“I am going with you,” she declared.
The man bowed crisply. “I must ask you to reconsider, Your Grace. It is a dangerous path.”
“Do not bother,” April said. “Lead on.”
They mounted swiftly, urgency pounding in her ears. April felt her heart thudding beneath her bodice, wild and unyielding.
Let him be safe. Let me not be too late.
As they rode, April noticed red carriage tracks. “What is that?”
“To ensure we could track them,” Redmond replied, “I had the coachman fasten a pouch of red paint beneath the rear axle. The turn of the wheel split it open, leaving a mark behind.”
The trail was clear, splashed across rutted dirt like a wound. They galloped fast, the horses’ hooves striking the earth with the fury of thunder.
They rode through forest and meadow, passing a stone bridge and a thicket that narrowed into shadow. The path turned southward, and up ahead the trees broke suddenly.
Elderman slowed his mount and raised an arm. April followed his gaze.
The carriage stood there, awkwardly set off the road, nestled among the trees like a forgotten relic.
A cry escaped her lips. Relief.
But no driver. No horses. No movement.
Redmond dismounted first and hurried to the door. When he opened it, they found it empty.
April’s stomach lurched, nausea rising to her throat.
Elderman crouched beside the foliage, studying the soft earth. “There are tracks. Two men. Walking. There.”
He pointed to a path threading deeper into the woods.
He rose and signaled to the others. “Come.”
April nodded and followed without hesitation.
Theo, please. Hold on. Hold on.
“You realize,” Gregory said, his lip curling as he held the pistol with a steady arm, “that was a perfectly good shot wasted in that blasted carriage.”
Theo stood a few paces away, his arms loose at his sides, though every muscle in his body was tensed like drawn wire. “My heart bleeds for the bullet.”
Gregory gave a dry laugh. “No matter. I have another pistol. One should be enough to kill a misbegotten heir.” He raised the pistol a touch higher. “Out here in the woods, no one will know. No one will care. And it’s fitting, is it not? That you should vanish as easily as your parents did.”
Theo tilted his head slightly, eyes sharp and voice unnervingly calm. “Before you do something you will not live to regret, at least tell me why. Why did you do it? My parents. My sister. Nathaniel. All of them.”
Gregory’s smile thinned to a sneer. “Because the title was squandered on your side of the family. Because your mother was a merchant’s daughter, an heiress from trade. Not even a lady in name. Her blood—filthy, common—sullied the Stone line. You were never meant to inherit. It should have been me. I was born of the proper branch. The old blood. Yours is corruption in a velvet coat.”
Theo’s mouth quirked. “You truly do not want to do this, Gregory.”
“Oh, I do.”
“It’s your funeral.”
Theo heard a faint crunch behind him. A footfall? The rustle of underbrush? He didn’t dare turn his head.That has to be Redmond. Or Elderman. Perhaps both. Hold the moment.
“Why April?” Theo asked, keeping his voice neutral. “Why try to kill her?”
