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Chapter 15
Eloise leaned her back against the wall as she entered her own room. What in the world had just happened? Her mind reeled from the emotions inside. Her hands shook, and her heart rioted in her chest. The entire interlude was like a part of a dream, but his dismissal had been a rude awakening.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to calm her petrified heart.
The knock sounded on her door, and she almost jumped in reaction.Not now.She didn’t need visitors now. She was disheveled, tired, and confused. All she needed was a nice, hot bath and a good night’s sleep.
She closed her eyes briefly before cracking the door open and peeking outside. A tall, thin woman with beautiful almond-shaped dark eyes and ebony black hair stood before her. Her gaze slid down Eloise’s form, her semi-transparent nightshift, and her bare feet. She raised her eyes, looking at Eloise, disapproval in her eyes. Eloise crossed her arms over her chest and raised her brows.
“I see you are unharmed,” the woman said in a calm, measured voice. A familiar voice. “I brought you some herbal tea. To calm your nerves after last night.”
Eloise opened the door wider, and the woman stepped in. She beckoned someone outside the room and Laura, the dairymaid, came inside with a tray, a pot of tea sitting on top. She smiled slightly at Eloise, placed the tray on the bedside table, and scurried away.
The raven-haired woman had different plans, it seemed. She looked around the room unhurriedly, her gaze landing on the made-up bed.
“Did you spend the night with him?” she asked in the same calm tone of voice.
“I am sorry, who are you?” Eloise frowned, unwilling to discuss such private matters with some unknown woman.
The woman smiled then, that cold, unemotional smile, and Eloise finally recognized her.Grace. She looked completely different than Eloise had imagined her.
“I am the proprietress of private chambers,” she said and kept perusing Eloise’s room. “Perhaps I came here to recruit you. You seem interested in our line of work.”
Eloise steeled herself not to react to the insult. “Then you’ve wasted your time.”
“Very well, then I came here to warn you,” Grace said.
Eloise swallowed. “I thought you came here to bring me herbal tea.”
The woman smiled her cold smile again. “That too. But mostly to warn you. You shouldn’t get attached to Hades. Nothing good ever comes from sleeping with the devil. He is stubborn. He won’t listen, but he is cursed to love no one. If he dares, that love will be taken from him.”
“I do not believe in curses and prophecies,” Eloise said, wishing Grace would leave now. Why did she care, anyway?
“Neither does he, I am afraid. At least not when he doesn’t like the outcome of a prophecy. In some cultures, curses are taken seriously. Hades’ aunt—or at least that’s what he called her—prophesied a lot of things. She helped him get his fortune, she helped him become the most influential man in all of London, and he listened. But when it comes to love, he is a fool. You do not believe in curses, that is all well. But heed my word, if you stay with him, you shall die,” Grace said, still looking around.
“Is that a threat?” Eloise said through her gritted teeth.
Grace finally paused and trained her direct gaze on Eloise. “You’ll lose one love, your mother, only to find your path. You’ll lose the second love, your sister, only to find your soul. Your third love, your soulmate, will be the reason your kingdom crumbles. And only her death shall break the curse.” There was a pause. “Or something like that.”
Eloise stood still and silent, trying to decipher the words, and Grace just stared at her.
“If you’re here to warn me against staying here, you are wasting your time. I do not have a choice. I am held here against my will,” Eloise said stubbornly.
“Are you?” Grace cocked her head to the side. A slight smirk appeared on her lips. “That we shall see,” she said, then turned on her heel and gracefully glided away.
* * *
“I think you are slowly losing your mind, mate,” William said, as he lounged in the main hall, his feet on the table, his cheroot in his mouth. He seemed relaxed and quite unharmed, regardless of his dramatic entrance the night before. “Capturing a thief-taker’s daughter was all in good fun. A challenge, but an entertaining challenge. Capturing a peer of the realm is madness. Not that it is the first time you’ve done that. But imprisoning the man in front of his wife and then letting her leave is suicide.”
“Then you needn’t participate,” Hades growled. He’d just watched his men escort St. John’s wife into the room next to Eloise’s. The man must have been safely locked in the dungeon by now.
Capturing Greyson St. John was what he wanted, but having his wife here was a hindrance. The last thing he needed was a distraught, gentle lady in his house. Especially when he planned to kill her husband. He couldn’t very well do it before her eyes.
“You are asking me to drop the lady off back at her house, and now you say I needn’t participate?” William asked.
“You’ll be saving the woman. You’ll be the hero.”
William smirked. “Nobody would ever believe that. And they are all itching to find a reason to hang me. The disappearance of a peer is a hanging offense, Hades. And if you think I am going to be a part of it, you’re mad.”
