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Sparrow looked as though she were plotting how to play with the runner already. “This could be a lark. What if he says no? What if he turns his attentions to me?” She gave Giles a sly smile.
“He won’t,” Giles chuckled. “Just go out and tell him Mr. Black says he must leave.”
Sparrow agreed to the scheme with a giggle. The two of them hurried downstairs. Giles instructed Sparrow in what to say and how to behave, then had her wait until the count of one hundred before going out the front door.
In the meantime, he raced through the club and exited through the kitchen door, looping around to wait against the corner of the building while Sparrow played her part in his scheme.
“Mr. Black says you must leave at once,” she said with admirable ferocity once she’d crossed the street to confront Theo.
“I beg your pardon?” Theo said, stepping toward her.
For a moment, Giles thought Sparrow would lose her nerve as Theo approached her, likely making himself look larger than usual on purpose.
Sparrow swallowed hard, doing a capital job of seeming to be intimidated, then said in a tremulous voice, “Mr. Black does not want you loitering outside our…home. And he said to tell you that…that Giles isn’t at home this afternoon in any case.”
As Giles had hoped, Theo looked both surprised and stricken by that statement. “Where is he?” he asked.
Giles had anticipated the question, and Sparrow gave the answer he’d schooled her to give. “He has been sent to a private residence upon request.”
Theo’s expression instantly darkened. “I did not think that sort of thing was allowed.”
“It was a very special request,” Sparrow said, backing up gingerly as Theo’s entire mien grew more threatening. “That’s all I know,” she said, committing to her character and becoming agitated. “He’s not here, so you need to go away.”
Giles held his breath and waited to see if Theo would comply. Sparrow picked up her skirts and ran back into the house, and still Giles waited.
Finally, with a grunt that Giles could hear all the way across the street and around the corner, Theo turned to go.
As soon as the endearing man’s back was turned, Giles slipped out from behind the corner to follow him. His hope was that Theo would lead him someplace useful, preferably to his own home. The only way to discover where Theo went was to go with him.
Giles kept well out of sight as he trailed Theo away from St. James’s and across Piccadilly Circus to the less desirable neighborhoods in the heart of London. Theo might have been a Runner and used to investigating criminals without making himself known, but Giles was a master in the art of drawing no attention to himself whatsoever, when he wished to. He’d learned that through many hard years in his father’s house and a childhood where it was far better not to be seen or heard by the erratic and violent man.
Giles was convinced that Theo didn’t have the slightest idea that he was being followed as he made his way deep into the heart of Soho. He was able to keep Theo in his sight while avoiding being seen every time the man made a turn by walking behind any of the numerous pedestrians out and about on their business in the middle of the day.
At first, Giles was convinced Theo would head toward Bow Street and the magistrate’s court, likely on business of some sort. But when Theo turned north on Greek Street instead, his heart leapt for joy. Perhaps the man was heading home after all.
That joy fell to something a great deal like heartbreak as Giles surveyed the street in which he and Theo found themselves. The area might once have been grand, but it had fallen into a faded sort of genteel poverty. It wasn’t as bad as some of the places he’d ventured in East London, but it wasn’t half as nice as the pristine streets and white buildings of St. James’s either.
His heart fell further still when Theo turned to walk up the steps of a particularly shabby building, reaching for the handle of the scuffed front door. Giles picked up his pace, no longer feeling the need for complete concealment. Theo still didn’t notice him as he entered the building.
As soon as Giles reached the stairs, praying that Theo wouldn’t lock the door he’d just entered through behind him, he spotted a small plaque beside the door stating that the building was a boarding house. That gave him a bit of hope, particularly when he was able to push open the door and enter the house without impediment.
He could hear other people in the house as he shut the door carefully behind him, though none were anywhere visible. More importantly, he could hear Theo’s heavy footsteps on the stairs above him. As quietly and carefully as he could, an impish grin on his face, he followed Theo up the stairs, all the way to the second floor.
It was only when a creaky floorboard in the second-floor hall gave him away that Theo jerked around to catch Giles. As soon as he spotted Giles only a few yards behind him, Theo’s eyes went wide.
“What the devil—” he started, but go no further as Giles lunged at him.
It was the only certain way Giles could think of to keep Theo quiet and to slip into what he now presumed was the man’s rented room as quickly as possible. He threw his arms around Theo’s broad shoulders and leapt into the man’s arms, wrapping his legs around Theo’s torso. Theo was quick enough and strong enough to catch him, and as he did, Giles brought his mouth crashing down over Theo’s.
Theo made a startled sound as his arms tightened around Giles, then he slumped sideways, shoving one shoulder into the wall, as that startled sound turned into a surprising groan of pleasure. For one, glorious moment, Giles thought Theo would ravish him right there in the hall. The way he returned the surprise kiss was passionate and exiting.
A moment after that, Theo grunted and nearly threw Giles from him, gasping, “What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Sparing you the trouble of building a willow cabin outside Perdition and waiting for me to come to you,” Giles panted, still breathless from their kiss as he slipped down to stand on his own two feet again.
Theo muttered something unintelligible, glanced anxiously up and down the hall as he fished for something in his coat pocket, then drew out a key to quickly unlock the door beside them. As soon as he had it open, he grabbed Giles’s wrist and pulled him into the room.
As soon as the door was shut and locked behind them, Theo turned to glare at him, disbelief in his large, dark eyes. “Where have you come from?” he demanded.
