With a final stern look at Gus, he left the room and locked the door behind him.
Emme looked at the closed door for a few moments before picking up the telephone. She called the hotel’s front desk and asked if any rooms remained rented under Sir Ronald’s name. The attendant informed her that the O’Sheas had retained one room on the sixth floor should they decide later to stay in town. As Sir Ronald’s stepdaughter, she requested a key to the room be delivered immediately.
She hung up the phone and relayed the news to Gus. “We must go to that room. Perhaps Madeline left something behind that will give me a clue about what happened this morning.”
“Forgive me for asking, but have you considered that Miss Madeline may be acting on behalf of her sister?” Gus looked as though he would rather broach any other subject.
“You think Maddie is manipulating me?” Emme couldn’t believe that. She wouldn’t believe it.
“I am not suggesting it as a fact, Miss Emmeline. I only wonder—I do not know your family at all, but from an outside perspective . . . She is hiding something significant. I do not know the nature of it, only that I sense it.”
Emme frowned. “She mentioned something Lysette knows, something ruinous . . .” She paused. “I would be very surprised to learn Maddie works in subterfuge.” She grasped her crutch and did her best to pace about the room.
Gus paced opposite Emme, occasionally peering through the closed, heavy drapes.
She glanced at the clock on the mantel for what seemed the millionth time. The minutes ticked by, and Oliver hadn’t returned.
At a knock on the door, Gus answered it and accepted the key from the employee. Emme joined him at the door, and when Gus hesitated, she said, “I am going to that room, Gus. You may join me or wait here.”
He capitulated quickly and followed her down the corridor to the elevator. They rode up in silence, and Emme was anxious. When they reached the sixth floor, they found the room in question. Their knocking was met with silence, so Emme took the key from Gus and opened the door.
The room was dark, and after switching on a lamp, Emme saw that it looked completely uninhabited.
“Hello?” She spoke to the empty room as if expecting a response.
She heard a thump coming from the bathing room, and with a quick look at Gus, crossed the room. The door was locked, and at Emme’s urging, Gus shouldered it open. He entered the room first and caught his breath.
“Oh, Miss O’Shea!”
Emme shoved into the room and saw Madeline, her hands tied behind her back and secured to a thick water pipe, her ankles bound, her mouth gagged. Her hair was down and in tangles, and she wore only a white shirt and a simple skirt.
“Maddie!” Emme dropped to her side and pulled at the gag. “Untie her feet, Gus,” she said as she fumbled with the knot at the back of the cloth until it finally loosened. She pushed away strands of Madeline’s beautiful hair and murmured an apology.
Maddie sobbed with relief, and as Gus moved behind her to untie her hands, Emme cupped her cheeks. “What happened?”
Maddie tried to speak but coughed roughly.
Gus gently released Maddie’s arms, and she pulled them around her middle, rubbing briskly.
Emme grabbed a glass from a counter in the bathing room and filled it with water. “Did Lysette do this to you?” She handed her the water and sat next to her on the floor.
She nodded and swallowed a gulp of water too quickly, choking and sputtering, before she was able to say, “Yes. I discovered their plans.” Her aqua eyes widened. “What hour is it? It cannot be midnight yet but must be close.”
Emme nodded. “We’ve an hour until midnight. Why?”
Gus helped Madeline and then Emme to stand. Madeline threaded her arm through Emme’s and guided her from the bathroom with a quiet grunt of pain. “We can make it to the lodge and into the woods before then. We must. Emme, they have abducted shifters.”
Emme’s heart pounded in her throat. A horrible notion formed in her head, too horrible to believe. “What do you mean?”
“They have abducted at least six people, perhaps more, and locked them in a cage Sir Ronald has built on the property. I only know of its location because Lysette lured me out there weeks ago. Called it a ‘dungeon.’”
Emme’s head spun with questions. “The abducted people—they are shifters?”
Madeline nodded and looked quickly around the room, her lips tightening. “They’ve taken my things, of course. She meant for me to die.” She urged Emme and Gus toward the door. “We must hurry. The dungeon door will automatically open five minutes before midnight. Hopefully, the abductees do not begin shifting early.”
Emme’s mouth dropped at the implication. “Some people do! And I’m assuming, of course, they have kidnapped predatory shifters?”
Madeline nodded and ushered her into the corridor and toward the elevator. “The most satisfying big game of all, apparently.”
“Miss O’Shea, are we to understand that your father, sister, and members of a government committee make sport of hunting people after midnight when they shift?” Gus sounded horrified.
She nodded, and they stepped into the elevator. Gus closed the door, and Madeline pushed the button for the main level. “I must go now, straightaway. I’ll have the stables bring a fast auto-curricle. You remain here, Emme.” Madeline rubbed her forehead with a shaking hand. “I only hope—” she whispered. “Time, not enough time . . .” She stretched her arms and legs, wincing.
“Maddie, you cannot go alone!”
“Where is the detective?” Madeline looked at the two of them as though only then realizing Oliver was missing.
Emme closed her eyes. “Looking for his vampire brother. And he has been gone much too long.” She paused. Madeline shivered violently, though she was clearly trying to hold herself still. “Are you cold, Maddie? Here, take my jacket.”
“No, no. I . . .” She coughed and
