Red Seas Under Red Skies: The Gentleman Bastard Sequence, Book Two (Gentleman Bastards 2)

‘It’s more than a lot of people have, I suppose,’ muttered Jean.

‘But it’s not what I promised,’ said Locke. ‘I’m sorry, Jean. I fucked up again. Tens of thousands, I said. Huge score. Put us back at the top of our games. Lashani noblemen. Gods above.’ He put his head in his hands. ‘Crooked Warden, why the hell do you ever listen to me?’

‘It wasn’t your fault,’ said Jean. ‘We did pull it off. We did get out with everything we planned. It’s just . . . it was the wrong everything. There was no way we could know.’

‘Shit,’ said Locke.

Their carriage slowed, then creaked to a halt. There was a clatter and a scrape as their footman placed a wooden step, and then the door opened into daylight. The smell of the sea flooded into the compartment, along with the sound of crying gulls.

‘Do you still . . . want to do this?’ Locke bit his lip at Jean’s lack of reaction. ‘I know . . . that she was meant to be here with us. We can just forget about it, leave it where it is, take carriages—’

‘It’s fine,’ said Jean. He pointed at the burlap bag on the seat beside Locke. The bag was undulating, as if possessed by a motive force within itself. ‘Besides, we went to the trouble of bringing a cat this time.’

‘I suppose we did.’ Locke poked the bag and smiled thinly at the resulting attack from inside. ‘But still, you—’

Jean was already rising to leave the carriage.