Abandoned to the Night (The Brotherhood Series, Book 3) by Adele Clee Page A

punishing the woman who had ruined their lives.
    Alexander shook his head. “I can’t hear a thing.”
    “Me neither.” Elliot gave a weary sigh. He could pick up the faint strains of desire but assumed it must be the voice of his own inner frustrations. “You don’t think … think she’s killed him?”
    “If she hasn’t, I damn well will.” Alexander straightened and threw his hands up. “Forgive my insensitive outburst. I’m just so damn annoyed with him I can hardly contain it. Three weeks cramped in a carriage has done little to temper my foul mood.”
    “I understand. I feel your anger,” Elliot said with some sympathy, “just as I feel your fear. And like you, I’m struggling to hide my contempt for everyone here. I had hoped never to come back again.”
    Perhaps they should have stayed in England. Leo was man enough to make his own decisions and reap the consequences. But due to the nature of their affliction, the bond forged between them could not be broken. If roles were reversed, Elliot knew Leo would not rest until they were reunited.
    The proprietor’s cough disturbed his reverie. Elliot paid the man and took the goblets and the black bell-shaped bottle over to the table.
    “Well?” Evelyn said as soon as they’d sat down. “Is he here? Has anyone seen him? Please tell me we haven’t travelled all this way for nothing.”
    Elliot suppressed his anxiety and tried to infuse a level of confidence into his tone. “Apparently, he does have a room here and has paid until the end of the week, though the proprietor cannot recall the last time he saw him. His carriage is in the courtyard behind the tavern and his coachman, Chambers, has not seen him, either.”
    Grace turned to Evelyn. “Perhaps one of us should talk to the maid, offer an incentive if she agrees to take us up to his room.”
    “That’s an excellent idea,” Elliot said as his chest burst with pride at his wife’s logical suggestion. “Although I doubt there is only one.”
    Evelyn smirked. “What? You doubt there is only one maid or that he has only taken one to his bedchamber?”
    “Both,” Elliot replied with some amusement as he poured the ladies a drink. “Perhaps Leo thought to use his licentious ways to taunt the devil from her lair.”
    Grace raised a curious brow. “You still believe that is the only reason she poisoned you all with her tainted blood?”
    “We share no other commonality.”
    “Except for the fact we’re all peers,” Alexander added.
    Evelyn smiled. “And you’re all English. Perhaps she has a thorough dislike for arrogant foreigners.”
    “Then that would include most of the gentlemen in London,” Alexander said, the corners of his mouth twitching.
    Elliot was pleased they could make light of such a terrifying situation. Doing so helped suppress his anxiety, gave him hope they would find Leo safe and well and could all go home and continue as before. However, there was a strange feeling in the air: an icy breeze capable of penetrating through the hardiest resolve. He suspected their lives would be altered by any further interaction with the woman who had stolen their humanity.
    Evelyn tapped Grace on the arm, whispered in her ear, and they both scanned the boisterous crowd, suddenly gasping as they stared at a woman clearing tables.
    “You did say Leo is attracted to a particular type of woman.” Evelyn nodded to the petite golden-haired wench. “Perhaps we should ask her? I would wager a year’s clothing allowance he has taken her up to his chamber.”
    “We will say he is our brother,” Grace added. “That way she will be more forthcoming. We’ll say he has an illness where he forgets things, and we grew worried when he did not return home.”
    Evelyn nodded. “Come on.”
    Alexander leant across the table and put his hand on his wife’s arm. “I do not think it is wise to go off alone.”
    “I’m not alone. Grace is with me, and we will not leave the tavern. Besides, if you