A Tale of Two Airships (Take to the Skies Book 2) (20 page)

Chapter Twenty One

I reached Viola’s side at the same time Mordecai did, but before the three of us stepped in time out of the room, the guard placed a hand in our way. Irritation flushed through me, but I quashed it down.

“She doesn’t need the two of you to escort her,” he warned.

I took the hint and placed a hand on his arm. “However, my lady does need the assistance only a woman can provide.” He registered my steel grip at once before moving his arm back.

“Fine, but he stays here.” The guard glanced over Mordecai who shrugged in response. Though Mordecai’s keen eyes would’ve made our search faster, the two of us weren’t strangers to this sort of endeavor. We’d already done the legwork on this one and knew what we hunted. Meanwhile, Viola had pockets lining the inside of her dress to store whatever valuables she saw fit to snatch along the way.

Viola sashayed her way out first, and I followed close behind. A second later, my neck prickled. From behind, one of the guards from the room tailed us.

“We’ve got a friend,” I murmured. If they didn’t give us space to breathe, we’d never reach the private rooms to nab our prize.

“Leave this to me.” Viola’s lips barely moved, and a bright smile curved her lips. She slowed, and I followed suit, taking her lead on this one. The guard stationed at this hall glanced our way, but Viola cut a direct line to him.

“Excuse me, might I bother you for a moment?” she asked, turning on the breathy note in her voice and full-flirt mode engaged. I focused on the wall, but all the while kept my peripheral vision on the other guard’s movement. He couldn’t creep back and forth through this section of the hall in any natural fashion, so instead, he continued on down the corridor.

“What can I help you with?” the guard asked, a grin on his face. Truth be told, I couldn’t blame him—the woman dripped charm in spades.

“We’ve gotten a bit turned around in these halls—it’s a maze here. Could you point us the direction of the powder room?” While they talked, our guard paced down the corridor. My nails dug into my arms, which were crossed in front of me as I maintained my serious bodyguard face.

He neared, mere inches from us.

Viola chattered away with comments about how lovely she found the manor and her excitement at glimpsing such beauty. He humored her, more concerned in keeping the eye candy around as long as possible.

Our tail passed us by and continued walking down the hallway. Even still, I caught the way his glance lingered on occasion.

Leaning forward, I tugged on the back of Viola’s bustle. She took the hint at once, dipping forward with a wink and smile to the enamored guard before we made a quick exit. Though we kept an even pace, we sped up as we backtracked the way we came. Upon reaching the end of the hall, Viola rounded the corner of the first turn available. Even if our guard circled around to track us, he’d have to run if he hoped to catch up, and a sprint would draw all sorts of alarm.

As we strode along the corridor, I made careful note of the guards in their cream uniforms posted along the way. Many gathered by the Bellerose family, though I guaranteed several loped through the more distant parts of the manor, making their solitary rounds. We had to avoid them, find our trinket, and head back in record time. Thankfully with the sheer amount of corsetry and dresses involved in high fashion, a lady was expected to take time in the powder room.

I leaned in to whisper beside her. “How do you deal with these people on a daily basis?”

“It’s like a buffet for manipulation and deceit—keeps my mind active.” She flashed me a grin.

I shook my head as our shoes clacked against the polished marble tile at an even pace for appearance’s sake. The moment we dipped around the first corner to the right where the powder room lay, we scanned our surroundings for more guards. Clear. Peering around to the hallway we’d left, I waited until the guards’ attention veered away before we darted across to head to the other side. We were on the hunt for Lady Bellerose’s boudoir for a certain jewelry box. The irony we were hunting down a box yet again didn’t escape me.

Viola and I ambled along, after all, the last thing we wanted to do was arouse suspicion, but my legs burned with anticipation to dash ahead, seize what we needed, and get the hell out. The rooms flashed by us in blinks, and a prepared excuse rested on my lips in case we were stopped by any guards. We could claim getting lost in an expansive place such as this. Concern nagged in my mind—would this even help us? Yet we’d seen such hell already I couldn’t risk letting this opportunity pass, even if we aimed for a longshot.

