The Noble and the Nightingale by Barbara Ann Wright

Author:Barbara Ann Wright [Wright, Barbara Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781635558135
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2021-02-25T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Adella thought fast as everyone chattered around her. The sentinels were pursuing them, and they had to think of a way to escape before…

She shook her head, her reasoning coming back in a rush. “Wait a minute,” she cried and had to repeat it before everyone fell silent. “Why are we running away?”

Everyone stared as if she’d lost her mind.

She pointed at the launches. “We’ve done nothing wrong, and those are servants of the same government as me.”

Bridget licked her lips and cast a glance at Vincenzo. “Adella—”

“We weren’t doing anything wrong when they found us,” she insisted. “I can testify to that.” Vincenzo’s nostrils flared, and she tried to see this from his point of view, but there was only so far she could go with this group and stay fully inside the law. “If we surrender, I’m sure I can explain.”

They all looked doubtful, even Bridget, and Adella’s position had never felt as worthless as it did now. She fought the urge to say that she and Bridget and Serrah Nunez hadn’t done anything wrong, at least, and did not deserve to be dragged into this mess.

Cristoff looked at her with a pleading expression. He wouldn’t want Vincenzo to go to jail. But she didn’t want to flee the country, either, or wherever this ship was currently headed. “Then what’s the plan? Because we three need to get back.”

Vincenzo snorted. “If it’s not you they’re after.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Bridget took her arm, a look of worry on her face. Right, her criminal past. But surely she hadn’t done anything bad enough for the sentinels to chase her. The constabulary would be enough. No, they had to be after the smugglers.

Then why bring magic into it? “You saw their mage?” she asked Bridget.

She blinked. “No, but they were using magic.”

“What form did it take?”

“Does it matter?” Vincenzo asked, but Serrah Nunez hushed him.

Bridget shook her head. “The sentinels were invisible. I’ve never seen the like.”

Yes, that was an amazing, complicated feat, the kind of spell Gisele excelled at, the kind that wasn’t cheap. “Why bring in a mage for smuggling?” Adella said. Waving at Vincenzo, she added, “No offense.”

He crossed his arms. “None taken. I’ve said from the beginning that they’re not here for us.”

She let that slip past as it seemed true at the moment. Only serious crimes, those of a political nature like Dolores’s murder prompted the sentinels to hire a mage. The guild’s rates were exorbitant, especially for someone like Gisele.

Adella’s belly was cold as her mind turned over. Was this her doing? Had the sentinels been tracking her because they suspected her of Dolores’s murder? Preposterous. Gisele wouldn’t have kept that from her.

Unless she didn’t know. What if they only told Gisele they needed her for an operation that involved following a suspect? Then that suspect had led them right to Cristoff, who they wanted to question, at least. Gisele might not have known Adella was one of their targets. Gods, she was going to be so angry when she found out.

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