The Turncoat's Gambit by Andrea Cremer

Author:Andrea Cremer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2016-10-12T17:18:02+00:00

• • •

By the time Lieutenants Redding and Thatcher departed, their derisive comments about Charlotte had given way to praise of her keen observation. Thatcher went so far as to clap Coe on the shoulder in approval before exiting the room.

A new plan was in motion. And while it might mean Imperial raids on archives and libraries across the globe, at least it lessened the chance that any of the Sisters would be abducted and tortured while Redding attempted to prove her belief that the Book of the Dead was still hidden in the Temple.

With the other officers gone, Charlotte expected Coe to take his leave as well. Then Charlotte would be alone again.

Wait and survive. Wait and survive.

To her surprise, Coe drew a flask from inside his jacket. Unscrewing the cap, he offered Charlotte a drink.

“It was you.” As Charlotte had been reconciling the truth she’d believed in with what had actually transpired over the past month, holes in her knowledge had filled with unpleasant facts. “You poisoned me on the Calypso. You think I’d accept a drink from you now?”

“I didn’t intend to poison you.” Coe shook his head. “But I didn’t have enough expertise with the dosage and gave you too much. I sincerely apologize for that. I was very concerned when you became so ill. I felt very close to you that night.”

He sounded aggrieved, and she noticed how haggard his face had become.

That wasn’t enough to keep Charlotte from snapping, “You almost killed me!”

“I made a mistake,” Coe said. “I know you don’t believe it, Charlotte, but I do not want any harm to come to you.”

While she was tempted to lash out at him again, Charlotte forced herself to pause and take stock. Coe was troubled. He genuinely wanted Charlotte’s forgiveness and her good opinion. He needed her to believe he was neither a coward nor a villain.

“Tell me why, Coe,” Charlotte said in a quiet voice. “Not what you knew your father wanted to hear, but why you really turned against the Resistance.”

He stared at her, disbelieving what she’d said.

“I want to hear it from you,” Charlotte pressed.

Coe took another swig from his flask. “Sometimes I don’t know if I even remember the truth.”

He was gazing ahead, looking through Charlotte rather than at her. “When my father confronted me with the letters I’d received from the Resistance, I knew I was a dead man. I never thought he’d offer a reprieve.”

“So you did do it to save yourself,” Charlotte murmured.

“No!” Coe stood up and paced a few feet away. “That’s not what I did.”

Turning back to Charlotte, his eyes begged for her belief. “Yes, I wanted to live. But I didn’t make the choice for myself alone. I made it for everyone I care about.”

Now Charlotte was on her feet. “Everyone you care about! You betrayed all of them!”

“You don’t understand,” he said. “I meant what I said about the Resistance. Charlotte, it’s hopeless. Truly, brutally hopeless. If the Resistance meets the Empire in an all-out war, the Resistance will be annihilated.

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