However, for now, he was willing to settle for her being all right and safe within the walls of his estate again. He doubted his kind would ever be at rest after what he knew now.
“Good day. We are looking for a lady. She is tall and slender. She has dark blonde hair with green eyes and freckles. Have you seen anyone with that description?” Morgan asked, trying to give an accurate description of her.
“Yes, I have.” A young boy ran up to them. “She was staying at the inn but she left. There was a man following behind her and she has not returned since then.”
Morgan felt his blood run cold, horror filling him as he listened to the boy. There was only one thing that that could mean. He had been too late and her father had managed to get to her first before he could.
He kept his features as blank as he could even though he was dying inside. How could all of this be happening? He would never forgive himself if anything were to happen to her. There was only one person to blame for her absence right now and it was him.
“Quick. Go to the constable and inform him of what has happened. I will go to Lord Linport’s estate and see if I can find her there,” Morgan ordered.
He kicked at the sides of his horse as Arthur did the same, heading in the opposite direction. Lord Linport’s estate was close to London and they already had a lot of distance on him, considering they had been gone for a while.
Morgan knew that the only way that he would be able to get to them on time to stop whatever plans Lord Linport had for his daughter was to make sure that he did not stop at any point and he rode his horse as fast as he could.
His grandmother had informed him that the estate was where her father stayed whenever he was in London for horse races, so it made sense that he would be there.
They had all hoped that they would get to her first and would not need to go to the estate but now that he was faced with no choice, he knew he needed to hurry.
CHAPTER23
“Ugh…” Selina struggled to open her eyes as everything seemed bright and blurry. She acclimated herself with her surroundings and felt her heart explode when she realized that she recognized her surroundings.
Selina was currently sitting tied up to a chair. She looked around at her old bedroom on her father’s estate. She bit her lips to keep her mouth shut as tears began to fill her eyes but she blinked it away. It had not been a dream after all.
Selina had hoped that none of this would be real when she woke up. She had hoped for a lot of things but so far none of them had turned out in the way that she wished them to.
She closed her eyes as memories of her time here began to flood her but she fought them. She could not allow herself to be weak. Not when her father was probably lurking around somewhere, waiting to pounce on her in her moment of weakness.
She looked around suddenly as though she expected him to be in the room somewhere, watching her every action. She sighed deeply when she realized that she was alone and settled herself. She would need to have a clear mind if she wanted to succeed in finding a way out of here alive.
Selina felt her fear and sorrow give way to anger. How could her father have kidnapped and brought her here of all places? Selina had only happy memories here. She had been here a few times when she was younger but the older she got, the fewer times they visited the estate.
She struggled to release her hands from the chair but to no avail. She was stuck here until someone came to her rescue or he came to free her. Selina wished she did not have to see him. She hated everything to do with him and did not wish to look upon him.
The sound of footsteps reached her just as the door to her room was pushed open. Selina turned her face away from the door not wanting to look at the face of the man who had caused her so much sorrow.
“My daughter, I have missed you so much.” Selina heard her father’s voice. She frowned as he cooed at her. “How could you leave me alone? You should have been with me all this time. You should have said goodbye.”
With every word he spoke, Selina felt her anger until it morphed into hatred. She hated the sound of his voice, hated that he was the one here while her mother was not.
“Stop it. Stop pretending to be a loving father. We both know you are not,” Selina screamed into his face, her eyes blurry with unshed tears and anger as she heaved her anger.
She blinked away her tears in time to see the sweet expression on his face melt to one of shock before a sneer appeared on his face. He looked annoyed to hear her talk.
“Stop with the tears already, my dear daughter, and quit acting like the victim. You are just like your mother. Acting like I am the one who has wronged you,” her father bellowed at her. His face had morphed into deep anger and hatred that filled Selina with fear.
Although she feared him, she refused to sit there as he spoke of her mother, acting like he had done nothing wrong.
“We did not have to pretend like you were in the wrong because you really were a monster,” she said defiantly. “You killed my mother.”
Selina allowed the memory of that night that she had kept away wash over her.
Selina had been on her way to go see her mother when she saw her and her father having an altercation. She had watched as her father pushed her mother. She watched with tears in her eyes as she fell back, reaching out to grab hold of his hands in a desperate attempt to save herself but instead of helping her, he had only moved away from her.
Selina had remained where she was as her mother hit her head on the table behind her and the blood began to flow from the back of her head. There had been so much blood flowing from her mother’s head. She had seen the life seeping out of her mother’s eyes until they were empty while her father stood over her body, looking unrepentant.
She had run away only then, running away from the man who had taken her mother’s life and was sure to take hers if he knew that she was there.
