TheCharmer Read Free Page A

could not resist him. It had become something of a mark of social superiority to play against "the Diamond". He fleeced only the mighty, and he only took what was needed to continue his delightful lifestyle in the Polite World.
    To have Ethan in your game was to experience the height of the manly art of gambling. He never stole estates from lordlings too young to know they were out of their league. He never targeted desperate men out to restore fallen fortunes. He was a most ethical, honorable cheat. Most importantly, one could never prove the fact.
    Collis never, ever played opposite him.
    But the dashing and handsome youth from Collis's past had become a jaded, world-weary man, though he was no older than Collis. Ethan's eyes were flat, his gestures mechanical as he toyed with the deck of cards.
    "How are you these days, Damont?" Collis leaned forward. "Really."
    Ethan didn't look at him. "Better than you."
    Rebuffed, Collis sat back with a snort. "True. At least you still have both wings."
    "That is I. Fully fledged and nowhere to fly."
    The words were quiet, almost inaudible, but they rang in Collis's head like a bell. Nowhere for an intelligent, wily, adventurous fellow like Ethan to fly? Excitement twined through him. Oh, had his friend come to the right club!
    Still, nothing could be done without clearing the notion through
Dalton
first, so Collis had taken his friend's latest address and bid him a cheerful goodnight. Recruiting wasn't a trainee's job, but this idea was simply too brilliant not to pass along.
    And admittedly, it had not been very comfortable being with Ethan last night. His old friend's presence had brought back far too many memories. Recalling the boy he'd once been, the man he'd become for a while… until that day on the battlefield when the cannon fire had blasted him from his horse, breaking several ribs and shattering his left arm so badly it had nearly been declared hopeless and amputated.
    If not for one very observant surgeon, who had seen that the pulse in Collis's left wrist was still strong and had ordered the arm set and left to heal on its own, he would indeed be without one wing.
    But healed did not necessarily mean recovered, so his soldiering days were over almost as soon as they'd begun. No more war, no more battles, no more music—
    Don't think about it. Think about this day, this work
    It was worthy work, or would be as soon as he became a Liar in truth. He couldn't wait.
    On the few missions he'd taken part in, he'd not been a real operative. He'd once helped James Cunnington attempt to locate an elusive prostitute named Fleur. Those had been interesting days, combing every place from the finest establishments, like Mrs. Blythe's elegant house of entertainment, to the lowest and filthiest corners of the stews—educational in itself, to be sure, but he'd only been along for the ride. He'd not even been told why they were searching for the girl.
    Another time he'd donned the red vest of a Bow Street Runner to search for a traitor's daughter—but again, errands, not missions.
    For now, Collis's mission was to graduate the Liar's Academy—and to enjoy provoking Rose, with her flashing eyes and snug breeches that showed entirely too much length of leg—
    Rose turned just then and caught him looking. Collis blinked innocently under her questioning glare, until his grin turned to laughter. She was so much fun to rile.
    He crossed the room to lean one hip against the wall near where she sat with her firearms class. "That was good work on the mat. You're going to be as good as me someday."
    Rose sighed, then put down her pistol and cloth. She folded her arms, tucking her fingers beneath her rolled-up sleeves, and eyed him with raised brows. "Flirting again? It won't work, y'know. I'm immune."
    He grinned at her, that easy smile that sent tiny shivers through her. "Flirting is so passé. I'm… beguiling."
    She stiffened her spine against its traitorous tendency to melt. "Well, go