Sepia and Silver (Tragic Silence Book 3)

by E. C. Hibbs

  “I killed George!” I cried. “I couldn’t stop myself...”

  “Éva, it is not your fault.”

  “How can you say that? I did it!”

  He shushed me softly, arms encasing me with a protective caress. I grasped his lapels, wishing I could somehow pull him inside with me. I felt the warmth of his body and gave a piteous whine, his waistcoat soaking up my tears. Then he took hold of my biceps and moved me so he could look into my eyes

  “I won’t have you be executed for it,” he said vehemently. “Father worked outside the law for years. Now it’s my turn to do the same.”

  I stared at him. “What are you going to do?”

  He lowered his voice, wiping at my cheeks with a handkerchief. “I’ve been working on it all day. There is a cargo ship due to leave the city early tomorrow morning, at seven o’ clock. It is destined for Buda-Pesth, and you will be on it.”

  “What?” I gasped. “How? I’m in here.”

  “Only for a few hours more,” whispered Benjamin. “I’ve invested in a few bribes. The Chief Inspector – who is superior to the demon – has agreed to alter all your records until it appears you were never brought to this place. He will pay off every officer who was at the train station so they claim to have arrested someone else. Your age will be altered so you appear to be completely different person. All in all, it shall be known that Éva Jones died suddenly of a heart attack after my father.”

  I held a hand to my mouth, unable to believe it. “How much has this cost you?”

  “No amount is large enough where you are concerned,” Benjamin asserted. “Baby Norman and I will still come to you on our planned voyage; you shall simply get there earlier than us.” He leaned closer. “We will have to move you during the night. It must all be swift and silent. Be ready to leave.”

  “I will,” I replied, cupping his face in my palms. “Thank you.”

  He gave me a small smile; then drew in to kiss me again. I clutched at him, desperate for the bars to somehow disappear and let me have all of my dear husband. But, too soon, he was asked to leave by the officer on duty, and walked away, holding my hand until the last possible moment. I kept my arm outstretched before letting it fall back to my side. Then I turned my attention to my two rings, and pressed them to my lips.

  CHAPTER XXXII

  I waited impatiently for nightfall, fighting the urge to pace the cell. Determining to avert as much suspicion as possible, I contented myself to remaining on the bed as I had previously, twiddling my thumbs over my stomach.

  I was unaware of falling asleep again until my dreams continued. As before, they were ravaged with terrifying imagery. I was aware of myself walking through the rooms of Weaver House in a white dress, save that every inch of the fabric was stained with blood. More of it coated my hands and chin, and ran from my eyes like tears. I tried to wipe it away, but that only led more to flow. Shining scarlet footprints followed my path as I was surrounded by relentless whispers.

  “Liar...”

  “Lunatic...”

  “Harlot...”

  “Murderer...”

  “Demon...”

  I jolted awake with a yelp. It was dark; night had fallen. Forcing myself to keep calm, I sat up and checked my hands. Upon finding no blood, I buried my face in them, moaning softly in despair.

  I thought of poor George; the look on Christine’s face when she found out. Would they have told her what had happened?

  I’d lost count of the amount of times I had cried over the past twenty-four hours, but that didn’t stop me from starting again. I wiped at my eyes with my skirt, drawing my knees to my chest. That made the corset dig deeper into me, however, so I stopped.

  As a means of small comfort, I began humming to myself, for something to fill the empty silence. First I performed Für Elise; then my memory drew back to the Strauss night we had attended at the Philharmonic Hall, leading me into The Blue Danube. As I let the tune take me, I imagined the real Danube, flowing through the centre of Buda-Pesth. The ship which Benjamin had spoken of would lead me along it, to safety; yet another new life.

  I wondered what awaited us now. Would we take a false name to distance ourselves from all this? Did I even dare to consider the possibility of reuniting with Erik? I was unsure whether Zíta had told him the truth of my condition – what would he say if he knew? What if he learned of all the evil I’d done? I was now a far cry from the innocent and beloved young woman he’d escorted to Fiume. The cruel world had crushed me under its heel; played me in its games with no regard. Even with an escape, how could I face all that once again, and move on from everyone I had helped to kill?

