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Now, after riding with Mr Thornton and his foul-sht decision He still ht kill the e for the last several minutes Unfortunately, she’d have to make it past the brutes first, and that ithout considering the gun pressed against Rebecca’s side Een of doubt that Mr Thornton would pull the trigger out of spite if nothing else The man was quite, quite mad How he had hidden his affliction up until this point was anerves now Mr Thornton grinned and winked every few rimace each tiain winking in that horrible way "Ever been to the East? No? Well, rand adventure we’ll have!"

The runted and shifted, thea terrible odor fro into the east end of London, the way lined arehouses Overhead, the sky outside was becoressively darker

Eether in her lap and tried to make her voice even "You may let us out here, Mr Thornton There really is no need to take us any farther"

"Oh, but I enjoy your company so much," the nasty little man cackled

Emeline inhaled slowly, then spoke quietly "Our presence only serves as a reason for Jasper and Sao and you may escape"

"How kind of you to consider my welfare, my lady," he replied "But I think that your fiancé and Sao Mr Hartley in particular seems quite obsessed I’ve hadbeside her--"fro all of the survivors fro equal, I think I’ll keep your sweet coirl hadn’t said a word since they’d been forced into the carriage, but in her eyes, Emeline saw the same despair that threatened to overset her own sensibilities It made no sense at all for Mr Thornton to have kidnapped the her breath come short

Outside, the rain started, as sudden as a curtain falling at the end of a play She needed to think, and the tiht be short

She very much feared that Mr Thornton meant to kill them

THE SKY OPENED up and rain poured down in a drenching torrent Sam flinched as the first wave hit hi The rain actually ht shelter, fleeing from the streets as fast as they were able Unfortunately, that still left quite a few vehicles The brewer’s cart, for instance, probably still blocked Vale’s carriage Sam leapt a row of broken cobblestones, turned by the rain into aHe couldn’t do anything about what lay in back of hi

The carriage had been somewhere on Fleet Street when it had stopped, but Sahfare He ran parallel to the Thaht

He felt the stretch in the ht for even more speed He hadn’t run like this--full out, in desperation and hope--since Spinner’s Falls Then, no matter how he’d strained, he’d still arrived too late Reynaud had died

He swerved to avoid a young girl carrying a baby and crashed into a bulky man in a leather apron The man swore and tried to strike him, but Sam was already past hi their way up his shins He wondered if he’d reopened the wounds on his soles

And then the smell hit him

Whether it was from the leather-aproned man or someone he passed now, or ination, he didn’t know, but he smelled sweat Male sweat Oh, God, not now He kept his eyes open and his legs puround The dead of Spinner’s Falls seemed to follow him Invisible bodies that reeked of sweat and blood Ghostly hands that caught at his sleeves and implored him to wait He’d felt these wraiths in the forest after Spinner’s Falls They’d followed him all the way to Fort Edward Sometimes he’d even seen them, a boy’s eyes hollowed by fear, the old soldier with his scalp cut away He’d never known if he’d been drea while only half awake--or if the dead of Spinner’s Falls had leaked into his living body Perhaps he carried them everywhere and only knehen he was in distress Perhaps he’d always carry them, the way some men carried shrapnel beneath their skin, a silent ache, an invisible reh a wash of water, the splashes hitting hi since soaked through He was running closer to the wharves now, and he could smell the decay of the river Tall warehouses rose up on either side of the lane he ran down His breath ca pain in his side He’d lost track of ti What if they were already at the ship? What if Thornton had already killed thee: Emeline sprawled, naked and bloody, her face white and still No! He squeezed his eyes shut against the sight and stu to his hands and knees on the cobblestones

"Watch it!" a gruff male voice shouted

Sam opened his eyes to see horse hooves inches from his face He scrambled clumsily away, still on his knees, as the cart driver cursed his ancestry His knees ached, especially his right one, which must’ve taken the brunt of the fall, but Sa the breath rasping in his lungs, ignoring his pain, he started running again

Emeline

THE CARRIAGE MADE a wide turn, and Emeline could see the docks outside theThe rain was still sheeting down, veiling tall ships out in the middle of the Thaoods and sometimes people between ship and shore Normally, the docks would be full of laborers, prostitutes, and the gangs of thieves that os But because of the rain, the wharf was sparsely populated

The carriage shuddered to a stop

Mr Thornton dug his pistol into Rebecca’s side "Tiet out, Miss Hartley"

Rebecca didn’t ly brave face to their kidnapper "What are you going to do with us?"

Mr Thornton cocked his head and gave his grueso terrible, I assure you Why, I have a mind to show you the world Come and see"