“Glower anymore and you’ll give yourself wrinkles,” Viola teased me, her green eyes twinkling.

“Glowering is the last on the list of all the shit that’ll give me wrinkles. On the top happens to be a certain ex-employer, Morlocks, and Edwin’s experiments.” A wry smile clung to my lips, appreciating the distraction.

“You and your crew like to live on the edge.” No judgment in her tone, just a small smile conveying more understanding than I expected.

“Just trying to survive. We’re all running from some sort of shit past, right?” I shrugged.

Her eyes locked with mine, and her grin dropped for a second until the mask slid into place. “Yes, I do believe we are.”

Footsteps clicked from around the far corner, snaring our attention. I glanced to the nearest doorway and slipped inside, followed by Viola. The surrounding room held an ivory chaise lounge, bookshelves, and a desk tucked in the corner—another empty sitting room. Why on earth anyone needed this much space was beyond me, but perhaps my lack of understanding was why I scraped pennies while they threw credits at any problem to crop up.

The footsteps grew louder, scraping with the heavy boot regularity of a guard. My heartbeat thudded in my ears as we remained quiet as possible. Ducking into a side room incriminated us, but we couldn’t afford to get sent back until we’d retrieved the necessary item. Sweat beaded on my brow—it had been quite awhile since I’d last needed to sneak around. Most of the time, I barged in guns blazing.

Viola pressed her ear to the door and concentrated, while I crossed my arms over my chest, itching to dash out there. This room, like many of them, had an overly fragranced stench rolling through the air, and the neat order of books, clean desktops, and scratch-free chairs here made me want to muss things up.

The sound of the handle turning snared my attention—just Viola. She snuck out into the hallway, and I joined her.

The longer we were gone, the more our absence would be noted, so we had to hurry this up. I took the lead, picking up my speed while I scanned the corridor, mentally overlaying the marked room in the blueprints. At the far end, a closed door with a twisted iron knob drew my attention. X marks the spot.              

Tired of minding my pace, I broke out into a flat run. The doors whizzed by me, and my limbs pulsed with happiness from use. Skidding, I stopped in front of the door we’d spotted and placed my hand on the cold-as-sin knob. Before barging in, I pressed an ear to the door and listened, in case someone might be fiddling around inside. After a second of silence, I turned the handle. Locked.

Viola slid beside me. “Let me take care of that.” She already had her picks threaded through her fingers, so I stepped back and let her do the honors. While she fiddled with the knob, I glanced down the hallway, waiting for our luck to dry and some asshole to pop in at the wrong time. A drop of sweat crawled along my neck, tickling as it wound its way down. In less than a minute the lock clicked open.

I cast one more glance to the corridor before plunging into the darkened room. Viola shut the door behind her but not before she pulled out a handheld aether lamp.

“Where do you keep all this crap?” I muttered as I stepped past the piles of clothing dominating half this room. The dim green light of the aether lamp illuminated several sharp edges from steamer trunks and a dresser so large it’d take at least five folks to move it.

“Garters are a girl’s best friend,” she said, and I didn’t even need to look back to see the feline smile on her lips.

A long mirror caught my attention, affixed to an ornate vanity. “Shine that thing here,” I muttered.

The greenish light glinted over the polished wood surface, but the light refracting snared my eye. Jewels glittered from the ornate iron necklace stand, an artfully curled piece, which branched out to display the pendants. Viola began opening the drawers, shining her aether lamp inside. I opened the one of the left side and waited for my compatriot to cast a pretty little light my way. A second later though, impatience claimed me, and I began groping around the dresser in the dark. My fingertips hit something cold with sharp edges, so I stopped.

“I might’ve found something,” I whispered. Viola’s hands worked fast as she snatched certain items from the drawers and stuffed them inside her skirt pockets. The woman put the ‘t’ in thievery, and if I had to guess, she’d already priced the items for value. The aether lamp glided over my way, illuminating the object my fingers still pressed against.

