The butler stood to one side watching over them.
“Get him to leave,” Monty said, nodding to the butler. Nathan glared at him to shut up.
“Who are you?” Buford wheezed, looking at Monty.
“He is Plumbottom, one of the king’s guards,” Michael said quickly.
Buford nodded, and he dismissed Monty as a nobody. He then sent the butler from the room.
“We have reason to believe you are part of a group of men who worship the devil, Mr. Buford,” Gabe said.
The man coughed loudly and clutched his chest. “Wh-What?”
“We also believe Lord Picton, Lord Heather, Mr. Clipper, and Mr. Renton are some of your fellow worshippers,” Gabe continued. “Fratres Fidei, Brothers of Faith.”
Monty kept his eyes on the man lying in the bed. He’d started shaking, and it was not solely due to his illness.
“Does the name Ernest Silverton mean anything to you, Buford?” Nathan asked.
The man made a strangled sound now.
“How about Sir Stephen Ackland?” Michael asked.
The man was gobbling like a turkey. Monty stepped forward. Gabe blocked him by stepping in front of him. Nathan joined him, and they presented a solid wall. Frustrated, he stepped back again.
He could feel the panic sending its icy tendrils through his body. Iris needed him, and he had to reach her soon.
“Lady Challoner has been kidnapped, Buford. Where is she?”
“H-How would I know where she is?” The man looked ready to faint now.
“We don’t have time to bandy words with you, Buford. I know you are part of this Brothers of Faith, and we believe Renton has taken Lady Challoner somewhere to silence her,” Gabe said. “Because her late husband had documents on your little organization. On the innocents and animals you have sacrificed to appease the devil.”
“S-Sacrifice? S-Silence her?” Buford wheezed.
“I’ve seen the letters that belonged to her late husband,” Gabe said. “Letters incriminating him and you to the murders of Lord and Lady Montgomery, Lord Lionel, and Lord Peters. All had the small carved symbol of the devil in their hands when they were found.”
Buford was gasping for air now, and what little color he’d had in his face had drained away.
“Now you will tell us where you meet, or I let the king’s guard, who was given explicit instructions to do what he must to find details about who and what Ackland was involved in, punch the information out of you,” Gabe said.
Monty pulled out his pistol when the man didn’t speak fast enough. He then parted the brothers with an arm and pointed it at the man lying in the bed.
“Speak.”
He did, telling them where they would find Iris and who was involved in the Brothers of Faith.
“W-We are but a harmless club,” he whispered.
“Do not play us for fools, Buford, and now I want to know who killed Lord Lionel and Lord and Lady Montgomery,” Monty said in a hard voice.
The man’s eyes shot from Monty to Gabe and back again.
“Lord Plunge?” he whispered.
“Answer the question, Buford, or I will put a bullet through you.” Monty stepped closer.
“Picton and the late Lord Challoner! Silverton was to be avenged!”
