Wicked Games (The Sun Never Sets Book 3) Read Online Free Page A

Wicked Games (The Sun Never Sets Book 3)
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    Blast and bloody blue hell . Now what?
    “I could walk.”
    “All the way to London? By yourself?” Sister Mary Louise let out a soft, amused breath. “If anyone could do it, it would be you. But that does not mean it is advisable.” 
    “I’m perfectly certain I would be all right.”
    “And I am perfectly certain you would not be.” She sent Brianna a sideways glance, then gave her head a firm shake. “I am old. I am slow. But I am not blind. You would attract too much attention. Attention of the wrong sort, I’m afraid.”
    The words stung. However there was no denying the truth in them. Even Brianna had noticed the curious glances and disapproving stares she’d received since arriving in England. She had hoped she would be able to blend in, but obviously that wasn’t going to happen. Her looks were distinctively foreign. Exotic. That hadn’t mattered one whit in Canton. But in England? Apparently it did.
    She worried her lower lip in her teeth. Her stomach clenched in tight, nervous knots. “You think people will recognize that I don’t belong here.”
    “That’s not the kind of attention to which I’m referring.” The older woman paused for a moment, tightening her grip on Brianna’s arm as she navigated past a particularly slushy puddle of mud. “We will have to make some arrangement for a chaperone to see you safely to London.”
    Brianna shook her head. “I will not be more of a burden to you than I already have been.”
    “Nonsense. You haven’t been a burden at all. Father Tim was delighted to welcome you into our fold, even if it was only for the duration of the voyage.”
    “But now that we’ve reached England—”
    “It’s all been taken care of, my dear,” Sister Mary Louise announced. “I’ve asked the good Lord to put a solution before us. I feel sure He was listening. Whatever happens next will be divine providence.”
    Brianna managed a fleeting smile, wishing she could share the sister’s serenity, her cool confidence that all would be well. But that simply wasn’t her experience. The shouts of a rowdy group of men echoed from the alleyway ahead of them. Brianna gently steered the older woman away, setting a new course for the church where they’d rented rooms. The streets here were a bit darker, but quieter, seemingly free from the drunken revelers who crowded the main thoroughfares.
    An icy wind whipped past them, pasting her sodden skirts to her legs. With the dropping temperatures, the rough streets grew increasing difficult to navigate. Sinister shadows surrounded them. She focused her attention on the puddles beneath their feet, which had grown slick in the night air.
    Sister Mary Louise must have sensed Brianna’s uneasiness, for she gave her arm a reassuring pat. “Have faith. All will be well. The good Lord has put us exactly where we need to be.”
    Brianna opened her mouth to reply—some nonsensical words of comfort, surely—when the sound of a gravelly male voice stopped her cold.
    “…face of yours ain’t going to be so pretty anymore .”
    Her head snapped up. Terror enveloped her as she took in the tableau laid out before her: three rough men surrounded a fourth, who struggled fruitlessly against them. His arms were pinned behind his back. A jagged knife glinted in the moonlight.
    She heard Sister Mary Louise’s gasp. The elderly woman stiffened and froze.
    Brianna sucked in a breath. They’d walked right into a scene from a nightmare. Surely this couldn’t be where God wanted them to be.

 
     
     
     
    Chapter Three
     
     
    Thank God .
    Jonathon’s gaze shot to the alley entrance. Two women stood huddled together, their expressions frozen in abject horror. Their boots scraped against the cobbled stone beneath their feet as they drew to an abrupt halt. It was a thin sound, but it seemed to echo through the alleyway.
    He had a second, maybe two. That was all the distraction he could count on.
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