Nerves racing, Alba was shown into a windowless room that contained nothing but a table and two chairs. The guard who had escorted her from the registration gate said nothing as he pointed to one of the chairs. Alba sat as instructed and fiddled with her gloves once she’d removed them. Staring at the empty chair across from her, she grew frightened at the idea of seeing Dimitri. No matter how much she tried to erase the vision of him as a vampire from her mind, she was fixated on how violent he could become.
A gate clicked open and he was thrown into the room with her. They locked eyes. In his stare, Alba saw a startling humility.
“Alba,” he said softly. He sat and started to reach across the table for her hand, but then he retracted it. No physical contact allowed.
When Dimitri finally spoke again, his eyes were shadowed from either pain or hunger. It was impossible for Alba to tell which.
“Thank you for coming,” he said. “As Jochen no doubt told you, I’ve been arrested for the murder of a prostitute in Whitechapel,” he said. “The murder took place last night.”
“Were you in the East End?”
“Yes.”
Her throat constricted.
“But I didn’t pay a visit to Mary Kelly.”
Alba drew back, her heart pounding. “Are you certain you didn’t go inside her house?”
“Yes, I’m certain. She wasn’t listed on my scheduled rounds. Alba, I didn’t kill her. You have to believe me!”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Dimitri,” Alba said as calmly as she could. “We need to summon Mr. Rollingsworth and Teddy. They will take you on as a client.”
“No!” Dimitri’s tone was sharp. “I want you to defend me. Teddy and his father may assist you, but you know me better than anybody. That means that you have the best chance of freeing me. And I need to get out of here—to protect you from Ileana.”
Ileana. Alba didn’t know what she was more afraid of, her conniving stepmother, Dimitri’s sharp fangs, or defending him and failing.
“Dimitri,” she said carefully. “I’ve only acted as a barrister once and, unfortunately, that experience left a bad taste in my mouth. Tabitha Crowe will hang because of me. I don’t think I can be responsible for someone’s fate again.” She paused. “Especially if that someone is you.”
Alba had the sudden urge to leap out of the chair and flee the room. It was painful to see Dimitri suffer, but more than that, she couldn’t bear to see him face the gallows. Why did you come to London, Dimitri? You should have stayed in Romania.
“You can’t be blamed for that woman’s death,” he insisted. “She brought the verdict upon herself. But you feel for her because you’re a good person, Alba. That is why I believe in you. Now it’s time you believed in me.”
She broke her gaze from his. “Tabitha Crowe followed her heart and did what she thought was right. But I don’t know if you are telling me everything, Dimitri. Did you go to Whitechapel to feed last night?”
“Yes.”
“There, you see? We couldn’t possibly use that sort of testimony in your defense.” Her voice faltered. “I hate to say it, but I don’t know if a jury will side with you.”
He looked agonized. “You’re giving up on me that easily? After all these years, I never gave up on you.”
Alba’s heart felt as if was breaking. “But a witness is able to put you at the scene of the crime.”
“Blast it to hell!” Dimitri said as he pounded his fists on the table. Even the officer in the corner jumped at the noise. “I don’t know who attested to that—or why that person is lying through their teeth.”
Alba pulled in a breath. “You may be charged with all the crimes of this infamous Jack the Ripper, Dimitri. What’s more, I can’t help but think of the Egyptian amulet’s curse. If I don’t defend you effectively and you hang, I may kill myself afterward from grief.”
“That’s another reason I need to get out of here and find the bracelet!”
She remained quiet. He shot her a pained look. “So that is your answer?” he asked. “You refuse to defend me?”
She nodded as tears pooled in her eyes. “I know Mr. Rollingsworth will get you exonerated.”
“If that’s the case,” Dimitri said grimly, “this may be the last time we ever speak. Listen to me carefully. I know you are at odds with many things, but let your mind take you back to our childhood—to when we loved each other unconditionally. Like a fool, I put you in harm’s way during that night in the graveyard. I swore I would never do that again. Now your stepmother wishes you dead, and I am the only one who can defeat her powers of black magic. You know that. But more than that, you know that I love you and that I adore you. And that my heart would never lead me to savagely kill any woman for the sake of violence.”
