The Diamond Conspiracy: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel Read Online Free PDF Page B

off . . .”
    “It will if you do this,” Alice said, as she plucked the button free of the scarf and laid it on the table. Before anyone else could move, Alice pulled the coal shovel from its place by the fire, and brought it down hard on the little piece of brass.
    Serena let out a scream of outrage. She actually stamped her foot and glared up at the maid with blazing cheeks and eyes. “You broke it! It was a present, and you broke it!”
    Alice pointed to the pieces. “It was always meant to be broken in case of an emergency, child. As a communicator it has a short range, but as a distress signal, it can cover half the globe, Miss Eliza said.”
    All of them peered down at the destroyed button, and they could see the remains of it gleaming faintly red.
    “Wherever she is in the world, she’ll come,” Alice said with deep conviction. “She’ll come and she’ll set things to rights.” She ran her eye over the children standing before her.“She’ll find the quickest way back, but we’re not going to wait for her here. We better get moving before things get nasty.”
    As all the children trooped to the door, Alice laid her hand across Christopher’s shoulders. “This is not your fault.”
    They were kindly meant words, but he couldn’t simply forgive himself as quickly as the Seven did. He could not stop wondering what sort of dewskitch Callum was suffering under the thing they had encountered. He also wondered what he would do if they couldn’t get Callum back.
    Once Eric appeared, dressed in similar clothes as theirs—only far cleaner—Alice gave a quick nod. “Right then, are we all ready?”
    Alice then motioned for the children to follow her . . . into Miss Eliza’s bedroom.
    “Um . . . Miss Alice?” Christopher stammered.
    “Drastic situations call for drastic measures,” Alice said and then beckoned for the five of them to follow. “From here on, quiet as the grave . . . lest we truly find ourselves there.”

T WO

    Wherein Phantoms Take Flight
    E liza was trying to remember, when was the last time she was this sore and it pleased her this much?
    Their fourth day in the air, their first over the Atlantic, the tension between them she was determined to break, tapping into every detail she knew from Burton’s
Kama Sutra
masterpiece to consummate their relationship. They had a night and full day in nothing but their naked glory, only interrupted when a steward dropped off a food tray by the door. She had expected, following that
exquisite
first night together, their amorous adventures to get a bit tiresome.
    What a terrible assumption. Good Lord, but that man was nimble.
    Tempted as they were to enjoy their second transatlantic day lost in a few of the seven deadly sins, Wellington and Eliza dressed and then joined the company of their fellow passengers, and the breathtaking view of their transatlantic journey, with a splendid luncheon.
    During the meal, Wellington leaned in and whispered, “There’s another couple five tables away that appear to be glowering at us.”
    Eliza inclined her head and then reached into her handbagfor her compact. The reflection it afforded was a couple of what appeared to be impressive standing, and indeed they were shooting pointed, rather haughty looks in their direction. Each time the man or woman—who had to crane over her shoulder to look at them—did so, they muttered something just before shaking their heads.
    They also looked as if they had not slept well.
    “I think we just met our neighbours,” Eliza quipped.
    They both burst out laughing, not having a care what disparaging looks they earned.
    The rest of the day, they agreed, belonged to the
Ares
. Wellington and Eliza needed something other than their own carnal delights to distract them as it felt they would never reach the shore. She was anxious to get back to headquarters, regroup with the others active in the City, and begin investigations into Peter Lawson, the Duke of Sussex. What