Page 108 of The Dragon and the Dove

‘Gross,’ muttered Seraphine.

Val rubbed the spot between her brows. ‘Can you at least try and be normal for the duration of this meeting?’

Caruso popped a cherry in his mouth, and said, ‘Define normal, kitten.’

Fontaine lit up her pipe. ‘And to think I was going to skip this meeting.’

‘Shall we get to the point now?’ said Mercure.

Caruso grabbed another pastry from the platter. ‘Don’t mind me. I’m famished.’

‘You had two breakfasts,’ said Anouk. ‘I’ve never seen a stack of pancakes that high.’

‘Hard work, defecting from a power-mad tyrant,’ said Caruso.

‘Which brings us to the point,’ said Seraphine, sitting forward in her chair. ‘War.’

As she spoke, Ransom looked her over. Compared to last night, she appeared better. Beautiful – but she was always beautiful. Perhaps he had simply got used to her paleness, to the smudges underneath her eyes and the raw edges of her fingernails chewed down to nothing.

She faced Caruso. ‘To speak plainly, I’ve always found you to be unhinged, unpredictable, violent, remorseless, impatient and mildly insane. At your best, you’re a fully loaded, completely loose cannon.’

Caruso grinned. ‘Thank you.’

Ransom rolled his eyes.

‘At least he’s owning it,’ remarked Anouk.

‘Is the bar really this low?’ muttered the Shadowsmith.

‘Must have been to let you in,’ Caruso parried.

‘I helped found this Order.’

He clucked his tongue. ‘Classic Versini. Always clamouring for credit.’

‘And yet, despite all the things I just said, I trust you, Caruso,’ Seraphine went on, raising her voice to be heard, and drawing several looks of surprise. ‘Val says he speaks true. That he intends to keep his word and stand against the prince. And I believe her.’

‘Out with it, then, Dantes,’ said Mercure, impatiently. ‘If you wish to earn your place under this roof, you need to give us something we can use.’

‘What about the cool sword he brought?’ called a voice from the hall.

‘Yes, thank you, Fabian,’ she said, curtly. ‘I’m afraid we’re going to need something a little more useful than a blunt antique.’

‘I suppose you’ve already got one of those,’ said Caruso, gesturing at Madame Fontaine.

Outside, in the hall, Tobias choked on his own laughter.

‘You little fucker,’ said the soothsayer, with a rare glimmer of fondness.

He smirked. ‘You know, in another world, you might have been my grandmother.’

‘Only if that world is hell itself,’ she replied.

‘Why are we sitting around here, wasting time?’ Anouk piped up. ‘We know where Andreas is hiding out. We should be on our way back to Bellevue Castle.’

‘Enemy territory,’ said Albert, a note of caution in his voice. ‘That’s exactly what the prince expects.’

‘Bellevue is a fortress,’ said Paola, recalling their narrow getaway with a shudder. ‘We can’t just waltz inside.’