Geared for Pleasure (10 page)

James stood taller, his expression alert. “Yours to command, sir. Who needs killing? If it’s the minister, I’ll admit I wouldn’t consider that a punishment.”

Bodhan chuckled, leaning against the edge of his desk and crossing his arms. “Always admired that about you, James Stacy. It’s one of the reasons I put you in charge. Though I’ve noticed of late your efforts have been half-hearted. I will assume the other half is directly connected with your prick and therefore, the lovely Miss Coral.” He shrugged. “Still, even a partial effort should have ensured the security
of my suite. A security that has now been breached not once, but twice in the last week alone.”

James’s cheeks stained with embarrassment or ire, Bodhan wasn’t sure which. “Sir, we replaced the broken air shaft, and had ’em bolted up as much as we could… Did you say twice, sir?”

Bodhan nodded. “Twice. Last night while you and your lady were getting free jollies off young Heinwald’s coin, someone pilfered through my desk. Nothing was taken, since nothing of value is left here when I am not present, but the intent was clear.”

He was thinking about her again. She was so close. She had attempted escape once before, but he knew it couldn’t have been her. Even if she hadn’t been with him all night. And he knew she hadn’t left her room. He’d woken at every sound, certain she had found a way to open the door’s hidden latch to join him in his bed, only to find himself still alone. Dare was no thief. He’d stake everything on it. She was too honest. Too innocent. Damn it all to the edge and back.

“I need a revised list of our clientele and the men we’ve recently added to our employ just to be thorough, though I have a suspect in mind.” He sighed. “Add a stiff drink and your invaluable insights into why I continue to let Seraphina back on my Siren, and we’ll talk no more about your free rides.”

James Stacy practically saluted, a darkening on his cheeks that might have been a blush. Yes, he was definitely blushing. “For what my opinion is worth, sir, Seraphina’s never pinched from a friend. From you. She knows you’d never let her back on board. We’ll find whoever’s done this, but so you know… I don’t aim to cheat you or the ladies, either. Coral and I are in love.”

Bodhan turned his back on the besotted guard. “Fine, yes, of course. But before you decide to leave my company and have pinkly hued babies, you should at least know the girl’s real name. It could come in handy someday. Now what was it that was so urgent?”

He looked over his shoulder in time to notice James glancing
curiously around the room. By now the Siren’s staff was no doubt abuzz with ideas about what he’d been doing with their special “guest.” His actions were doing nothing to quiet their curiosity. He had requested breakfast for two this morning from the galley before the minister arrived. He hoped it would get here before Dare woke. “Please tell me it has nothing to do with my personal life.”

James Stacy shifted uncomfortably but shook his head. “No, sir. You wanted me to keep you informed about the movements of a particular customer. He’s made his special request for this evening, sir. The chair and two females, as you expected.”

Bodhan felt satisfaction welling inside him. Finally. “Then we shall give him a fine private show, won’t we, Mr. Stacy? Exactly what he wants, with an extra guest, of course. He should be pleased to find the Siren’s owner a fellow voyeur. Then we’ll discover what he knows about the people who’ve gone missing this year, yes? And who is behind the kidnappings. You know what to do.”

James tilted his head. “Which women, sir?”

“Leave that to me. Just make sure the room is properly prepared and attended. And make a batch of our special two-tiered brandy. But first, bring me that list.”

His guard nodded and disappeared without another word. Bodhan’s grin quickly returned to a grimace. Which women? The customer in question was never easy to please. His first thought was for the free-spirited Seraphina. She was no easy one to control, but business increased tenfold when word spread that she was on board.

Though the Felidae was as well known for her sticky fingers and eavesdropping abilities as she was for her skills at seduction, she had never taken from any in his employ. Her qualities could be used to his advantage in this situation. Especially if she suspected he was aware of her trespass. He couldn’t trust her but he could motivate her by offering her something she wanted. In that way, Seraphina was predictable.

