Chapter One

Chapter One



The first time Serena saw him, she knew there was going to be trouble. He had that look. It was the sudden stillness that alerted her to his presence. She looked up from the cards Flynn had just dealt her and became aware of a silent, menacing figure in the open doorway. One hand rested casually on the hilt of his smallsword, and even in that dim light, she could see the distinct challenge in his eyes as they scanned the various tables in the tavern's crowded, smoke-filled common room.

Dangerous. Reckless. Wild. Those were the words that passed through
Serena's mind. When his glance fell on her, taking in her filmy costume, lingering on her artfully painted face framed with soot-black curls, and the wide expanse of white bosom, especially the wide expanse of white bosom, her fingers itched to reach for her cape to cover herself. She had no idea why his interest should fix on her. In relation to some of the other "ladies" who were present that evening, she was hardly worth a second stare. Nothing too much, nothing too obvious—that was the rule she and Flynn followed.

Remembering the role she was playing, she smiled at him vaguely and
drew Flynn's attention to the stranger by fingering the black silk
patch at the corner of her mouth, her signal to be on the alert. Then
the stranger's eyes passed over her, and calling for a tankard of
ale, he found a place for himself at a table against the wall. Only
then did the hum of conversation resume.

Serena darted a quick, questioning look at Flynn. It was one of the
other players, however, a resident performer at Drury Lane, who
answered Serena's point