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Chapter Twenty-One
“Come out,” she said louder this time. She wondered if she should scream. That would alert the other women, but it would also cause him to do something drastic, and she already knew that he was capable of the worst. “You’ve finally found me. Have you come to take your revenge?”
“Carmen,” a voice called out from behind her. It was distorted, the sound of a man caught in a frenzy of rage. She squeezed her eyes shut, expecting the cold plunge of the knife but instead somebody was shaking her shoulder. She opened her eyes to see that it was Remi.
“What is wrong with you?” she asked. Her face was hallowed by the dim light of the lantern that she was carrying in her hand. “Were you in a trance?”
Carmen’s eyes scanned the darkness. “He’s here.”
“Who is?” Remi asked, her eyes narrowed in confusion. “There is nobody here except you and me.”
“Jaxon. He has come to find me in London.”
Remi threw her an odd look. “There is nobody here. You must have had a nightmare. I saw you getting out of bed in a hurry. It must be all the stress getting to your head.”
Carmen shook her head. “I know what I heard.” All the years had done nothing if not sharpen her instincts. She trusted her gut. She knew something was absolutely wrong. “Give me the lantern.”
Remi was still frowning at her, but she did as Carmen asked of her. Carmen walked to the windows and stopped when she noticed that chunks of broken wood lying around it. There was a yawning gap in the middle of the window frame as if somebody had axed viciously at it till it had splintered. Beside her, Remi gasped. “What is this?”
Carmen’s hunch had been correct. Someone was trying to sneak in. Just then they heard the terrible sound of something heavy thumping against the wall. Remi screamed and huddled closer to Carmen who held up the lantern to her eyes to see better. She could see a dark figure crawling towards them, but it was impossible to tell who it was. She put a protective arm around Remi and slowly took a few steps behind. The most important thing was to get to safety.
There was a sound of hurried footsteps and Elaine and a few other women appeared at the hall entrance with lanterns of their own. “What on earth is going on here?”
“Somebody broke into the hall,” Carmen said. She whirled around to look for the dark figure, but it had already disappeared. The women stepped closer and the combined lights of their lantern illuminated the darkness allowing her a better look at her surroundings. There was no sign of the intruder anymore.
Carmen ran forward, frantically looking for any signs of Jaxon. It had to be him. The man was nothing less than the devil and he knew he was tormenting her and would continue to torment her till her will had broken and then he would strike. Like he had done the last time.
“He was just here.”
“Where is he?” Queenie asked stepping closer to them. “There is nobody here,” Kate said. “Are you sure you weren’t just imagining it?”
“The more important question is who is this he?” Elaine asked. Carmen was left stumbling at the question. The women turned their curious gazes to her, and she knew they were waiting for an answer. She hadn’t told them about her past and she wasn’t about to start now.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said abruptly. “Somebody was here. You can ask Remi, she saw him.”
Remi shook her head. “I was shaken. I’m not sure I saw anybody.”
Carmen looked at her in disbelief. Remi was lying for some reason. But why? Before she could interrogate the woman further, Lily broke in through the crowd.
“What is going on here?” she asked, yawning loudly. Carmen wasn’t surprised that she had slept through most of it. Lily had chronic pain since childhood, and she took medication for it which made her a heavy sleeper. But she was glad she was here at last. Carmen wasn’t sure she could face the other women alone.
Carmen stepped closer to Lily. She knew she had to tell her everything. She was the only one who would believe her. She took her hand and led her away from the rest of them. She knew by the muted whispers that followed that they were talking about her.
“What’s wrong?” Lily asked.
“Jaxon was here. He’s broken into the hall and he’s trying to scare me,” Carmen said.
Lily looked at her in disbelief. “Jaxon is here in London? How on earth do you know that?”
“It’s a feeling,” Carmen said. “But I know I’m not wrong. I could sense him in the streets too. He has found me, and he has been following me.”
“Did you see him?” Lily asked, her eyes widening. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t see him. But I know it’s him. Who else would try to sabotage this hall?”
“It was probably just a petty thief attempting to steal from us.” Lily shook her head. “What else would explain this?”
“Jaxon—” Carmen began but Lily cut her off. “Jaxon isn’t here. He doesn’t know where we are, and it will be impossible for him to find us in this big city. Besides you know what you did to him…” Lily trailed off and the rest of the sentence hung heavy in the air. She had almost killed Jaxon that night. “I know what you did was necessary,” Lily added hastily. Like Carmen, Lily had loved him too. She had fallen into the same honey trap Carmen had.
