Page 47 of Keeper of Secrets

“Adam.Which room?”

“Can’t say…” The woman held out one hand, the other scratching at her chin.

He rumbled out a frustrated breath as he grabbed several coins from his pocket, slapping them into her hand.

She curled her wrinkled fingers around them, bringing one to her mouth, and biting into it, showing several gaps in her teeth.

“Well?”

“Eight.Only one on the third floor.”

He didn’t say another word, instead he started up the stairs, taking them two and three at a time until he’d reached the third floor.

Just one door stood in front of him, and he paused for the barest second.

A woman’s scream ripped through the air, and the sound reverberated through him.Chloe.His pulse raced, a pianoforte sitting on his chest.

Barreling forward, he dropped his shoulder, the door crashing in on its frame as it burst open.

Chloe lay on the bed, curled into herself, Adam over her with a whip held up in the air.

“You!”he snarled, charging forward.

Adam instantly changed direction, swinging the whip in a wide arc through the air and coming at him from the side as Ryker hurled himself around the bed.

The whip whistled as Ryker tried to sidestep it but, he was moving too quickly, with too much purpose, so intent upon protecting Chloe, he’d charged in too fast.The leather balls cracked into his ribs, pain exploding through his chest.

He grunted through the pain, unable to think for a single moment, before he came to his senses.Unsheathing the knife tucked under his jacket, he swung at Adam in one fluid movement, slicing toward the man’s stomach.

Adam jumped back, but not enough, and Ryker felt the knife sink into flesh, a thick red line appearing on the man’s midsection.

It didn’t keep Adam from raising the whip again.

Ryker knew he’d have to take the hit, but he didn’t brace himself.Instead, he ran full force into Adam, his superior height and weight sending the man crashing into the wall as the whip came down on his back, pain throbbing through his torso.

Chloe screamed, scrambling across the bed to move away from them.

“Get out of here,” he ordered through the agony.Whatever happened next, he’d keep Chloe safe, or he’d die trying.

Spinning them both, Ryker pushed them toward the far wall, away from Chloe.Adam raised the whip, bringing it down on Ryker’s back once again.

This time, when the whip cracked, Ryker faltered, loosening his grip, and Adam spun away.He stopped, whip in hand, his eyes meeting Ryker’s.

Ryker paused too, readying himself for the next attack.Every bone in his body ached, but he had to pull through.

“This isn’t over,” Adam snarled.“Judas and I are coming for you.”

“Not if—” But Ryker stopped, his words dying as he watched in horror.

Adam, a sick smile curling his lips, vaulted himself through the closed window.

The sound of shattering glass filled the air as Ryker ran to the window’s edge just in time to see Adam land on the roof of a carriage.

“Adam!”he roared into the night as the driver cracked his own whip and sped off into the night, with Adam collapsed on the top.

Ryker watched him go, fists clenched at his sides.He couldn’t follow.

“Ryker?”Chloe’s teary voice called from the far side of the bed.He turned back to see she’d dropped to the floor, only her large blue eyes peering over the top of the filthy covers.

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