Cinders and Ashes (Cavendish Mysteries 2)

Rat never saw the huge fist that landed squarely in the middle of his face, and crumpled without a whimper.

“Tie him up,” Sebastian snapped at Dominic, kicking Rat out of the way and moving to the room behind him. The smoke was thickening far too quickly. Time was short. He just had to know if Amelia was in the house somewhere. Covering his lower face with his cloak, he stepped over Rat’s unconscious form and pushed into the first bedroom.

The sight that met him made his knees shake, and he cursed fluidly. He paused for a few moments against the doorjamb to steady himself, his eyes filled with horror.

At the foot of the bed on the floor lay Amelia’s dress. The bed, rumpled and tousled, had two ropes at the head, clearly used to tie her down.

“Sweet Jesus,” Dominic whispered behind him, his throat husky from the smoke.

Sebastian blinked back tears as he turned and began to work his way down the remainder of the corridor. He took a small measure of satisfaction at ferociously kicking each door open as he went. Dominic began to search rooms on the other side, ignoring the flames that met him when he opened the last three doors.

There was no sign of Amelia.

With a negative shake of his head at Sebastian, they made their way back downstairs, bursting out of the house as the smoke became too thick to see through. The mixture of the brandy he had consumed earlier that evening, the thick smoke and the sight in the bedroom became too much and Sebastian bent over, promptly losing the contents of his stomach in the bushes.

“There is nobody downstairs. Fire’s in the cellar as well,” Edward reported with a cough.

“They have torched the whole house. There is nothing we can do, Amelia isn’t there.”

“Which way did they go?”

“The church, I think.” Edward nodded. “There was only one man heading that way. Peter’s chasing.”

“Ballantyne.” Sebastian spat the last of the bile out of his mouth and ran to his horse. Within seconds he had mounted and was thundering towards the tree line. He didn’t need to look behind him to know that Dominic and Edward were following.

As he rode, Sebastian blinked the sting of tears out of his eyes as he considered what Amelia could have been subjected to. His precious, wonderful Amelia. Ballantyne was depraved and twisted at the best of times. As he rode, Sebastian swore that whatever they had done to her, as long as she was alive, he would be there for her.

He just had to get to her before Ballantyne did.

At the tree line, Sebastian drew his sabre and tore through the dark overhang of branches towards the direction of the church. He glanced at Dominic, Edward and Peter, who all appeared silently beside him.

“Psst.” Sebastian turned and looked at Peter, who flicked his ear.

“Come out; come out, wherever you are,” the sing-song voice chanted from the graveyard.

Silently they moved forward, listening as Ballantyne chanted time and again, trying to frighten Amelia into coming out of hiding. Sometimes louder, sometimes barely a whisper, it was eerie in the silence of the night.

“I know you are here somewhere, and I will find you. I won’t be happy when I do, and you will pay.”

Sebastian heaved a sigh of relief. Amelia was at least alive. He shook his head, and focused on the graveyard now visible through the trees. He could see the dark shadow of Ballantyne slowly moving amongst the gravestones, but couldn’t see any sign of Amelia.

He felt proud of her. Wherever she was, she had hidden

well.

Sebastian began to circle the gravestones, keeping a careful eye on Ballantyne while he searched for Amelia in the darkness. He was aware of his brothers fanning out around the graveyard, and silently disappearing into the trees.

Sebastian needed Amelia to know he was there. “Lost her again, Ballantyne?” Sebastian shouted, hoping Amelia heard him.

“You took your time, Cavendish,” Ballantyne replied, his eyes scanning the trees suspiciously. “I wondered how long it would take you to find us.”

“You should know there is nowhere you can hide from me.” Sebastian slowly drew his sabre. The sound of steel sliding upon steel echoed threateningly around the graveyard.

“Oh, Amelia knows about paying, don’t you Amelia?” Ballantyne murmured, as a lascivious grin suddenly lit his face. “She was good too. Took a bit of convincing, but took everything we gave her in the end.” His laugh was loud and high.

Sebastian wondered if the man was actually sane. Depraved and twisted definitely. Insane? Maybe.

“Amelia, stay where you are, darling. I will find you,” Sebastian shouted through the gloom, catching sight of Dominic approaching slowly and silently from the side of the church.