“They are free,” Tallulah said. “They are safe.”
“Chippingwich has waited a long time for you, Tallulah O’Doyle. Only with your knowledge and bravery were we at last able to defeat him.”
“Your role in this was not insignificant,” Tallulah said. “I believe the key was not me, but us.”
“Us.” He liked the sound of that. “We did show ourselves to be a remarkably good team.”
She slipped her arm through his and rested her head against him. “Yes, we did.”
“It may take time for your shop to open again,” he said. “If we were to combine efforts, you could resume your business while waiting on the repairs.”
She met his eye, clearly curious. “What are you proposing?”
“That we open the first Haberdashery and Confectionery Shop. We will begin a new trend, I’m certain of it. And being the fine team that we are, we will make an inarguable success of it.”
A hint of a smile played over her features. “Is that the only thing you are proposing?”
He leaned in and, adopting the roguish tone he had long ago perfected, he said, “That is not remotely the only thing.”
“I should very much like to hear your schemes.” She didn’t seem to harbor any lingering doubts about his character. She’d seen past the rogue he’d pretended to be to the person lurking beneath. And she seemed to like who she saw.
“Well, let me tell you the first and the last item on my list.” He raised her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers. “The first part of my proposal is that you join me at the pub for dinner, and I will hold your hand and look lovingly into your eyes the way a man does when courting a woman.”
“I like the beginning of this list,” she said.
“Then you’re going to love where the list ends.” He slipped his arm free of hers and wrapped it instead around her waist.
“And where does it end?” she asked.
He rested his forehead against hers. “It doesn’t. There’s no end. This, Tallulah O’Doyle, is meant to last forever.”
Brogan brought Vera back to his and Móirín’s flat to convalesce. Her life was not in danger, but what that life would look like remained to be seen. They’d only been home a matter of hours when two notes arrived: one for Brogan and one for Vera.
Sleep sat heavy on her features. She’d likely not keep her eyes open long enough to read hers.
“Would you like me to read it to you?” he offered.
“Please.”
He unfolded the smudged and scuffed paper. The handwriting was haphazard and hasty.
Kotik,
I am so proud of you. Now it is time for you to rest and heal. The children remain with me. Whispers are abundant on the street, warning me that the storm has not yet passed. Donnelly will safeguard you just as I will safeguard these little ones. If the fates are willing, we will reunite soon and rebuild.
Until then, be safe. Be vigilant. I will see you as soon as it is safe.
Pápochka
“The tempest is bigger than we know.” Vera whispered the warning they’d heard from both Clare and Four-Finger Mike, the same warning that was echoed in her father’s note.
Brogan pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You’ve an army, my dear. You will not face that storm alone.”
Her smile was weak. Her eyelids were heavy. “Promise I’ll have you. That is better than any army.”
“You always will, my love.” He kissed her lips, softly and tenderly. “And with you, I’ll have every dream I’ve ever hoped for.”
She released a slow breath. Her eyelids fluttered closed. In the next moment, her expression relaxed with sleep.
He sat beside her bed for a few minutes longer, grateful she was resting. Even more grateful she was alive. It had been a near thing.
All was quiet. He leaned back in his chair and pulled from his pocket the note he’d received. The wax seal on the back was disconcertingly familiar. This note was from the Dread Master.
As he unfolded it, a penny fell out onto his lap. He picked it up, turning it around with his fingers. It was marked with the design specific to the Dreadfuls. He’d handed his own penny over to Fletcher at the time of his feigned resignation.
Brogan turned his attention back to the note.
Today. 2 o’clock. Parliament.
He knew in an instant what the brief message meant. The Dread Master was summoning him to DPS headquarters. The demand couldn’t be ignored, and yet he hadn’t the first idea how he would be received by his one-time colleagues. They’d overlooked their frustrations with him enough to help solve the matter of the blackmail and the Mastiff’s violent grip on Old Compton Street. But allowing him back into their brotherhood was another thing altogether.
He slipped the note into his pocket and sat on the edge of Vera’s bed. He placed a light kiss on her forehead, careful not to wake her. She had a long road of recovery ahead of her, and sleep would do her a world of good. She mightn’t be entirely whole, but he had every confidence she would be well in time.
Brogan paused long enough in the kitchen to tell Móirín he’d be back as soon as he could and to ask her to look after Vera.
“She’s like a sister to me, Brog. You don’t even need to ask.”
His mind set fully at ease over Vera’s care, Brogan pulled on his coat and hat and made his way toward an uncertain reception. Each street closer to headquarters meant his heart pounded harder and his mind spun faster.
Doc had helped Vera because that was the kind of person he was, but that didn’t mean he had forgiven Brogan’s defection. And he was likely not the only one. Just because the Dread Master had summoned Brogan didn’t mean he was free to tell them all about his assignment.
He stepped through the familiar blue door. Nolan was dozing in his usual spot. A pile of pennies sat on the table where they were always placed.
Nolan opened a single eye. Brogan showed him the penny, and the man reached over and pressed the center of a flower engraved in the molding. A door slid open.
Brogan swallowed against the lump in his throat. He couldn’t put this off forever.
He stepped into the room where the Dread Penny Society held all of their official meetings. It was designed to be a small-scale version of the House of Commons. Fletcher sat, as always, at the head of the room in the midst of them all, on a chair that resembled a throne. The room was as full as Brogan had seen it in a long time.
All eyes turned to him. Surprise was written on every face, along with a fair bit of distrust.