Hot tears stained her face. Dimitri was right. Somehow she knew he would never murder for the sake of vehemence. What’s more, they were in this together. If Alba wanted their precious bond to remain intact, she mustn’t be afraid of defending Dimitri. She was a capable woman, and while she didn’t know what the future held, she knew Dimitri wouldn’t survive in prison much longer if he wasn’t freed soon.
She had no choice but to defend him. Reaching across the table, she squeezed his hand despite the strict instructions she’d been given. “I love you, Dimitri,” she said. “And by God, I will get you cleared of this heinous crime.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Alba grabbed her reticule and left Newgate in a rush. She hailed a hansom and instructed its driver to take her to the Rollingsworth house.
As the carriage rolled forward, her heartbeat quickened. She hadn’t seen Teddy since Simona had attacked him, nor had they discussed his marriage proposal. How is his present physical and mental state? She could only hope Teddy would agree to see her.
Reaching over, she patted the handbag perched against her leg. She could feel the outline of the ring box Teddy had given her beneath its lining. It was about time she returned it to him—and though she was going to break his heart with her answer, she couldn’t possibly ask Teddy to help her in court without clearing the air between them first.
The marble façade of the Rollingsworth home glittered like a frosted white wedding cake in the two o’clock sun. Hands shaking, Alba knocked on the door and waited. Reeves answered her knocking in full livery and eyed Alba with relief.
“Good afternoon, Miss Spencer.”
“Good afternoon.” She forced a smile.
“Please come in.”
“Thank you.”
She stepped into the foyer and handed Reeves her coat. He did a little bow before he hung the garment on a coatrack.
“Young Mr. Rollingsworth has been asking for you, Miss Spencer,” he said in a low whisper. “He is still very weak, but he’s insistent that he pay you a visit.”
“Where is he? In his rooms?”
“No. He’s settled on the sofa in the back parlor. I shall announce you first, then I will come and fetch you.”
She nodded and Reeves disappeared. Her gaze wandered to the drawing room—where Dimitri’s birthday celebration had taken place. What a tangled mess their lives had become since then.
A moment later the aging butler came shuffling down the corridor. “Mr. Rollingsworth will see you now, Miss Spencer.”
Alba followed Reeves through the portrait-lined hallway to a room she’d never been in before. Teddy was on a horsehair sofa, just as Reeves had described. Sitting upright, he was clutching a plaid blanket that covered his legs. Because he was wrapped in his bedclothes minus his usual neck tie, Alba could see the red, swollen bite marks Dimitri had left on his neck.
“Alba!” Teddy’s pale face lit up while she crossed the room.
“Teddy,” she said softly. She knelt before him, and when she stared into his bloodshot eyes, she felt sick with the knowledge that she was about to cause him more pain. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m much better. Miss Bedford has been attending to me quite diligently
.”
Mavis Bedford. Despite her position as a nurse, the woman was judgmental and unfriendly. Those qualities made her someone Alba didn’t wish to see.
“I’m glad you’re receiving fine care.” She gave Teddy a small smile—which she dropped a moment later.
“I’d hoped to see you when I awoke from my stupor,” he said. “Miss Bedford told me I was murmuring odd things . . .”
“You didn’t say anything startling, I assure you.” She paused. “Do you remember what happened inside the British Museum?”
His face turned red. “I bloody well remember that cryptic exhibition room—and proposing to you on one knee. After that, my mind is a blank.”
Alba gave an inward sigh of relief. “I feel terrible for suggesting we go there. But I still have the ring you presented me with, Teddy. We shall get to that in a minute, but first I want to talk about your neck. Do you know what happened to your neck?”
“Miss Bedford said that after you brought me home you claimed I’d been attacked by a bat.”
