A/N: WARNING SPOILER'S FOR UP TO BOOK 6- do not read if you have not read beyond book 6!! you have been warned- don't complain if you have not read beyond book 6 yet
DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NO READ BOOK 6
And possibly sum hints at books 7 and 8
On a less… forrboding note, this is also the sequal to 'Baa Baa Black Sheep', if you haven't read that, the chances are, you will have no idea what's going on here so I would advise you read that first.
I also remember having quite a few complaints that BBBS sounded so final ;P kinda the point folks… but Dylan is back! LET CHAOS ENSUE
I nearly forgot:
The PROPER Summery: A few months after the happenings when Dylan and our favourite Victorian earl meet for the first time, when things in the Hargreaves household are getting for tense after a certain 'Judus', our Black Sheep are reunited once again. And though they meet once again and their friendship appears true, it is clear there is much more at work behind Dylan than she is letting on… only now it is becoming more and more apparent. Why is Lord Sedgewell so against the idea of Dylan marrying, yet seems to hate her within the house? Why does one older brother hate her, and the other love her? Was there a situation between Lily and Alexis? Were the Sedgewell's really involved with Delilah at all? And why the hell should that matter at all? Once again, Cain's curiosity and unwanted feelings push him into discovering more than anyone thought possible… however the last question is… was it all worth it?
Prologue
The wind was cruel, cold and biting. It blew through him, eating away at his skin. Drawing the black cloak closer about his shoulders, Cain glanced about the almost deserted London street in semi curiosity. He had to keep reminding himself why he was there. To visit Susette, his cousin, his sister… his love? One of them anyway.
Looking up at the steel, black, wrought iron gates, Cain wandered again why people insisted on making cemeteries look so foreboding. There was no way the dead could come back unaided, therefore the sleeping bodies beneath the ground were safer than any place in London, no matter how someone looked at it.
"Still," murmured Cain to himself, "it would be so much easier if people did not insist on putting gargoyles in the most unsightly places."
He glanced up at the open mouthed beast place on top of the pillar looking outwards and shuddered, wandering at the architect's motivation or vision.
Again he found himself wishing he was not alone. He refused to take Mary for fear of her getting kidnapped or used against him in some way, Oscar would just become annoying, Crehador would continue being incredibly cynical and he could not think of someone else who would be able to understand his pain when visiting his beloved half sister.
No… that was a lie… there was one, but he abandoned him, turned out to be a traitor, a servant of Delilah and therefore his father. That familiar face flashed before his eyes yet again, and yet again his blood pounded in his ears and boiled in his veins. He was still reeling in shock over the revelation.
He shook his head. No, he could not think about it. He had time to deal with that traitor. But not today. Today was to visit Susette.
Walking throughout the gates, Cain was surprised at the calm of the place. The wind seemed to drop here, noise hardly carried, he no longer felt cold. It was strange.
Shaking himself, he forced himself to walk forewords, into the labyrinth of head stones, searching for one in particular.
Though it had been a long time since he had been to visit, he remembered the way perfectly. He crouched beside the grave and laid lilies upon the earth of her grave. His hand touched the earth for a moment, wandering if his father had concocted more semi human creatures; ones back from the dead and the like. It made his skin crawl.
'Suddenly, Susette,' he thought, 'I'm glad you died when you did… you did not have to see all of this.'
Standing, he touched the grave stone lightly as he stood, still gazing at the earth. Wandering if life would have been different if Susette were still alive… if he had never become so curious about the world… if he had not gone to visit Augusta that day… would it all have been different?
He turned away from the grave decisively. There was only so long he could stay in place like that. He had to leave, but he promised himself he would come and visit her again. Reminding himself that he must visit Emmiline too.
As he walked back towards the wrought iron gates he caught sight of a figure he could have sworn he recognised. He stopped abruptly and turned again to see a woman, possibly mid to late teens, standing before a grave staring down. She was dressed in a simple black dress, puffed out a little at the back as was the fashion. She wore a small hat on her head, similar to that of a man's top hat.
"Excuse me miss," he said slowly, walking over to her.
She seemed to start and look up at him in surprise. Her black hair was pushed out of face into the hat on her head, her eyes were a sort of dull green blue, her mouth set into a stubborn line. She looked familiar.
"Do I… know you?" he asked slowly.
For a long moment he felt those eyes study his face, yet he felt as though they were probing his soul. It was a strange sensation. Furthermore, he still could not place where he had seen her before!
"Yes," she said, quite simply, "you know me. Quite well I should say."
As she said this, her posture changed entirely, she had put all her weight on one leg, a hand goes to her hip, a smirk appeared on her face, her eyes brightened, shifting between impossible blue and sea green. "At the risk of being cliché… It's been a while my earl of poisons."
Cain looked stunned for a moment. "Dylan?! Dylan Sedgewell?!"
Her laugh echoed around the cemetery, startling near by pigeons. In that still, dead, cold place it was surprising such happiness even carried there.
The sound was almost refreshing to Cain's ears. It had been a while since he had heard such a carefree, honest gesture.
She grinned at him, as cocky as ever.
"I's good ter see ya, wolfie," she stated easily.
It was suddenly as though no time had passed since they had seen each other. Cain felt somehow secure in her company… with a person outside his own family, especially since Riff.
"You have no idea," he replied.