Page 61 of A Dream of Redemption
Sebastian stiffened at her side but remained silent. He merely sent Clary a stern look. Clary would worry about his lordship’s reaction to his relationship with Helen when he returned. If Helen still wanted him after all of this, maybe he should consider the possibility. He loved her more than the air he breathed.
For now he pushed his dreams of the future aside. He had to focus on rescuing the children.
He lifted Helen’s hand off his chest and pressed a kiss to her palm, before he walked with his brother by his side back down to the sewer.
—
Helen watched the man she loved with all her heart calmly walk back into the lion’s den. She was so proud of him. All his life people had wanted to hurt him—either physically or mentally. Yet here he was, a compassionate human being who put others’ lives before his own.
It still amazed her that his heart had any capacity left to love. But he loved her. Of that she was in no doubt. He knew that rescuing her on his own could mean his death. Sebastian had just told her that Clary refused to let anyone else go in to get her. He’d even told her brother that he loved her, knowing that Sebastian would not approve.
“Come, I shall take you home, and hopefully by the time I return this will be all over.”
She wondered if Sebastian would ever approve or understand that she would marry Clary regardless of his blessing. “No. I want to wait for Clary.” As her brother handed her into the waiting carriage, she took in his stubborn jawline. “Please don’t fight with me, Sebastian. I’ve had just about all I can take today.” He stood staring at her as she sat in the carriage, exhaustion making her light-headed. Every muscle ached. Only the most fierce self-discipline stopped her from breaking down and crying. It had been a long night, every minute, every agonizing hour of it was etched into her soul. Those poor children. She only had to endure a few hours in Glover’s company, how long had they been held captive, in that heat, with their abusers, wondering what would happen to them next. Her heart clenched and she prayed that Glover was suffering the flames of hell because he had not suffered long enough on this earth.
She closed her eyes. She couldn’t even begin to think about the children that had already been sold—lost to the world. Two years. Glover had bragged to her that he been trading in children for two years. It was a disgrace, and the blame lay with those of her kind who turned a blind eye to those less fortunate than themselves.
Well, she was no longer blind. And she would no longer turn a blind eye. And she did not care if that meant society scorned her.
“We have to stop them, Sebastian.”
“We will. Grayson will have them rounded up shortly.”
She sighed. “It’s not just Glover. We have to actively care about what is happening to those that are vulnerable. We have a moral obligation to help those less fortunate. Don’t you see? We were orphaned at a young age. But for our birth, any one of us could have been a captive of Glover or forced into a life like Clary and Simon had to live.”
Her brother’s eyes softened. “I promise you that I will take more of an interest in the poor. I will do my best to make sure this never happens again. I will personally start a process of checking warehouses and their owners. I’ll get my men to take an interest in the trade around them and report anything underhand.” His tone softened. “But you must have realized by now that the world is a hard place. Money makes people do unconscionable things. That is never going to change.”
“Like your peers who use brothels? Women—and men—who have to sell themselves to survive…Is that a world we want to live in? The hypocrisy of it all makes me wary of this life of privilege.”
“Maybe not, but it’s the world we do live in and don’t forget it’s let many of them survive.”
The ugliness of it all pressed her down. “But at what cost?”
“Life isn’t fair, Helen. Everyone does the best they can.”
“Then we have to try and make it better.” She gave him a watery smile. “Can you send word to Marisa to ready her orphanages? We’re going to have to divide the children up so that we have enough room for them. I think there will be around one hundred to house.” She tried to think of what else to do, but her head ached with tiredness and defeat. They might have won this battle but the war raged on. There would always be another Glover waiting in the wings. “Oh, and we will likely need a doctor as well. Some of the children have been abused and beaten.”
Sebastian’s face paled and he looked ill. “Did Glover touch you? He didn’t…”
A wave of nausea hit her stomach too. Glover had touched her, and every minute she was in his presence he’d threatened to rape her. She was embarrassed by the fear she had felt, and her empathy with the children he had taken off the streets was so strong she would never forget it. “No. And he’s dead now so it doesn’t matter.”
Sebastian left her to talk to his men and soon children began appearing out of the sewer, with Mr. Brown and his men there to help them. She leaned out of the carriage door looking for any sighting of Clary. Muscles locked tight, head pounding, and nausea rollicking in her stomach as it churned in fear and tiredness, she prayed he’d come back to her.
When she finally saw Clary and Simon through the misty dawn, like the pied piper with children trailing along behind him, her tired, knotted muscles eased slightly. He was safe and she felt as if she could breathe freely once more.
Heedless of her brother standing next to the carriage, she jumped down and ran straight into Clary’s open arms. He held her tightly as she rained kisses all over his face. For once her brother didn’t intervene.
“Thank goodness you’re safe,” she repeated over and over.
“So are the children.” He turned her in his arms and gently led her back to the carriage. Simon stood watching them, ready to jump in and defend his brother.
Clary stood facing Sebastian and said, “You’re exhausted, Helen. There’s nothing more you can do here. Why don’t you go home and get some rest.”
“I think that would be for the best,” Sebastian said, and he extended his arm to help her back into the carriage. She hesitated before entering the carriage, but she didn’t want to start a scene here, everyone was tired.
To her surprise Sebastian turned to Clary and held out his hand. “Thank you for bringing her back safely. I will not forget what you did this night.”
Her heart bloomed with warmth as Clary looked at his dirty hand and hesitantly shook hands with her brother. “I need to stay and see to the children. Richard is organizing some transport, and Mr. Brown has already made a list of where each child can go.”
