num_pages: 333
description: Book Four of The St. Croix ChroniclesForced out of London's coal-blackened streets Cherry St. Croix is faced with her most difficult undertaking yet: sobriety.At long last my guardian the enigmatic Mr. Oliver Ashmore has revealed himselfand his order is clear: I am to be dried out at once regardless of my wishes.I loathe the country estate I am imprisoned within. Footsteps follow me voices call for me and my sanity wavers. In my fevered dreams I am haunted by those I failed while waking proves no protection from the ghosts of my reckless past. The craving for laudanum plagues me. I require a distraction.To unravel the alchemical mysteries of my mother's family I must rely on Ashmore's tutelage. I am lured to the art and drawn by the secrets my guardian possesses. Yet the deeper I delve the more I believe that something dreadful disturbs these haunted corridors. In my madness I fear that what it wants most...is me.106000 words
language: English
title: Tempered
publisher: Carina Press