A small gold wire box. A tangle of lace-like wire threads adorned it with a hefty latch and the box nestled in the far back of the drawer. Important—heirloom jewelry tended to be—but not a piece the woman used. Not leaving anything to chance, I lifted the latch to check inside. A platinum locket with an engraved rose glistened under the aether light, matching the description we’d been given to the details. So Isabella’s love for roses was a family thing.

“Let’s get out of here.” I handed the box to Viola since it failed to fit in my pockets but it wasn’t big enough to protrude from her voluminous skirts. We closed the drawers with a thump and crept to the door. Tension buzzed like an alarm in the back of my mind. With our disappearance, we may have already stirred suspicion. I pushed the door open a crack before peering down the hallway. Empty.

Viola and I stepped out and began our stroll to the drawing room.

Until the Bellerose daughter rounded the corner and we both froze.

For a pregnant moment, I locked eyes with her, praying my serious expression didn’t give away my guilt. She stared me down, her gray eyes holding an intelligence I hadn’t realized dwelled there before. She scanned over Viola and me with an understanding in her gaze.

My blood ran cold. She knew. A smile curled her lips, and my muscles tensed, ready to jump into action at a moment’s notice. The air between us thickened with the tension, the expanding sort of bubble to explode with violence the second it burst.

“Ah, you must have gotten lost. Let’s get you back in the right direction.” I hadn’t expected her prim response in the slightest. I shot a glance to Viola, but placid calm reigned on her face.

“I’d quite appreciate the help,” Viola responded. “This place is so cavernous, and I’m more than a little embarrassed to admit I lost my way.”

My brows crinkled. How anyone survived with all this veiled politeness beat me. We began our walk to the others, now accompanied by the Bellerose daughter. However, the second we arrived to the room, she would rat us out in the vicinity of over a dozen guards. Which meant she was a clever girl. We couldn’t knock her out and run either, not with Mordecai, Isabella, and Edward waiting for us.

Sweat pricked the nape of my neck as we approached. I didn’t dare glance to Viola again, not while the Bellerose daughter watched us with her hawk-like eyes. I’d take a shootout any day over this awkward dance.

The guards nodded in acceptance as the three of us approached. My fingers itched to clutch Matilda, but in a manor with so many surrounding guards, I’d be pegged for aggression in a heartbeat. We entered the room without a pause as if we’d never left.

Mordecai and Edward stood straight-backed at the wall with the guards, feigning bored to cover their alertness. While the guards kept on neutral faces, I bet a pretty penny they weren’t entertained by the calm, measured talk between Isabella and the Belleroses. Even though the chatter flowed at a natural pace, both parties dissected every word to pass from the other’s lips.

The Bellerose daughter strode up to her parents, and I stopped still. Judgment time.

“What lovely guests we have,” she gushed, taking a seat with the three of them. My stomach flip-flopped as she interacted with them, and I waited for our sentence to come sailing in. “I happened to encounter Miss Embrees in the powder room and the stories she had! Quite fascinating stuff.” She fixed me with a knowing stare. I blinked. She hadn’t sold us out but made her magnanimity clear. Which left one question: what did she want?

“Sabine, dear, we were discussing my sister’s ‘colorful’ past,” Albion Bellerose forced out, the distaste clear on his face. “Isabella here happens to be a relation of ours.”

“Rather than an impromptu visit, why don’t we invite her for dinner one night?” Sabine suggested, too helpful to escape my notice. Isabella shot a glare my way, but I didn’t dare respond. Instead, I gave her a slight shrug, all the while not letting the young Bellerose out of my view. Whatever she had percolating in that naïve, pretentious brain of hers couldn’t spell good news for my crew.

Her mother, eager to have us ruffians out of her house, jumped on the idea. “What an excellent plan. Why don’t you enjoy the rest of your day, and we’ll send you a sparrow to invite you for dinner.”