Page 114 of Angel's Flight

“How on earth did you get mixed up in this, Daroga?”Erik asked, casual and unbothered as ever.

“As soon as your second letter reached Armand, I knew that the people spying on me would be on their way to you.I was trying to intervene,” Shaya replied with the same nonchalance.“It was good to see Adèle.She was the initial target.”

“And you stepped in to be a hero,” Erik grumbled.

Shaya smiled wistfully.“Well, one must try when one can.”

Despite the danger, Christine found herself smiling at the man who had changed so much since she first met him.

“You consider this heroism?”Bidaut interjected.

“I consider it a chance to end this madness without further violence,” Shaya said, meeting Christine’s eyes and smiling sadly.“I’m glad to see you’re well.”

“For now,” Christine replied sadly.

“You think too highly of a violent man,” Bidaut said, visibly bored, and now focused on Erik.“You are cornered, Monsieur Gilbride.Do as I asked back in Geneva and let this be over.My employer may even be generous enough not to send authorities after you.”

Christine wanted to intervene, to say to hell with the money: they didn’t need it more than anyone’s life.

“His employer is Sabine de Chagny,” Shaya said, quick as a gunshot and just as shocking.Christine exchanged a look of disbelief with Erik.“Though she goes by Sabine de Martiniac now.”

“What?”Christine asked, utterly stunned.

“Sabine doesn’t need the money,” Erik scoffed, unimpressed.Christine knew him, knew that the very mention of someone close to Raoul was guaranteed to turn him against any idea of surrender.

“Oh, she does,” Pauline interjected with a cruel smile.“Big brother Philippe wasted the whole fortune, leaving almost nothing for his siblings after his debts were called in.They could barely pay us without help.”

“Shut up,” Bidaut hissed at Pauline.She had revealed something interesting if Shaya’s pleased look was any indication.For Chistine’s part, it did nothing to comfort her.

“All the better to know that family suffers.I wouldn’t give them a sou,” Erik sneered.“Even if we had it.”

“Is this the game you’re going to play?Trying to trick me again?”Bidaut snarled back.“I won’t be had this time.If you don’t—”

“Erik,” Shaya cut in urgently.“O hamleh est.”

Whatever Shaya had said made Erik’s eyes go wide.Christine looked between him and her husband, trying to understand what message had been delivered.

“Mal baradram?”Erik’s voice was unsteady in a way Christine had rarely heard.

“Beleh.”

Erik stared at Shaya for a long moment, then Bidaut and Pauline.Finally, his eyes settled on Christine.“Trust me,” his voice whispered in her ear, directed by his ventriloquist skill so only she could hear.

“They’re up to something,” Pauline remarked.Christine wished Bidaut would slap her, but he only sent her a look.

“As I was saying,” Bidaut went on.“You will do as I asked in Geneva and—”

“And as I said, there is nothing left to give her,” Erik said, vehement.“Thanks to your colleague here.”

“What the hell is he talking about?”Bidaut demanded of Pauline, his anger finally showing through.

“She made a promise to the lord of this village.Well, knight, technically.Said she would buy all his lands and invest in their upkeep,” Erik explained, sounding more annoyed than urgent.Christine was beginning to understand.

“What does that have to do with your stolen legacy?”Bidaut sighed back.

“We felt beholden,” Christine answered, making sure to scowl at Pauline.“So we have fulfilled the deal.”

“Our dear Erik has not only set his fortune on fire for this pathetic hamlet, he swore to never leave this place,” Pauline added with clear relish.“That he’d rot and suffer here and never set foot on the continent again.”

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