“What are you talking about? You can’t hurt him.” My shaking voice countered the bravado I was going for as I stared up at Desmarc.
“That was true when you arrived this morning, but once you figured it out, I made a special trip for him.” His long fingers dug into my shoulders with his tight grip. “If you won’t marry me for me, then you’ll marry me for him.”
“You mean he’s here as a wedding guest?” I asked hesitantly.
Desmarc smirked. “Of a sort.”
I flinched. If he was telling the truth, Hiram was in danger in and it was all my fault.
Desmarc released one of his hands and brushed his sleeve across his face, but I didn’t move. Maybe he was bluffing, but if he wasn’t, I couldn’t let me be the reason Hiram got hurt again.
“Now I’m going to have to change my shirt before the ceremony.” He grimaced and swiped at the blood running down his chin.
I swallowed. “I want to see him.”
“What? You don’t trust me?” Desmarc smirked at me.
I glared at him.
“All right.” Desmarc shrugged and climbed to his feet. “It will cost me nothing.” He grinned, and the sight made him look all the more deranged with the blood dripping down his face. “But it might cost you quite a lot.”
I fought off a shiver at his ominous words and climbed to my feet. If he’d been lying, it didn’t make sense for him to give in to my demands so easily.
Desmarc opened a side door that revealed a small bathroom. He washed his face and fixed his mussed hair, but there was nothing he could do about the blood staining the front of his shirt.
“Clean yourself up.” His gaze flicked to me in the mirror. “You look dreadful.”
I scowled but pulled a handkerchief from my pocket and wiped his blood from my face. I ran a finger through the snarls, then quickly tied it in a loose braid to hide any remaining signs of mess.
“Let’s go.” Desmarc held his arm out to me with a congenial smile—the same smile he’d given me so many times before. How could I have missed the hint of madness in his eyes?
I placed just the tips of my fingers in the crook of his arm.
“If we meet anyone on our way, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what to do.” He placed his hand over mine in a silent warning.
“No,” I gritted out.
He led us into the hall, which was empty, though the chatter of happy voices floated from just around the corner. Instead of turning left and joining the group, we turned right and made our way down the hall. While the allure of losing myself in a group and finding Papá tried to pull me back, the thought of Hiram somewhere on board at the mercy of the desperate man next to me kept me matching my pace with his.
Another turn brought me to a hall I’d traversed just a few minutes ago—a few minutes that felt like a lifetime. Desmarc pulled a key from his pocket and opened the door to a suite that was slightly larger than the one we’d just been in but with the same general layout. A bed rested against one wall with a nightstand and armoire on either side, one wall held the usual bookshelves and cabinets, and the other had a giant window to provide a spectacular view.
A large man with an angry scar across one cheek leaned against the wall. When he saw Desmarc, he straightened and shifted the gun in his hand. It was one of the same strange weapons from before—some sort of new aether technology. How had they made so many of them so quickly?
“Nothing to report, sir.”
“Very good,” Desmarc said. “Open the armoire.”
The man raised an eyebrow but pulled a small metal key from his pocket. Seconds later, the door popped open, and he stepped back, revealing Hiram tied up and shoved into a space that was much too small for him. His eyes were closed and his head leaned awkwardly back. A trickle of blood ran from his temple.
“What did you do?” I tore free of Desmarc and rushed forward, heart in my throat.
The man blocked my way, but Desmarc cleared his throat behind me, and he moved.
“Hiram!” I put a hand on his cheek. “Hiram!” My breath rushed from me at his warm skin. He was alive. Just unconscious. Some of the tightness in my chest eased.
He groaned and shifted but didn’t open his eyes. His feet were tied together, and so were his hands, with a short length of rope tying the knots together so he couldn’t fully extend his body even if he hadn’t been crammed into a tight space.
“What’s wrong with him?” I shot Desmarc an icy look over my shoulder.
“He’s just unconscious.” He pulled a shirt out of another dresser and changed. “I gave him the same thing I gave you.”
“Hiram, wake up.” I put a hand on his cheek, and my glove rubbed against his stubble.
“It was unbelievable really, how easily I lured him out. I mentioned that you were in trouble and he came running like a fool.” Desmarc scoffed. “This is why it’s better to focus on duty over love. Love makes people stupid.”
My heart twisted. Hiram’s earlier encounter with Desmarc was from following leads and doing his job, but him being in danger now was all my fault.
I pulled out my handkerchief to wipe the trickle of blood.
Hiram’s eyes opened.
Tears sprang to mine in response. “You’re all right.”