Page 118 of A Deal with the Devil

“Portsmouth is a self-important ass,” Caroline said a few moments later as the carriage careered down the busy street with very little regard for order.

“Clearly,” Priya said. “Well done on surviving him.”

“I nearly didn’t,” Caroline said. “He was courteous enough at first, played the role of suitor well enough. But after we married, each time I got my courses, he flew into a rage. He is obsessed with getting an heir.” She shook her head. “And then a doctor told him I was barren because it had been a year without a baby.”

Priya snorted. “It has been far longer than that for him, including three wives, and I shudder to think of how many other women. Of course, the problem could not possibly lie with him.”

Caroline pressed her lips together. “The one doctor who suggested that went missing. I decided I should go missing as well shortly after.”

The carriage rolled to a stop just down the street from the vicar’s house, partially hidden in a line of other carriages waiting outside of a supper party gone late. The stars were very far away, and the moon was barely a suggestion of light. But it was enough for Pierce to nod grimly to a rooftop across from the vicar’s house.

“One of Portsmouth’s men up there with a rifle,” he said. “Don’t move until I’ve dealt with him.” He caught Priya’s eye. “I mean it.”

He was gone before she could reply, melting into the shadows. Kitty knew without looking that he was far more graceful on a rooftop than she was. There was a muffled grunt, the slide of a body on slate tiles. “He’s got him,” Wulf said.

Priya handed Kitty a dagger.

“Stop giving away your knives, woman,” Pierce said, still across the street.

“I have two more,” she muttered. “Honestly, if it were up to him, I would be wearing them like jewelry.”

“We’ll take the others,” Wulf said. “There are at least two out front.”

It hardly needed to be said that Kitty, Priya, and Caroline did not wait. Not long, at any rate.

Just long enough for Wulf and Pierce to clear a temporary path.

Kitty slipped past them, skirted a spatter of blood, and barreled through the front door.

Not her best plan.

But if she had to throw herself bodily onto the earl to stop him, she would. Stabbing was, of course, a distinct possibility.

The vicar’s house was dark, except for the candlelight spilling from a small parlor. Kitty headed straight for it, already knowing what she would find: Lord Portsmouth, a handsome earl of good fortune and tainted soul, standing next to her little sister. Evie’s hair glowed gold like a storybook princess’s. Her cheeks were pale, her chin at a determined angle.

Until she saw her sister. She closed her eyes briefly. “Kitty, don’t.”

The vicar and his wife—and the housekeeper and footman serving as the two witnesses—looked on stiffly. Kitty recognized then: the vicar Andover and his wife. Anyone could see this was wrong, even them. Evie was too pale, too young, too alone.

“Evie!” Kitty darted forward, terrified that she was too late.

“Not another step, Miss Caldecott,” Portsmouth ordered her. He grabbed Evie by the arm. Hard.

Kitty halted. Evie shook her head once, and Kitty nearly wilted with relief. Not too late, after all. She did not know where Caroline was, or the others, and she dared not look. She was a fox trapped in a foxhole. Let him hunt her and leave the rest.

“You were not invited,” Portsmouth said. “But no matter. She’s overjoyed to be my countess, aren’t you, Miss Evangeline?”

“Yes,” Evie whispered, shifting in pain. The bastard had taken away her cane.

“There. You see? Now kindly stop these dramatics, Miss Caldecott.”

“She’s only marrying you because you threatened me.”

He shrugged. And then he smiled. He liked the fear bubbling around him. Loved it. Kitty wondered how she was not spitting fire. The rage that filled her was hot as molten iron, just waiting to be formed into a weapon.

In the books she loved, the heroine always felt vindicated. Purposeful. Kitty just felt nervous and sweaty. And furious.

But Portsmouth was out of reach, and she wasn’t convinced she could get to her sister before him. No matter how angry she was.