The Heartless City (28 page)

Then, finally, he spotted the gleam of her golden dress. She wasn’t in the ballroom, however; instead, she was hurrying through the darkened hallway to his right, heading toward the stairs that led to the palace’s northern wing. She was going back to her room already? He grinned and let out a satisfied breath.

It couldn’t be more perfect.

First, however, he needed to set his other plan in motion, so he straightened his tie and slid back into the ballroom, looking for Andrew.

Tears were pricking Iris’s eyes when she finally reached her room, but she fought them back and dried out her tear ducts before they could emerge. She should have continued on to the Throne Room after leaving Elliot, but the only thing she wanted was the solitude of her room. After closing the door, she lit her lamp and laid on her bed, wishing she were able to remove her gown herself. Because of the corset and the design, she’d need a chambermaid’s help, but they would all be occupied for at least a few more hours, so she closed her eyes and tried to disappear into the silence.

Moments later, however, the sound of a turning doorknob broke the silence in the room, and she bolted upright and forced her hammering heart to beat evenly. Elliot wouldn’t just open her door; he’d knock and ask to come in. No one would simply walk into her room, except―

The Lord Mayor appeared in the doorway, his pale blue eyes alight and his lips curled into a smile. Iris rose from the bed, fear erupting in her chest.

“Sorry to barge in, my dear,” he said, closing the door behind him. “I hope I didn’t frighten you.”

She slowed her breathing, hiding her terror and rage. “Of course not, sir.”

“Good,” he replied, walking toward her. “I had a question―a theory really―that I’ve been meaning to pose to you.”

His manner was even calmer and more pleasant than usual, as if he weren’t bursting into her room in the dead of night. He strolled closer, so near she smelled the tobacco on his clothes.

“First, let me ask you this,” he said. “You’re a virgin, are you not?”

Her blood froze, and she didn’t reply, which he seemed to find amusing.

“You see,” he said, stepping closer, and her lungs closed against her will. “I was wondering, if you were, and if a man did take your virtue―if you could not then heal yourself and become a virgin again. If so, then, theoretically, a man could take your maidenhead every time he took you to bed.” He paused and looked her over, curling his smile into a leer. “And what man wouldn’t want a girl he could endlessly deflower?”

Her stomach lurched into her throat, and she glanced around the room. This could be it. If she had to kill him now, she’d find a way.

“I have to admit,” he continued as he slowly looked her over. “I wouldn’t mind performing the experiment myself. Unfortunately, I have something much more important I need from you first. Maybe, however, in time…” He glanced at the nightstand beside her bed, which held the lamp she’d lit as well as the book from Elliot.

The lamp
! she thought.
Yes, I could break it and use the glass.

“
An Anthology of Birds
,” the Lord Mayor murmured. Iris started. He turned to her, a knowing and lascivious glint in his eye. “Perhaps our young Mr. Morrissey has tested my theory already.”

A blush rose into her cheeks before she could stop it, and he laughed.

“Well, this is simply fascinating,” he said, pressing his tongue to his teeth. “So, tell me―was my theory correct? Did you knit yourself back up after Elliot was done?”

With adrenalin coursing through her veins, she drew back her foot and kicked him between the legs as hard as she could. He screamed and doubled over as she seized the lamp beside her and raised her arm to break it over his head and cut his throat. Before she had the chance, however, he reached inside his coat and pulled a pistol from his pocket. Her arm froze as he cocked the gun and pointed it at her face.

“You little bitch,” he groaned, clutching his groin with his other hand. “You couldn’t have thought I’d really come to your room so unprepared.”

She lowered her arm as he straightened up, his face beet-red with pain, but he kept his hand steady, aiming the gun at the spot between her eyes.

“You said yourself this morning, you can be killed like anyone else. So if you want to live, you’ll come with me and do as I say.”

lliot was knocking on Iris’s door for the third time. As soon as he’d woken, he’d dressed and gone to her room to talk to her, but just like the second and third attempt, he’d received no response. He was about to actually open the door and search for her inside when Cam appeared, walking toward him and looking disturbed as well.

“El,” he said, chilling the air with the bite of his uneasiness. “You haven’t seen Andrew, have you?”

“Not since last night. Why?”

