Locked

Chapter Seventeen

Will waited until Nick and V had vacated the room. He excused himself from the conversation he had only half been aware of, cutting off General Wolfenston's exotic tales of the West Indies, and made his way across the room.

He hadn't a moment to lose: the moment he exited the ballroom he nearly missed a wave of indigo skirts disappearing behind a corner.

He followed them just closely enough to catch their every turn, but far enough away so Nick wouldn't spot him.

It was all part of the plan:; V would lure Nick into a false state of power, while Will watched carefully from a distance. Ever since accusing Nick at the tea party, Will was sure he had told his father, and they would try to steal the locket back. Of course, Richard Gellentry was a smart

man: he would, without a doubt, know Will would never leave it alone. Therefore, Nick would be asked to isolate V so they could retrieve the locket. Unfortunately, that was where the wild card came into play – Will had no idea what would happen next.

• • • • • • • • • •

Nick and V hurried along the corridors. Nick was impatient in completing his task so this could all be over and he could have his father back. Unfortunately for him, V was not quite so hurried: she paused momentarily to look at paintings on the walls, and commented on the decorative vases and statues. What she was actually doing, was assuring Will could get to them in time. She

wasn't sure how long after they themselves had left the party, that Will had left, but she wasn't taking any chances.

Lamentably, Nick was a little stronger than her, and, under her cover of "weak damsel", V couldn't very well oppose him. Therefore, much sooner than she wished, they turned a corner and came face to face with Richard Gellentry. Only half acting now, V's fear of the villainous man showed through her seemingly tough exterior.

"Nicolas, what's going on?" V asked delicately.

"Don't you recognize me?" Richard asked. His mouth curled into a twisted smile.

Nick mouthed a small "I'm sorry" to V, from behind his father. They were both pawns in a game, and V could see Nick was beginning to regret that.

The Duke of Westray held out his hand expectantly: "Give me the locket Violet."

"I don't know what you mean." She tried to express sincere befuddlement, but he wasn't buying it.

"I know you have it, either on you or nearby, and I will find it." He took a step forwards. V took a small step back. Gellentry laughed again, as her true fear finally broke the surface of her emotions. V grabbed at the skirts of her dress, trying desperately to have some control of the situation. This had not been part of the plan. They were in uncharted territories, and Will had no idea.

Gellentry took another step towards her, "Give me the necklace Violet; you do not want me to pry it off of you."

V bounced back a few steps. Her fear turned to anger. This vile man would stop at nothing to get the locket, she could see that now.

"Give me the locket or I will expose you for who you really are; a street rat!" He spat the last words, spraying spittle across the corridor.

V was unfazed by this, she was confident her true nature would be revealed in the course of things, so she wasn't too worried about it. She was only worried about what it would mean for Will's reputation.

"How would this large gathering of England's nobility like to hear that one of their own is planning on poisoning the city?" V retorted. She could tell this angered the crazed man; he flinched a little at the sound of his own plan.

However, the desired effect was not achieved; instead of intimidating him, V had only made

Gellentry angrier.

Before Gellentry could enact any sort of response to his anger, a shuffling, then the sounds of human contact reached the assembled groups ears. Cries of pain joined the cacophony. An ear- splitting scream was joined by the distinctive cracking of human bones.

V tried desperately to ignore the noises and focus on what would come when the distraction was over. She knew exactly what was going on and bile rose to the back of her throat. She couldn't tell which noises had come from which beings. Nick's face displayed pure terror. His father's was that of triumph. He knew what was going on, same as V, and yet, he appeared to know something she did not.

The gut-wrenching sounds ended, and V's fears were confirmed. From around the corner of the hallway, came two large, burly men. They were both dressed, head to toe, in black. The larger, more muscular, man had scars crisscrossing his face. His head was shaven, while the other man's was covered in a thin layer of spiky red hair. She had met the scarred man before, that fateful

day, in the street where this had all begun, and the sight of him made her skin crawl. But that was

nothing compared to the pain she felt at the sight of the man the two men dragged between them. He was covered in blood, and his wrist hung at an unnatural angle. V wanted to vomit; the terrible sounds from before had come from this person. V looked away, at the only thing she could without completely losing the contents of her stomach – the red haired bodybuilder. She was glad to see him attempting to staunch the blood flow from his nose. At least he'd partly gotten what he deserved.

The bodyguards released their captive, throwing him to the floor and taking a step back. V was about to take a step forwards, when the Duke of Westray pushed her aside. He bent down and pushed a few strands aside from the unconscious man's face – Will's face. The hand he removed was covered in blood.

"I hope you didn't rough him up too bad." Richard Gellentry addressed his two bodyguards. Neither gave a solid answer – they hardly answered at all, but Gellentry was apparently used to this, and turned back to his captive. He patted down the unconscious body, looking for something. He didn't find what he was looking for.

V's legs were about to give out on her, but she held her ground, in fear of appearing weak in front of the Duke. Only a little longer, she prayed silently. One could only hope her prayers were answered sooner rather than later.

"Poor Will, doesn't know what he's gotten himself into." Nick piped up from the rear of the group. His father shot him an angry look.

"That's it," Gellentry said, nostrils flaring, "grab them." He motioned to the bodyguards, wiping his bloody hand on a small kerchief from his pocket.

V was violently seized by the red haired man. He pulled at her arm, and she didn't resist, it was no use, she was too tired and weak. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the bald man pick up Will's limp shape like a sack of potatoes.

"This has gotten too much out of hand," Gellentry spoke to his son, "We need to see how much you're invested in this."

The morbid train of evil mastermind, hesitant son, bodyguards, and captives – one unconscious and one helpless – would have made for an interesting site for any who happened upon them. Unfortunately, that was not the case, and their journey went unnoticed. Forgotten by the party going on elsewhere in the palace, the beginnings of a waltz reached V's ears. She would give anything to be simply standing in that room again, with a coherent Will by her side.