Emme narrowed her eyes. “What has only happened twice? Maddie, has someone hurt you?” She glanced at Gus, who looked away, and whispered, “Are you with child?”
“What? No!” Madeline’s brow creased even as her eyes widened in shock. “No, I . . .”
Emme glanced at Gus and, remembering his earlier concern about Madeline’s loyalties, quickly opened herself to the young woman’s aura.
She was nearly blinded by the anxiety and fear swirling in blues and dark greens emanating from her stepsister. There was no malice or deception to be had, but so much terror Emme was swamped by it. There was an additional glow on the fringes, something she only saw when working with the Shifting community, and she stared at Madeline, stunned.
“Oh, Maddie. Is this what Lysette knows? That you’re a shifter?”
Maddie’s eyes widened, and she shook her head quickly. “How do you . . . No! No, no, she doesn’t—please, Emmeline, you mustn’t tell her. She will kill me.”
Emme took her stepsister’s hand; it was cold. “Of course I would never breathe a word.”
Madeline’s aqua eyes filled with tears she furtively wiped away. “I—it makes sense now, so many things.”
“Does your father know?”
Maddie sniffed in derision. “He’s not my father.”
The elevator came to a bumpy halt at the main level, and they exited into the corridor.
Emme turned to Gus. “This is what we must do. Oliver wouldn’t have stayed away so long without sending a message. Something isn’t right.” Her heart pounded as the words flew from her mouth. “You must find him. Alert Sam and Daniel. I will accompany Madeline to the hunting lodge, so I need you to inform the authorities immediately about what is happening there. Insist they send someone right away—several someones.”
Madeline shook her head. “You should stay here. I can manage now. There is one other at the lodge who knows what I . . . what I am—what I do.”
Emme ignored her. “Gus, as soon as you find Oliver, bring him to the lodge. Also notify Chief-Inspector Conley.” She fired off the last bit as she guided Maddie to the doors, leaving Gus in the lobby.
Fumbling with the crutch slowed her down, so she tossed it aside when they exited the hotel. A quick look over her shoulder showed Gus running to get help, and Madeline quickly requested an auto-curricle from a doorman.
The earlier storm continued still. Rain fell steadily, and lightning flashed in the distance.
Emme told the employee they were Sir Ronald’s family, at which point he jumped into action and whistled to a ’ton standing near a line of empty vehicles. While they waited for the curricle to circle around, Emme clutched Madeline’s arm and rubbed her back.
“I’ll drive,” Emme said, and Madeline nodded. They clambered inside the vehicle, and Emme released the brake. The small two-seater lurched forward and swung hard to the left before Emme righted it, swerving out of the way of startled attendants.
“You’ve driven before?” Maddie asked.
“Yes. Every curricle is different, though.” She glanced at her stepsister as they pulled away from the hotel entrance and headed down the street. Traffic was light due to the late hour, but many Summit revelers apparently celebrated until the early hours. The rain made the whole business trickier, and she fumbled until she found a switch to power the glass-wiper blades.
“Maddie, what do you mean Sir Ronald isn’t your father?”
Maddie took a shuddering breath. “Seven months ago, Lysette was searching for something in his room and found a letter he’d hidden. It was from Sir Ronald’s sister, who begged him to take her infant daughter, who shared the same birthday as his own newborn. His wife had just died in childbirth, and since a nanny would raise his daughter, why not two?” Maddie winced. “The letter stated that her baby had been born out of wedlock, and since the parents of the baby’s father refused to acknowledge the relationship, she didn’t know what else to do. The baby was illegitimate, of course, and if Sir Ronald would take her, she wouldn’t be a bastard in society’s eyes.”
Emme maneuvered the vehicle carefully down the street, avoiding singing pub-goers and vehicles that couldn’t seem to find the correct side of the road. She glanced at Madeline and then back at the road. “What happened to Sir Ronald’s sister?”
“I do not know. She said he owed her this favor because of all the times she had covered for his misdeeds through the years. And that she had named her baby ‘Madeline,’ after their great-grandmother.” Madeline bit her lip as tears gathered again.
“Oh, Maddie.” Emme turned from the busy street onto a quieter one and followed Maddie’s instructions to turn again to the right. “I am so sorry. Lysette has been holding this information to keep you under her thumb, yes?”
“She boosts herself up high by standing on me. But I am finished.” Maddie shuddered, wrapping her arms tightly around her torso. “When this is over, I am going to leave. Find my real mother.”
Emme looked at Maddie in shock until Maddie shrieked and pointed; Emme swerved to avoid colliding with a stone gate and quickly steered back onto the road. “How can I help? Do you need money?”
Maddie shook her head. “I’ve been saving. Please do not alert anyone of this until I’m gone.”
“I’ll not breathe a word of it. But you must promise to communicate with me.” The road opened up as they moved farther away from the center of town, and before long, Emme was able to pick up speed. “Where is she—your mother? Do you know?”
“The letter said she’d been in Venice.”
Emme nodded, and they rode in silence for a time. She wanted desperately to ask Maddie about her Shifting condition. Which form did she take when she Shifted? She settled for a less obtrusive question. “You mentioned someone at the lodge knowing of your Shifting.”
Maddie nodded, but her
