Page 14 of The Dragon and the Dove

‘It’ll be good for you.’ She threaded her fingers through his. ‘Give you a chance to breathe. To come back from the darkness.’

It was so much a part of him lately that sometimes Ransom struggled to turn it off. To surrender his magic to that rippling pool inside him, even for an hour or two. He could feel it eating away at him, day after day.

He knew she could feel it too.

Proving his control to her – and himself – he recalled his adders. Seraphine, so used to the rhythm of his dark power, didn’t even flinch as they rushed back into his body, drowning once more in the murky sea of his soul.

She hummed, drawing closer to him. ‘Much better.’

He wasn’t so sure.

Chapter 3 Seraphine

As the pale sun dragged itself over the city, and a chill settled in the wind, Sera stood on the doorstep to House Armand, wringing her hands. Her coat and boots, which had been pilfered that morning from a vacant house in Old Haven, were far too big for her, making her look like a vagabond.

The others didn’t look that much better, but at least they weren’t showing up in their bedclothes and bare feet.

As the sole mansion in the heart of the Hollows of east Fantome, House Armand was entirely at odds with the grimy taverns and cheap bordellos that surrounded it. It was easiest to locate in the daytime since the shadows that cloaked the manor often rippled in the sunlight.

As former Cloaks and residents of House Armand, Val and Theo stood on either side of Sera, while Ransom and the remaining thirty or so members of the Order lingered on the street.

‘I’ll do the talking,’ said Theo. ‘Mercure always liked me best.’

‘Oh, puh-lease. You’re a defector just like the rest of us,’ said Val, adjusting her ominous black trench. ‘There’ll be no open-armed welcome for you here.’

‘Mercure needs this alliance just as much as we do,’ Sera reminded them.

In fact, the Head of the Cloaks had sent a letter suggesting it last week. It had arrived via a courier, a young boy called Fabian, who had looked up at Ransom with stars in his eyes.

At the first wink of sunlight on brass, Sera lunged for the knocker. In the same breath, the door swung open, revealing Cordelia Mercure. Wearing a slim burgundy trouser suit and black leather boots, she towered over them, as beautiful and intimidating as ever.

‘Seraphine.’ A ghost of a smile. ‘I see you’ve finally tired of your catacombs.’

‘Never warmed to them,’ Sera admitted.

‘Not that it matters. They caved in this morning,’ said Theo.

Madame Mercure’s brows shot up.

‘Lark Delano pulled the dead from the walls and made the whole place collapse like a house of cards,’ said Val, parting her hands with an explosive sound. ‘It was fucking epic.’

‘Language, Valerie.’ Mercure tsked, but those manicured brows remained high. ‘Hugo’s Passage is no more? And here I thought it was going to be another bad day.’

‘Speak for yourself,’ said Val. ‘We’re homeless. And this ugly trench smells like rot.’

Mercure offered a bemused look as if to say, And that’s my problem?

‘You wanted an alliance,’ said Sera. ‘Well, here we are.’

‘I don’t recall inviting your entire Order to live with me,’ she said pointedly.

‘Consider it our one and only demand,’ said Sera.

Mercure cast her gaze across the garden, scanning the street. ‘I count thirty-one Daggers—’

‘Former Daggers,’ said Theo. ‘We’re the Order of Flames now.’

Mercure returned her assessing gaze to them.