Ganymede (The Clockwork Century 3)

His forehead wrinkled. “What do you mean, whatever it takes?”

“I mean, whatever it takes to keep you down here. If all you need is a little bargain with the devil, it’s not the end of the world. Not yet. And anyhow,” she added, with a toss of her hair that was almost girlish, and almost made him laugh, “you’re the one signing in blood, not me. ”

He took her hand so he could hold it while they walked, even though it made him feel big and clumsy to grasp something so small in his oversized fingers. He liked it anyway, how she trusted him, and how she only looked delicate—when he knew for a fact that she was not, and for that matter, had never been any of the things everyone else had assumed.

He leaned into her like a lion drawing close to a fire. He removed his hand from hers and instead, wrapped it around her shoulder, pulling her against him so he could hold her that way, and be warmed by her.

She slipped an arm around his waist.

When they reached the wing where Yaozu lived, Briar extricated herself without any reproach. She said only, “I’ll go back to the vaults, and maybe I’ll see you there in a bit. But I’m not interested in consorting with you-know-who. ”

“Who’s consorting? Good Lord, woman. You make it sound worse than it really is. ”

“Time will tell how bad it really is. Until then, I’ll stick to my concerns, if you don’t mind. ”

“I don’t. And I’ll be back at the vaults in an hour or two. Is … um. Is Zeke around?”

She looked at him with a flash of something sharp and bright—a wink of intensity that she didn’t show him for long. She told him, “No, he’s not around. I’ve sent him off to Chinatown with Mercy. His leg’s all but healed up now, and he’s paying her back for stitching him up by helping on her rounds with Dr. Wong. ”

“Helping?”

“I think he’s sweet on her, and it’s a shame. You can get almost anything down here in the underground, but girls his own age are hard to come by. Mercy doesn’t have ten years on him, so I guess he thinks that’d be all right. Anyway, she’s put him up next door to her father’s place, and I didn’t have to bully him too hard to stay out there with them. ”

“For the night?”

“For a night or two. ” Again, that spark of … invitation? It flashed, and returned to a simmer. “As long as I feel like locking him out. He’s a big boy. He’ll find something to occupy his time. ”

“That’s … good to know. ”

She walked away from him then, and without looking back, she disappeared down the corridor that would take her back into the open areas beneath the streets, and back to the vaults.

It scrambled his thoughts and made him reconsider how badly he needed to talk to Yaozu, but those reconsiderations were undone when he heard the man’s voice behind him, thereby settling the matter.

“Captain Cly, I see you’ve returned. I got your telegram. Angeline sent it down a few days ago, though she obviously didn’t bring it herself. You know, I don’t think she likes me much. ”

“She’s … finicky about who she likes. ”

Ignoring the polite deferral, Yaozu said, “Perhaps that’s one more thing I should put on our wish list, when it comes to citywide improvements. A set of taps. ”

“Do you think we can set one up? I don’t know if it’s even possible, down here. ”

Yaozu shrugged, the lines of his clean white outfit shifting and settling again. “I do not yet know what would be required, but I am interested in learning. Is there any chance Houjin would have any idea?”

“I don’t know. But if you tell him to go find out, he’ll report back within a day or two, putting one together with a couple of tin cans and a drawer full of spoons. ”

“Yes, I hear he’s prone to such improvisations. And how was your excursion down to Texian territory?”

“It was fine. Brought back all your goodies, and everything on everybody else’s list, too. It weighed us down like crazy, all the things everyone wanted. If we hadn’t been so heavy, we might’ve missed that storm in Denver. But that’s just how it goes. ”

“There’s nothing to be done about the weather,” Yaozu said graciously. “At any rate, if you’re not otherwise occupied, I’d appreciate your company up at the fort. I’ve summoned a handful of men to help with the loading and unloading, but you’re the one who knows what’s what in your cargo bay. ”

Cly echoed his phrasing. “Otherwise occupied? Uh, no. Not right this second. I can take an hour or two to help you get all your gear in order. ” That’s what he’d told Briar, after all. An hour or two. Though he determined on the spot that he was not going to hang around and be helpful for even one minute longer than that.

“Excellent. Walk with me, Captain. ”

“Sure. Listen, there’s something you should know. Maybe you’ll care, and maybe you won’t,” he said, adjusting his pace to walk w

ith the shorter man, whose legs could not comfortably match his long stride. “It’s about the sap, and what it’s doing outside the city. ”