Page 60 of A Dream of Redemption
“I know all I need to know about his past,” Helen said as she struggled to lean as far away from Glover as possible. “I know he was forced to work in a brothel against his will.”
But she didn’t know it all, and his body tensed as in that one moment he knew the disgrace of his past would be told.
“A brothel, is it? Is that the fancy name for the molly house, or is it you haven’t told her exactly what type of brothel it was?”
The heat was suddenly oppressive.Not here, not this way. This was not where he wanted to explain his past, not in front of a monster such as Glover.
Unfortunately, Glover noted the look of confusion on Helen’s face and went in for the kill. Glover ran his finger down Helen’s face, tracing his thumb over her lip, quickly removing it just before she bit. “Do you know what a molly house is, my lovely dove? It is a brothel for men who like having sex with other men. Sodomites.”
Clary didn’t want to look at Helen, didn’t want to see her reaction, but as if pulled by a magnet he looked at her beautiful face and saw horror dawning. Her face paled and he heard her sharp intake of breath.
Clary should’ve told her when he’d had the chance but pride had thought he could get away without declaring his shame.
“The man that you gave yourself to. The man that you profess to love, is a man you don’t know. He likes letting men shove their cocks up his arse.”
He watched as Helen swayed and briefly closed her eyes.
“Look, she’s disgusted by you. Perhaps you’d prefer to stay here with me?” And Glover burst out laughing.
A soft voice said, “Oh, I’m not disgusted with him. I admire him even more. I’m disgusted by the men who used and abused both him and Simon—children. I know all about his past, and it makes no difference to me.” She turned to look at Glover, the knife scratching her throat, and Clary took a step forward. Her voice shook with rage but still she kept it low. “You are the one who disgusts me. I’ve seen what you and your men do to children—both girls and boys.”
To Clary’s absolute admiration, a small, feminine fist came flying out of nowhere and punched Glover in the face, powerful enough to make him stumble backward. Clary didn’t miss the opportunity, and he shot Glover right between the eyes.
The thud of Glover’s body hitting the floor filled the room. Helen didn’t scream. She simply stood there shaking out her hand, chest rising and falling rapidly.
“I should be sorry he’s dead, but I’m not,” she uttered before flying across the short distance and throwing her arms around Clary’s neck and kissing him as if her life depended on it. Finally, she broke off the kiss and buried her face in his chest. “I knew you’d come.”
He couldn’t believe that she wanted to be touched by him considering she now knew the worst of his past. He desperately wanted to talk to her, to explain, to tell her that when a man touched him his skin crawled. But they had more pressing matters. He needed to get her back through the sewer, so that her brother could round up all of Glover’s men and shut down this vile trade before Glover’s men learned he was dead. On top of that they had to see to the children.
He placed a kiss to her forehead. “Are you hurt at all?” He held his breath, hoping Glover had not raped her. But if he had, Clary would be there for her. Always. She was still his beautiful, innocent angel. And always would be. She shook her head.
“Only my hand where I hit him.” Relief flooded his veins giving him the strength to move.
“We will talk, but later. I need to get you safely out of here.”
With that he gently pushed her out of his hold and took her hand while he carefully opened the door and peered out. The area was still clear. “Keep close to me and don’t let go of my hand.”
He moved then and he didn’t care at all about the noise, totally focused on finding the spot where he had left his jacket, which indicated the entrance to the hatch cover. He dropped her tiny hand and threw the cover open, motioning that she should start climbing down. He grabbed his jacket off the floor so as to leave no sign and followed her, closing the hatch after him.
“Sorry about the stench, but it’s the quickest and safest way out.” He handed her his jacket to put on so that she could cover herself. He almost felt sorry for Glover’s men. Once Sebastian saw the state Helen was in there would be no stopping him. And there would be no mercy.
It didn’t take them long to stumble back through the sewer. Sebastian was waiting for them as they reached the exit. He pulled his sister into his arms and hugged her tightly.
“Thank you,” was all his lordship said.
Clary left the two of them standing there together and clambered out into the street. He gave a nod to Grayson and a trumpet blew. That was the signal. The Libertine Scholars men converged en masse into the warehouse and soon the sounds of gunfire filled the air.
Clary looked for his brother. He was helping reload some of the weapons. He made his way to his brother’s side and loved the look of relief he saw on Simon’s face.
He put his hand out to Simon for a pistol. “Would you like to come back through the sewer with me to save the children? I don’t trust Glover’s men; they could set fire to the warehouse to try to destroy the evidence.” The children were the evidence, and they were locked in cages.
Sebastian and Helen appeared on the street and moved toward them arm in arm.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“We are going back for the children.”
She put her hand on his chest. “Be careful. I haven’t gone through all of this to lose you now.”
