Canon in Crimson (Symphony in Red Book 1) by Rachel Kastin & Daniel Gailbraith

Author:Rachel Kastin & Daniel Gailbraith [Kastin, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-01-15T22:00:00+00:00

§

A few days later, I stared dismally at the back of the Driver’s seat as we headed out towards the Cointreau residence. The Ghost, who’d been too polite so far to interrupt my brooding, had come along scope out the cellar. He was also doubling as my escort; a girl appearing solo at one of these things was apparently something of a faux pas. I’d never really thought about it before, because I’d always been with Alger…but thinking about that just clawed at my newly formed scabs, and I sank down into my seat and sighed.

“Forgive me,” the Ghost said quietly, “but my concern overpowers my courtesy. What troubles you, my Mata Hari?”

“Great, I’m Mata Hari now,” I muttered, giving him a morose glance. “She was executed, you know.”

He just laughed, that near-silent rush of air I’d come to recognize.

“Then let us be thankful the stakes are not quite so high tonight.”

“Right,” I answered, rolling my eyes, “unless I don’t find out everything important.”

He reached out and squeezed my hand comfortingly.

“If our captain has put his faith in you, then surely it is well-deserved,” he said.

I winced.

“What if we don’t talk about that right now?” I suggested, my mind racing to escape that train of thought. I was sure I caught a flicker of curiosity illuminate his expression, but he snuffed it out skillfully.

“As you wish, milady,” he said, sweeping the air gracefully with his free hand as if to bow.

I couldn’t help smiling a little at that, letting the exaggerated gesture lighten my dreary mood for a moment. And then, watching him appreciate my reaction, I started to pay a little more attention to him, too. Just as I’d noticed at the auction, even with all the black, he dressed up pretty convincingly. I didn’t really think of him as the fancy event type, but he pulled it off just fine. And actually, I realized, he looked younger than he acted—maybe four, five years older than me? I started to wonder, could someone really pick up his many and varied skills in such a short time? Where had he learned all of those tricks, anyway—before or after he’d joined up with the Gang? And what about that whole sea monster story? And exactly how far back did he and Alger go, anyway?

But as I opened my mouth to drown him in a river of questions, we pulled up in front of Martin Cointreau’s house. With three stories, two fountains, gold statues, an elaborate bas-relief façade, and sculpted hedges, it was exactly as ostentatious as I’d expected. I stifled a giggle as the Ghost stepped out of the car and helped me down, folding my hand neatly into the crook of his elbow as we walked down the red velvet carpet laid out across the walkway. What seemed like a mile later, we reached the enormous carved oak door. I took care of the gatekeepers there with a smile and a wink, and we passed by without any need for an invitation.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.