He rode back to his house, completely exhausted, his body down to his soul tired, and yet, there was absolutely no way he could sleep. He was too worried about Eden.
He finally got her only to have her be taken away. He didn’t think so. He would fucking tear London apart to find her.
He needed to eat, to get his strength back up and to see if Brooks or Burk was around, and then he would try again. He would find her if it was the last thing he did.
He wished Aidan was here, needed his brother and the strength Aidan had, and he wasn’t above begging to do it. That was something he would do as well. He needed to send for Aidan.
He needed his family, and they needed to know what had happened. He rode into the stables, and a sleepy stable hand came out and took care of his horse.
Cole ran in the house, ordered a tray to be sent to his office, and sat down at his desk. He knew that neither Burk, nor Brooks had returned, so this would be his priority while he was awaiting their return. He pulled out a sheet of paper and quickly wrote Aidan a letter.
He told him of the situation and begged him to come and help. He could only hope and pray it wouldn’t take Aidan long to arrive.
He saw the note that Cabe had written and decided that the more people who searched for his woman and his sister, the better. So, he also wrote a note to his friend, pleading for his assistance.
Cole sat back and ran his hand over his face, and through his hair. The door to his office opened, and Burk strode in.
The look on Burk’s face showed that he was furious, more so than Cole had ever seen him. “Cole! Damn it, someone took my woman. Took her from me. You and I need to keep searching Cole. I looked everywhere, all over Whitechapel, and they were nowhere to be found. Brooks is at the docks; I hope he has better luck than us.”
Cole grimaced, “Sit down, Burk. I just needed to send a letter to my brother. He needs to know the situation, and we need his help. And, I needed to eat. So, do you. So, sit down and we will eat, and after we will go back out there and keep searching. They took my woman too you know.”
Burk sighed, and sat down in the chair facing Cole’s desk. “All right, fine. I will eat. But, as soon as we can, we need to find Lily. She is small, and someone could easily hurt her. What if someone already did?”
Burk stood, and paced back and forth. “If someone hurt her, I am warning you now Cole, I will kill them.”
Cole nodded, “I will do the same. Lily is my sister, and she has been through enough. I won’t hesitate to kill anyone who touched Eden either. You and I are similar in this Burk.”
Burk sat back down, and the tray Cole had called for arrived. He had them prepare another, which didn’t take long, and they sat and ate quietly.
Knowing that even though neither wanted to eat, they needed to keep their strength up. Cole made certain that a third tray was ready for Brooks when he walked in. As Cole ate, he prayed.
He wasn’t religious, and didn’t really believe in God, but he needed someone to protect his love. And he would ask anyone for help right now.
Chapter Twenty-One
Eden
Somewhere in a boat, Oct, 1812
Eden’s head felt as though it was splitting open when she opened her eyes. She felt like someone was sitting on her head, the pressure was so bad, and it felt as though someone played drums inside it. Making her wish the pounding would stop.
She groaned, closing her eyes again, trying to get her head to stop pounding, the light too much for her sensitive eyes right now. She put a hand to her head, and opened her eyes slightly, squinting as she did so, expecting to find her soft bed at Cole’s townhouse, or his bed, but when she looked around, not a single thing looked familiar, aside from the two women sleeping next to her.
Eden’s breathing was picking up, the more she looked around, and when she noticed her friends, she noticed that Lily had her eyes covered with a blindfold, as did Persephone. Eden felt around, and sure enough, she had a piece of fabric wrapped around her head that must have fallen off when she was placed here.
She untied it and pulled it off from around her neck, and sat up gingerly, her hand still holding her head. She wanted to look around, and not wanting to alert anyone, or wake up the other girls.
As she looked around the small room, and saw they were lying on a rather large bed, which was situated against a far wall, there were a few tiny round windows spaced throughout the room at random intervals.
The floors and walls were roughhewn timber, dark brown in color, and knotted occasionally. She noted that there was also a very small desk, which was nailed to the floor, and a chair.
There also was a door, which made her rise from the bed, and run to, ignoring the throbbing in her head as she did. To her concern and alarm, it was locked from the outside and she wanted to bang and scream on it, not liking the feeling that was growing in the pit of her stomach. But at the same time, she also didn’t want to call attention to herself, afraid of what was on the other side of that door.
She turned, leaving the door alone and walked over to look out one of the windows. What she saw made her churning stomach plummet to the floor. They were surrounded by water. They must be on a boat somewhere, as water was almost all she could see.
She could see the shoreline still, it was far enough in the distance that she knew they weren’t far out to sea, but as she looked out the window, the ship moved further and further away from the land.
She put her head against the wall, trying to breathe, but nothing worked, and she wanted to cry. Desperately. Her legs no longer wanted to hold her up, and she slid down the wall, bringing her knees up to her chest. She put both arms around them, and rocked back and forth, trying not to cry, but a tear slipped free anyway, despite herself.
She racked her brain trying to remember how they had gotten here, and why. How they had gone from Cole’s carriage to here. All she remembered was the conversation the three of them had while driving to the theater, how they giggled and laughed, their excitement palpable in the air.
