Chapter 17

Robert pulled the embedded knife out of the wall his blood was still boiling. Looking down at the blade, he had no idea that Evie had such good aim. She could have easily planted the blade in his eye if she'd wanted. But she hadn't, she only warned him that it was within her power. He was not going to let Evie put him in a position to kill him, in fact it was high time he dealt with her once and for all. But that presented a problem, he was low on funds to give the Blighters. He'd have to source some cash from somewhere. He was brought out of thought when a person appeared in front of him, Jacob was standing in front of him looking rather concerned.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, no thanks to your sister. She nearly killed me."

Jacob looked a bit flustered, "She didn't mean to… she's just.. she's –"

"I will tell you what she is." Robert interrupted, "She's is a manipulative bitch and I don't think you should speak to her again."

Robert stared at Jacob, in a way which was rather suspicious. It was as though he was trying to tell Jacob something without saying it. The look seemed to last several long minutes when in fact it only lasted a matter of seconds.

"Ok I won't but I know she really didn't mean to do that."

The Rooks, who were watching the exchange, glanced at one another. None of them spoke but they were all wondering the same thing. Why would Jacob cut his sister off so easily? Something was defiantly not right, they had all witnessed what had happened when the Frye Twins had fallen out before but now they seemed so close. They had seemed closer then ever now so why was Jacob throwing that away after everything they been through. Silence fell in the room; all the occupants of the pub were thinking the same thing. What happens now?

Hours had past since the confrontation between Evie and Jacob, but the tension had not subsided. What had happened in the pub between the twins and the conversation afterwards had made it's way to every single Rook. They all knew what had happened but they were not sure exactly what happened now. Meanwhile, the Blighters were preparing to take the next step. The money they were receiving was becoming smaller, they were not receiving as much as they had been previously. This was unacceptable. Action made to be taken. The Blighters numbers had dwindled since the group had lost so much money and some had been killed by a certain Assassin but a few of them remained. They had taken over an old coal warehouse and made it their base. This was where they met to discuss their plans.

"We have to do something." One was saying, "He promised us money and yet we haven't seen a bag of money for at least three weeks now."

"What can we do? If we risk seeking him out the whole plan could be ruined." Another asked.

"Who cares? Those Frye twins and their so called gang have been a pain in the arse for too long now."

"That's it! I know what we can do."

The Blighters all looked expectantly at their comrade who was smirking.

"This Robert asked us to hurt Evie Frye but not kill her. So we blackmail him, either he gives is what we are owed or she dies."

Smirks worked its way onto the other Blighters' faces, they liked the idea. The Blighter who'd purposed the plan stood up.

"Well, shall we go capture a certain Miss Frye?"

The remaining Blighters stood up, almost simultaneously, and nodded. Together they left the warehouse, one way or the other they would get their money. No matter the cost.

Evie wasn't sure what she should do now, she had nowhere to go. She couldn't go back to the train as her brother would be there and he was the last person she wanted to see right now apart from Robert. Jacob had made his choice, he chosen Robert. After everything they had been through, he'd thrown in all away. Evie shook her head as she headed down the street, she wasn't really aware of where her feet where taking her. As hard as she tried she found that it was difficult to stop being angry with her brother. But she still held on to the notion that he wasn't acting of his own free will but she still had no proof of that which infuriated her further. There had to be some way to prove her suspicion but she wasn't sure how to do it. Evie rubbed her tired eyes, she hadn't slept in days and it seemed exhaustion why starting to catch up with her. But she could not allow this, there was not time to sleep she had things to do. Well, the first thing was probably to work out where she could base herself. The train was out of the question and she did not fancy sleeping in an alleyway. Perhaps she could go to Henry's shop and ask him for shelter but for some reason she was anxious about doing that. What would he think of her? Without her knowing her cheeks had flushed slightly at the thought of sleeping in the same building as Henry. A movement in front of her brought her thoughts of a certain Henry Green. Two Blighters were standing in front of her looking at her with a rather nasty grin. Evie stopped and gazing at the calmly but her gaze also said that she'd kill them if they got any closer.

