Page 87 of A Duchess to Unravel
“Where are we going first?” he begrudgingly asked.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“Oh,” Theo murmured, feeling a pounding in her head.
She moved to place her hand to her forehead, but found it bound. Fear ate through her groggy state, and she worked to open her heavy eyelids. She blinked slowly, tried to sit up as she drew in a breath. The air was sour, tinged with decaying sweetness. It was wrong. All wrong.
The last thing she remembered was taking her sleeping tonic and lying down next to Alistair’s letter, thinking that, perhaps, she should muster the courage to see him one last time.
“There you are,” a deep voice said. “I was starting to worry you would not wake up.”
Theo’s eyes snapped open upon hearing the stranger’s voice and found a face she did not know peering down at her. She tried to move, tried to put more space between him and her, but foundherself bound. So instead, she took a long look around, trying to find any recognition at all in her surroundings.
Rusted metal and decaying wood was all she saw in the high-ceilinged building, and from the old equipment that looked as if it hadn’t been used in decades, she assumed they were in an abandoned factory of sorts.
“Look at me,” the man viciously snarled.
Theo’s eyes shot back to him, and watched as his enraged expression transformed into a twisted smile.
“I told you what would happen if you disobeyed me,” the man said, walking backward to a chair. He sat down, then rested his elbows on his knees. “What would happen if you forgot me.”
Panic welled up within Theo, threatening to overtake her as his words rang in recognition within her mind. Still, she forced it down, knowing she could not fight madness with fear.
“So you did,” she answered calmly. “My deepest apologies, Vulcan.”
Her captor’s face went slack, as if surprised by her answer. Yes, she had remembered. And she could have never imagined that such a bland face would have been hiding behind such an intimidating mask.
He was so…simple. Ordinary. Short, straight brown hair. Muddy brown eyes. Medium build, average height. Nothing in his features stood out, set him apart from anyone else.
Theo licked her dry lips and took advantage of his alarm. She wanted to keep him calm, keep him talking, until her brain was less foggy and she could discover a way out.
“I had been told that you had reached an agreement with my husband,” she said, trying to sound as uncaring as possible. “I suppose it went poorly?”
Vulcan let out a chuckle, the sound of it churning Theo’s stomach.
“It might have gone differently,” he replied, “But your dimwit of a Scot caught the wrong man. It was a valiant effort, though. He was close in at least names. He cast William Upton to the sea. Understandably so, if they predicted the man after you was blackmailing you for financial gain. He’s a gambler. A disgrace to his family.”
“But you are not,” Theo replied quickly. “You are not a disgrace, are you?”
Vulcan’s thin lips set into a grim line.
“No, I am not.” he stated.
Theo nodded in understanding, then made her next move.
“I beg you, good sir, would you help sit me up?” She asked politely. “And tell me more of who you are? I am disgraced by my own ignorance.”
Vulcan’s eyes narrowed, but after a moment he rose from his seat and came toward her. Theo fought the shivers of disgust that threatened to take over her as he grabbed her shoulders and brought her to a sitting position, but she could not help but screw her eyes shut and turn her head when his hands trailed to her collarbone, and traced a line down her abdomen.
“Such a pretty nightgown,” Vulcan murmured. “I like to imagine that you wore it for me. That some part of you knew that I was coming for you.”
Theo fought to take in an even breath through her slamming heartbeat and forced her eyes open.
“I did have a sense I was not alone,” she forced out, “Even after my husband discarded me.”
Vulcan’s eyes snapped to hers, glittering with rage. “I tried to warn you about him. That you were not his to have.”
“You did,” she agreed quickly, “I should have listened to you that first night. I was foolish. Pray, forgive me. And tell me, please, who it is I truly belong to.”