  I suddenly realised my humming had changed into Himnusz. I finished the tune slowly, my voice breaking on the last few notes. Then I rested my head against the wall. My bun acted as something of a cushion, but one of the pins dug into my scalp, so I eased them all out until my hair was free. It fell in loose curls from being plaited for so long, and I pulled it over my shoulder, fiddling with the ends.

  There was no clock anywhere within view, but I could just hear the sound of a tolling bell somewhere through the window. I closed my eyes, counting the number of chimes.

  “Five,” someone said from directly opposite me.

  I glanced up, fists curling around the ragged sheets. My heartbeat immediately increased pace. The entire floor was invisible beneath a thin film of grey mist. And standing on the other side of the room was none other than James.

  I didn’t move; only glared at him, my lips pressed firmly together. Neither of us spoke straightaway. But then he seemed to relent and cocked his head to one side.

  “I believe you were asking for me earlier,” he muttered.

  I clenched my teeth so hard, my jaw ached. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t scream your name as loud as I can.”

  James smiled, but lowered his eyes when he did so. “I suppose an apology would be unappreciated.”

  “Absolutely,” I confirmed. “How dare you do this to me?”

  “You were with that body; the blood was on your hands. I had no choice.”

  I scoffed loudly. “No choice? What do you take me for, a fool?”

  James glowered, binding me in his mental grip, and I was wrenched off the bed until I was inches from him. Then he released me.

  “I know how absurd it sounds,” he said. “You enraged me. I was furious with you for what you did. I suppose I was... impulsive.”

  “That is no excuse!” I hissed. “You didn’t need to do any of it! You are the deceitful one here! I will never forgive you for this.”

  “I had a feeling you would say that.” He adjusted the chin-strap of his hat. “You are like me. You don’t harbour grudges too often, but when you do, it has all the strength of an inferno.”

  My eyes narrowed. “I am nothing like you, Mr Wotton.”

  James gave a tiny smirk. “You still can’t do it.”

  “Are you testing me?” I snarled. “Jack Wotton!”

  He let out an instant cry of pain, face screwing up against it. His legs wobbled and he went down on one knee so rapidly, his hat tumbled off his head. One hand flew to his chest; the other to his neck, where I knew his turning-scar should have been. I was somewhat startled by the reaction, but it gave me a kind of vicious satisfaction, and I did not utter a single word of condolence.

  When the hurt had receded, he locked eyes with me. It was softer than how it had been in the past, though I wasn’t taking any chances. I no longer trusted him a whit.

  “Did you enjoy that?” he breathed.

  “Exquisitely,” I replied evenly. “God knows you deserve worse.”

  He got to his feet, taking a moment to steady himself. “Say it again if you wish. Let out your little array of vengeance.”

  “What is the point in the long-term? You’ll still walk away from me,” I cried. “Haven’t you tormented me enough? Does your brutality know no bounds?

  James moved a step closer. “Whether yo
u like it or not, you are my bounds. I told you that you’d done something to me, and it was no lie. Just a few years ago, I would never have come to you like this after letting you take my fall. But I couldn’t just leave you be. You have got inside my head. I can’t stop thinking about you.”

  “Exactly what are you saying?” I demanded. “You can’t honestly tell me that I am the only unsuspecting woman who was manipulated into a night with you!”

  He gave a tiny shake of the head. “That’s beside the point.”

  “Is it?”

  “I have never had any juvenile resist me as much as you did, even to the detriment of yourself. It is quite admirable.”

  “Still not used to my stubbornness, I see,” I snapped.

  “On the contrary.” James removed his hand from his chest and walked away. I sensed tightness in his gait, as though he were nervous. Intrigued by it, my eyes followed him. It was a slight change in his behaviour; to most, it would have been unnoticeable, but to me, it was as clear as day. I’d never seen him act like it before.