He bit his lip and glanced at the floor. “He disappeared during the ball. I’d assumed he’d gone to tend to some crisis with his mother, but a letter just arrived from her, asking to send him home. Apparently, he hasn’t been there since the night before the ball.”

Elliot furrowed his brow. “That’s strange. I can’t find Iris, either. I’ve been knocking on her door all morning and haven’t received an answer.”

“Have you gone inside?”

“No. I was thinking about it just now.”

“Let’s try. I’ll go with you.”

Elliot nodded, turned, and gripped the doorknob; it was unlocked. Slowly, he and Cam stepped inside the darkened room. Iris wasn’t there, but the chamber looked as it should, until the light from the hallway caught the gleam of glass on her carpet. The lamp from her nightstand was lying on its side against the floor.

“Let’s go see Philomena,” Cam said, his fear compounding Elliot’s. “She knows better than anyone what’s happening in the palace.”

As they walked to Philomena’s room, Elliot tried to calm himself with benign scenarios, but he couldn’t wipe Iris’s hardened face and treasonous words from his mind. What if she had been snooping where she shouldn’t and someone caught her? His heart began to race and his hands began to shake, and by the time they reached Philomena’s door, he was trembling.

Cam knocked, and when Jennie opened the door, his face grew red, and Elliot’s fear was momentarily smothered by Cam’s shame. Jennie blushed as well, but she curtsied obediently.

“Is―is Miss Blackwell here?” Cam asked.

“Yes, sir,” she murmured, moving aside and dropping her gaze to the floor. “Miss Blackwell, Lord Branch and Mr. Morrissey are here to see you.”

They stepped inside the sitting room, and Jennie closed the door behind them and melted against the wall like furniture as she’d been trained. Philomena emerged from her bedroom, dressed but still looking sleepy.

“What do you two want so early?” she asked, rubbing her eyes.

“We were wondering if you’d seen Iris,” Elliot said. “We can’t find her.”

“Andrew, too,” Cam added, unable to entirely conceal his anxiety.

Philomena wrinkled her brow. “No. Not since last night.”

“If I may, Miss Blackwell…”

The three of them turned to look at Jennie. Her voice was hesitant, and her cheeks were deeply flushed, but she swallowed and went on. “I saw Miss Faye at midnight, climbing into a carriage.”

Elliot’s lungs stilled. “Where was she going? Who was she with?”

“I don’t know, sir. I only noticed at all because her dress caught my eye in the dark. It looked like there was a man with her, but I don’t know who it was.”

The fear in Elliot’s chest spread through the room, and no one spoke.

“Maybe it was Andrew,” Cam suggested after a moment, but the hope in his voice was unconvincing. “Maybe they’re together.”

Philomena walked to the door. “I have an idea. Albert… well, he delivered something for Iris once. I’ll send him back to see if anyone there knows where she is.”

“Cam and I can go to the stables,” Elliot said, following. “Maybe Milo or someone else there knows where the carriage went.”

But just as the three of them reached the door, it suddenly opened before them, revealing the figure of Lady Blackwell, Philomena’s mother. At first, she looked startled to see two men unchaperoned in her daughter’s room, but once she realized that one of them was Cam, her insides melted. She dipped her head as excitement swelled in her breast and colored her cheeks.

“Lord Branch,” she murmured. “Good morning, sir.”

“Good morning, Lady Blackwell,” he replied, forcing a smile.

“If you wouldn’t mind, sir, I need a moment to speak with my daughter alone.”

Philomena’s eyes burned with her anger and frustration. “Mother,” she said through gritted teeth. “Can’t this wait until later?”

“I’m sorry, my dear,” she replied with equal venom. “We must speak now. Jennie,” she barked. “Some tea.”

Jennie slipped out, and Cam and Elliot turned to Philomena. She gave them a nod and look that said,
Go ahead. I’ll find you later
. With a bow to Lady Blackwell, the two of them hurried out the door.

Cam and Elliot could have easily walked to Mansion House, but instead, they rode two horses Milo had fetched them from the stables. Fear had coursed through Elliot’s veins when Milo said Iris was there, but when he mentioned that armed guards had accompanied her carriage, panic overtook him, and he’d demanded that they ride. Cam had agreed, feeling nearly as worried as Elliot, but the closer they got to their destination, the more fear cooled his blood.