not like anything to happen to you."

"I love you, Leo, and I promise."

"I love you too, but I am also terrified of your husband. So don't give him any reason to maim me."

She forced out a snicker. "He is a wonderful man, but you don't fool me. Nothing scares you."

In fact, he was scared by a great many things. His family in any pain or danger, the darkness inside him, and lastly, that he would be alone for the rest of his days.

Rising, he pushed open the hatch above him. He'd already told the driver to head toward the East End of London.

"Do you know of a building that has a large lion, possibly made of stone, perched on a roof nearby?" Leo called to the driver, feeling like a fool. There was silence, and then he spoke .

"Cinder Lane, sir. It's about five minutes from here. There's a large stone lion on the roof of an empty building. No one lives there now, but once it had been a stonemason's house."

"Really? Well, please take us there." Leo shut the door and sat.

"Perhaps you could apologize for mocking me now?"

"I could, but seeing as you constantly mock me, I feel it is a form of retribution."

The teasing was as natural as speaking between them, and he hoped it helped calm Ellen. It didn't calm him. All he could think about was getting to Hyacinth. She was in trouble, but would she stay safe until he reached her?

When the carriage stopped, he got out, and Ellen followed.

"There is where you need to go," the driver said after he'd paid him.

The sun was still high, but here, it felt darker. The buildings rose on both sides and blocked out any light.

"Be alert," Leo said, gripping his cane.

"And you," Ellen said, doing the same with her umbrella.

They walked down the street toward the direction the driver had said. He heard the scream. It was loud and filled the air with panic. Leo ran, his long strides leaving his sister behind. But he knew she followed, as he heard the thud of her feet.

He saw the group of people ahead of him. Men and two women, and they were fighting. Leo ran at the group. Grabbing the shoulder of a man a woman was struggling to hold at bay, he turned him and struck out with his cane in the stomach. Leo then brought it up under the man's chin, and he dropped like a stone.

He saw her then. On the ground with a man over her. His hand was around her throat like in Ellen's vision, and Cyn was struggling for release. With a roar, he grabbed him, dragging him off her. He tried to punch Leo, but he blocked it and then swung his cane hard. The man howled in pain as it connected with his jaw. Leo then swept his legs, and he, too, fell to the ground.

Ellen let loose an angry shriek, and Leo watched as she wielded her umbrella deftly at one of the remaining two men. The other man, who he recognized as one of Cyn's staff, was weaving and jabbing at his opponent. Soon, both were subdued and on their knees.

"Can you rise?" Leo asked Cyn, who was still on the ground.

"Yes," she rasped.

Holding out a hand, she took it, and he pulled her to her feet.

"Are you hurt?" She shook her head.

"Then we must leave here before these men want to continue what we finished."

"My lady, are you all right?"

"I am well, Monty, thank you," Cyn said, sounding anything but well. Her voice was weak and wobbly. He doubted she'd ever experienced anything like she just had before.

Monty Mulholland bore marks, and bruises were forming on his face. He had fought like the devil to keep his mistress safe. "I've never known another noble as brave as you, my lady. Are you well also, Mary?"

"Aye, a few bruises, but I've had worse," the other woman said, moving to where they stood.

"Ellen?" Leo said, his eyes on Cyn. She was pale and unsteady on her feet but trying not to show it.

"I am well, but we need to make haste to leave at once. If these are Baddon Boys, more could be on the way."

"Yes," Leo said, trying to tamp down his rage. "You are foolish to have come here without more people to protect you," he said with remarkable restraint considering the red haze around the edges of his gaze.

She turned back to look at her staff, and he saw the mark on her face. Leo touched her chin. "Did that man with his hand around your throat do this?" he demanded.

She pushed his hand aside. "It matters not."

"It does matter," Leo gritted out, rage coursing through his body. "Just as it matters why you would do something so reckless that it could have cost you your life."

Her eyes narrowed at his hard tone, but he saw the flash of guilt.

"I didn't know they would come. W-we were?—"

"Retrieving a woman who needed your help. I know, Lewis showed me the note," Leo snapped.

"We must leave," Ellen said again.

"Come, Monty, let us collect Clara," Cyn said, moving away from Leo.

He wanted to pick her up, take her home, and lock her in a room where he could watch over her, which told him many things—all of which he was going to ignore for now.

Leo followed as she hurried to a building and into the shadows. He then stood back as she talked to the boys that were there.

"Here is the money I promised you, and thank you for looking after Clara," Cyn said, handing out some coins to the boys. They then ran off and soon disappeared.

Monty moved deeper into the narrow opening, and when he reappeared, he was holding a woman. Presumably Clara, and the woman from the note he'd read earlier.

She was pale and battered.

"Who did this to her?" Leo asked.

"I don't know, but one of the Baddon Boys," Cyn said.

"Let's go," Leo said .

Ellen, he noted, held Cyn's hand now, and that she let her was telling. He worried that she was not being truthful about her injuries, but soon he'd check her over. For now, getting everyone to safety was paramount.

They walked until they reached a street with more traffic and people. They were an odd procession, and many whispered and stared, but he cared little for that. Only that he got Cyn, Ellen, and the others to safety.

"Where is the carriage, Monty?" Cyn asked.

They all looked around them.

"There," Mary said, waving her hands.

"Thank you," Cyn said to him as the clop of hooves drew the Lowell carriage closer. "You saved us this evening. You and Ellen."

"We will ride with you to the agency and then, if need be, collect Mr. Greedy, who is a healer, to see to the girl," Leo said.

"I will take a seat with the driver," Monty said as the carriage stopped before them.

Leo opened the door, and Monty placed the woman, Clara, on the seat inside.

"We can?—"

"Arguing is not helping her, Cyn," Leo said. "Get in the carriage at once before more trouble arrives. Ellen and I are accompanying you to the agency in case trouble follows."

"There is no need?—"

"There is every need." Leo picked her up and deposited her inside. "Sister." He waved Ellen in next, then Mary. Leo was last, and he closed the door behind him after telling the driver to make haste.

Clara moaned softly as the carriage started moving.

"'Tis all right," Cyn said after shooting Leo a glare. She had taken the seat next to Clara and was now holding one of her hands .

"My name is Lord Seddon, and this is my sister, Mrs. Fletcher," Leo said as Clara looked around the carriage.

"We are taking you somewhere safe to be cared for, Clara. You have no need to fear anymore," Mary said.

He watched Cyn care for the injured woman. She wasn't getting away from him until he had answers as to why she had felt the need to plunge recklessly into danger. The actions could have cost her her life.

"You could have died," Leo snapped. Ellen shot him a look, then shook her head, as if to warn him not to continue this conversation now, with others in the carriage. To hell with that. "What of your children, Cyn? Are you happy for them to see their mother with bruises on her face and now a target for the Baddon Boys?"

"I did what needed to be done." She spoke the words quietly.

He could see the mark the man had left on her cheek and the bruising now darkening the slender line of her neck. He felt it again, the need to strike at who had hurt her. Her bonnet had gone, and her hair was half up, half down. Tangled curls rested on a slender shoulder. Her dress was the color of moss, and she wore a deep gray long jacket, which had lost its buttons and hung open. She looked rumpled and bruised. Scared, he added to that when her eyes flicked to his and away again.

The protectiveness he felt toward this woman was seconded only by what he felt for those he loved. His family for years had been his first and last priority, and yet since Cyn had come back into his life, she was there too, and Leo had a feeling she wasn't going anywhere.