Boneshaker (The Clockwork Century 1)

Another mug of stale water landed on the table in front of her. She took it, and drank down half its contents.

“So did Ezekiel come here looking for his father?”

“Looking for him? In a way, I suppose, he thinks he can prove his father was innocent if he can find proof that the Russian ambassador paid to have the Boneshaker tested before it was ready. He came here wanting to find the old laboratory, so he could hunt for some way to clear Levi’s name. ” Briar drank the rest of the water. Swakhammer offered her more, but she waved her hand to tell him no.

“Can he do it?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Can he do it? Can he prove Blue was innocent in the Blight affair?”

She shook her head and almost laughed. “Oh no. Oh God no, he can’t. Levi was as guilty as Cain. ” Almost immediately, she wished she hadn’t said that last part. She didn’t want her new companion to ask any questions, so she hurriedly added, “Maybe, deep down, Zeke knows it. Maybe he only wants to see where he came from, or see the damage for himself. He’s only a boy,” she said, and she tried hard to keep the exasperation out of her words. “Heaven only knows why he ever does anything. ”

“He never knew his dad, I guess. ”

“No. Thank God. ”

Swakhammer leaned against the back of the chair across from Briar. “Why would you say that?”

“Because Levi never had a chance to corrupt him or change him. ” That wasn’t all she could say, but it was all she could muster for this stranger. “I keep thinking, maybe one day this war back east will end—and then I can pack him up and head somewhere else, where nobody knows about either one of us. That would be better, wouldn’t it? It can’t be any worse than being here. ”

“Being here’s not so bad,” he argued with a sardonic grin. “Just look at this palace!”

“It is bad, and you know it as well as I do. So why do you stay? Why would you live here—why would anybody?”

Swakhammer shrugged and finished his beer. He chucked the mug back into a crate and said, “We all got our reasons. And you can make it down here, if you want to. Or if you have to. It’s not easy, but it’s not easy anyplace, anymore. ”

“I suppose you’re right. ”

“Anyway, there’s money to be made. There’s freedom, and plenty of opportunity if you know where to look. ”

“From what? From how?” Briar asked. “From looting the old rich places? One day, that money will run out. There’s only so much you can steal and sell inside the walls, or so I’d think. ”

He shifted on his feet. He said, “There’s always the Blight. It’s not going anywhere, and no one knows what to do about it. If you can’t turn a buck off the sap, then it really isn’t any use to anyone. ”

“Lemon sap kills people. ”

“So do other people. So do dogs. So do angry horses, and diseases, and gangrene, and birthing babies. And what about the war? You don’t think the war back east kills people? I promise you this—it kills them by the score, and it kills more of them than the Blight does. More by thousands, I bet. ”

Briar shrugged, but it wasn’t a dismissal. “You’ve got a point, I’m sure. But my son isn’t going to die in childbirth, or in war—not yet, at least. At the moment, he’s much more likely to sicken himself to death with that stupid drug, because he’s only a child, and children do stupid things. And please understand, I’m not accusing you of anything. I understand how the world works, and I know plenty about doing what you must in order to get by. ”

“I don’t owe you an explanation. ”

“I’m not asking you for one. But you seemed mighty ready to offer one in self-defense. ”

He pushed at the chair and gave her a look that was almost a glare, but wasn’t quite. “That’s fine. As long as we understand each other. ”

“I think we do, yes. ” She rubbed at her eyes and scratched at her thigh, where the little cuts from the window were itching like mad; but least they weren’t bleeding anymore.

“You hurt?” Swakhammer asked, eager to change the subject.

“Just a few cuts. It wouldn’t be so bad except for the gas rub

bing in it. You don’t have any bandages around here, do you? I’ll need some for decency’s sake, if nothing else. My pants are going to come apart before long, so I could use a needle and thread, too. ”

His crooked-toothed smile warmed its way back onto his face. “Sounds like you need a secretary, or a nice hotel. I’m afraid I can’t give you much along those lines, but now that I’ve decided where to take you, I think we can get you patched up. ”

Briar didn’t like his phrasing. “What do you mean by that? Where are you going to take me?”