Levi took a moment to answer, his gaze traveling down to the exposed skin where the neckline of her robe gaped open. Goose bumps eased up her spine, tickling the back of her neck. She grasped the robe and pulled the material together at the base of her throat.
“Your Mrs. Steed can easily be bought off with a smile and some cash.”
Melusine scoffed. She should have known.
Levi continued, “And I am here because I’d like to offer you a proposition: instead of working against each other for Sir Aldridge’s reward, why not work together and split the winnings?”
“I have a different proposition: Why don’t you go back to whatever estate you’ve been hiding in these past couple of years and leave the job to me?”
Setting the newspaper back onto the dresser, Levi tipped his head to the side, scrutinizing her. “Miss Doré, please tell me what I have done to elicit so much hatred from you.”
Melusine felt her face heat up, so she moved quickly behind the mahogany dressing screen that stood in the corner of the room. She peeled her robe off and pulled on clean clothes, her heart thumping like horse hooves on cobblestones.
She’d set eyes on Levi for the very first time nine years ago. She was only sixteen then, but she’d already seen the kind of damage love—her love, especially—could do. She had performed for pennies, her clothes ragged and ripped. He had watched, wearing the kind of finery only the wealthy can afford. The spark of warmth in his amber eyes and the easy smile on his face had made her breath catch with longing every time they crossed paths.
And she hated him for it.
“Why hate you?” She said now. “It may have to do with the fact that you ridicule my successes and look down upon women as a whole. It may also be because you are a spoiled little rich boy who takes work from those who really need it.”
Fully dressed in men’s gas pipe trousers and shirt, she stepped out from around the screen. Levi took in a breath and let it out slowly, his hand running through his thick auburn waves. “I see, then. I’ve offended you.”
Melusine lifted her eyebrows, hands on her hips. Levi’s gaze moved to where the material of the pants and shirt pulled against her curves. “Although,” he said. “Many would argue that it is you who offend the natural order of things.”
“Leave my room, Mr. Cannon.”
He stood, his frame taking up a good part of the tiny room. “I, however, believe unruliness is far more fun than order, don’t you?”
“Good-bye.” Melusine walked to the door and opened it for him. He came through before she could move away, so she pressed her back against the doorframe.
He stopped there, the two of them with only a whisper of space between them. He smelled of licorice and cedar wood and Melusine had to stop herself from sighing as she breathed in. Leaning forward, his mouth grazed her ear, sending a warm shiver through her core. “I’m not who you think I am, Miss Doré.” His breath was hot against her skin. “Aren’t you the least bit curious about the man underneath all the rumors?”
He walked down the stairs and out the front door without looking back.
Melusine turned back to her room, searching for any indication that something was not as it should be. She did not keep any personal writings that would reveal her past. She had no family heirlooms. And apart from her weapons and the purse she’d won tonight, she owned no item of value. The only thing she owned that she refused to part with was the one reminder of who she was and what she could become. It would mean nothing to someone else. But the memories laced to it were what instructed her whole life.
She opened a warped drawer on the right side of her dresser, the wood sticking and groaning as she did. Under her chemise and stockings lay the naked bottom of the drawer. Melusine rummaged around further, throwing the items onto her bed, but it wasn’t there.
Damn him, she thought. Her armored corset was still a mess, so she topped her outfit with the next best thing: a thick leather one with steel boning and thick shoulder clasps. Over a blouse and with an attached secret chatelaine, it was the perfect place for hiding a multitude of weapons. She clipped a small dragon claw spear to one of the chains and slipped a throwing star in the pocket under the buckle on her left shoulder.
Then she rushed out the door after Mr. Levi Cannon.
Melusine’s boots thudded over the plank boards laid out as a sidewalk over the muddy street. Ahead, standing under the gas street lamp, was Levi, tugging at the slippery cords of her small drawstring bag. Melusine arrived in front of him just as he was dropping the contents into his palm.
“That’s mine.”
