Read Online The Diabolical Miss Hyde by Viola Carr - Free Book Online Page A

not, Mr. Todd. I believe we can be forgiven for dispensing with formalities.”
    â€œI won’t tell if you won’t.” He bends to light a glass-topped lamp, and the glow caresses him, velvety on his black waistcoat, warm in his eyes. “I feel I already know you, Eliza. May I call you Eliza?” He blows out the match and drifts closer to me. “You and your crafty shadow. You’re both so . . . tenacious.”
    I back off in a hurry. He follows, matching my steps, a strange dance. My candle falls, dies. He kicks it away. Deftly he grabs my wrist, his fingers warm and strong. I stumble. He catches me, his hand on my waist. My back hits the wall.
    And here we are, the talented Mr. Todd and I.
    I can’t help it. I’m breathing hard, my bodice is too tight, my pulse is on fire. I’m trembling.
    But he’s quite calm. “Ask me why.”
    â€œPlease, I—”
    â€œThat’s what you’ve come for, isn’t it? To dance with my shadow?” A bright flash, the spring of steel. And aglittering warm edge kisses my cheekbone. “So. Let’s begin. Ask me why.”
    It’s the spine of his razor. Smooth, not sharp. Not cutting me. He’s still holding my wrist, and slowly, he strokes my throbbing pulse with his thumb. A single, delicate search for reaction.
    And he gets it, God help me. I lick dry lips. “Very well. The young lady in Mayfair. Why did you kill her?”
    Softly, he slices off a wisp of my hair. Watches it drift to my shoulder. “She was rude. Ignorant. She corrupted her beauty. She had to die. You understand, naturally.”
    â€œThe man in Whitehall?”
    â€œInsufferable. Ugly manners. I can’t abide ugliness. You’re very pretty, Eliza.”
    â€œThe art critic.”
    A sorrowful smile. “Ah. You have me there. Vanity, sadly, is my sin of torment. He called my Rape of Lucretia too lifelike.” He traces the razor’s blunt end along my collarbone, a hot-cold tingle. “There’s no such thing, you realize. Clearly, the man was deluded. I silenced him before he hurt someone.”
    â€œAnd the little girl? She was only six years old.”
    â€œThat was an accident.” His fingers tighten on my wrist. His eyes flash darker, and my collarbone stings, a tiny shock. “These things happen. Shadow doesn’t always behave. As you well know.”
    Trickle. A single, burning drop of blood.
    His gaze follows it, lower, lower . . . until he catches it on the tip of his steel, just before it stains the edge of my bodice. “So where does your shadow go?” he whispers.“Late at night, while you’re sleeping? Of what does she dream? What forbidden pleasures does she taste?”
    My stomach clenches cold. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean—”
    â€œOh, I think you do.” A secret smile. “You know what she longs for. You’ve felt it. Always swallowing clever words, hiding your true thoughts. Restless in your bed, frightened and alone in a crowd. Bumping against a stranger, wondering what it’d be like simply to . . . act. To do whatever you please.”
    Suddenly, I’m aware of how warm he is. How close. How human. “Sir . . .”
    â€œTear off the veil. Strike the shackles. Live, instead of dying slowly, screaming into the silence. That’s true beauty. Nothing is forbidden to people like us.” He lifts the razor, my blood like a glittering ruby, and licks it.
    Tastes me. Just because he can.
    My heart hammers. I want to squeeze my eyes shut, but I can’t look away.
    And I take a deep breath and bolt.
    But Mr. Todd is too quick. His foot snakes around my ankle, tripping me. He grabs my flailing hand and pulls, our bodies collide, only this time it’s he against the wall with me in his arms and he’s warm and strong and his body feels . . . well, it feels , don’t you see. I