“So no pressure then,” I replied.
Cruller stomped away without answering. The wind kicked up as the dragon flew away.
I finished my trip to the workshop in a trance. What I had learned turned everything around. No wonder there wasn’t much information about Torren, someone had covered up his crimes. More than likely the Key King. Had they blocked the city not to contain the magic, but to contain Torren? Had someone whitewashed history? It wouldn’t be the first time nor the last.
After a few wrong turns, I found the arch. The workshop was just as glorious the second time around, but where before I saw the wall of parts as possibilities, now I saw them as items of torture. It was my job to fix what the last Gear Master did. I had to wonder how my birds and Amalia changed without being originally alive. Did my powers work a bit different than Torren’s? That was research for another day. Right now, I had to find Torren’s notes on transforming gear people and see what I could possibly reverse.
Damn, I hoped he took good notes.
I scooted down the narrow aisle between parts bins to reach the file cabinet nested there.
It tookme all day to go through dozens of notebooks before discovering a way to accelerate the transformation process for the human hybrids. I would be asking them individually if they wanted to be changed before I did anything. I wasn’t like my predecessor and willing to experiment on people even if it would help them blend in and possibly save their lives. They wouldn’t face discrimination or slavery in the City of Magic either way.
As I entered the courtyard, a deep voice stopped me in my tracks.
“Did you find something?”
I blinked as daylight hit my eyes. I’d survived the past few days with the small amount of rations in my bag and hadn’t seen Justin since. “Were you waiting for me this entire time?”
“I will always wait for you.” He flashed me a warm smile. Justin kissed my forehead and brushed my hair away from my face. “No. I had to take care of my baby and help Oss find homes for all his new subjects. Some of them are starting to transform, but it is slow going. It was fortuitous that I was here when you finally emerged from your shell.”
I waved the leather-bound notebook I’d snatched from a cabinet and placed all my information inside. “I found some runes to help the process.” I didn’t mention that Torren had peeled back their skin to etch runes inside his victims’ bodies. That was how I referred to them in my head. Victims.
“I didn’t know you knew anything about runes?”
“I don’t know a lot, but Torren took really good notes.” Horrifyingly detailed notes that I didn’t want to think about without a bottle of alcohol in my hand.
“Can you start them today? We’ve been lucky so far that no one has come down after us.”
“That’s rather strange, don’t you think? I mean we tramped over a dozen people with obvious mechanical parts through the center of Lock Tower. Do you really think they don’t know we’re here? The question is why they haven’t come to get them yet.”
“They don’t have the power to get them back with me here. However, if they have a corrupt-enough judge, they can get the mechanicals declared property as they aren’t completely human. That would give them the legal right to reclaim their property, slavery or not.”
I fidgeted, moving the journal from hand to hand and avoided Justin’s gaze. “Where’s your baby?”
“Marcus is with the ladies.”
“Marcus?”
“Marcus Marbrey Lear. You might not be the biological father, but you will always be the second parent in his life.”
I bit back my instinctive snide comment. “Thank you.” It would have been nice to be asked if I wanted to be a parent, but this wasn’t the time to bring up issues. We were just starting to get along again.
“You’re welcome.” He pressed a soft kiss to my lips that quickly progressed from soft and gentle to deep and heated.
Several passion-filled minutes later, we parted with fast breaths and swollen lips.
“I love you, Marbrey Small.”
“I love you too.” Justin’s glowing smile rewarded me for my words.
“Break it up.” Oss’s amusement shattered the tender moment.
“Shut up.” I scowled at my closest friend who watched us with a teasing grin. “Where’s your man?”
“He’s interviewing everyone to get as much information about the slavers as possible. He’s also trying to discover what businesses were using mechanicals as slaves. We suspect the magistrate has his corrupt fingers in this pie.”
“Of course, he does.” I didn’t give Justin a pointed look, no matter the temptation.