"You're going to come with us Miss Frye." One of the Blighters said, smirking at her.

Evie said nothing, but she extended both her hidden blades which sent a clear message to the Blighters. The Blighters seemed to ignore the message she'd sent them as they began to move towards her. Evie held her ground, she was not afraid of the Blighters and two of them were not a problem for her. She'd killed two of them about an hour ago who had also thought they could best her.

The Blighters were pulling out blades as they got closer to her, but she hadn't moved. She held her ground, preparing herself for a fight. Watching them approach gave her the opportunity to observe how they moved which would enable her to exploit their weaknesses. They got closer and closer but then another sound caught Evie's attention. The sound of running footsteps. Evie turned to look at the person sprinting towards her. It was another Blighter who'd been trying to sneak up behind her. Extracting a throwing knife from her jacket she launched it in the direction of the approaching Blighter before blocking the incoming strike from the other Blighter behind her. Kicking the Blighter away from her Evie tried to pull out her cane sword but she had no time to do so as the Blighter who tried to sneak up on her, apparently, the throwing knife in his shoulder wasn't bothering him, brought his blade down. Once again Evie tried to use her hidden blade to deflect the strike but she did not quite get the blade there in time. The opposing blade sliced through the clothing on her right arm and through the skin underneath creating a deep, diagonal wound across her forearm. Blooding burst from the wound and poured down her arm. Instinctively Evie pulled her arm back and pressed into her chest, feeling blood seep in her jacket. Evie threw a look over her shoulder and saw more Blighters charging towards her. There was no way she could fight them all off with one hand. She'd have to make a break for it. If she could run out of the alley perhaps she could find the Rooks who could help her. The Blighter behind her pulled back for another strike but before he could so anything Evie plunged her left hidden blade into the other shoulder. The Blighter fell like a stone and Evie ran. She jumped over the fallen Blighter and sprinted back up the alleyway. It was a good thing that her previous injuries from the Blighters had healed, specifically the wound to her leg otherwise she wouldn't have been able to run as quick. But then again she should have realised that the Blighters wouldn't have let this happen again.

It happened in a matter of seconds. As she came to the entrance of the alleyway she'd thrown a look over her shoulder to see where the pursing Blighters were. Something had suddenly been shoved over her head and an arm clamped round her neck. Next thing she knew she was on the floor with a bag over her head and someone holding her down. She had no doubt that it was the Blighters. Before she could move her arm to try and stab the man, at least she assumed it was a man, with her blade the other Blighters had caught up and her arm were forced behind her back and roughly tied together. There was little she could do now. How could she have been so stupid? She should have seen this coming. Although she could not see anything she heard the sound of an approaching horse and she was soon forced to her feet and shoved in the back of what she assumed was a carriage. She was not going to allow herself to be captured, there had to be something she could do. Well, her feet her free. Evie feel still for a moment, trying to let her hearing locate who was around her. The Blighters had started talking although she wasn't paying attention to what they were saying. She heard the carriage door open again, there was a possibility she might be able fall out of the carriage. She could only pray that someone would spot the commotion and raise the alarm. But just as soon as she'd kicked the Blighter she could heard on her left side, something hard was slammed into her head and the world turned black.

The Blighters raced off up the street cheering in success. But they failed to notice that a man dressed in a green shirt had seen the whole thing. The Rook watched the carriage zoom away, his face was pale. He had seen what had happened but he couldn't help. There was no chance he could have fought the Blighters off on his own, even if he managed to free Miss Frye. If only he'd got there in time maybe he could have taken out the Blighter who been waiting to shove the bag over Miss Frye's head. He tried to get to him but it all happened so fast. But there was something he could do now. He had to tell the Rooks and Jacob as fast as he could.