The dingy little lane was suddenly quiet, the crumbling buildings on either side seeming to loom inward with decrepit menace. He hammered the butt of his sword against his opponent's temple. The harlequin rose, already striking at the third man. A second man lunged, but the harlequin ducked, sweeping his outstretched leg under his opponent's feet, then kicked the man to the ground and kicked him once more-viciously-in the face. On the other side of the fight Artemis's cousin, Lady Penelope Chadwicke, whimpered, cringing away from the bleeding man. The first of the three men dropped, rolling to lie still and dazed.

She'd never seen anyone fight like this-with a kind of brutal grace, two swords flashing at once through the shadows, too swift for the human eye to follow.

He was like a jungle cat-wild and without a trace of compassion-and like a jungle cat his attack held no hesitation.Īrtemis stared, still kneeling, her hand gripping the little blade sheathed in her boot. The harlequin uncoiled from his crouch with a lethal movement so elegant Artemis's breath caught in her throat. Harlequins were meant to be clowns-a silly entertainment-but no one in the dark alley was laughing. He was big and wore a harlequin's motley-black-and-red diamond leggings and tunic, black jackboots, a hat with a wide, floppy brim, and a black half mask with a grotesquely outsized nose. Many a tale I've told, but none so strange as the legend of the Herla King.…Īrtemis Greaves did not like to think herself a cynical person, but when the masked figure dropped into the moonlit alley to confront the three toughs already menacing her and her cousin, the hand on the knife in her boot tightened. Now that she has the tiger by the tail, can she withstand his ire-or the temptation of his embrace? Read Excerpt But blackmailing a powerful duke isn’t without risks. Īrtemis makes a bold move: she demands that Maximus use his influence to free her imprisoned brother-or she will expose him as the Ghost. She’s even more intrigued when she realizes who exactly the notorious Ghost is by day. Giles rescues her from footpads, she recognizes a kindred spirit-and is intrigued. Īrtemis Greaves toils as a lady’s companion, but hiding beneath the plain brown serge of her dress is the heart of a huntress. One night he finds a fiery woman who meets him toe-to-toe-and won’t back down. Giles, ever on the hunt for the murderer. But by night, disguised as the Ghost of St. Now the autocratic Duke of Wakefield, he spends his days ruling Parliament. Twenty years ago Maximus Batten witnessed the brutal murders of his parents.

Duke of midnight by elizabeth hoyt