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seen since London nearly a year previous, looked as though he d lost even more hair in
the ensuing months. Perhaps a bit of weight as well. The man was a disaster.
Mr. Morelo. Benjamin nodded, his thin, aristocratic lips barely moving. I m
afraid we come to you in dire straits.
I don t appreciate being gagged and blindfolded when pursuing a pack of
werwolves, Benjamin. I work for you. I would have come in when I could. Raul
clenched his right hand again, this time with slightly less anger. At least having a
human before him meant he would be gone soon.
I understand you and your men were unable to capture the Gypsy woman again.
Raul sighed. It had hardly been his fault. They split up, sir. My men made the split
decision to follow the pack.
Your men are not paid to think. Mr. Benjamin straightened his neck and shook
his head, a tiny and somewhat foppish movement.
43
Camryn Rhys
I followed the woman, and the alpha. They made it back to the ship before I could
drop them. But I believe my men got the rest of the pack.
Benjamin stepped fully into the room, keeping his distance from Raul and coming
to rest in one of the bulky chairs. It couldn t have been comfortable. The man sank into
it as though drowning. Raul always preferred a nice, hard chair. Good for the posture.
But these rich men and their feathers and down. They d take any good chair or
chaise, stuff it with an ungodly amount of goose feathers, and cover it in some gaudy
velvet or other. This was, Raul was convinced, why they all had such crooked backs.
The woman is our primary objective.
Raul growled, his blood rushing for a moment before he could push the rage back
down. Why don t you have your spy kill her then, if you need her so badly?
We can t afford to reveal our asset at this time. It s too vital to our infiltration of
this rebellion as a grander organization to allow an unmasking just to silence one petty
Gypsy.
One petty Gypsy with some kind of flying steam ship who s managed, so far, to
outwit two assassins and half an army. Raul smirked self-assuredly.
Careful, Morelo. You re one of the assassins she s outwitted. Benjamin tapped his
knotted nose and winked. The last one didn t fare well after that.
Raul shifted his weight from side to side, clasping his hands behind his back. I just
need one more shot at her.
That is also what he said.
If I can just catch them in Milan
Mr. Benjamin raised a thin finger, stopping Raul s speech. You ve been a good
man, Raul. We have no plans to terminate you, yet. But don t get hasty. The same
skinny hand snaked into the pocket of his extremely well-tailored suit and emerged
with a folded piece of paper, which he extended to Raul.
You received another message?
Benjamin inclined his head and the light caught the glare of his oddly shaped bald
spot. Raul wondered what made hair grow in such a strange pattern. Perhaps if he
could scalp the man and get a look under that skin& maybe he was some kind of
demon.
Of course, he smelled human, but Raul had been fooled by that before.
You may approach me, Raul. They will only shoot you if you attack.
Raul looked back to the windows flanking the door. As always, one man stood in
each window, armed with twin revolvers, aimed at his heart no doubt. He plucked the
paper from Benjamin s outstretched fingers and opened it.
They re docking in Avignon?
Benjamin nodded.
You re certain this is correct?
44
Airship Seduction
It came directly from our source on the ship. Apparently, one of the weres you hit
was taken on board.
Raul s stomach tightened. What if they keep the body for more than a day?
Mr. Benjamin waved a diminutive hand in his direction. Calm down, my boy. He
pulled a tiny box from his other pocket. We have it on good faith that they plan to
burn the body before sundown.
As custom dictates.
Yes.
If they wait for the body to surrender
They will not.
I cannot reach Avignon by sunset. We ll be lucky if we make Torino by the time
they land in Milan. My men will be prepared to leave as soon as I am released.
Mr. Benjamin opened the tiny box and pulled a substance out with the
extraordinarily long nail of his pinky finger. He put some on the back of his tongue,
then snorted the rest with a dainty sniff.
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