The Cursed One by Ronda Thompson Page B

lips turned up in the usual hint of a smile. “Why does that suddenly not surprise me,” he remarked. Lord Gabriel handed Amelia the pistol. “Stay here on the porch until I return.”
    The pistol was heavy in her hand, but Amelia welcomed its weight. It represented a measure of safety. What, she wondered, as she watched Wulf walk away, did he plan to do if confronted in the stable? A thought occurred to her.
    â€œMora.” She turned toward the girl. “Surely there are other weapons in the house. For hunting and such?”
    â€œNot anymore,” the girl said quietly. “The servants took what they could find when they fled. For protection.”
    â€œShame on them for leaving you behind in the first
place, but defenseless as well, it is inexcusable,” Amelia muttered. The truth of the matter was, Amelia might not have given the plight of a servant a second thought before she’d been sucked into her current nightmare. The girl was so young, looked so helpless, that Amelia couldn’t help but be enraged on her behalf.
    â€œKind of you to care, my lady,” Mora said. “But to be honest, not much had happened before. Not until last night. Not until he came.”
    Mora nodded toward Gabriel’s retreating figure. Amelia suddenly wondered how Wulf had gotten into the house last night. She didn’t remember him explaining that. But she was being silly to suspect him. Lord Gabriel might be from a family considered outcasts among the social set in London, a family said to be cursed by insanity, but his family still maintained wealth. Her best friend was married to his brother. There was nothing in the least suspicious about Gabriel Wulf. He’d saved her life last night.
    Wulf disappeared into the stable a moment later. That’s when Amelia noticed it. “Listen,” she whispered to Mora.
    The girl glanced at her. “I don’t hear anything, my lady.”
    Amelia gripped the pistol tighter in her hand. “I know. There should be sounds. Birds chirping in the trees. Insects buzzing. It is totally quiet.”
    Mora rubbed her arms. “Do you feel it?” she asked. “Eyes watching us?”
    Scanning the trees surrounding the manor house, Amelia saw nothing. But Mora was right. Amelia felt as if they were being watched. If Lord Gabriel didn’t
come out of the stable in a moment, she would take Mora back inside and bolt all the doors again.
    Amelia breathed a sigh of relief when Wulf emerged from the stable. He was frowning. Even so, he was so handsome she couldn’t help but stare at him. Just as she had done those months ago in London, her chaperone finally cuffing her on the back of the head for being so bold in public.
    â€œThe bodies are gone, just as I suspected,” Gabriel said upon reaching them. “I saw no signs of tracks. Mora, show me where the outside cellar door is.”
    The girl nodded, although it was plain that she didn’t care to be outside in the open. Gabriel took the pistol from Amelia’s hand. Their fingers brushed and again an odd tingling raced up her arm. She thought by the slight tensing of his jaw that he felt it, too.
    â€œAround the back of the house,” Mora said. “This way.”
    The three of them moved away from the porch and walked around the side of the manor house. Luckily, the thorny shrubs that surrounded the house would also make gaining access to the many windows on the lower floor difficult, Amelia noted.
    â€œThey once bloomed with wild roses,” Wulf said to her, as if noting her interest in the shrubs. “That was when Robert’s mother was still alive. He’s let them go since her passing.”
    â€œHow did you get into the house last night?” There, she would ask and put her mind to rest over the matter.
    Lord Gabriel nodded toward a tall oak that cast shade over one side of the house. “As boys, we all used to climb down that tree late at