The Curious Case Of The Clockwork Menace (19 page)

And I’m not
quite as innocent as you presume.

After all, Perry knew what had put
that
look into his eyes that day in
the theatre, when he’d been shot. The craving.
It wasn’t the first time that a man had looked at her like
that. She knew what it felt like for a man’s weight to press down
over hers, his lips to brush against her throat, his blood-letting
knife finding purchase there with a sharp sting...

Perry suppressed a shudder of mingled lust and fear.
The duke will never find you. You know that. And
you’re a blue blood now, not a frightened young thrall, with no
allies, no one to turn to...

That girl is
dead. You buried her - and the past - and no one is ever going to
find out she still exists.

A part of her
wished she believed the words she told herself.

The sound of
heeled boots on the timber floorboards caught her attention. That,
and the sudden stiffening through Garrett’s hard frame. Perry
looked up, pushing away thoughts of the past.

Miss Radcliffe
swirled her parasol on the floor, her lacy gloves tightening over
her knuckles. She smiled hesitantly, dark eyes flashing over the
pair of them. “I apologise for the interruption. I called at the
Guild, but your friend, Mr Byrnes, gave me your direction
here.”

She wasn’t
speaking to Perry. Perry tried to sink into the armchair, but there
was nowhere for her to go. She had a great deal of respect for the
young lady. Miss Radcliffe had shown incredible grace during a
difficult time; what with Nelly’s murder, the pressure of stepping
into the lead role, and Rommell using Millington to try and scare
Miss Radcliffe into his bed, with his fake-kidnapping attempt in
the back alley, and the red roses from a ‘mysterious suitor’. That
didn’t mean that Perry wanted to witness this conversation.

Garrett
straightened. “Miss Radcliffe, you’re doing well?”

Perry dragged
the newspaper up in front of her face, in lieu of escaping.

“
I-I hope you don’t think me forward.” Miss Radcliffe sounded
breathy. “I thought perhaps you might care to... to take a stroll
in the park? Or perhaps that play we spoke of?”

Every muscle
in her body locked up tight, and Perry flipped the page, trying to
focus. She’d made a promise to herself to guard her emotions
better. It was harder to keep than she’d expected.

Garrett
hesitated, then let his weight sink back onto the edge of the seat.
“Some other time, perhaps.”

It was a clear
dismissal. Perry shot Miss Radcliffe a shocked glance, then looked
away swiftly, knowing that guilt drove him. Miss Radcliffe would
never grace Garrett’s bed, because he’d never be able to look at
her without thinking of Perry’s near-drowning.

Perry tried
not to listen as Miss Radcliffe stammered her goodbyes. It didn’t
matter if he said no this time. There’d always be another Miss
Radcliffe. Another blonde, or brunette, or redhead, but it wouldn’t
matter, because it would never be a young woman with dyed black
hair, and the harsh black leather body armour of a Nighthawk.

It would never be
her
.

“
What’s wrong?”

Perry looked
up, hot blue eyes meeting hers. There was nothing of guile about
his gaze. Perhaps that was what she admired most about Garrett.
What you saw was what you got. He truly cared for people, and was
astonishingly perceptive toward their moods. Particularly hers.
“Nothing,” she lied and tried to paste a smile on her lips. “You
should go after Miss Radcliffe,” she made herself say. “The case is
over and she... she has my approval. She’s much nicer than your
usual standard of conquest.”

“
Is she now?” He grimaced. “No. I don’t think I
will.”

“
You deserve to take some time off after such a case. A walk
in the park would do you good.”

“
No, Perry.” His expression twisted. “My heart’s not in it.
Besides, I had something else in mind.” Reaching inside his jacket,
he produced a pair of tickets. “
‘A Lady
Well Educated
.’ It’s playing at the
Royalty this evening. Not quite the tragedy you prefer, but I’m
told it’s hilarious. Somewhat risqué perhaps.” His shoulder nudged
hers, his gaze a challenge. “You might enjoy it. Care to join
me?”

Perry stared at the tickets, her heart starting a slow kick
in her chest.
It means nothing.
And perhaps it would be good to do something
together. Something that would reaffirm their friendship, and place
this whole mess in the past.

A truce.

“
I’d much rather see something like a
‘A Gentleman Well Behaved’
,” she
drawled, “but why not?”

“
A well-behaved gentleman is a rather boring affair.” He
caught her fingers and dragged her to her feet, the paper tumbling
to the floor. “And good, for they cost me a small fortune. Best
seats in the house... and I don’t just do that for anyone,
luv.”

His wicked
smile turned her heart, but Perry ruthlessly fought it down. It was
past time to put aside her hurt feelings - and these newer,
troubling ones that afflicted her. Time to bury them for good, for
nothing could ever come of them.

“
Aren’t I special then?” she said, and knew the words meant
nothing.

Thanks for reading
The Curious Case of
the Clockwork Menace
. I hope you enjoyed it!
Want to
know what happens when Perry finally reveals her hand? Look out for
their romance in
Forged By
Desire
, available September
2014, or turn the page to read an excerpt.

Would you like to know when my
next book is available? You can sign up for my
newsletter
(with exclusive excerpts and giveaways),
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@BecMcMaster
,
or like my
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You’ve just read a novella in
the London Steampunk series. The other books in the series
are
Kiss of Steel
,
Tarnished
Knight
(a novella),
Heart of
Iron
,
My Lady Quicksilver
,
Forged By Desire
(September 2014) and
Of Silk And Steam
(Available March 2015). I hope
you enjoy them all!