Several lengths of white ribbon, just like the ones Melusine wore on her wrists, tumbled out, many falling between the boards at their feet. Then a rusted key with a filigree bow along with a dozen glittery coral colored scales, each one the length of Levi’s thumb, shaped like a small shell, only flatter. Tiny prongs sharp as swords lay across one side of each scale.
Frowning, he studied them.
“Hand it over,” said Melusine.
Unabashed, Levi began to stuff it all back into the little bag, pausing over the key. “Key to your heart?”
“I have no heart, Mr. Cannon. And very little patience as well.”
Levi couldn’t hide a laugh. He dropped the key into the bag, but held up a shiny scale. “Souvenir of a kill?”
Mel’s lips came together, forming a pink rosebud. Her hair was still damp from her bath, the ends curling up and sticking to the skin on her cheeks and neck. She brushed it away, trying to gain time to calm the panicked buzz of nerves riding her spine.
Levi’s eyes followed the sweep of her finger.
She took in a large breath and let it out. “Souvenirs of a death, yes.”
“Care to tell me more?”
“Care to tell me why you stole that bag? Not much in there is of use to a gentleman of means.”
Levi’s gaze flicked down to the sack then up to her face. “I like to know who I am working with.”
“I’m not working with you, Mr. Cannon.” She tore the bag from his hand and began to walk away.
“How do you intend to find the monster?” He called out after her. “Not easy to track in the water. Lake Michigan is vast.”
She slowed but did not stop, turning just a bit to answer. “Sir Aldridge has an underwater vessel–”
“Yes, I know. He promised me use of it.” He threw up his hands and grinned. “But you…how are you going to track the monster?”
His grin grew wider as she stopped and swore. “Damn Sir Aldridge and damn you, too, Mr. Cannon.”
Levi said, “It seems as though we may be forced to work together, Miss Doré. You may have the rusty key to your heart, but I have the key to Sir Aldridge’s submersible.” He held up the large mechanism that opened the hatch of Edwin’s vessel.
“Sir Aldridge is having a bit of fun with me and I don’t appreciate it.” She came back to him, the fizz of anger nearly popping off of her in sparks. If Edwin was already helping Levi, she had little choice than to either work with the man or bow out of the challenge altogether.
She needed the money. The question was, could she work so closely with Levi without consequences? The weight of the small satin bag in her hand suddenly seemed enormous. “Mr. Cannon, I intend to find that monster and take Sir Aldridge’s money.”
Levi twirled the key in his fingers. “It will happen much quicker if we fight together, not each other.”
Melusine closed her eyes and focused on how maddening Levi Cannon was, ignoring all else. “Fine,” she said. “We work together for Sir Aldridge’s coin. But I need the cash more than you do. We split it 60-40, with me getting 60 percent.”
“That’s preposterous!”
“Do you need the money?” Melusine heard the sharp edge of the dare in her voice. Would he tell her the truth?
Levi stared at her, his eyes narrowing.
“Do you?”
“Oh, tarnation,” he swore. “Yes. Yes, I do. If I co
ntinue the monster slaying and I don’t help my father out with his airship business, the only fortune I have is the fortune I make. So I am no longer a gentleman of means, Miss Doré. I was born into a cloak of wealth, but my life choices have caused me to shed it.”
“Hmmm…55-45. It is my last offer. I know the Chicago hunting grounds better than you, Mr. Cannon. You’d do well to agree.”
“I don’t see why—”
“Agreed or not?” She kept her tone forceful and haughty, though she knew he was the one who held most of the cards.
“Agreed.” He rubbed a finger over the thin patch of stubble on his chin. “I have a feeling it may well be worth my while to bow to your demands, Miss Doré.”
Chapter Three
Levi put a hand under Melusine’s elbow. “Let me accompany you back to the house. Then I’ll make a stop at the Patch to get any essentials.”
“You’ll be doing no such thing without me. We will go together.”
For the first time, Levi looked astonished at something she’d said. His eyes widened and his voice hitched up. “You do realize the Patch is extremely dangerous, Miss Doré? Some call it the den of all the darkest sin and crime in Chicago. In good conscience, I cannot let you come with me.”