She nodded and reached for his hand. He looked different this afternoon. With his mussed hair and unshaven jaw, he appeared ruggedly handsome—a style she didn’t recognize. “I have no idea how, but a bat streamed into the exhibition room.”
“The same bat that attacked me outside the Hotel Metropole?”
“I think so.” She paused. “You tried to fight it off, but it dove in and bit you. You were very weak, so Miss Bedford performed a blood transfusion.”
“You gave me your blood?” Teddy asked.
“No,” Alba replied. “Miss Bedford did. I was too weak because I fell and hit my head while we were trying to shoo the bat away.”
“My darling. Are you all right?”
“I suffered a nasty cut, but I’m fine.”
Teddy rearranged his position, but he still looked uncomfortable. When he snatched a glance at her left hand, she could tell that he wanted to broach the subject of their engagement.
“You say you have the ring I presented you with?” he asked in a hoarse voice.
“Yes.” She removed the small box from her handbag and set it in his lap.
“The fact that you’re not wearing it gives me my answer.”
“Teddy.” She could barely get the words out. “I’m so sorry. I want to love you that way, but my heart belongs to another.”
“Let me guess.” Fury shook his body and his eyes housed a dark storm. “You’re in love with Dimitri. That bastard! He stole you from me!”
“It’s no one’s fault. Dimitri and I have a history together.” She looked away, unable to bear the pain in Teddy’s face. “Sometimes ties from the past are too strong to be broken.”
“That’s hogwash, Alba. Just say it. Even if you take Dimitri out of the equation, you will never feel for me what I feel for you.”
Harold Rollingsworth entered the room. “What’s all the fuss about?”
“Mr. Rollingsworth.” Alba stood awkwardly.
“Thank you for paying Teddy a visit, Alba. He’s been most distressed in your absence.”
“I’m fine, Father,” Teddy said coldly. “Remember, I am a big boy.”
“Indeed you are.” Harold put his hands on his hips and gave his son a small smile. “Although I miss tossing you up in the air as a wee toddler.”
“Father . . .” Teddy’s voice was a mixture of embarrassment and sternness.
“I don’t mean to interrupt your conversation, but I have some grave news.” Harold clasped his hands together. “Alba, your friend Drake Griffin has been arrested for murder.”
Teddy shot Alba an alarmed look. “What the devil?”
She wound the strap of her handbag around her fingers nervously. “Yes, I know. I came to tell Teddy, but I haven’t gotten to that part yet.”
“Please, Alba. Be seated.” Harold gestured to a winged-back chair situated near the sofa. He remained standing while she sat and turned her attention to Teddy.
“Dimitri has been arrested for the murder of a prostitute in Whitechapel,” she said. “His valet contacted me, and when I went to the prison, he asked me to represent him.”
“And you said?” Teddy’s tone rang with sarcasm.
“I accepted. But I cannot do it alone. I think Dimitri is innocent, but I need the assistance of you and your father.”
“Of course we shall help you, my dear,” Harold chimed in. “I have met this Drake Griffin on a number of occasions, and I say he could not have butchered that woman.”
“Don’t expect me to be a part of your team,” Teddy said. “I’m still very weak.”
“You’ll be fine, young man.” His father’s timbre was solemn. “Buck up. This is your friend we are talking about—and I wouldn’t expect any less than your finest work in court.”
As Alba observed the exchange between Harold Rollingsworth and his son, she knew how much Teddy didn’t want to disappoint his father.
“Very well,” Teddy said. “Count me in.”
Alba nearly cried out with relief, until she remembered that the Rollingsworths had no idea that Dimitri was a vampire. How was she going to proceed without making them privy to the fact?
Chapter Twenty-Six
The newspaper headlines the next day were horrific.
ST. BART SURGEON JACK THE RIPPER
LEATHER APRON HAS BEEN CAUGHT!
