Cubitt’s brows ascended his lined forehead. “Many of my colleagues don’twantthe device removed. It’s drawing quite a lot of public interest, which turns a profit. Some members are even glad for the newspaper column.”
Now that Cubitt had pointed it out, it was obvious to Kane. People would flock to the Crystal Palace to see something like that—an inexplicable, immovable device that had seemingly appeared from nowhere. Although the Exhibition was already drawing crowds of unbelievable proportions, Kane knew there had been a time in which the Society of Arts struggled to sell people on the idea. It had taken considerable planning, politicking, and several less successful events before support and funding were secured. Why remove something guaranteed to be a source of interest, no matter how much controversy ensued? Who didn’t love a little magic? A little mystery?
“Interesting,” Kane mused. “And you, Mister Cubitt? What do you think about the whole thing?”
“I think you’re sticking your nose somewhere it doesn’t belong,” Cubitt said. “I don’t know why this is of any interest to you, but I’d recommend you leave it alone. It’s a matter for the Royal Commission and the authorities to contend with.”
“Excellent advice.” Kane strolled over to the door and unlocked it with a resoundingclick. “You’re free to go. You’ve been ever so helpful.”
Cubitt rose, face contorted in suspicion. When nobody attempted to stop him, he sidestepped away from the bed, so tentative that itwas really rather amusing. “And if I tell anyone you kidnapped me? Plied me for information?”
“Oh, I think we both know you won’t do that. Not with me knowing what I do.”
The man shot Kane one last enraged glance, then slipped into the hallway and was gone. Kane turned to Zaria, finding her directly behind him. Her hair was wild around her shoulders, as if she’d been running her fingers through it. “What were you talking about? What else do you know about Cubitt?”
“Nothing,” Kane said bluntly. “But with men like him, there’s always something they’d rather keep hidden.”
A muscle in Zaria’s neck pulsed as she tilted her head, leveling an accusatory look at him. “Is this why you let me trade myself for Jules? Because you wanted my help finding this Curator?”
“It was a contributing factor.”
“Do I even want to knowwhyyou’re determined to find them?”
Kane adjusted his cravat, drawing out the moment purely to irritate her. “Yes. In fact, I’d guess you want to know rather badly indeed.” He let his hands fall to his sides. “If we don’t track down the Curator, both of us will wind up in prison.”
ZARIA
Zaria didn’t sleep well that night.
By all accounts, she should have drifted into unconsciousness at once. Those first moments of reclining on the thick feather mattress had her reevaluating everything she thought she knew about comfort. But the hours slid past as she stared blankly into the swaths of fabric above her, every detail in the canopy camouflaged by darkness. The air was too still. Too quiet. She missed Jules’s even breaths at her side and the buzz of voices in the street outside the cracked window. She didn’t know how to arrange her limbs on such a soft surface. Her body felt too warm, stray hairs from her long braid sticking to her neck where it rested against the pillow.
Then there was the fact that she couldn’t stop thinking about Kane’s admission. Someone else was meddling at the Exhibition—an alchemologist, by all accounts—and if she and Kane couldn’t figure out who, they would take the fall for it. Fletcher and Jules aswell. They had all been seen by the inspector’s son. Hell, Zaria hadshothim. He hadn’t been harmed, of course, but she doubted that afforded her any goodwill in his eyes. If she’d known who he was, and the role his father held with the Metropolitan Police…
Perhaps it wouldn’t have made any difference. She’d done what she’d needed to do, and it was too late for regrets. How had the situation turned so perilous so quickly? As if Vaughan’s task and Kane’s constant proximity weren’t enough, now she had to worry about being arrested. She’d agreed to accompany Kane to the Crystal Palace tomorrow to take a closer look at the device, but Zaria feared he was relying too heavily on her expertise. There were a thousand things she still didn’t know about alchemology. It was a constantly evolving study. There was always much to be learned about magic, its limitations and its uses.
At least while she was here, she was safe from Vaughan. Her best hope of finding that ledger, Zaria thought as she slammed a fist into her pillow, was to regain Kane’s trust. The best way to dothatwas to assist in his schemes whenever he requested it—the hard part was trying not to argue with him. The more he trusted her, the more he might let her be around his work, and then perhaps he would inadvertently reveal the ledger’s location.
Eventually, Zaria managed to doze on and off, waking for a final time in what she guessed was the hour before dawn. Low voices sounded outside her door, and she tensed before recognizing one of them as Elijah. Suddenly wide-awake, she slipped out of bed and over to the door, pressing an ear to the keyhole. She wasn’t fast enough to catch whatever the first person said, but Elijah’s subsequent groan resounded through the hall.
“Very well. I’ll be right there.”
Zaria pressed a hand to her mouth. Her guard was about to leave,however briefly. A glance at the clock in the corner of her bedroom told her it was just after five in the morning—too early for most people to be awake, and dark enough yet that she wouldn’t be easily identified if she crossed paths with anyone. If she could only slip down the hall to Kane’s office, perhaps she would be able to start her search for the ledger.
Outside the door, Elijah seemed to be fighting some internal battle. He kept sighing, shifting his weight so that the old hardwood floor creaked. Finally, he swore under his breath, and his rapid footsteps faded quickly.
Heart hammering at the base of her throat, Zaria opened her door with painstaking care, dreading the creak of hinges. Once she had an opening wide enough to slip through, she tiptoed down the empty hall to Kane’s office. She held her breath, cognizant that Elijah could return at any moment, and gave the office door a light shove.
It was locked. Of course it was. Had she really thought Kane would leave his things accessible to anyone in the manor? And yet her tired brain, focused on making the most of Elijah’s brief absence, had disregarded the possibility. How foolish.
Equal parts dejected and furious with herself, she turned to head back to her rooms, freezing when she heard the rapid thud of footsteps on the nearby stairs. There was no way for her to reach the other end of the hall without passing the stairwell. Zaria’s heart rate spiked as she glanced around in panic, searching for a hiding place where she knew there was none. Rather than risk being found so close to Kane’s office, she hurried to position herself in front of the nearest window, hoping for some measure of plausible deniability when Elijah inevitably caught her wandering.
But the man who appeared at the top of the stairs wasn’t Elijah.He was older, larger, more weathered. One of his hands was heavily bandaged, and his eyes narrowed as he took in Zaria.
“So it’s true,” he grunted. “Durante let a girl join.”
A second man appeared behind the first before Zaria could answer. This one was younger and leaner, with an off-center nose that looked to have been broken at some point. He stood silently behind the first man’s shoulder, leering in a way that was decidedly unpleasant.
“Indeed,” Zaria said, glancing back and forth between them. Fletcher had warned her to be wary of the rest of the crew, and Kane had made a passing remark about not having the time to ensure she didn’t get herself killed. Still, she’d found it hard to imagine anyone would dare harm her, given that Kane himself had brought her on board.