Melusine let out a long sigh. “Mr. Cannon, I lived in the Patch when I first arrived in Chicago. Though you might believe my skill with weapons is inbred, it was, in fact, learned as means to survival.”
“I’d rather you stayed back, a woman has no place—”
“This woman’s place is everywhere. Especially the Patch. Besides, you may just need my protection.”
Levi laughed. “Ah. A bricky girl, then. Though I had no doubt that little frightened you.”
“Little does.”
“And yet there are moments that I would swear you are terrified of me.” He looked her in the eye as he said it, the amber of his irises bright with mirth. His gaze fell down to her lips and a hot thread of confusion wound around her lungs. She took a step back and regained her composure.
“Terrified to be associated with you, Mr. Cannon. I do have a reputation to uphold.”
He fingered a damp curl that had stuck to her neck. “And what sort of reputation is that, Miss Doré?”
“The kind you do not have.” She knocked his hand from her hair and swallowed a rising bubble of longing. “We should go.”
Levi stared off down the street for a moment, then nodded. “I’ll follow your lead, then.”
“We’ll walk. I wouldn’t want any harm to come to your horse.” Melusine headed in the direction of the river, her stride long and sure.
They walked in silence for a few minutes until Levi turned to her. “I used to watch you perform. Before I left town.” Melusine stumbled, but caught herself, and Levi continued, “When you were just a girl of sixteen or seventeen begging for pennies on the street and surprising passersby with the quick turn of a blade or your accuracy with a blindfold and a bullet.”
Keeping her eyes on the wooden sidewalk in front of her, Melusine was grateful for the dim night. She felt her cheeks blazing in memory. Levi was a few years older than she, so he was a young man already when she would put on shows and pick pockets. The wealthy boy with the auburn hair and the warm smile who came round, always leaving three times what he should in her little tin can. The wealthy boy with the warm smile who made her want what she knew she could never, ever have. So much better to hate him.
Levi continued. “But you had a strong Southern accent back then.”
Melusine shrugged. “It took a while, but Louisiana finally lost its hold on me.” Even as she said it, she knew it was a lie. What happened down South still had its knobby roots wrapped around her soul.
“I brought my pa ‘round once, to see you. I thought…” Levi shook his head. “I don’t know what I thought, but I wanted him to see the girl with the indigo eyes and shining black hair that kept me captive. The firecracker of a girl who whipped knives into painted targets and shot tin cans as they were thrown in the air.”
“Oh?”
Levi chuckled. “He wasn’t impressed.”
Melusine’s cheeks burned hotter. She sped up, but Levi shot out a hand and stopped her by grasping her upper arm. He moved in closer to her, his grip tightening slightly. When his face was near enough that she could see the shadow that came from a day without a shave, he said, “But I was impressed. Very much so.”
She glanced up at his eyes; for once there was no hardness there, no pleasantry or teasing.
She felt her own eyes burn and prickle with ridiculous unshed tears. She pulled her arm from his hand and set back off at a brisk clip, staring straight ahead. “There may be several places in the Patch to procure what we need; however, the very best is a shop run by one Mr. Digby, an apothecary of the supernatural. In order to kill a sea creature, we’ll have to first lure it out. It’s not as if an underwater surface as large as Lake Michigan is easy to explore. We’ll need –“
“Special bait. I know, Miss Doré. I’ve been hunting monsters for a while now.”
Her hands shook slightly as she fingered the satin bag containing the scales. Mr. Digby would love to grind these into a powder to sell just for this purpose. She yanked on her chatelaine, pulling one of the strings of copper chain out from between her breasts, clipping her bag to it and stuffing it back down her blouse.
The noise coming from the streets and the leaning wooden buildings and cabins told them they’d reached their destination. While the rest of the city wasn’t deserted, it had been fairly quiet compared to the ruckus in the Patch. Saloons belched out drunken men and plenty of ladies with too much paint on their faces hugged the dark entranceways to different businesses. Loud barking and growling came from one of the doorways that was half sunk into the mud. Men shouted and jeered on the dogs tearing at each other.
