Charlotte hesitated. “I’m not sure that would be wise.”
“Oh.”
“And therefore I am happy to accept the invitation.”
Constantinopla grinned so widely, Charlotte feared she would crack something. Then she pocketed the handcuffs, and when Charlotte noticed, she blushed. “I thought I might take them on my honeymoon.”
And now Charlotte blushed.
“After all,” Constantinopla continued, gazing adoringly at Tom, who was now hobbling toward her, “one never knows when one might want to do a little independent looting, and these handcuffs will prevent my husband’s intervention. Even a married woman should maintain her self-sustenance, you know.”
“How modern of you,” Charlotte murmured. This idea (albeit in a more metaphorical sense that shall not be related here) interested her so greatly, she left Constantinopla with a nod and smile, and approached the other two policemen in the hope of finding handcuffs on their persons. Besides, the young pirates were joyfully expressing their pleasure at being reunited, and she could not help but disapprove. Laughing and embracing in full view of several dozen people was appalling behavior, even for pirates, and she had a good mind to turn back and scold them.
“Lottie!”
Alex emerged from the crowd, his face soot-covered but his eyes such a clear blue Charlotte felt she could have flown away in them. Forgetting the policemen, she ran to him, engulfing him in an embrace even before he stopped walking. He laughed, and she wrapped her legs around his hips, overcome with such joy she felt the air crackle with it. Alex’s arms encircled her in return, providing a strength she knew she could trust.
He was her big scary pirate, and she was safe with him.
“Are you all right?” she asked, touching his face, brushing back his hair.
“I’m grand, my darling,” he said, grinning as if he’d just come fromthe pub rather than toppling some considerable distance out of a burning house. “Are you?”
“I am now.”
“Thanks for rescuing me.”
She opened her mouth to say it was nothing. Risking her own life, exposing witchcraft, betraying the League—nothing. But that was not true, and she found herself saying instead, “You are everything.”
Heat bloomed between them, and the air crackled louder. The world seemed to drift away like smoke from a house fire. Alex blinked, his eyes growing heavy. Charlotte smiled. They drew together in a soft, gentle kiss.
It felt like they had never kissed before, never touched. A tender new promise blossomed between them, and Charlotte knew she would gladly battle the League, or even abandon it altogether, to keep the pirate in her life. She sighed against his wicked mouth.
A moment later, she realized the crackling sound was in fact from the flames that continued to ravage Armitage House above the crowded street, and the warmth she felt may have been romantically metaphorical, but it was also literal due to the burning shards of floorboards and furniture raining down. Slipping from Alex’s arms, she stared up at the aerial drama. A tall and elegant townhouse had begun to circle Armitage House with a somber, rather supercilious dignity that reminded Charlotte eerily of her aunt. Its gable window cycled open to reveal a large cannon.
“Is it going to shoot her out of the sky?” she asked with astonishment. “People on the ground will be hurt!”
“That’s Darlington House,” Alex said. “Miss Darlington and Lady Armitage have been rivals for longer than I’ve been alive. I expect to see—”
Suddenly the cannon fired. Water sprayed from it onto the Armitage House flames, creating enormous billows of smoke. The crowd cheered, and Charlotte cocked an eyebrow at Alex.
“Yes,” he said, nodding authoritatively, “that’s exactly what I was about to say.”
Charlotte had no chance to scoff, for the battlehouses began moving toward the shore as Armitage House tried to evade Darlington House’s rescue efforts. The crowd hastened to follow, and Charlotte and Alex went with them automatically.
“I wasn’t able to get the amulet,” Alex said as they hurried along.
“Good,” Charlotte said.
“Excuse me?” His eyebrows did not seem to know whether to lift or huddle in confused surprise.
She shrugged with an audacious nonchalance she had learned from him. “Now we will simply be forced to continue together in our pursuit of it.”
Alex grinned, and Charlotte felt a shimmer beneath her heart that she knew was reflected in the long, hungry gaze she gave him. His footsteps slowed, and he reached out to touch her face—
“Oh hell,” he said, his expression turning grim.
“What’s wrong?” Charlotte looked around for the trouble he had noticed, and her own expression leaped over grim and landed straight in appalled.
