Free Destiny of the Heart (Viking Destiny) by K. Young Page B

she had gotten to the roof, it was an easy
matter of scaling over to the window and climbing inside. Lady
Kristen always slept with her window open.
    As Alice crawled through the window, she was
immediately grabbed by the scruff and dragged all the way
inside. Panic swelled in her chest at being caught and she
froze in place as a rough hand slapped her across the cheek.
Her head whipped to the side so hard she knew her neck
would be sore tomorrow.
"You ungrateful trollop!"
    The man slapped Alice again before stomping away to
the other side of the room. By that point, Alice was pretty
angry herself. Not only was her mark clearly not in the room,
but her absence was noticed, which meant that Alice's
presence would be noticed, as well. And, despite the fact that
this man didn't know she wasn't the Lady Kristen, she still
didn't like being slapped around. She put her hands on her
hips as she heard a match against the striker. A moment later,
Stephen Ashby had a candle lit. As he turned to face her, his
angry demeanor changed to one of confusion.
"Who the devil are you?" He demanded.

Alice cocked a brow. "Who the devil did you think I
was?"
"This is my house and I'll be asking the questions
around here."
Ashby walked around the bed and came back to face
Alice. As he got a look at her, he swallowed visibly. Alice
grinned. She knew she had that effect on men sometimes.
She had been told once that she was extremely predatory
when she wanted to be. Nevertheless, she had a score to
settle for being slapped twice, and it was a debt she was
unwilling to let pass unpaid. She threw a right cross that sent
Ashby skittering across the bed. He dropped the candle, and
the small flame lit the carpet underneath on fire. Alice stomped
it out and retrieved the candle from the floor, then walked
around to the bedside table to relight it.
Ashby stood up sputtering and indignant as Alice struck
a match and relit the candle
"How dare you!" He grouched.
Alice shrugged. "That was for slapping me. Now, where
is the girl?"
Ashby rubbed his jaw and looked at her irritably. "What
girl?"
"Don't play coy with me, Ashby. It is most unbecoming,
and you can't afford to be unbecoming."
The insult caused him to bristle and puff his chest out,
but then he deflated it and sagged against the bed.
"In truth, I do not know. I locked her in here early this
evening, and now she is gone. All of my wife's money with her,
too. Dratted child. I was hoping to make her my new wife, but
she's rather ungrateful."
Alice thought the girl was rather smart to run away from
an old, wrinkled pathetic gambler, but she refrained from
telling him so. Instead, she walked around the side of the bed
to face him. Killing him wasn't part of the plan. She wouldn't be
paid for his blood, but he had seen her which meant that he
could identify her when Lady Kristen's body turned up. But,
before Alice could make up her mind one way or the other,
Ashby shot off the bed and backed away from her. His eyes
were wild with fear.
"Who sent you? How do you know my name? What do
you want with Kristen?"
"Calm down." Alice said as she rolled her eyes and set
the candle on the desk near the window.
"Did my creditors send you? Because I said I would pay
the money back."
"I'm not here for you."
Ashby stood up straight and cocked his head to the
side. Alice's head spun with the sudden change in Ashby's
mood. She noted he seemed prone to that.
"You're the one that's been killing off my wife's family
the last three years, aren't you?" He asked calmly.
Alice's head snapped up, and she took an angry step
forward.
"How the devil would you know something like that?"
Ashby grinned. "Oh, don't worry. I'm not going to turn
you over the authorities or anything. But, I've known that
family for nineteen years, and not one of them would have
died the way they did. Marie was an excellent rider, and
Solomon was an accomplished boatman and swimmer, not to
mention the other accidents the nobles