Chapter 16 A Lifetime of Revenge #2
I swallowed, recovering from the shock of her words. I cleared my throat and met her eyes, playing this game with her because I was weak.
“It’s the latter,” I said.
Her mouth fell open, and she sputtered out a cough that brought a smile to my face. I liked seeing her undone, especially when she was trying to manipulate me.
“Tell me why he would ruin his reputation by claiming he lied under no evident duress,” I said.
She scrunched up her lips and hummed, debating. With a slowness that said she was rethinking her choice, she released my waist and pulled up the sleeve of her gown. There, in black ink outlined with glittering gold, was a serpent eating its own tail.
I stilled, and she followed suit, quickly rolling down her sleeve again so no one would see, but I’d seen. Horror welled within me, and all thoughts of fucking or vengeance went right out the window. This was worse than I could ever have imagined.
Clapping sounded around us, the song having come to an end, but I was frozen in time beneath the knowledge ricocheting through my mind.
“Did you know what you were agreeing to?” I asked, icy fury in my voice.
“I did, and I’m not sorry. If I return with the net, he will say he lied if you ask it of him,” she said, slowly.
“You completed the ritual,” I said.
She snorted. “Obviously.”
She nodded to her arm and how she could be so unbothered by what she did, saying she didn’t understand nearly enough.
“That can’t be undone. It’s a blood oath born of the North Sea. You will be bound to that promise unless you die, and even then, your spirit will never rest unless you succeed.” I whispered, aware of people inching closer to us.
Rose was fearless in the sort of way that she probably should have been locked up for her own safety.
She smiled up at me.
“Then I guess you should make sure I succeed,” she chirped.
This woman. This infuriating, impossible woman.
I was backed into a damn corner, and she made sure of it.
She knew I wouldn’t go to the gallows if her life hung in the balance.
It would have been fine. Back with her family, she’d used my gold to build a solid shipping empire.
Spinsterhood was in her reach, and a symphony of cats was ready to purr at her feet.
Instead of taking it, she schemed to try to chain me.
“You are counting on my obsession with you being enough to stay the single goal I’ve spent half my life working towards.” I snapped.
I wanted to rage at her, but also tell her that she had laid a perfect trap.
She lifted up her toes, leaning into me.
“You are free to ruin me, Bash, but don’t pretend like what you feel for me is a sickness. Either way, after that dance, I’m tied to you. If you fall, I fall with you,” she said.
She stepped away, and Oscar appeared behind her, holding out his hand to her.
“Do you know what she’s done?” I snapped.
He smiled and laughed as if I had said the funniest joke.
“Not here, Bash. We can talk about it later, but you need to stop scowling. It’s less endearing on a gentleman rather than a pirate captain.”
“You are all going to get us hung.” Oliver Bailey said, clapping me on the back and smiling. “Oscar, go dance with Rose.”
Oscar nodded, dragging Rose by the hand away from us. The urge to grab her and take her away from here, to carve that fucking mark off her was incessant in my mind.
Oliver patted my shoulder once more and urged me away from the dance floor.
I didn’t know why I let him, except the world was beginning to feel heavier than ever.
An ache formed at the base of my chest as I wished I could have asked Billy what to do.
He would have known of some myth or legend that could get us out of this.
I missed him.
“I dislike you in a way that is singular only to you, but right now, my sister’s reputation and life depend on you playing nice, so if she means anything at all to you, play the role she’s created for you,” Oliver said through a false smile.
Like all the Baileys I’d met, Oliver was easy to like. He was clever and purposeful. It was no wonder he was succeeding in his parliamentary role. The way he protected his family was admirable.
“And what am I supposed to be doing?” I asked.
We both knew I was going to concede from the start.
“You spent the last ten years in Paris; your mother, a cousin of the Smith family, died five years ago. You’ve been enjoying Parisian society until Edmonds found you and informed you that your Uncle was looking for you.”
“That story has a lot of holes,” I said.
Oliver laughed. “It sure does, ah, Ruby!”
A woman with blond curls and a thin frame walked over with delicate steps, her station evident in the way she held herself. Another older woman followed her, with deep chestnut hair and an alarming number of freckles.
“Oliver, I was hoping I would run into you and Mr. Smith. I was just telling Lady Buxton that Oscar and Mr. Smith were well acquainted before Captain Edmonds found him. You know, sometimes it seems like such a small world,” she said.