However, none of them had noticed the small figure in a dark corner, until it was too late. When Eden and Lily had first gotten in the carriage there had been no one in it with them, so they must have gotten on when they had gotten Persephone.
The small woman unfolded herself from her cramped position in the darkest corner and had attacked Lily first, holding a large white cloth to the Lily’s face, and Eden had watched her friend’s eyes roll up into her head as she succumbed to whatever was on the cloth.
Persephone had started to scream, after seeing this, but the other girl had backhanded her across the face, and Persephone had gone quiet.
She held the same cloth over Persephone’s mouth, waiting until Persephone’s eyes had also rolled back in her head as she too passed out from whatever was on that cloth. Eden was still in shock with what was happening.
When the woman turned to her, Eden started to kick and struggle, not wanting the woman to get close to her at all. Not with that cloth and knowing what it did to her friends. Knowing that she needed to get free. To get to Cole.
But the woman was quick as a snake, wrapping her hands around Eden’s throat. Forcing her to be still as Eden tried to fight her way free. The woman was surprisingly strong, and Eden could barely breathe. The woman found another cloth and held it to Eden’s mouth, the sweet, sickly smelling odor overtaking her senses, until it was the last thing she remembered until waking.
Her throat felt bruised, and a little tender to the touch. Eden wanted to yell, to scream and curse her fate from here to the end of time. That woman had done something to them and had taken them all.
She didn’t know why, and Eden hated that. Hated that there were too many questions left unanswered and it was starting to get to her now. All Eden wanted to know was why this had happened to them, and to get back to Cole. She bit her lip hard to keep the tears from falling. Crying wasn’t going to solve any situation.
Lily started moving on the bed, gro
aning as she did so. As did Persephone.
Lily pushed the blindfold off her eyes, and Eden could see her looking around, her head twisting and turning on the bed before she sat up. She was looking around the room, much like Eden had, with a hand clutching her head.
She finally locked eyes with Eden, who was still curled up on the floor. “Where are we?”
She croaked out, and Eden swallowed, over and over to clear her throat, tears making her throat tight. “We are on a ship. Sailing out to sea.”
Lily went pale. “A ship? We are on a ship?”
Eden nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. We are. Do you remember what happened to us in the carriage?”
Lily shook her head, “No, I just remember us getting in the carriage, and that’s it.”
She trailed off, and Eden watched her face. “We were drugged, somehow weren’t we?”
Eden nodded again, “A woman was hiding in wait in Cole’s carriage. I don’t know who she was though. I didn’t see her face, because she wore a dark cloak that covered everything. You were put to sleep first, then Persephone, and then me.”
Lily nodded slowly. “What are we going to do Eden? We have to get out of here.”
Eden looked toward the door. “We can’t Lily. The door is locked, and we cannot fit through the windows. They are much too small. The lock is on the outside as well, so there is not a chance of picking it. Not that I know how to pick a lock. So, what do you suggest we do?”
Lily shrugged, and her shoulders slumped. “I don’t know.”
Persephone started making moaning noises, and Lily turned to push the blindfold off her eyes, and to help her sit up carefully.
Persephone took a minute to blink against the bright light in the room and finally looked around the room with wide eyes, “Where are we?” she asked, and Eden sighed.
She explained what she knew, and Persephone, wide eyed, smiled slightly. “As long as I am here with you, I will be fine.”
Eden smiled and stood, finally releasing the hold she had on her legs. She walked to the bed where her friends were and sat beside them. She grasped each of their hands, “It will be fine, I’m certain of that. We will figure this out together.”
Eden heard the door creak open and turned to see a woman walk inside. Lily’s body went stiff as a board beside her, and Eden didn’t want to see why.
“Isn’t that just sweet?” The woman cooed at them, “But, I hate to disappoint you. As soon as we get to our destination, you three will never see each other again.”
Eden stood, “And where exactly is our destination going to be?”
The woman chuckled, “Well, now. I’m afraid to inform you that we are taking you to a place filled with exotic people who pay a lot of money for white women to have sex with. They own one of the best brothels in India. I have also heard that a large sheik is looking to add to his harem. He has requested blonde women. As he wants a variety. And, I know for a fact that virgins sell for the best price.”
Eden wanted the blush she felt on her cheeks to fade away, knowing that she was a virgin no longer. “Sell us? How could you do that to us? We never did anything to you.”
The woman’s slight smile fell off her face. “Oh really? You have never done anything to me? Is that true Lily?”
Lily’s name was said with so much disdain that Eden wanted to blanch at the force of it.
Eden turned to look at Lily, and she was breathing hard, and glaring at the woman with such hatred, that Eden didn’t even know what to think. She had never seen Lily’s face filled with so much hatred before.
“Katarina, you bitch. How dare you!” Lily seethed through clenched teeth.
