A polite knocking sounded against Crehador's apartment door, and the magician shook himself out of his trance. He was about to conduct an evening séance for an old hag with too much money, so needless to say, this little disturbance made him quite annoyed.

"Was that the spirits? Has my dear Harold come back to tell me something?" the frail old woman asked, with fear tinging her crackled voice.

"No—I'm afraid that this visitor is of the human persuasion."

Crehador rose from the small wooden table and swiftly went to the door. He opened it to reveal the Earl of Hargreaves, dressed elegantly in a top hat and a black overcoat. With only one look, the older man knew that the teenage lord would not be persuaded to leave.

"Your Grace, I never would have expected to see you here. How did you find out where I live?"

"You know there's nothing I can't discover if I wish to."

"Your father's schemes seem to elude you."

"That's exactly why I've come here. I need your help, and time is of the essence."

"What makes you think I can help you? You can't assume that I'm privy to every dirty detail of DELILAH's plans."

"Maybe not, but you can at least confirm something for me."

Crehador looked behind him at the old woman craning her neck to see who was at the door, and then he faced the Earl again with a proposition.

"Listen, let me finish with Lady Arlington and I will come to your mansion as swiftly as possible. It won't take long—she'll believe anything I tell her."

"All right then; I'll be expecting you within the hour."

The magician bowed before he stepped back into the room. "Thank you, your Grace—farewell." Then he closed the door.

~*~

True to his word, Crehador arrived before the stroke of nine. Riff showed him to the living room where he helped himself to a glass of scotch, and didn't even turn around when the Earl made his presence known.

"So tell me, Crehador—what is going on in that underworld my father calls his empire?"

"You once again assume that I am the eyes and ears of that place."

"You wouldn't have come here if you didn't know anything, and you know how generous my rewards are for information."

"Don't offer me money as if I were a whore. Besides, I don't know about anything that would be of interest to you."

The Earl raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"All they've been doing is buying property all across London. But you already knew about that, your Grace."

They were now standing face to face, and Crehador made him look every inch the boy he was.

"Are you certain there's nothing else going on?"

The magician eyed him suspiciously. "You seem to have a pretty good idea of what you're looking for, my lord. Are you sure you still require my assistance?"

Cain composed himself both mentally and physically before he spoke.

"A young lady who was my guest has been kidnapped by Dr. Disraeli, and I don't know where to find him."

"Kidnapped, hmm? He probably wants to experiment on her. What does she look like?"

"She has blonde hair, fair skin, and blue eyes. Unfortunately, that describes about half the population of London."

Crehador smirked. "That is quite a dilemma you have, your Grace." Then he paused in thought. "However, there has been rumor among the minor cards about a girl of tremendous beauty being brought to the Card Master. I believe they said her name was Liliana or something to that effect."

"Yes, that's her! Do you know where she is?!"

"If that truly is your damsel in distress, then I fear that she is being kept in the very bowels of hell. The only thing keeping her safe is the child growing inside her belly right now."

"She's pregnant?! Dear God!"

"Don't be so surprised, my dear earl. It's most likely part of the experiment."

"Then it's my fault that she's suffering so needlessly . . . We need to find out where she's being held and go rescue her before they do anything to her or the baby!"

"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into, do you? Are you really willing to risk your purebred neck to save an ordinary girl?"

Cain fixed him to the spot with that golden green stare.

"I am the Earl that courts Death. I do not fear her sweet embrace."

"Then embrace you she shall," Crehador remarked, before dismissing himself from the room and taking leave of the tragedy ridden mansion.

Author's Note: Two chapters in only a few days . . . gotta love them plot bunnies ; ) Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, etc. Let's see if I can go three for three!