  “If you are telling the truth,” I said, “then why did you do this to me?”

  “I was angry.”

  “That’s not an answer.”

  He looked over his shoulder. “Trying to play your wits against me?”

  “It is not as though I have anything more to lose, is it?” I replied. “How can I find my way out of a situation like this, when you have deliberately sealed all the exits? That seems like much more than a simple impulse to me.”

  I made towards him irately. “You planned this from the beginning and we both know it. It doesn’t matter who I am, at least not past my social status. What a perfect alibi for you: the rich foreign girl. You knew what you were doing when you killed Henry; when you cornered me on that train; when you ordered me dragged away like a dog!”

  By this point, I was inches from his face, and my voice had grown louder. He quickly placed his fingers over my lips with a warning glare, motioning outside with a toss of his head.

  “Keep quiet,” he said.

  I scowled at him as he lowered his hand. “You cannot have me, James.”

  To my surprise, he nodded. “I know. That is what’s so damn infuriating about you!”

  He seized my arms, and I gasped with fright, half-expecting him to kiss me again. But he didn’t, instead showing his teeth in annoyance.

  “You look so thin and fragile; you should have been easy meat – effortless to possess! But now I can see just why everybody was ready to throw themselves at your feet. Underneath this delicate flesh lies a will of solid rock; such resolve, determination! And no matter what I do to your body or mind, I know I cannot get at you!”

  His breathing became ragged; eyes blazed, inches from mine. I whimpered, knowing I should throw myself from him, or speak that cursed name once more. But I held my tongue, watching him closely, hardly daring to blink.

  James’s hold on me tightened. “You loved me, didn’t you? Perhaps not for long, but you did.”

  I swallowed. “Demons are incapable of love, Sir.”

  “But you are not a demon yet,” he hissed. “You loved me! Don’t deny it!”

  “Why should I not?” I finally found the strength to break free, and turned my back so I couldn’t look at him anymore, stalking into the corner. “Lovers make mistakes. Villains make plans.”

  “But doesn’t that prove it?” he insisted. “I admitted to you, I made a mistake. I was overcome by anger that you betrayed me to the harmless, after my dodging around him for so long. Éva, no amount of vengeance towards you would ever override the guilt I would feel forever, at watching that noose pull tight around your neck!”

  He appeared behind me, pressing me into the wall. His arm snaked around my middle, and I felt him move my hair to the side so he could place the tip of his nose behind my ear. I drew in a shaky breath, not moving, not reciprocating anything.

  “I tried to keep my distance from you from very early on. I saw this coming, and I fought it, because of the original purpose you were to serve for me,” he whispered. “You are the first person in over a century I have cared about, despite all the precautions I took. Provoking you the way I have done was little more than my own defence against such a binding sentiment.

  “We are vampires together, Éva; though you have reminded me that I was a man once. You have made me capable of feeling emotions and passions I never had the chance to experience in my mortal years. To kill you is to kill them, and I would not want either forgotten in such a way.”

  I closed my eyes as his finger ran down my jugular, gritting my teeth in strange inner pain. “Then what will you do to me now? How do you intend to break me, if not with death?”

  I felt his lips brush against my ear as he spoke. “Haven’t you been listening? You are unbreakable.” He paused. “And what cannot be broken must be set free.”

  “What?” I gasped, spinning around. The movement was made awkward by the lack of space, but James didn’t relent, remaining close to me.

  “I know your human is coming for you tonight,” he said in an undertone. “He was careful to try and keep it from me by working in daylight hours, but word has still passed to me. Do not be alarmed. I will not stop him.”

  “But you hate him,” I maintained, recalling the killing movement he had made towards Benjamin.

  “He is your only hope of escape now,” James said with a hint of regret. “I have cunning, but he has wealth. I would offer to let you stay here; let me turn you back. But I won’t allow myself that. If you stayed here, I would not stop pursuing you. I applaud my levels of self-control, but not where you are concerned. And I know that you would never be free of me, not even if you ran to the other end of the country.”