COMING SEPTEMBER
2014

FORGED BY
DESIRE

London Steampunk Series,
Book 4

Sourcebooks September
2014

ISBN-13:
978-1402291913
ISBN-10:
1402291914

In the steam-fuelled world of
Victorian London, the only thing standing
between the human classes and the
criminals that stalk the streets, are the Nighthawks...

Captain Garrett Reed of
the
Nighthawk guard has a deadly mission: capture a steel-jawed
monster preying on women. He hates to put his partner, Perry, in
jeopardy, but she’s the best bait he has. Little does he realize,
he’s about to be caught in his own trap.

Perry has been half in love
with Garrett for years, but this is not exactly the best time to
start a relationship—especially when their investigation leads them
directly into the clutches of the madman she thought she’d
escaped...

“
Dark, intense and sexy… a
stunning new series.”
– Library Journal

EXCERPT FROM
FORGED BY DESIRE

He dreamed of red silk…

In his dream, Garrett Reed straightened the white
bow tie he wore, glanced once at the crowd of elegantly dressed
aristocrats, and then turned and opened the hackney door.

“
About damned time.”

His gaze slid over the woman
within, taking in the acres of tight red silk and the froth of lace
framing high, creamy breasts. Perry cursed under her breath as she
tried to gather up her skirts, and the brass-plated fan she used as
a weapon. “You could offer me your hand.”

As he should have. Garrett was
still trying to gather his wits. He’d never before equated Perry
with dresses; indeed, he’d never have thought that she could
actually pull off this subterfuge. The entire time he’d known her,
she’d worn the tight black leathers of the Guild of the Nighthawks,
hunting murderers and thieves across the rooftops of London with
him. At first glance most people mistook her for a lad, and Garrett
himself rarely thought of her as a woman. At least until
tonight.

It was his own damned fault. He
was the one who’d told her he didn’t think she could do it. A
dare—fool the aristocratic Echelon into thinking she was one of
their own.

Belatedly he offered her his arm. Perry stepped
down, her gloved hand resting lightly on his forearm and her eyes
raking the crowd for any signs of their targets. As he should have
been doing. Garrett was still moving a step behind, unable to
concentrate on more than one thing. And that one thing smelled like
French vanilla perfume.

“
Can you see Lynch? Or Rosalind?”
Perry asked.

Garrett slid his hand over the
small of her back. He couldn’t stop looking at her, as if a part of
him still couldn’t believe that this elegant, beautiful woman
beside him was the same partner he’d worked with for the last nine
years.

As if sensing his gaze, she
glanced up at him, a slow smile creeping over her lips. “I’ve never
seen you struck dumb before.”

“
I’m not without words,” he
countered, guiding her toward the marble stairs that led to the
opera house.

“
You’ve barely managed a
conversation since we embarked in the carriage. I do hope I haven’t
stolen all your wits.”

Garrett leaned close enough to
murmur in her ear. “If you keep going, you could steal something
else as well.”

Those eyes were watchful, as if
she wasn’t quite used to flirtation, especially not from him. “If I
wanted your heart,” she whispered, “I’d cut it out of your chest
with my knife.”

“
I prefer something
subtler.”

Perry’s painted red lips curved up
in a genuine smile, though her eyes still searched the crowd.
“Concentrate.”

“
I am.” He glanced again at the
faint swelling of her breasts—breasts he’d never noticed before. A
tight fist of need clenched in his gut.

“
On the reason we’re
here.”

Garrett plucked the opera tickets
from the inner pocket of his coat as they approached the main
doors. This was the true test. Neither of them was of the Echelon,
the aristocratic blue bloods that ruled London. If they were turned
away here, the Nighthawk Guild’s Master, Sir Jasper Lynch, and his
secretary, Rosalind, would be alone inside.

With dozens of humanists who were
plotting another terrorist attack on the Echelon. They wouldn’t
discriminate between the blue blood lords they despised and a blue
blood rogue like Lynch.

This wasn’t the first time the
humanists had struck. But the attacks so far had been small, merely
tests. Several lords had been driven into a blood frenzy by small
mysterious devices the terrorists called Doeppler Orbs. If they set
enough of these orbs into action in a theater full of blue bloods,
it would be a bloodbath.

Perry’s hand tightened on his
sleeve as he handed the tickets over to the liveried servant. The
man scrutinized the pair of them through a monocle, then nodded and
let them through.

Shadows flickered through
Garrett’s vision, the darkness in him bubbling up. It was far too
easy to summon these days, and much more difficult to
dispel.

Garrett forced a smile to his lips
and swept a pair of champagne glasses from the tray of a passing
servant drone. The automaton rolled away through the crowd with a
faint teakettle hiss, the sound itching along Garrett’s skin. He
forced himself to continue, to ignore it. It hadn’t always been
this way. His craving virus levels had been sitting at a reasonably
healthy thirty-two percent for the past three years.

But a week ago, a blue blood lord
in the grip of a blood frenzy had tried to rip Garrett’s heart out
of his chest and very nearly succeeded. It was one of the few ways
to truly kill a blue blood, and in the effort to heal itself, his
body had relaxed the fight against the virus. Garrett’s virus level
had more than doubled, leaving him struggling to fight a hunger he
hadn’t had a chance to acclimatize to.

He was barely managing to rein
himself in these days. He couldn’t let anyone see how close to the
edge he was. Especially not Perry.

The noise swelled to a dull roar. Brightly colored
silk filled the room, and feathered headdresses bobbed like a
menagerie of birds. Garrett grimaced as he directed Perry to a
small, out-of-the-way place beside a marble column. He usually
liked these events, but since the attack, the presence of too many
people only seemed to crowd in on him.