Page 25 of The Journal of a Thousand Years
I should have looked first.
Strong hands grabbed me, pulling me against a thickset body that reeked of sweat. I opened my mouth to shout a warning toIvy, but a hand clasped over it. I bit into the man’s palm. He grunted in pain and his grip slackened. I managed to free myself and dove for the door handle.
The door wouldn’t budge. It wasn’t locked; it was blocked from the other side. Ivy stood there, pressing against the door. She glared down at me through the window aperture above it.
My stomach plunged, and my heart with it. She’d tricked me.
I opened my mouth to scream for Mrs. Parry, but the man beside me grabbed me again, and this time he shoved a cloth in my mouth. I choked on my cries for help.
I recognized the man as one of Thurlow’s thugs.
“Get in,” he ordered Ivy as he tied my hands together in front of me.
“I will,” she said. “But first, there’s something I need to do.”
“What?”
She reached into the vehicle and slapped my face. Unlike me, she didn’t hold back. My cheek and jaw stung; my head felt woolly. For a moment, I thought I’d pass out, but I managed to keep my eyes open.
I only had time to see that we were driving quickly along my street before the burly thug next to me covered my eyes with a blindfold. I tried to fight him, but with my hands tied, it was useless. There was no escape, and now no way of knowing where I was heading.
Ivy told me she’d lured Gabe out of his house so Thurlow could kidnap him. But he was probably still tucked up in bed. She hadn’t trickedGabe, she’d trickedme.
CHAPTER 6
The blindfold was removed at the top of a set of stone steps worn smooth from years of use. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to a flickering, dim light coming from below. Once they did, I realized the steps led down to a cellar built of redbrick with arch supports. The light came from a single bulb hanging from the ceiling like a stalactite. There were no windows in the cellar, and the door through which I was pushed was the only exit. I wasn’t surprised to see Thurlow waiting for me at the base of the steps. Iwassurprised to see Bertie Hobson with him.
Bertie chewed on his lower lip and didn’t meet my gaze.
Thurlow smiled that slick smile of his. “Welcome, Miss Ashe. I am sorry for the subterfuge, but I thought it would be the only way to get you here. Did my man harm you?”
My cheek ached from where Ivy had struck me, but I wasn’t going to let them know it.
“We’ll remove that gag so you can talk.” He nodded at the burly fellow who’d been seated beside me in the motorcar. “There’s no point screaming. No one can hear you. If you do scream, I’ll have to shut you up. I can’t abide screeching women.” His wince sharpened his weaselly features further.
It was a relief to have my mouth free again. I didn’t scream, but I did spit a few strong curse words at him.
He merely smiled, revealing teeth crowded together, vying for space. “I’ve always admired your fire, Miss Ashe. It doesn’t always reveal itself, but when it does, it’s intoxicating.” His tongue darted out and licked his lower lip. His gaze fell to my chest. “It’s so much more attractive in a woman than ice.”
Whether she suspected the comment was directed at her or not, Ivy employed that iciness she was famous for, and coolly asked Thurlow what would happen now.
He indicated I should sit on one of the three chairs. Aside from some barrels stored to one side, they were the only pieces of furniture in the cellar. “Now, we wait. A note will be slipped under the door at number sixteen Park Street, Mayfair, directing Glass to meet me if he ever wants to see Miss Ashe again. When the household awakes at dawn, they’ll give him the note. Then we’ll see how much he cares for her.”
“I know what you’re trying to do and it’s pointless,” I said. “Gabe is artless. He can’t perform magic for you.”
Thurlow ignored me and continued to speak to Ivy. “Fetch your mother, please, Miss Hobson. My driver will take you. She should be here, since she’s the reason for this, after all.”
Ivy jutted her pointed chin forward in defiance. “This is not her fault. She’s merely trying to fix things. The fault lies with my idiot brother.”
Bertie finally came to life like an automaton wound up and released. “I didn’t engage his services! You and Mother did that.”
“We wouldn’t have to engage him if you hadn’t drawn us into this predicament in the first place.”
“It’s not my fault I’m artless,” he whined.
Ivy strode up to him, and I thought she’d strike him as she’d struck me. But she was composed, her piercing gaze the only sign of her fury. She’d never seemed more regal. “So now youwant to play the artless card. It’s too late, Bertie. The damage has been done, and you are responsible forallof it!”
She spun around so she didn’t see her brother’s eyes well with tears and his chin tremble. She hurried up the stairs and closed the door behind her with an ominous thud.