  I swallowed to loosen my throat. “Would you turn me back?”

  “Yes,” he said without a moment’s hesitation. “But you are to leave tonight, and once England is behind you, I will be powerless to follow. It is for the best, if it’s done this way.”

  “But what of the final transformation?” I protested. “I don’t know how much longer I have left!”

  “How long did it take you to sail here?”

  “A little over two weeks.”

  James nodded. “You should be fine. There are no signs about you now to suggest it is imminent. Find someone in Buda-Pesth who can reverse it. But, God forbid, you do not manage that, don’t despair. If you remain as firm as you always have, the demonic malady will have a battle to claim you. Fight it. Never forget who you are. Think of it as the beginning.”

  He struggled against a sob. “I’m so sorry. I have no words for how much.”

  “I believe you,” I nodded.

  “After all this, it is only fair I give you the final way out. If push comes to shove, I would rather both of us live forever at the opposite ends of Europe, than for me to keep you and watch you slip away from life. That is the very least I owe you, my sweet thing.”

  My vision blurred with tears; I blinked hard to clear it, causing them to roll down my cheeks. James wiped them away gently, resting his forehead against mine.

  His hands appeared on my waist and drew me closer. I instantly put my palms on his chest to stop him, but he did not make another movement, and we hung there in a curious purgatory. The mist wove around us, causing me to shiver.

  “I am disgusted with myself for all I have done to you. I’ve never wanted you more than I do now, Éva,” he muttered, icy breath flowing over my face. “I do love you. But you are not mine. I was a fool to think you ever were.”

  We gazed deeply at each other. I stared into those bottomless black eyes, and was struck by just how human they looked now. There was a peculiar imploring slant to his brows; a desperate curve on his usually cruel lips. I was held fast, but not by any kind of mental will.

  My heart pounded as my old feelings for him crept to the fore. He wasn’t lying. I could see that. And a huge part of me would now forever hate him on an entirely new level; never ab
solve him from the hell he had brought down upon me. But I could not deny that there was something more, always destined never to be.

  I let myself relax, sliding my hands slightly higher so they rested on his collarbones.

  “Then kiss me, Jack, one last time,” I whispered, “and then let me go.”

  He gave a tiny smile, bringing his face to mine. I let my eyes close as our lips touched, moulding around each other in an embrace of warm and cold. James pushed me back until I was confined between him and the stone bricks, one hand rising up my ribs. But that was as far as he went. Everything was soft now; he used a tenderness I had never believed him able to possess. It took me by surprise, but I revelled in it, determined to remember this.

  We held each other firmly; deepening the kiss, until James finally broke off. He gave small gasp, similar to the sound he sometimes made after drinking blood. Then he reached to my neck, fingers lingering over the buttons of my collar. I half-expected him to undo them, but he didn’t, and stepped chastely away from me.

  “Where will you go?” I asked, terrified of speaking too loud and rupturing the silence.

  “As of tonight, Inspector Hayes is no more,” he replied, equally quiet. “Liverpool can keep itself. Perhaps I’ll find somewhere different; away from the cities. Cumberland, maybe.”

  He caressed me fleetingly. “Give my love to our son, Éva.”

  I wept, lowering my face in anguish. “I will.”

  “Thank you,” he murmured, and stroked through my hair. It snagged when he reached a knot, but I didn’t wince, turning my eyes to his.

  We shared a smile, before he withdrew a key from his jacket and pressed it into my palm. Then, without another word, he crouched to retrieve his hat; the mist rose around him, and he melted away into the air like a ghost.

  Hands trembling, I let out a tiny cry and fell onto the bed, breathing heavily. But I had barely sat there for five minutes before I heard footsteps outside. I looked up to see Benjamin hurrying along the corridor with a stranger in tow.

  “Éva,” he hissed, “come, it’s time to go.”