Jeff sat on her hammock. “You do understand that what you did was wrong?”
“Yes, Jeff.” Her voice went bland as she completed another row. She’d replayed the scenario in her head. Every time she’d chosen the same way. Constantly being protected and coddled was tiresome. She wasn’t some vapid pile of mush.
“Mr. Silver won’t be coming with us when we leave port, it’s not working out.” Jeff looked as if he were truly fascinated by the needlework pillow on the hammock.
Noli finished the final row of the section. “What you mean is that Vix blames him for me disobeying orders.”
Jeff’s jaw gritted. “Mr. Silver isn’t suited for this ship.”
“And I am?” It wasn’t Kevighn’s fault. The sprite had saved them all. But it wasn’t like she could tell anyone that. Noli finished off the section and added it to the others. Using her little knife, she trimmed all the ends neatly. Now to assemble the five pieces into a chain.
His hand lay on her shoulder. “You’re still learning. Besides, I need your help.”
“Did you burn the food?” She scrunched her nose at the thought. Cooking would get her out of this miniscule space.
“Actually, I need you to help me with something even more important. I need you to accompany me on a drop.”
“A drop?” Noli made a face as she attached the silver clasps and joined the sections into a single chain. “What’s that?”
“We’ve been collecting items for a client,” he explained. “Now it’s time to make the exchange, the artifacts for the money.”
“You want me to accompany you?” Noli’s fingers traced the complex design of the watch chain as she pondered his words. The little beads and clips she’d bought to accent it sparked in the dim light.
Jeff nodded. “This client is quite refined and doesn’t like Vix much. We always do drops in pairs and you’re far less suspicious than Asa or Thad. Why don’t you get ready? Wear something pretty.”
“What sort of pretty?” Her mouth clamped shut. She sounded like such a nit-wit.
“Like something you might wear when visiting someone in the morning?” Jeff’s face contorted in puzzlement.
“I’m sure I have something,” she replied. He wanted her to go with him on his air pirate business? And Vix allowed it?
Wait. Findlay House was in San Francisco. A chill enveloped her entire body.
Jeff frowned as he stood. “What’s wrong?”
“Please, don’t send me back to Findlay.” Tears pricked her eyes at the thought of that dreadful place, the watch chain falling through her fingers onto the worktable. “Send me to Boston, but not Findlay.”
His arms enveloped her. “I’m not sending you anywhere. You, with your fine manners and pretty dresses, are going to help me deliver some artifacts to a very genteel man who appreciates such things. Then we’ll go have tea, how does that sound?”
Tea sounded quite nice, actually.
And cake, the sprite added. Could that be my prize?
Yes, that sounds perfect.
“All right, then. But I want cake.” She looked up at him and he wiped a tear off her cheek with his thumb. “Will you send in Rahel?”
Jeff smiled as he smoothed her hair. “Of course.”
“Which one?” Noli held up two hats, the bonnet which matched the cape and the blue derby with a little bird on it.
Rahel looked from one to the other and back again. “The bird one.”
Noli put the derby on, making sure her hair covered the points of her ears. “This always has been my favorite.”
“I may keep Charlotte? Forevers?” Rahel clutched the doll to her chest.
“Yes. Forevers. Just promise me you’ll take good care of her.” Noli stowed the bonnet and donned her cape. She’d decided to wear her blue dress with the slightly shorter skirt and the bell sleeves. One probably needed freedom of movement when on a drop, and ever her mother had deemed it perfectly proper for daywear.
“Oh, I will. I promise.” Rahel looked up at her with large, solemn eyes. “Will I ever see you again?”
Noli sniffed, she’s already grown so fond of the little girl. “You are going to be reunited with your papa. That’s the most important thing of all.”
Jeff stood at the door, looking ever the dapper gentleman, a black attaché case in one hand. He held out his arm to her. “Shall we?”
She grabbed her parasol and planted a kiss on Rahel’s blonde head. “Be good.”
Rahel gave her a wave, sniffing into her sleeve. “Bye, bye.”
Noli dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief as they walked up the stairs. Thankfully, Jeff didn’t say anything, he just patted her shoulder.
He led her through the bustling San Francisco Air Terminal. They caught a motorcab to a very posh part of town filled will elegant buildings and homes—all newly built after the earthquake nearly seven years before and truly modern with plenty of brass and glass.
How could Jeff move so easily through the city that had stolen their father? Unbeknownst to most, the earthquake had opened up rifts to the Otherworld. Some simply let aether—magic—escape into their realm, but others were large enough for people to fall through.
Kevighn insisted her father was long gone, but Noli held fast to the idea that he still might be alive someplace in the Otherworld.
“Who are we calling on?” Noli asked as they walked through streets crowded with people, streetcars, and autos. A few flying cars and hoverboards swooped overhead. She pulled her cape closer to ward off the chill. At least no snow lay on the ground.
“We are meeting a gentleman named Kyran. He asked us to … collect … some artifacts,” Jeff replied, holding the attaché case tightly.
Collect? He meant steal. This man paid the crew to steal things. She nodded toward the attaché case. “A painting won’t fit in there.”
Jeff laughed. “It would if rolled. But no, he’s asked for … other things.”
Noli stopped in her tracks. “Museums. You stole things from museums. Los Angeles … Denver … ”
“Shhh,” he soothed. “You can’t have hysterics right here on the sidewalk.”
She turned to face him, eyes narrowing as she held up her parasol. “For your information, Jeffrey Cornelius Braddock, I don’t have hysterics. However, I do have a parasol and I know how to use it.”
His hands flew up in surrender. “Point taken. They’re just random bits of things. If they weren’t so old, they would be junk.” Jeff gestured to the elegant restaurant in front of them. “Let’s meet Kyran and get our money.”
They entered the place, which reminded her of the establishments they’d gone to with their parents, once. Places where men made business deals and women chatted with their friends over cups of tea or coffee. White linencovered tables filled with well-dressed people eating a late breakfast dotted the room.
“That’s Kyran over there.” Jeff gestured to a man with regal stature and a mop of dark blond curls sitting at one of the tables, reading the newspaper.
“Him?” Noli studied the man from a distance as she smoothed her skirt. “He looks familiar.” The man looked up from his paper, but not directly at them. Noli caught a glimpse of eyes green like oak leaves. V’s eyes. She sucked in a sharp breath. “That’s who we’re meeting?”
“Do you know him?” The corners of his lips turned down.
Noli gulped. She didn’t know him, but she knew exactly who he was. “His name isn’t Kyran. It’s Brogan.”
As in Uncle Brogan, V and James’ uncle, the current king of the earth court. Her chest tightened. Why was her brother consorting with the likes of him?
“I hardly expected him to use his real name,” Jeff whispered. “Wait—how do you know that? Was he the one who kidnapped you?”