Jack A Grim Reaper Romance (35 page)

“What good will come of her knowing she was tortured and raped? Hmm?
Tell me.
” He ground his teeth together to keep from yelling further, and then shook his head no. “It would do nothing but torment her for an eternity. I cannot let her go through that. I cannot.”

It was best she live with her nightmares than the reality of what occurred.

“Mason…” Pierce looked like he was going to try to argue his point, but a sigh escaped him instead. “I’ll go get it. But I’m telling you now, if she ever finds out, she’ll not forgive you for keeping it from her.”

“For her sake, it’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

***

Mason must have drifted off to sleep at Lilly’s side, his head groggy when Pierce woke him. “What is it?”

“There’s been another murder. Shall I send for Corwin to stay with her?” Pierce bit his bottom lip.

“Aye, I don’t want her left alone. Stay until he arrives and then meet me there. It shouldn’t take long for him to get here.”

Mason knew Pierce wanted to accompany him from the start of the investigation, but he could not stand the thought of Lilly being left alone. Though she was sedated, he’d not risk her waking up and finding no one there to explain things to her.

“Very well.” Pierce left to send word to Corwin and Mason headed out the door after giving Lilly a quick kiss on her forehead.

Late as it was, there were few on the roads, and it did not take long for Mason to get to the address Pierce had given him. Unlike the other murders, this one took place inside the woman’s lodgings. He wondered how long it would be before she’d be discovered and the police sent for. Hidden away in her room, she’d not be found unless someone missed her and came looking.

He let himself in, and the brutality of the crime hit him like a punch to the gut, Lilly’s ordeal too fresh in his mind. Though the previous murders and Lilly’s attack had been horrific, this one surpassed them all in its fury and intensity, the body mutilated and dismembered.

Her name had been Mary Kelly.

She lay there on her bed, naked, her thighs and torso skinned, her entire abdominal cavity emptied. Mason stepped closer, avoiding the pool of blood on the floor, and taking extra care not to disturb anything. Again, this was like the most recent murders, the woman’s soul not yet reaped, trapped within her body. Mason gently touched her arm, a warm tingle running through his hand to release her from this world.

Her face was slashed repeatedly, the features hacked beyond recognition. A deep cut ran across her throat, likely the first of the cuts, since neighbors would have heard her screams. A small mercy that she’d been dead and not had to endure the pain—a mercy Lilly had not been afforded. Was this what Jack had planned for Lilly, his plan foiled when he and Pierce arrived? He’d not thought Jack capable of harming Lilly, yet he’d mutilated one woman after another. Or had he?

Mason concentrated on the area, but there was no sign of Jack’s energy.

***

The sun started to peek over the horizon when Mason and Pierce finally got back to his home. Corwin was in a chair at Lilly’s side, his face looking older than its years with worry and anger.

“How is she?” Mason ran his hand down her arm, relieved she’d yet to awake, though he still worried about what she’d remember when she finally came to.

“How do ye expect her to be?” Corwin’s voice was strained, barely in control.

So he really did love her. Mason had wondered if Corwin’s feelings were triggered purely by sentiment rather than genuine feeling, but Mason now realized it was not the case. He forced himself to push his jealousy aside, knowing it was not the time or the place.

Mason sat on the edge of the bed and took Lilly’s hand in his. “She’s healed at least. That’s something, at any rate. Shall I send word around when she wakes?”

It was a dismissal that did not escape Corwin. “I’m going nowhere—not until she tells me to go.”

Mason stood, his words spoken through clenched teeth. “I believe you’ve forgotten your place, aye? Lilly’s
my wife
, not your betrothed.” He was desperate for a fight, and in the mood he was in, Corwin would suit him just fine.

Corwin’s eyes narrowed, filled with spite. “If ye had any consideration for her, then ye’d not have put her in harm’s way to start with. Dragging her to witness vicious murders—is it any wonder she’s been brutalized?”

Mason fisted Corwin’s shirt and shook him. “She was in
your
care when this happened.”

“It’s no one’s fault.” The voice was fragile and weak.

Lilly. Relief overwhelmed Mason. Ignoring Corwin, he quickly reined in his anger and sat by her side, running a gentle hand down her cheek. “How are you, my love?”

“I’m a bit groggy headed, but otherwise I feel fine.” She pulled her brows together in thought. “It was Stefan.”

“
Stefan?
Not Jack?” It made no sense. Jack’s energy was there, on her person even. If Stefan was the one who grabbed her then why the hell was Jack there?

“I tried to get free… I used the attack you showed me, but he’d already covered my mouth with a wet cloth.” She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “That’s the last thing I remember.”

Corwin moved closer, “I’m sorry,
a ghaoil
. I shoudna have left ye. Can ye forgive me?”

Lilly shifted her gaze from Mason to Corwin. “There’s nothing to forgive. You were busy with Nelson and there was no way of knowing Stefan would be waiting.”

Mason ground his teeth. “That’s been the problem from the start, aye? The man has a habit of knowing exactly where you’ll be, and until he’s caught, you’re not to leave Ilymnia.” He then turned to Corwin, fed up with his presence. “Let Pierce know she’s awake before you head home.”

“Lilly…” Corwin pleaded with her.

She took his hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’ll come by when I’m able. And thank you for protecting me. I truly mean that.”

He nodded and then stood, leaning over to kiss her atop her head before heading for the door with a final scowl in Mason’s direction.

“I’ll have a bath drawn, and fetch you some tea and breakfast. It’ll do you some good.” Mason took her hand in his, thinking it felt too small and fragile. He’d failed to protect her, and she’d come to unthinkable harm as a result.

“Mason, what happened to me?” She did not look at him as she asked his question, but rather at their linked hands.

