Rookery ~ Assassin's Creed Syndicate

Chapter Fifty Nine

We followed the carriage to the front door of a large building. Elegant brickwork and beautifully trimmed plants showed that the person who owned the building had some form of wealth in order to afford a gardener. Then, as we ascended the steps and peered into one of the windows, Evie and I noticed a large gathering of men and women. Right at the front of this large gathering was a row of women dressed in revealing clothing. Prostitutes.

We quickly crept inside and stood between the row of prostitutes and the other guests. We positioned ourselves perfectly so that we might speak with Nellie. I rested a hand on Nellie's shoulder. She jumped slightly under my hand.

"Don't be afraid." She turned her head and smiled at the sound of my voice. She had heard me and had seen Evie.

"Carina! And you must be Jacob's sister. We can't talk here, though. He'll kill me, she'll see to it." Her voice was at a whisper. She held her hands high on her chest so that it looked like she might simply be blowing on them to warm them up. We had taught her that during her induction into the assassin Order.

"Who?" Evie asked.

"Lady Owers. Jacob said you must kill her to find him." Then, the woman she addressed as Lady Owers turned to face the women. She stalked closer to them, so Evie and I sank back into the crowd.

"Smile and be polite, or I'll tell the Ripper where you sleep, my beauties." She smiled cynically. Then, her devilish smile disappeared and she went over to one of her brutes. "Lady Frye - both of them... Take Nellie and see to it that those two do not follow us." The brute rushed over and grabbed poor Nellie roughly by the top of her arm.

We made our way outside to catch the carriage, but it sped away too fast for us to catch it.

"We will have to track it." I suggested, but Evie had already begun to use her Sense in order to find tracks.

"Come on."

The lines from the wheels were peppered through the cobbles and puddles. A light flurry of snow was starting to fall and I started to worry about Jacob and Eli. Wherever they were probably wouldn't have been protected from the weather. I was scared that the two of them would end up in those freezing conditions with no protection or way of staying warm. They could get sick or, worse, could even die from it. But I wanted to think positively, no matter how difficult it was to do that.

The carriage could be seen in the distance. It wasn't moving and the driver had abandoned it, which I saw as incredibly strange. I was going to warn Evie, but she sprinted off before I could get a word in. She pulled open the carriage door with her blade engaged.

"Lady Owers-- Nellie!" She gasped. I reached them and helped her to keep Nellie on her feet. "I am so sorry."

"She used me as a decoy and fled to Owers Manor."

"Hoping we would cause your death, no doubt." I growled slightly.

"She knew you would come. Lady O is the Ripper's eyes and ears in London."