A dusty sign hanging over a pit that led down creaky wooden steps to the door, said Eden’s Apple. The odor of the long-dead and the musk of magic was thick. Melusine hesitated, her heart catching, as the smell brought her back to her mother’s secret spells. To the spell her mother had cast on the last night Melusine was home.
Mother had lowered Father to the floor, setting him down gently, as if he could still be wounded. She stood, her dressing gown covered in blood, loathing darkening her eyes. “I will never forgive you, Melusine. I will make it so that you can never love. I will make it so that love turns you into a monster.”
She took her powders and liquids and, in a bowl made from the skull of a rougarou, pounded the ingredients together. From her tongue shot a stream of unintelligible words, harsh and clipped. In her right hand was a large rose colored scale covered with barbs.
“Komplé,” said Mother, and dropped it into the skull. “Even if you find love, Melusine, when your lover sees you as you truly are – monstrous – you will find yourself alone.”
Now, Melusine opened the door to Eden’s Apple. No windows brightened the shop, just dripping candles and a gas lamp here and there to keep the place from falling into total darkness. Bottles of powders and grains lined dusty shelves, and bouquets of feathers and different kinds of animal tails hung from the rafters. Levi walked slightly ahead of Melusine – she wasn’t sure if it was chivalry or chauvinism.
Mr. Digby stood behind the counter, carving intricate symbols into what was once the talon of some beast. From this angle, Melusine could see through his thinning gray hair to the rounded line of his scalp. He looked up and focused on Levi, then took off his spectacles, his already rheumy eyes going even cloudier with suspicion. “Who are ya and what d’ya want?”
“Mr. Digby,” said Melusine, forcing him to look her way. “It’s me, Mel. I’ve come for a bit of help, if you’d be so kind.”
The old man’s eyes went soft. “Ah. My sweet Mel. You’re a sight.”
“Mr. Cannon and I are hunting a lake monster. We don’t know exactly what kind, but something strong enough to take down a schooner.”
Mr. Digby put the carved talon on the counter and shuffled over to a bookshelf with dozens of thick volumes squeezed into the shelves. He took out a blue leather tome, its pages edged in gold, and thumbed through it. “Lucky for you, you’re lookin’ for a freshwater beast. Were ya looking for a sea creature, we’d have too many options to sift through.”
He put a knobby finger on a page and moved it down, mumbling as he did so, “Kraken is saltwater… not a clelosees…don’t think it’d be a kelpie…a naiad isn’t strong enough…not likely it’d be a fin person…” Tapping the page as he reached the bottom, he said, “You’ve got four real possibilities: a Leviathan, an Abaia, a Fystenean, and a Siren Eel.”
Melusine shared a glance with Levi. Each of those were enormous beasts with hides like armor.
“Lake monsters are monsters, ya know. Not aquatic animals.” Mr. Digby closed the book and began to search through potions and powders. “They cannot be caught with a hook and line, and their appetite is specific to their race and breed.”
Levi nodded. “And do you have bait for each of these creatures?”
Mr. Digby looked in silence for a while, tsking and harrumphing as he came across bottles with barely a speck inside. Finally, he set out a bottle of pasty gel, a tin box of fine shavings, and a flask of clear liquid. “These’ll do ya for the Leviathan, the Abaia and the Fystenean. But I ain’t got the dust that’ll attract a Siren Eel.”
“Where can we find it?” Melusine asked.
Mr. Digby shook his head. “I’m afraid it’s unlikely you will. Need mermaid scales—or the scales of a siren or some sort of fin person. Could be why a Siren Eel is attacking, because the fin people are its natural prey. And ain’t no one seen a mermaid or the like in—”
“Eight years,” breathed Levi.
Mr. Digby narrowed his eyes at Levi and nodded. “That’s it exactly: eight years. Any found were massacred after a mermaid captured a boy—one Amos Cannon—right here in Lake Michigan.” Now he stopped and tilted his head at Levi. “What’d you say your name was again?”
Falling in Deep Collection Box Set Page 106