Eden didn’t flinch at the profanity, but Persephone did. Katarina walked closer to them, hate filling her expression as well, and slapped Lily across the face. “Your family brought this on themselves. If your brother had just done what he was supposed to and marry me when I held my ball at your house, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now. But instead he humiliated me, made my mother leave London so she didn’t have to face that humiliation and shame. He kicked us out of our house, and I have had to stoop to the lowest levels of hell to pay for what I need to. I was shunned by the ton and the people in it, and you didn’t think that I wouldn’t get my revenge?”
Katarina laughed, “You thought wrong. Your entire family thinks they are better than I am and treated me like I was nothing. They took everything from me, and when I saw Cole finally talk to this girl and knew she was important to him, I made certain that he would always live his life with regrets. Never knowing what happened to her. She had to come with. This girl,” she pointed to Persephone, “is just a bonus. More money for me. And for the revenge I seek against you all, for not only ruining my life, but also killing the man I loved. Since you destroyed my love, I took you two. Cole and Aidan will always wonder what happened to their sister. Poor Cole will have to feel the pain I felt and feel every day at having Braddock killed. No one will ever know where you went, and they will never be able to find you ever again.”
She sneered down at the three of them, turned on her heel and stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her. They heard the lock slide shut, and Eden shut her eyes in defeat.
Persephone started crying, and Lily was shaking. Eden sat back down on the bed, and a few tears slipped free. She would never see Cole again. She felt it deep in her broken heart that Katarina was correct.
She just got him, and now he was out of reach. Gone from her life when she had barely gotten him at all. She would be locked away and sold as a slave or worse.
She still had on the ring Cole had given her, and she was grateful to have a tiny piece of him with her always. She decided that she would hide it and cherish it for always. It would be the last reminder of him. She knew she shouldn’t think like that, but it was useless. They were on a boat, she knew that Katarina must have gone to great lengths to get them here, and it seemed as though there was no hope. Not now.
She longed to see him, to have him hold her in his big, strong arms, but it was folly. She would never again have him be able to hold her in his arms. And she hated that she would never see him again. Her soul felt as if it died in her chest and she wanted to cry.
Eden pulled Lily and Persephone in for a hug. She would do her best to keep strong, but inside she was already dying a slow death.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Cole
London, England Oct, 1812
After riding around London, and most of Whitechapel with Burk, Cole was falling over on his horse. He was so fatigued.
He couldn’t stop though, he needed to find some clue, something of her disappearance and some clue of her whereabouts. But he knew they would find nothing. Burk was also swaying, but he kept pushing on.
Cole could see dark circles under Burk’s eyes and knew he had the same. He turned to Burk, “I think we should go try to sleep for a few hours. We can come back out soon. It won’t help the girls if we miss something because we are too tired.”
Burk sighed, but nodded his acquiescence. “You are welcome to stay at my townhouse, I have more than enough rooms.”
Burk nodded again, “Thank you. I will take you up on that offer. I hope Brooks is there. He will also need sleep and we should see if he had any luck.”
Cole turned his horse toward his home, and together the two men rode straight to Cole’s townhouse.
Brooks was there but had no luck either. Cole could see the defeat in Brook’s eyes and tried not to let it show in his as well.
He would never give up. Not until his last breath, he would look for her.
After a few more days of searching and looking into any clue or word with no luck, Cole was beginning to feel like he would never see Eden again. And that was worse than anything he could imagine. He turned to Burk, who also had a look of frustration on his face.
Cole sighed, "I think we need to take a break. Us going constantly with hardly any sleep or food is going to do n
othing for the girls."
Burk nodded, but said nothing. Turning their horses, Cole and Burk rode back to his townhouse. Their goal was some hot food and sleep. Then they would be back out searching again.
Cole knew that he, Burk and Brooks barely slept. And barely ate. It was getting to him and he would see Eden on every street corner now. Even though it wasn’t her. He had grabbed a woman by accident, believing it was her.
It had startled the woman so completely; she had slapped him. And Cole never made that mistake again. He had apologized, profusely. But the woman was angry with his harsh handling. He never touched another person, just knowing it wasn’t her. Knowing that his lack of sleep was making him jump at shadows.
They rode to the mews and each brushed down their horses and gave them food. Cole was dead on his feet but knew that he would get in his bed and smell Eden, and it would haunt him.
When they made it inside, Cole was greeted with a sight he never thought he would see.
His family was there, they came out of the sitting room when he and Burk had come through the kitchens to go upstairs.
Burk saw Rose, and took a step forward, and then back. He shook his head and Cole almost smiled. He knew Lily and Rose were quite similar in looks, but Burk wasn’t fooled.
He walked to Aidan and pulled his brother in for a hug. “How is it you are here? I only sent the letter asking for your assistance days ago.”
Aidan smiled, “I had a feeling that there was something wrong, but we found something that you need to see.”
Cole’s eyebrows drew down, “What is it?”
Aidan waved him away, “That isn’t as important right now. It can hold. Will you tell me why you needed me here?”
Cole let out a sigh, “Let’s go into the sitting room, we can tell you there.”
The Marquess Who Adored Me Page 19