Ah, Ruby Bailey then. She looked nothing like her twin siblings, almost as if they weren’t related at all. If it weren’t for the distinct air of scheming around her, I wouldn’t have recognized her as a Bailey.
“How interesting!” Exclaimed the freckled woman. “You know, up close, it’s easy to see the family resemblance. You have the Smith nose. Your Uncle must be delighted to have you. After all, it was tragic what happened to his wife and child. No one should have to endure such suffering.”
The words felt forced and insincere. A nicety while probing for more information.
Oliver’s hand on my shoulder tightened.
I fought back a sigh. “Yes, it was indeed a tragedy.”
A small sound that reminded me of a dying walrus broke from Oliver.
I glanced over my shoulder to find Rose and Oscar dancing, heads close together while they spoke.
The two of them together were a whirlwind, and even though I’d thought about throwing Oscar overboard more than once for the way he spoke to her, she loved him to a fault.
“Mr. Smith?” the older woman was saying.
This time, Oliver pinched my shoulder before releasing his hold on me. He may have been used to playing puppeteer in parliament, but he would find I was not so easily managed. Niceties and small talk were a plague.
I turned my gaze from Rose, regretting the loss of her immediately, to find Ruby Hardy’s eyes locked on mine, a small smile on her mouth. Her friend, however, was nervously fanning herself with a tri-colored fan painted with lilies.
“I’m sorry, Lady Buxton, you were saying?” I asked.
She huffed out a breath and painted a false smile on her face.
“I was saying, it must have been a shock when you met Captain Edmonds.”
I nodded. “I would say so.”
A few more well-dressed aristocrats gathered nearby.
“Oh, how wonderful,” Lady Buxton chirped. “Mr. Smith, you must allow me to introduce you to lord and Lady Colton as well as Lady Hetherington.”
I nodded and exchanged pleasantries, answering question after probing question with as much ambiguity as I could manage.
Oliver hadn’t pinched me in several minutes, which meant I was probably succeeding in some capacity.
I would have said it was all going as well as could be expected except when I glanced over my shoulder again, it wasn’t Oscar dancing with Rose, but my father.
All pretence evaporated amidst the rushing of icy blood in my veins.
I made to step away, but Ruby threaded her arm through mine.
“If you’ll excuse me, I promised my mother I would steal him at the first chance. You know we couldn’t say anything, but Rose has written so much about Mr Smith that we were all eager to officially meet him tonight,” she said.
I let her pull me away, but my eyes were locked on Rose and my father. He was surprisingly spry despite his rotting soul. They reached the outside of the dance circle, and Rose caught my eye, a subtle shake of her head.
“She’s fine.” Ruby said beside me, “You should know I agree with Oliver and that he should shoot you and throw you into the sea, but my sister is more important.”
She stopped walking and stepped in front of me. For only a moment, I tore my eyes from Rose to see the eldest Bailey sister glowering up at me.
“If my sister or brother hangs because of you, I will ensure your suffering is long and beyond even your wildest comprehension. Do you understand?”
So she knew the truth of it. More than that, I appreciated her candor. I doubted such vengeful words had ever left her painted lips, but that they were in defense of Rose was hard to ignore.
“And who else shares your sentiments?” I asked.
Ruby’s face relaxed a fraction. “Only Oliver and I. To everyone else, you are what they believe you to be. It would kill our parents if they ever found out, which means they cannot. Do you understand?”
I wondered what it was about the Baileys that produced such strong and capable humans.
Though my time in society was limited to hiding in the woods learning how to pass as a gentleman, I’d never once met an aristocrat with the same kind of passion and fierceness that this family possessed in a single finger.
“I understand,” I said.
Rose probably only briefly considered how this would impact her family if it fell to shreds.
In the end, she thought she could strong-arm me into living.
James Allan watched Rose and my father dance with a cold fury dripping off of him.
How long before he demanded to see the marks on Oscar's and my chest?
I half wished he would. At least it would put an end to this, but at what cost to Rose?
Not to mention that she was right that there wasn’t enough to ruin my father yet. My hands were bound in more ways than one, and all because I couldn’t stay away from her.
“Lord Hastings, have you met Mr. Smith yet?” Ruby asked.
And so it went that I was fed to the lions by my own volition.
Billy would have laughed himself hoarse.