Page 41 of Empire of Shadows

Ellie forced her wildly spinning thoughts to a stop. None of that mattered. He was here now, and he had caught her.

“Give me your tie,” he ordered.

It took Ellie a moment to realize that he was speaking to the ginger-haired man, who was looking distinctly uncomfortable with the situation.

“Is that really necessary?” the stranger asked.

“Tie, Dawson,” Jacobs ordered.

The ginger man—Dawson—jumped, obviously intimidated by his partner. He rapidly removed the garment in question.

Jacobs switched his grip, pinning Ellie with a single hand and grabbing the length of paisley silk with the other. Ellie strained against him with rising desperation as he wrapped the tie around her wrists, then knotted it.

He shoved her onto the bed.

Ellie fought a wilder wave of panic, but it was immediately clear that Jacobs only cared about eliminating the threat posed by her legs. He secured her shins to the mattress with a knee and used a spare stocking from the scattered pile of her clothes to bind her ankles. He wrapped another one around her head to tie the gag in place, then rose, neatly straightening his coat.

“It isn’t in the valise,” Dawson announced as he watched the proceedings with a distinctly awkward air. “Perhaps you might ask her where she hid it.”

His accent was Scottish and a bit posh.

Yes, Ellie thought frantically. They should ask her… because if they took the gag from her mouth for her to answer, she was going to scream bloody murder for help.

Jacobs sat down beside her on the bed, looking entirely unflustered.

“Still have the map?” he asked.

Ellie blinked at him, then made a sound through the gag, signaling her inability to answer.

“Shake of the head will do,” Jacobs returned easily.

She narrowed her eyes to a glare.

He leaned closer.

“This could get quite a bit more uncomfortable, if you like,” he noted casually.

Ellie glanced over at his companion. Dawson didn’t look at all happy about the situation, but he said nothing. She wouldn’t be getting any assistance from that quarter.

She forced herself to take a breath. She had to stay calm. She could get through this.

Ellie shook her head.

“She has it,” Jacobs announced.

Her eyes widened. She shook her head more pointedly. That had very clearly been ano.

Jacobs watched her with an uncomfortable level of focus.

“Is it here in the room with us?” he asked mildly.

Ellie had to get the pair of villains out of here. If she could send them away, then perhaps she could find a way out of her restraints, or make enough of a racket for someone to come looking.

She shook her head again—another sharpno.

“Are we going to play guessing games over this all night? She might have squirreled it away anywhere in the colony,” Dawson complained.

“It’s here,” Jacobs replied calmly, still watching her with dark eyes that reminded her of the way an owl looked at a mouse.

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