How could he answer her? How could he tell her she’d been brutalized and raped? The answer was simple. He could not.

“I don’t know. Best I can tell, the bastard likely used ether or chloroform to subdue you, and then kept feeding you opiates. If you did attack him at the start, then he’d likely not want to risk coming to harm again.” It was a small mercy that the opiates also left her oblivious to what really occurred. “What I don’t understand is why we found Jack’s essence there. It was the reason I suspected Jack.”

“Why would he take me? It doesn’t make sense.”

“There’s a lot not making sense.” Mason turned at the sound of the door opening. After such a long night, Pierce looked haggard and unlike his normal polished self.

“I’m glad to see you’re better, my dear.” Pierce gave her a genuine smile, but when he turned to take the seat Corwin had vacated, his eyes flicked towards Mason in question.

Mason shook his head no. “I was just getting ready to tell her.” He gave Lilly’s hand a squeeze. Though it was not what Pierce was asking him, it was a good cover. “There was another murder. Unlike anything I’ve seen before.”

“Again?” Anguish marred her beautiful face.

“Aye, love. I’m afraid so. But there’s more… there was no trace of Jack.”

Chapter Thirty-Eight

“Then certainly it must be someone copying the murders. The papers have done nothing but go over the gruesome details time and again.” Lilly shuddered at the thought of another woman dead.

“That brings us back to the dilemma of the matter. If it were a simple murder, then the woman would have been reaped before her death. She had not been, and Jack did not release her soul either, for his presence was not there, love.” Mason gave it more thought. “Yet he’s somehow involved in this mess, even if he’s not the one murdering the women. I just don’t know how or why.”

Pierce leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees, his eyes sparkling. “Jack has obviously had a hand in this affair and is clearly involved. We can’t ignore that.”

Mason sighed while running a rough hand through his dark waves. “Then what’s his role in all this? The reenactments show he’s been a participant in the mutilations of these women—of that we have no doubt. Yet we haven’t seen him actually cut a woman’s throat, although anyone other than a reaper committing the murder leads us back to the beginning—the women would have been reaped.”

“But who’s murdering the women, then? And why would Jack be involved? I can think of no reaper he’d protect.” She could not understand it. “He never showed any signs of madness, Mason. There has to be a reason.”

“I’m sure there is, love. And
if
he is sane, then whatever his reasons, they’d have to be important enough for him to conduct horrors that seemingly go against his nature and what you knew of him. Did he ever show signs of having a different personality—or even lapses in memory?”

“No, love. Never. Until these murders, he was always the most sane and stable man I’d known.”

Mason bit his bottom lip, his brow furrowed in deep thought. “Each time the victim’s been a prostitute. Is that because he harbors a hatred for these women, because they’re easy targets, or is there some other reason entirely?”

Pierce shook his head. “If Jack’s not murdering the women, then he’s likely not the one picking the victims.”

Mason gave her hand a squeeze. “Lilly, tell me about Jack. What did he value; what was important to him in this life?”

Lilly’s head was spinning with thoughts. “In this life? He valued his privacy and independence, but I cannot say there was much else.”

Mason leaned towards her, his eyes wide and bright. “But it wouldn’t have to be in this life alone, would it. We know how angry he got when we visited his wife, and the time he saved you in the alley—you said he attacked Stefan, no?”

Pierce got up to pace. “And what of last night? What if he was once again there to save Lilly from Stefan?”

Mason turned to Pierce. “The files. Get them.”

Without another word, Pierce left the room and returned only moments later with his leather case. He unceremoniously dumped the contents on the bed where Mason would have easy access to the items. “You’ve figured it out, haven’t you?”

Mason riffled through the pile—the key, Jack’s pipe, the fob watch, the knife—were all cast aside as he went to the pictures. He looked at one after the other, settling finally on the one they’d seen at the cottage. It was the one taken most recently.

“Here, love. Look.” Mason pointed to Jack’s son.

She took the picture, recognizing Jack as he’d been in life, and also his wife. But it was his son, Emerson, who held her focus. How old was he in the picture? Ten? Maybe eleven? She felt as if she couldn’t breathe. The dark eyes, the dark hair. Yes, there was certainly a resemblance to Jack but there was more. Her heart pounded as she fought to keep her world from spinning out of control.

“It all makes sense, aye? Lilly… Stefan—he’s Jack’s son.”

She struggled to take a breath, to find the words. Mason cupped her cheek and held her close. “You’re all right, love. He’ll not find you again. I swear it.”

Taking strength from his touch, she found her voice. “It would explain why Jack would be involved in such brutality.”

“Aye, love. I just cannot believe I didn’t see it before now.” Mason ran a rough hand down his face, as if trying to scrub the blood back into it. “It explains a lot—though not everything. Stefan has the gift of sight, and if he was able to anticipate where you’d be, then he’d also have the ability to know when we’d be coming for Jack. He’d warn him, aye? No wonder we always
just
missed him.”

Pierce shook his head, his eyes distant. “We know Jack was gifted. These things tend to pass through families, no? It all makes sense.”

“Aye, and if he was gifted
and
Jack’s son, then maybe—somehow—he was able to murder these women without them being reaped.” Mason could think of no other explanation.

A ragged breath escaped Lilly’s lips. “Do you think it’s him then? Do you think Stefan’s the murderer?”

“Aye. I do.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

“Lilly, you’re not to leave the house until we get back—not when Jack and Stefan are on the loose.” Mason swallowed his fears. Now aware of what Stefan was capable of, Mason could not stop thinking of what the bastard could have done to her. Had Jack put a stop to it? Perhaps that was the reason he’d been there.

Mason thought of the latest victim—the sheer fury and violence of the attack. If Stefan had been prevented from continuing his sick games with Lilly, it made sense he’d take out his frustration on the next victim.