lamplight Lucien Dredmore looked like a much younger version of himself, a handsome boy. For a moment I was so enchanted I lifted my hand to touch his face.
Deep, throbbing pain raced up my arm into my shoulder and skidded down my back. I felt as if Iâd been dashed across a brick wall, and groaned as I tried to sit up and made it worse.
âBe still now.â His hand came over my face, his fingers spreading out as his warmth sank into my skin. âYour spirit was battered out of your body. It will take a few moments to enmesh yourself.â
âJust shut up and kill me,â I begged. Iâd have bitten his hand but I thought my teeth might fall out, my jaw was aching so. âThe women and the kids on the tram?â
âHysterical, but safe.â He stroked my forehead, and everywhere he touched the pain diminished. âYou are not to think about it.â
âI donât want to.â The horror of what I had seen bloomed back in my mind, however, and I had to tell him. âThey were like animals, Lucien. Wolves with the bodies of men. But it wasnât natural. Someone made them. They made animech beasts out of those men.â
He hushed me and pulled me close, and only then did I realize he lay beside me on the bed, our limbs entwined and nearly every part of us touching somewhere. Even his hair had tangled with mine, falling against my cheek like black and brown silk.
I drew back, looking at him. âYouâre in bed with me. That canât be right.â I turned my head to see a room very much like the one in which I visited Docket. âHospital?â
He nodded. âWhen they couldnât rouse you the beaters brought you here.â He moved his hand over my shoulder and along my arm. âI nearly lost you twice in one night. You should be locked up for your own good.â
I should have pushed him off the bed for that, but the effort required was beyond me. âWhy was I floating off like that?â
âYouâre spirit-born, Charmian. In times of great duress part of you will always seek out your other kind and their realm.â He lifted his head. âYour friend the inspector will be rejoining us in a minute. Is there anything I should know before he does?â
âI didnât kill the Wolfmen. They killed each other.â I shuddered as I added, âOne of them was named Akins. Until this morning, he was Lady Bestlyâs footman.â
â¢Â   â¢Â   â¢
Dredmore departed with a promiseâone that sounded like a threatâto return, ignoring Doyle entirely as hestalked from my hospital room. The chief inspector came to sit at my bedside, looking more troubled than annoyed.
âYou have interesting friends, Miss Kittredge.â His fair hair glinted as he turned to regard me directly. âHow are you feeling?â
âKnocked about, but Iâll live.â Carefully I moved onto my side so I could face him. âYour men in the alley, they were very kind to look after me.â
âThey say you deserve a medal or two.â Instead of taking out his notebook or spouting something official, he reached for my hand. âDo you feel well enough to tell me what happened, Kit?â
I didnât, but I did. Describing what I had seen sounded ridiculous, even to my own ears, but I gave him nearly every detail, leaving out only two facts: what Iâd seen just before Iâd fainted, and the fact that the second Wolfman had been the footman sacked earlier that day by my new client.
To his credit, Doyle didnât laugh at me, although when I spoke of the physical transformations Iâd witnessed his expression grew doubtful.
âI know it sounds like something out of a bad dream,â I said once Iâd finished. âI canât tell you how they did it, or God knows why, but their bodies changed shape. I could hear their bones cracking. And they were so fast, and so terribly
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