Isabella's Heiress Read Online Free Page B

was pointing accusingly at Emma. Its whole body shook as it spread its wings and leapt from the metal rail. Emma had to make a sharp jump to the left as it hurtled towards her, missing her head by a matter of inches. It carried on towards the ruins that lined Byward Street before soaring upwards and releasing a high-pitched cry that echoed off every wall in sight.
    Father Eamon grabbed Emma by her arm and dragged her into Trinity Square. Emma turned to see him looking up and down the road before turning to search the sky. The cautious confidence that had been there earlier evaporated as Emma watched Father Eamon’s movements become more rigid and urgent.
    â€œEmma, we must not stay here, it is not safe.”
    He guided her to a side street that, she remembered, led to Seething Lane. “Where are we going?” Emma was now searching the buildings and roads around her, although she hadn’t got a clue what she was looking for.
    Father Eamon looked at the sky behind before giving her another tug towards the street. “Safety.”
    Safety
seemed to Emma to be a relative term in her current situation. She entered the narrow road and sped up as she tried to keep up with Father Eamon. They had barely got halfway down when Emma felt a sudden rise inthe temperature. Father Eamon pulled her into a doorway and clasped his hand firmly over her mouth.
    â€œAhh, Eamon, you idiot. Why did you not see this coming?”
    Father Eamon’s self-reproachment did not fill Emma with confidence. See what coming? The answer came by way of a mist that billowed into the Trinity Square end of the road and slowly proceeded to fill the street.
    Emma’s heart felt like it would leap out of her mouth at any second. Sweat was starting to sting her eyes as it dripped down her face. The mist was now halfway up the street and she could start to make out movement within it.
    As the mist got closer Emma could make out something else. At first it wasn’t obvious, but there was a noise being carried on the wind. A noise that sounded to Emma like fingernails being dragged down a blackboard. She cringed as it got louder but then listened harder as she realised that the sound was in fact a voice. It was repeating one word over and over again.
    â€œEhhmma”.
    The voice reached into Emma’s very core. It was all she could do not to bolt off down the street, away from what was coming.
    The mist was closing in on them and Emma could make out figures starting to break through into the street. She turned to Father Eamon who raised a single finger to his mouth, slowly shaking his head.
    Dark shadows from the surrounding buildings filled the street as the sky turned a deep red and the crackle and spit of unseen flames accompanied the figures as they moved closer. Emma could hear them breathing now and, as they cleared the mist, she could sense the air around them turn stagnant. Their faces started to show belowdusty and battered Fedora hats; cadaverous, with decayed teeth exposed in a rictus smile. The nearest one became clearer, the ripped black suit it wore hanging loosely off its stooped, skeletal frame.
    The whisper was now a voice and the words filled Emma’s ears: “We have sssuch wondersss prepared for you, Ehhmma. Sssuch exquissite desssolation.”
    They were at hand now, and the nearest one raised its head as the stench of its decay burnt Emma’s nostrils. Emma wanted to cry, but fought the tears, desperate not to do anything that might attract their attention. Above them, the raven they had seen a short while earlier had now returned and was hopping from building to building as if its feet would melt in to the rooftop if it stayed too long in any one position. Eventually the bird perched itself on a lintel above the doorway where they were standing. Emma could hear its claws scratching the brickwork as it worked its way along, scanning the buildings and pavement for any sign of them. Neither she nor Father