Black Blood Read Online Free

here.”
    Grabbing the
boy, he jumped to his feet and shot around the corner. Gemma
snaffled the girl into her arms and chased after him.
    “But my
brother.” Gemma began her protest as soon as she was alongside the
agile man.
    “He’ll be fine
once my servant finds him. I’ve been watching from my upstairs
window. As soon as I saw him take a wrong turn I sent my man after
him and decided to come for you three myself.”
    “Where are we
going?”
    “I’m taking you
up to my apartment.” The man stepped through a narrow doorway and
began ascending a crumbling staircase.
    “You look way
too wealthy to be living here.” Gemma took in his fine stitched
clothing and found her suspicions rise.
    “ I
don’t live here. I
simply work here.”
    Gemma
followed him through the doorway and into a room on the top floor.
It was more spacious than that of Arthur Paulson’s and
substantially brighter. Gemma gently placed the shivering girl in a
nearby chair and walked to the windows as the man tended to the
children with cups of water and a wet rag. Staring down at the
alley, Gemma tried to glimpse her brother, but could not spot his
bulky frame. She felt the frustration glowering inside her and
realized it was fueled by fear. She paced the apartment, studying
its messy contents and trying to decipher who this man might
be.
    Man, you look
like Harrison. It’s freaky!
    He was probably
some distant relative, twice removed. Gemma would ask to see her
boyfriend’s genealogy again when she got back. With his passion for
history and his skill with research, they would no doubt find
something on this peculiar man. He looked as though he was rich
enough to be a prince, yet worked in the grimy docks of London.
    “Why do you
work down here, when you could stay in your no doubt luxurious
manor and do…” Gemma flicked her arms towards his desk. “Whatever
it is you do?”
    The man’s lips
rose with a slight smile before shooting her a dry look.
    Man, you look
even more like Harrison when you do that!
    “My business
here is my own, young lady.”
    Gemma twitched
her shoulders, feigning indifference.
    “Unless, of
course, you’d like to tell me why a woman, such as yourself, is
dressed like a man?”
    Her cheeks
flared as she shook her head with a smile. Usually a statement like
that would send her into a frozen panic, but there was a sense of
serenity about this man. She felt a pull towards him, a curiosity
to find out more. Leaning against his desk, she watched him soothe
the children’s fears with a few whispered words, before lying them
down on a make shift bed of blankets. After a few hummed notes of a
tune Gemma vaguely recognized, the children were drifting into
sleep. Gemma felt her heart squeeze as she watched their pale
faces.
    “My brother
will have room for them on his staff. You do not need to fear for
their safety.”
    Gemma met the
man’s steady gaze and knew she could trust him. She mouthed a quick
thank you. Lifting the satchel over her shoulder, she dumped it at
her feet and let a smile wisp over her features.
    “Why are you
helping us, Mr…”
    The man’s eyes
softened as he came forward with an extended hand. “Clayton.
Nathaniel Clayton.” Pulling out the chair beside his desk, he
plopped into it with a relaxed sigh. “I’m helping you because you
look like you needed it and because…” His eyes dropped to his hands
before gazing up at her with intensity. “You remind me of her.”
    “Of who?”
    His eyes
deepened to a rich chocolate as he spoke. “My love.” The whispered
words were like sweet perfume. Gemma felt her body warm with the
scent.
    “Was she your
wife?”
    The man
blushed as he smiled and shook his head.
    “She was my
morning star, my jewel. I could not keep her, but I could never
love another now.”
    His fingers ran
around his neck and pulled out a leather necklace, swinging from it
was a round stone disk that looked a little like a cogwheel.
    Gemma stepped
forward and examined