If only he could say that about Dare. He had no idea what she wanted, other than off his Siren.

What was he going to do about her? Just release her to her own devices once they reached port? How could he do so with a clear conscience? She was such a tiny thing, ill-equipped for the world around her, despite her surprising strength. Her honest surprise as she discovered each new aspect of her current situation was proof of that. The world was full of dangerous people who would take advantage of her naïveté.

Yet what were Dare’s alternatives? Staying here was just as fraught with danger. She could share pleasure for her living, though the idea of anyone laying a hand on her made him reach instinctively for the theorrite pistol concealed in a clasped holster at his thigh.

She could stay with him. An indefinite guest who would soon become privy to all his machinations. The bribery, the secrecy. His secrets shared, while he still knew close to nothing about hers. He suspected many things, but had no tangible proof.

He had ways. It was his business, after all—other people’s secrets. A family business he had been proud of, until this one small scrap of a woman looked at him with scorn. Still, he could use his connections to discover the truth about who she was, where she’d come from, without her knowledge.

That would certainly woo her straight into your arms
, his inner voice mocked him. He couldn’t take away her choices any more than he could accept the authority of the Theorrean Raj. And he wanted
her
to tell him. Strange though it sounded, he wanted Dare to trust him. Not to flinch when he came close, or read dark intent into his every word and action.

Why did it matter?

There was nothing for it but to let her go when the time came.

His life was complicated enough. Each year, each new lost girl in need of a job, each man in need of a second chance or fugitive from
the Raj’s laws needing to find sanctuary, brought him more complications.

In the beginning his job had seemed so simple. Long-term, but simple. And honorable. Where had he gone wrong? Why had he, unlike his clever predecessor, been stuck collecting so many strays? And why now, of all times, had the confounding, utterly distracting, and inexplicably vulnerable Dare arrived on his Siren? Tied up like a gift meant for him alone.

Or a trap.

Big movements were afoot, rumors he could hardly fathom, and danger for those he cared about at every turn. The news his cousin had shared with him in Newgarren after he’d left the Siren to save him from those greedy, thieving thugs was difficult for him to believe. An old myth was stirring to life in the desert.

Right now, all he could do was focus on his latest target, whose odd proclivities and running mouth would hopefully be his downfall, as well as turn him into Bodhan’s involuntary informant.

He ran a hand through his hair. He dared not take the wrong step in this. He needed more information, reliable information that he could use about where the missing had been taken. All shapes, sizes, and genders in every town they frequented. The stories of abductions made no sense. Had no reason he could discern.

Granted, most of them were half-breeds or lowborns who wouldn’t be missed as much as the higher castes. But traders were not safe, either. It wasn’t unprecedented that the Wode who worked for the science ministry would take people into custody indefinitely, but this was different. People were being taken from their beds, from street corners.

Dare was lucky it was Lucy Thrice, an ordinary criminal, who had taken her for profit. It could have been much worse. She could have simply vanished.

More and more had been disappearing over the last few months
until finally, in an action Bodhan could not countenance or forgive, someone had been taken off the Siren itself. A tall, slightly banged-up, self-confessed Wode half-breed who had found his way on board for a short trip, and ended up with more than he’d bargained for.

Bodhan’s eyes narrowed, staring out the window at nothing.

Wode.

That man had appeared near as dazed by his surroundings as Dare, though he’d hidden it a hell of a lot better. He’d also come of his own volition, with goods to trade and the knowledge of how to contact the Siren. Bodhan recalled it being suspicious that the man had seemed surprised it actually existed.

He frowned. Apart from his height and shaved head, the half-breed seemed more like Dare than chance should allow. Intelligent. Curious. And he didn’t fit, either. How had that comparison evaded him until now? Was there a connection between them?

His door opened and Bodhan whirled on his booted heel, grabbing for James’s collar a bit too roughly. The paper in the guard’s hands rattled. “Our missing passenger a few months back. The Wode bastard. