Dangerous Exile by K.J. Jackson

{ Chapter 3 }

Talen entered the Blue Waters room two days later, determined to get answers where Madame Juliet had sent him none.

He’d been expecting a message, a note from Juliet, which he’d gotten—but it had been short and raised more questions than given answers. Namely, who exactly was this woman Juliet had sent to him?

Time to get the answers he needed from the most likely source.

He closed the door of the Blue Waters room with a loud snap and Ness stirred, her one good eye blinking hazily until she realized someone else was in the room with her.

She rolled onto her right side, trying to push herself to sitting, but her arms were heavy, her head bobbing in a slow circle, her focus out of her right eye blurry.

Good. She was still deep in the fog of the laudanum he’d had Declan carefully administer to her throughout the last two days. It’d been necessary. Necessary for her pain, aside from the fact that the last thing he’d needed was a caterwauling woman in pain a floor above the Midas Room—where the highest stakes were won and lost.

At her movement in the bed, his hand lifted. “No, Ness, do not sit up. It is too much for you.”

She collapsed downward, sinking into the bed, gratitude in the exhale seeping past her lips that were now less swollen. Her right eye focused on him and the plump bruise about her left eye had finally eased enough so he could see a sliver of that eye.

Her mouth parted, words croaking past her lips. “You are Talen Blackstone?”

How many times was he going to have to answer that question from her?

Talen veered, moving to the tea pot beside the bed. He poured a shallow cup for her, then moved to the bed, holding it to her lips. Drips of it snaked into her mouth until she pulled away. 

Setting the cup on the bedside table, Talen moved to stand beside the bed, his fingers tapping on the light blue coverlet that hung over the edge of the mattress as he looked down at her. “Aye. I am Talen Blackstone and I have some questions for you.”

Her right eye, still unfocused, drifted up the front of his body to land on his face. “What?”

“Who sent you?”

“Juliet. Juliet Thomson.” The name was drawn out, her voice drifting from high to low. Damn the laudanum still in her brain.

He nodded. “I understand she went north with a Scotsman. You met her there?”

“I did.”

“Why did she send you to me?”

“I need help.”

“And she thought I would help you?”

For the slightest second, her right eye seemed to focus on him directly. “You’re the only one that can protect me.”

Doubtful.

Sending the slip of a chit like this deep into the heart of the rookeries was far more dangerous than the hundred other places Juliet could have sent her. But Juliet had sent Ness to him. Which meant that the danger lurking about the woman was significant.

Danger he wasn’t sure he wanted to invite into his life at the moment.

He stifled a sigh. He already knew everything he was asking Ness. The letter from Juliet had told him this much, but it had been clearly written in haste.

Ness needs to be hidden, protected.

No one can know she’s with you.

She is off-limits.

Details had been lacking. Especially on that last line. Did Juliet really think he couldn’t keep his cock in his trousers? Especially when it came to a battered and bruised woman?

But Ness’s story thus far matched what Juliet had written. Small favor. At least he wasn’t dealing with a liar.

“Do you know who I am?”

“You’re Talen Blackstone. You just told me that.”

He shook his head. “No. Not my name. Do you know what I am, what I do here in London?”

She blinked. Then blinked again, slowly, like she was trying to make her mind work through the opium muddle that had taken over her brain. “Juliet said to mention the Selkie South Brothel.”

“Aye.”

Her look lifted to him. “So you deal in brothels?”

“No.” He exhaled a sigh. “Not since the one I had burned to the ground.”

Her right eye opened wide. “But, Juliet—no. She cannot be…I cannot believe it.”

“Believe what?”

“Juliet couldn’t have been from a brothel—she said she knew people—the wrong sort of people, but I never imagined. But then you and that other man called her ‘Madame Juliet.’ I remember that.” Her head shook. “But no. Not Juliet.”

Talen smirked. “She does know the wrong people. And she is exactly what you are afraid to think she is. But I can tell you this, Juliet is a lot of things, including a very good friend to you if she called in the Selkie South Brothel favor for you.”

Her right hand lifted, heavy and slow, and she set her fingertips along her hairline at her temple. Her head shook slightly. “I am sorry. I cannot think…think quickly at the moment. Why can I not think?”

“You still have laudanum in your body.”

“You gave me laudanum?”

“Aye.”

“Why?”

“To ease the pain as the bone in your arm was reset.”

Her head shifted on the pillow, her gaze going down to her left arm. “I…I didn’t even notice. When did that happen?” Her right hand went down and her finger started to tug at the bandages.

“Two nights ago.” He grabbed her hand and pulled it away from the bandages. “Don’t move it. The bonesetter was specific.”

Her hand jerked out from his hold as though he’d scalded her. Between that and how she’d recoiled from Declan’s touch, it was clear she didn’t react well to men.

But then she looked up at him, her peculiar amber eye settling on him with wariness. “Why do you owe Juliet?”

“She didn’t tell you?”

Ness shook her head.

He took a step away from the bed. “Then it’s not my place to tell you.”

She nodded, more to herself than to him. “Whatever she did, it must have been enormous for you to take me on. I realize you want nothing to do with me.”

She was astute, even with a half-addled mind and only one good eye.

“It was enormous. She saved numerous lives.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “But that is long in the past and I’m more concerned about the present. Juliet said you need to be hidden. I want to know why.”

Her mouth clamped closed and Ness turned her face away from him, burying her head deep into the pillow.

“No answer? Fine. Then I can presume it has everything to do with this? The broken bone, the cuts and bruises?” He motioned to the full of her beaten body. “But it would make it a hell of a lot easier if I knew who I was protecting you from. So, who did this to you?”

Her head shifted on the pillow and she looked up at him. “I cannot tell you.”

Talen stifled a sigh. He wasn’t about to argue with an opium-foxed woman. Especially one that didn’t trust him. The questions would have to wait for later.

“Then you will rest more.” His arms relaxed to his sides and he inclined his head to her. “Clear your head. And I will ask the questions when your mind is once again your own.”

The brown and blue deep shading of her cheeks quivered and her mouth shifted into what he assumed was a smile. It was hard to tell for the bruises and the cut along the side of her mouth.

Talen turned and walked toward the door.

“Mr. Blackstone.”

He paused, turning back to her.

“Thank you. Thank you for helping me.” Her voice escaped in a whimper, a pitiful warble so soft, as though she’d never been shown the slightest kindness and couldn’t quite believe she’d been allowed to stay there.

It shot through his chest at that moment—the cracking of her voice wrapping around something deep within him he couldn’t quite identify. The jolt of it reared so strongly he almost didn’t recognize it. But there it was.

A visceral need to protect this woman.

In his chest.

In his gut.

And he always trusted his gut. It had gotten him this far.

As much as he’d like to, he couldn’t ignore it now.

Ness was his to protect, at least for the time being.