Lady of Steel and Straw by Erica Ivy Rodgers

Author:Erica Ivy Rodgers [Ivy, Erica Rodgers]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Holiday House
Published: 2024-06-04T00:00:00+00:00

22

CHARLOTTE

Charlotte’s ear throbbed as the cardinal’s earring swung against her neck. It had taken everything within her not to tear the thing out as they walked through the catacombs toward the Pointe de Jute. If it really was a symbol of their pardon, she couldn’t risk removing it.

At the safe house, Worth unloaded his weapons onto the kitchen table and Charlotte did her best to ignore the weight of the jewel. She filled the coffeepot with grounds and water and hung it over the fire. By the time the water was bubbling, the kitchen filling with the glorious smell, Pol and René had joined them.

The Avalanche leveraged his hip against the table as Worth recounted their time in the palace, ending with Montaigne’s idiot apology, and both René and his Guardian stared at Charlotte in various shades of shock and curiosity. She ignored them and gathered the teacups scattered around the sitting room.

“She didn’t castrate him,” said Worth, as if it had been a legitimate option.

“Luc de Montaigne called you pretty?” said René, taking a cup from Charlotte and wiping it out with a cloth. Then he scrambled. “Not that you aren’t! It’s just that I have always been fairly certain the captain only thinks something is pretty if it has a very sharp blade.”

“She does have a blade,” said Pol, brows bouncing gleefully.

Charlotte punched the Avalanche in the shoulder as Worth smirked.

“I always thought he liked pain a little too much,” said the lavender Guardian, “but that was painful for me to watch.”

“Shut up,” snapped Charlotte.

Pol nudged Worth with a foot. “Want to hit him yet?”

Worth’s growl was noncommittal, so Pol looked to Charlotte. “When you’re ready to castrate Montaigne, I’ll hold him down.”

Charlotte thanked the Old God for brothers of heart.

“So,” said Pol, scratching at his braided beard. “The cardinal gave you a job.”

“She gave us an ultimatum,” said Charlotte. “We rid the Olde Pointe of ancient wraiths, or we hand over Worth’s heart.”

René cleaned the last of the teacups and poured everyone coffee before joining them at the table. “The two of you created quite the distraction,” he said. “The entire palace was focused on the throne room.”

“Except the Red Jackets guarding the Cardinal’s Keep,” grumbled Pol. “The Guardians’ hearts are being held in the cardinal’s rooms, and there’s no getting in without help.”

Raquel St. Claire entered the kitchen from the catacombs, blue braid piled atop her head. “Stealing them won’t be necessary if the Parson does what the cardinal wants,” she said. As the woman passed Charlotte, her hand shot out, catching Charlotte in the head before she could dodge. St. Claire smiled darkly. “Too slow, idiot.”

Charlotte raised a rude gesture in response.

“St. Claire heard correctly,” said Worth, fingers tapping a pattern on his porcelain teacup. “The cardinal says she’ll return the Guardians’ hearts if we succeed in settling the Olde Pointe. But we’ll have to leave Niveaux.”

“True exile would mean abandoning Petras’s plea to protect the prince,” said Charlotte.

“The prince gave up his right to our protection the moment he disbanded the Order,” said St.

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.