Eternal Gambit by St. Clare Kelly

Author:St. Clare, Kelly
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-06-19T16:00:00+00:00

Fourteen

Jagger was angry; that was her first cognizant thought. Ebba brought a hand to her forehead and groaned. She had a skull full of pain.

“Ye did her corset so tight she couldn’t breathe!” Jagger was yelling. “She couldn’t reach the laces, ye fool. Ye nearly killed her!”

Ebba peeled back an eyelid, reasonably certain from her prone position, general nausea, and—she glanced down—where was her corset? She’d bloody fainted like a nincompoop.

She’d never live it down.

“Shh, she’s waking,” Caspian said, leaning over her.

Not waking. Already awake. Ebba sat, forcing Caspian back on his haunches. Jagger had Barrels pinned against a wall. Three of her fathers hovered on the point of intervening while the others were gathered around her with Caspian.

“What’s this racket about then?” she croaked, wincing as the act of talking sent a spear of white-hot agony into her temple.

Jagger whirled away from Barrels, pushing between Plank and Stubby to reach her. He sank down by her side. “We found ye half-dead down the path. If we hadn’t found ye, ye’d be dead already. Yer lips were blue—”

How was it that she’d nearly suffocated and Jagger was the one who needed reassurance? Ebba let herself fall against his chest. Then she frowned. His chest was bare, and hers was covered with a tunic. Her corset was gone. Those details weren’t worrying, but the transition from one garment to the next certainly had her wondering what Caspian and Jagger had seen. Though she had been wearing the off-the-shoulder blouse on underneath. Was that still on?

Jagger wrapped his arms around her and sighed. “Ye nearly died, Viva.”

“Aye, but it all worked out. The heat got to me, and I had to run from Cannon’s crew.”

His silver eyes hardened. “Don’t try to make him feel better. He laced ye too tight.”

Ebba pulled away. In her peripheries, she could see Barrels hovering like some kicked dog. “It was too hot. And I had to run,” she ground out, setting her jaw after.

Jagger rolled his eyes, and Ebba took that as a sign he felt better.

“Mistress Pirate, are you okay? You’re still very pale,” Caspian said.

“I don’t feel too flash, I’ll grant ye.”

His amber eyes were warm and showed true concern. But right now, they only served to remind her of his father.

“Why were ye down there by the stream?” Stubby asked, passing her a waterskin. “Ye bloody ran off.”

Ebba ripped the cork off with her teeth and spat it away, guzzling at the contents. Never in her life had she been so thirsty. Passing the skin back, she answered, “Aye, well, I saw sumpin’ with veritas I wanted to check out. So I went down to the stream and—”

“Ye were speakin’ to someone. We could see.”

She shot a look at Peg-leg. How much had they seen? A beat later, she realized they couldn’t have possibly recognized Montcroix from up here. “Aye,” she replied. “I did.”

Jagger was watching her closely.

“Hold on, hold on,” Locks said. “Ye’re tellin’ me ye saw sumpin’ with the sword and

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