Heart of Steel by Meljean Brook Read Free Book Online Page B

didn’t add to them. “Is that what Wolfram did—wave his gun around?”
    â€œYes.”
    Her eyes closed. “Idiot.”
    So Yasmeen had often said, but his sister should know the rest of it. “Stupid, yes. But also exhausted. He returned a week late, and Venice wouldn’t have given him time to rest or eat.” A month spent in the ruined city with too many zombies and too few hiding places. “When he climbed up to the airship, he ordered my crew to set a heading for the Ivory Market. I refused and told him to sleep it off before making demands. That’s when he drew his gun and—”
    She broke off. Zenobia was shaking her head, a look of disbelief on her face. “You waited for him?”
    Yasmeen had. Blissed on opium and wondering why the hell she was still floating over a rotten city. But she’d known. She’d read through each damn story of his, each impossible escape, and she’d known he’d make it out of Venice, too. So she’d waited. And when he’d finally returned to her ship, she’d had to toss him back—believing he might still make it.
    But after he’d tried to take her ship, she wouldn’t wait for him again.
    â€œI waited,” she finally answered. “He still owed me half of his fee.”
    Zenobia studied her expression before slowly nodding. “I see.”
    Yasmeen didn’t know what the woman thought she saw—and didn’t care, either. She was more interested in the reason Archimedes had been late. “He couldn’t have known I’d wait,” she said. “And the sketch wouldn’t have been worth anything to him if he died there.”
    Zenobia’s chin tilted up at an unmistakable angle, a combination of defiance and pride—as if she felt the need to defend her brother. “Perhaps he was late for the same reason you stayed: money.”
    Yes, Yasmeen believed that. If she had followed Archimedes’ orders and flown directly to the Ivory Market, he could have quickly sold the sketch. Which suggested that he’d risked his life because if he’d left Venice without the sketch, he’d have been dead anyway.
    He’d owed someone, and whoever it was intended to collect. Few debts would need a da Vinci sketch to cover them, though. Even small salvaged items like those Archimedes usually collected sold high at auction. Of the baubles in Zenobia’s parlor, the miniature alone would purchase a luxury steamcoach.
    â€œDoes he really owe so much?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œSo you changed your names and went into hiding.” Not that Archimedes Fox had done a good job of hiding, traipsing all over the world as he did.
    â€œYes.” Zenobia’s sigh seemed to hang in the air. They’d almost reached the Rose & Thorn before she spoke again. “Is there anything else? For Lady Lynx,” she added, when Yasmeen raised a brow.
    â€œYes.” The walk here had reminded her of one rule that she’d been fortunate to have learned before Archimedes Fox had boarded her airship. “Don’t let her go soft for a man.”
    Zenobia stopped, looking dismayed. “A romance adds excitement.”
    â€œWith a man who tries to take over everything? Who wants to be master of her ship, or wants the crew to acknowledge that she’s his little woman?” Yasmeen sneered. God, but she imagined it all too easily. “What man can tolerate his woman holding a position superior to him?”
    Zenobia apparently couldn’t name one. She grimaced and pulled out her notes. “Not even a mysterious man in the background? More interest from the readers means more money.”
    Yasmeen wasn’t always for sale, and in this matter, the promise of extra royalties couldn’t sway her. “Don’t let her go soft. Give her a heart of steel.”
    â€œA heart of steel,” Zenobia repeated, scribbling. She looked up. “But . . .