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Back Dangerous Remedy
Chapters (86)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. Contents
  7. Paris, June 1794
  8. PART ONE
  9. 1
  10. 2
  11. 3
  12. 4
  13. 5
  14. 6
  15. 7
  16. PART TWO
  17. 1
  18. 2
  19. 3
  20. 4
  21. 5
  22. 6
  23. 7
  24. 8
  25. 9
  26. 10
  27. 11
  28. 12
  29. PART THREE
  30. 1
  31. 2
  32. 3
  33. 4
  34. 5
  35. 6
  36. 7
  37. 8
  38. 9
  39. 10
  40. 11
  41. 12
  42. 13
  43. 14
  44. 15
  45. 16
  46. 17
  47. PART FOUR
  48. 1
  49. 2
  50. 3
  51. 4
  52. 5
  53. 6
  54. 7
  55. 8
  56. 9
  57. 10
  58. 11
  59. PART FIVE
  60. 1
  61. 2
  62. 3
  63. 4
  64. 5
  65. 6
  66. 7
  67. PART SIX
  68. 1
  69. 2
  70. 3
  71. 4
  72. 5
  73. 6
  74. 7
  75. 8
  76. 9
  77. 10
  78. 11
  79. 12
  80. 13
  81. 14
  82. Postscript
  83. A Ship in Le Havre Port
  84. Acknowledgements
  85. About the Author
  86. About Zephyr

‘For them.’ Ada crouched and finished freeing the crossbow from its protective cloth. Her face darkened. ‘We have to hurry. I think they’re up to something – they know Al’s execution is today, and any fool would guess that Camille would try to rescue him.’

‘Do you have any sense of what the Royalists are planning?’ he asked.

‘No. But I think it’s happening now. Dorval was summoned. He seemed in a hurry.’

Guil rifled through a crate and pulled out several short blades, a mask and a bag of money. Ada added a large sun hat, pinned it in place, and counted out the bolts for the crossbow.

‘They conned my father,’ she said, swinging a crossbow over her shoulder. ‘That’s how they got me. I’m a fool, and now Camille is trying to pull off a job on her own.’

Guil hooked the blades in his belt. ‘You are not a fool. He is your father. Our parents always have more control over us than we care to admit. But Camille is not alone, she has James with her – and I would guess also Olympe.’

A note of jealousy sounded within her at James’s name, but she shook it away. It didn’t matter who saved Camille, her or James, as long as someone did.

She tugged down the brim of her hat. ‘It doesn’t matter now.’

Guil squeezed her shoulder.

‘Do not blame yourself. It’s not worth the time.’

Guil was right. No use thinking about that now. She shouldered the crossbow. What mattered now was action.

11

The Foundations of the Madeleine

The barrel of the gun kissed coolly against her temple.

‘You’d think after everything that’s happened, you’d be a bit more cautious about your decisions,’ said James, one hand holding the gun to her head, the other holding tightly onto Olympe.

‘What are you doing?’

Camille felt lost. She could see everything happening, but she couldn’t put together the pieces of the puzzle. This was James, who’d taught her cards and kissed her under the willow trees, who was soft about animals and read more than anyone she knew. This made no sense.

‘What I have to,’ he replied.

A dark, thunderous pall clouded Olympe’s skin and the hum of electricity in the air made the ends of Camille’s hair rise. She made a sudden lunge for his neck, free hand wrapped in sparks – but he yanked her off-balance.

‘Don’t think you can use your party trick,’ he snapped. ‘Try to shock me and my finger will squeeze the trigger, whether I want to or not. You know that.’

Olympe clearly did, and stopped, though she was shaking with anger.