LOCAL SURGEON DRAKE GRIFFIN ARRESTED IN
WHITECHAPEL MURDERS
Alba tried her best not to listen to the newsboys on the corner as they shouted the slanderous lies. She dodged the media circus outside the Inns of Court as she raced into her office and shut the door behind her. She had stayed awake all night, mulling over the time line associated with each of the Ripper’s crimes. She had also constructed the angle she would use in Dimitri’s defense. She would play up the notion that Dimitri was a surgeon, a man who had devoted his life to helping people. Yes, he possessed medical knowledge—a prerequisite that lent the Ripper the ability to kill in the fashion he had—but Dimitri didn’t have the moral fiber of a murderer. He wasn’t inherently bad, but something told her Jochen Rhessa was.
She spun her chair around and looked out the window. As lazy waves lapped against the Thames’s embankment, the wheels in her head started to spin. Jochen was an outsider, a man who hadn’t the grades or the bedside manner to become a doctor. He’d always been odd, and as Alba remembered, Jochen had turned to stone when his mother abandoned him. He had retreated into a deep depression, much like a turtle seeks solace inside his shell. Jochen’s father was kind, but it hadn’t been enough. Perhaps Jochen’s temperamental personality and the abandonment he suffered had caused him to resent women altogether.
Jack the Ripper certainly resented women.
Hope began to build in Alba’s chest. If she could prove that someone else was the killer, Dimitri would have to be acquitted.
The door burst open and in walked Teddy. Still unshaven, he swayed toward Alba. The nearer he came, the more she could tell he’d been drinking.
“Good morning, my beautiful Alba. Alas, I have no roses to give you today.”
She flung him a disapproving look.
“I’m glad you’re here and not running off to see your true love.” He slurred his syllables.
“Stop it, Teddy.”
“You’re right. I really should end my infatuation with you. There is no time to indulge ourselves in petty fantasies. After all, it’s time to save the life of the man who ruined my life!”
Alba bit back a harsh string of words. “Maybe you should go home and sober up.”
He leaned his powerful form over her desk. His breath reeked of whiskey. She jerked her head away.
“I’ve been hitting the bottle, it’s true,” he said. “Who wouldn’t? I just lost the love of my life to my friend. A friend who may or may not be a fiend.”
“Dimitri isn’t a fiend!”
“No?” Teddy asked mockingly. “Remember, people say he’s a vampire. A bloodsucking mon
ster.”
“What are you talking about?” Alba said as nonchalantly as she could.
“Come now.” Teddy frowned. “You saw the teeth marks on my neck.”
She leapt to her feet, knocking all the papers from her desk. “Teddy Rollingsworth. You know I don’t believe in vampires. If you go home at once, I won’t tell your father about your appalling behavior.”
He slid closer to her, his eyes glazed over with desire. The scent of liquor wafted across her face and her stomach constricted.
“Scold me like a schoolboy again,” he whispered.
She slapped his face. “You’re disgusting.”
He stepped away in surprise, but the action seemed to sober him up. “My God, Alba. I’m sorry. I’m acting like a pathetic, brokenhearted fool.”
She looked down, her cheeks hot with anger. “I forgive you, Teddy.” If she was going to get Dimitri out of prison, she needed his assistance.
“No. I truly want you to accept my apology,” he stammered.
“Accepted.”
“I cannot believe I behaved that way. I’m so sorry.”
Tears rimmed her eyes. “I’m sorry too. For hurting you.”
She hesitated at first, then allowed him to pull her into an embrace. “We’ve known each other much too long for this to affect our friendship,” she said into his jacket.
He nodded. After clearing his throat, he pulled away and sank into the desk chair.
“Right then. How can I help?”
“I’m going to track Dimitri’s whereabouts on the night of the murder,” she answered as she tried to compose herself. “Can you find out where Dimitri’s butler was on the same night?”
Teddy rubbed his temples. “Dimitri’s butler?”
“Yes. He’s an odd man by the name of Jochen Rhessa. Dimitri and I knew him in Romania, and he came to London around the time of the first Whitechapel murder.”
“Do you think he could be the real killer?”
She gave him a steady glance. “I have a sneaking suspicion that he is.”
Snow White and the Vampire (The Cursed Princes) Page 19
