Escaping from Houdini (Stalking Jack the Ripper #3)

by Kerri Maniscalco

What morbid creatures we were, craving danger and mystery in place of happily-ever-afters.

I studied the dead, but sitting beside a person who’d been murdered was incomprehensible.

I could neither process it nor will my heart to harden and be of use.

a murderer was on board this ship and we needed to isolate clues quickly.

I’d collected my emotions like anatomical specimens and stored them away to dissect later.

Without offering another word, I rushed from the room, not wanting to witness the disappointment in my uncle’s eyes as my emotions erupted from the box I’d set them in and consumed me.

“What I mean is, I promise to stand by your side through whatever comes our way. You’ll end up being the hero, no doubt, but I’ll look good beside you. And that’s what truly counts.”

“I’m in favor of hiding in your chamber for the remainder of the week.” A smile twitched across his lips as I raised a brow. “Drinking, kissing, debauching ourselves until we arrive in New York.” He sighed dreamily. “You must admit, we’d be safe from the murderer. Deliriously happy. And both of those options are much better than standing over cadavers.”

Thomas had dragged me from the deepest parts of my worries and restored my focus… all while managing to steal another kiss. I couldn’t say that his method wasn’t appealing

I held my scalpel tightly at my side, not wanting to strike out at anyone by mistake. I needed to rein in my emotions, or someone could get hurt. I longed to kiss Thomas, not accidentally eviscerate him.

“Magic is science. It’s simply a fancier term for showing people the impossible is attainable.”

I had to settle for taking one wretched day at a time. Patience was a loathsome virtue.

Uncle glanced over his shoulder. “Might the two of you act properly for five minutes?”

There is no greater show of power than continuing to live when you’d like nothing more than to lie down and let the world fade.

I had the impression he’d come to the same conclusion and was giving me an opportunity to shine.

Uncle and I glanced at each other, but didn’t dare interrupt him while he traveled into that dark, twisted part of himself.

god i am so i’m love with this boy

love the criminal minds shit. yes king!

he thinks of thomas as family 🥺

His love was pure yet intoxicating, sweet and powerful. I’d never tire of this—of touching him and being touched by him.

“I love when you look at me that way.” I searched his eyes. “How?” “Like you might possibly love me in the same extraordinary way that I love you.”

“Miss Audrey Rose Wadsworth, conqueror of my soul—you are an absolute fiend. You’d like to flout tradition simply because of your need for my body.” He held a hand over his heart. “I swear I have never loved you more.”

“Once we’re married, I’d like to take you there,” he whispered. “I’ll send most of the staff away. We’ll have all the privacy in the world—no more sneaking about. When you look at me the way you are now, my virtue is perilously close to corruption. And I’ve never been a very pious man, Wadsworth.”

Creature, indeed. As if women were mere animals to be fancied when it suited a gentleman.

We women could be called creatures, if only the men who said such careless words accepted our claws were fearsome things when we decided to scratch.

There are many ways to assist people. Laughter and distraction are sometimes things people need in conjunction with medical diagnoses and treatments.”

I’d been raised to use inaction as a security net, but it didn’t lend itself to exploring uncharted waters.

“Normal is overrated.” Cassie nudged me toward the bar. “Extraordinary is unforgettable.”

He’s all show. I caution you to remember that. He’s inviting, but in the way the flame on a candle is. It might set ambiance, create a sense of warmth, but if you get too close, it will burn you.”

Words themselves are tricky, wicked things.” He grinned as if he’d uncovered some truth I hadn’t hidden particularly well. “Anyway, what I mean is every rose can draw blood as much as delight. Yet we do not hesitate to inhale their fragrance, do we? Danger does not detract from appeal; it increases it.”

“I am unafraid of being pricked when the reward is so sweet.

If you want a life of freedom, simply take it for yourself. What’s stopping you?”

You cannot live your life following someone else’s rules.

“Sometimes you need to stand out in order to blend in.”

“It would be highly indecent. Being almost alone. In the room of the girl I want to marry. The one who keeps refusing me.”

“What does it say about me that I find myself even more attracted to you after that threat?” “It means you are as darkly twisted as I am, my friend.”

“I will never be your keeper, Audrey Rose.” Any traces of humor vanished. Thomas lifted my hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to it, causing my heart to race for a new reason.

“Be cautious with who you give your heart to. And be even more wary of those who seek to steal it.”

He leaned in and kissed my cheek, unconcerned with our scowling audience. “You are always free to do as you please. Even if you choose to follow a strange man in a gaudy suit into the bowels of a steam cruiser while someone in his show is murdering women.”

“Sometimes we choose not to see things we know are true, simply because we wish to keep the fantasy of what could have been alive. To see the realness of a thing, well, sometimes that removes hope.

Corpses were one thing; nursing a living body back to health was not my area of expertise.

How many bodies must we discover before some safety measures are enacted?”

Greatness lies in being driven, in not settling simply because you’ve reached one goal. It’s a state of perpetual climbing and striving to best yourself.

“Contentment is the root of complacency.

Hope is the true magic—it’s the spark and draw.

The crowd hopes for the impossible to become possible. It shows them dreams don’t belong only in our heads—with hope those fantasies can become real. Taking hope away is like taking life from someone. We all need to believe we can achieve the impossible.”

it was always preferable to beg for forgiveness after the fact than ask for permission beforehand.

“Never, ever, give up yourself for someone else, Audrey Rose. The right person will want you just as you are. And if they don’t?” She sniffled, and shook her head. “Forget them. Tipping the scales too far in either direction is nothing but trouble. I gave up my home and family for kisses, playing cards, and empty promises of a future.

Time is one law I cannot seem to break, no matter how much I beg, borrow, or steal, I cannot produce more of it.

Was it possible to pretend to be someone else so thoroughly that you actually stepped into that life?

Corpses did not trouble me; the men who made them did.