Page 20 of Devil in Her Details

Was she a horse to break in? A muscle ticked along his jaw. “The situation is simple, Calvington. You’re leaving Brighton.”

“Ah. So you’re here to threaten me even knowing who I am. You’ve uncommon nerve, I’ll grant you that.”

“You’re not hearing me,” Dagger said calmly. “You leave Brighton today, and you leave without the milliner.”

“Is that why you commandeered my carriage?” Calvington mocked, his hand twisting in an effort to free himself again. “Are you escorting me out?”

“Hardly.” Dagger clamped his grip around the man’s wrist, locking fast. With his other hand, he closed his fingers around the marquess’s gloved thumb. “There are consequences for what you did in my world. I’m here to teach you a lesson.”

He broke his finger with a snap.

Calvington howled, the sound strangled as he doubled over, clutching his hand. That refined gentleman’s composure shattered in an instant, leaving in its wake simply a man of flesh and bone. Like the rest of them. Deuced satisfying to watch.

Dagger released him only long enough to seize Calvington’s other wrist.

The marquess’s eyes widened in sudden realization.

Too late, you arse.

Dagger caught the second thumb and snapped it back, the bones cracking sharply.

Calvington erupted into a slew of creative curses, his voice raw with pain. “You damned impudent dog,” he choked. “I’ll see you’ll hang for this.”

Dagger brushed imaginary dust from his sleeve before rapping twice on the carriage roof. The signal was answered at once.

Reaper slowed the carriage.

Calvington collapsed against the carriage seat, hands clutched together, his curses spilling out in a furious stream. “Do you hear me?” he spat. “You’re finished. Ruined.”

Dagger merely watched him for several heartbeats, unmoved. The lesson, as far as he was concerned, was finished. “Today I broke two fingers. One for the lady and the other for fouling my town.” The carriage came to a stop. “For each day you stay here, I’ll break one more finger.”

“You’re mad! A mad dog!”

Dagger pushed out of the carriage and turned back. “Mad dogs bite, remember that. Though I like to think of myself more as a panther.”

“You—”

He slammed the door in Calvington’s face.

Chapter Five

Lilly could not remember the last time she had ever felt this tired. Or the last time she had worked straight through the night, for that matter. Yet she refused to close her eyes until the final stitch for Allie and Leo’s commission lay neat and finished beneath her hands. Her confrontation with Calvington the day before still clung to her like an unpleasant fishy breath.

She would not have that man anywhere near her friends.

Nauseating scoundrel.

But let’s not think about him.

The morning air nipped happily at her cheeks as she pushed open the door to the Peregrine Inn. Warmth greeted her at once—along with the rich, earthy aroma of freshly brewed coffee. The scent wrapped around her like a familiar embrace, deep and comforting, reminding her of her family.

Lilly paused just inside the doorway, drawing in a deep breath, allowing this inviting fragrance to wash away the trouble of the day before. Coffee had never quite been her own preference. She favored tea, but Carlisle enjoyed the drink strong enough to send any normal person into a coughing fit, and her dearly departed grandmother had always insisted coffee was the only proper way to begin a morning. This same bold scent had always filled their home back in London.

Home, in its own peculiar fashion.

How she missed mornings spent gossiping with her brother!

“Lilly!”