“Asleep upstairs, all three. Kate is with them.”
“I wouldn’t say no to a change of clothes,” Joseph said, pulling at his soaked woolens.
“If you’ll follow me, sir,” the butler said, after indicating the way to Genevieve.
She hurried through the far green door and in the servants’ portion of the house, locating the door to the cellars. “Kendrick?” she called at the top of the stairs.
“Genevieve?” Her husband came into view at the foot of the stairs. “You’re soaked!”
“You’re not,” she said, puzzled.
“Yes.” His face turned grave. “We have news.”
She stopped halfway down the stairs. “Oh, please don’t tell me…”
Kendrick met her there and wrapped his strong arms around her, pulling her tight against him.
“I’ll get your clothes all wet,” she said in a thick voice.
“What’s a little rain?” he murmured. “Here it is—we found Evangeline. Her neck was broken. But Dominic believes there is a chance she may rise. We have brought her body back, and he is keeping vigil.”
Genevieve fisted her hand in his coat. “Dead?” she whispered. “No…”
“We must wait and see.”
She pressed her face into his neck to try to stem the tears that wanted to flow. “Laurent—Laurent and Bacchus both liked tormenting their victims. Hurting and then bringing them back from the brink so they didn’t lose their playthings before they were ready. Does Dominic think…” She trailed off, couldn’t say it.
“Here.” With no effort at all, Kendrick lifted her and carried her down the stairs into the glow of lamplight. Where one might have expected racks of wine and other choice vintages like in other fine homes, Dominic’s cellar was partitioned off into small rooms, protected from the light for their kind. Kendrick brought her to a small room with a table and an overstuffed armchair next to a bed. He sat in the armchair and held her in his lap, much as he had when she had broken down about her father’s books.
“The other thing we discovered,” he said, continuing, “was that we could scent Elspeth in the room…and on the body.”
Genevieve blinked, shook her head. “But…that’s… No, no I left Elspeth at Carmine House. How would she…?” The truth sank in. “Oh, no.”
“It’s possible that she might have?—”
“Been used. Ordered. I never thought—I’m so stupid,” she whispered. “I didn’t see it. Elspeth—I’ll have to break the news to Robbie.” She pressed her hand to her mouth. “Where is she? Do you know?”
Kendrick’s hands stroked over her back. “She wasn’t present in the house where we found the body, and the rain started right after.”
Her eyes stung, her stomach cramping from shame. “She was suffering, and I didn’t see it. Who knows how long he’s been ordering her about. He must’ve ordered her to keep silent…” Grief, worry, and fury warred for dominance within her. “Can we revisit you killing him?”
“Absolutely,” Kendrick growled. “I’d like to get within skewering distance of him.”
“And you really think there’s a chance for Evangeline?”
“Dominic is very insistent,” Kendrick said wryly. “We won’t say anything to any of the others until tomorrow eve. That’s probably when we’ll know for sure.”
But what would happen when she woke and found herself tied to Laurent even in death? Genevieve sighed, her shoulders slumping.
“Let’s get you out of these wet things,” Kendrick said, lifting her up and beginning to undo her buttons. “Dawn comes soon.”
Genevieve was too tired and heartsick to protest. And in all honestly, she didn’t want to.
ChapterTwenty-Six
As soon as the sun had set, Genevieve gathered with Kendrick and Dominic around Evangeline’s still form, lying on a bed in the largest room of the cellar. Her face was still and gray with the pallor of death. They could all smell that rigor mortis was passing, the stiffness of the body’s limbs relaxing.
Genevieve sat in a chair against the wall, her hands tightly clasped. Kendrick stood with his hand on her shoulder. Dominic waited by the bedside, his eyes curiously bright.
