Page 40 of To Catch A Rogue

There wasno time to alert the others.

Lark and Charlie slipped through the palace, searching for the pale, blonddhampiragent. Dido wouldn't have gone through the gardens; half the ball was gathered on the back terrace still viewing the fireworks.

"Here." Charlie slipped an earpiece out of his pocket and tucked it in her ear, sweeping several loose curls down over it to hide it. He clipped the other piece to her necklace, where it glittered like a pendant. "Ava, can you hear us?"

Nothing but static came through the earpiece. Lark winced. "I've got nothing."

"Ava?" he called softly.

"Charlie?" a startled voice asked.

The young woman was shuttered in her room with Kincaid, using the device the Rogues' resident weapons-expert in London had created to keep track of them all. She could only listen to one communicator at a time, and the range was limited, but it was better than nothing.

Lark breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. "Got her."

Charlie swiftly relayed what they were up to.

A few low-pitched whining noises came through the earpiece, and then Ava was back. "Kincaid saw her heading for the stables. The servants have been readying a steam carriage."

"We're going to see if we can plant a tracking device on the carriage," Charlie said. "Tell Kincaid to keep an eye on her from a distance."

"Stables are this way." Lark strode toward the eastern end of the house, unhooking the bottom half of her gown as she went. She wore a thin pair of tight breeches beneath them, though the bustle remained. Flipping what was left of the skirt around, she turned it into a long, dark cloak.

"Nice," Charlie mused.

"Gemma provided it, after all. There are all sorts of modifications to her gowns."

Pressing her back to the wall, she surveyed the stable yard and started using sign language so thedhampirwouldn't hear them."Two footmen near the stables. The target's pacing by the carriage. Another guard watching over it."

"No chance of getting near that carriage then?"

Lark flashed him a grin. She was starting to feel like her old self again. "Dare me?"

His hand snagged around her wrist, his face suddenly serious.

"Charlie."

Leaning closer, he brushed a curl behind her ear. "Maybe it's not worth it. There'll be other chances."

"Who are you and what have you done with Charlie?" Lark breathed, turning her face close to his ear. "The boy I knew would be flipping a coin to race me."

His thumb stroked lightly across the inside of her wrist, as he barely dared whisper, "The boy you knew died the night he rocked you in his arms, begging you to start breathing again."

The revolution.

The night Tin Man died.

Slowly, her smile faded, her heart stuttering to a halt. That night had torn her entire life apart, but perhaps she hadn't been the only one. There was a look in his eyes, far too serious for her to recognize.

"I'm not going to be hurt,"she signed, her heart starting to beat again."I promise. Look. There are only four of them. Do you have that tracking device?"

Charlie passed it over."We're not going to be able to get near that carriage."

"You're not. You're too big and noticeable. Which makes you an excellent diversion."

"Lark."

"Go."She shoved him in the back."I'm faster than you. I'll have the beacon attached to the bottom of the carriage before you can even blink."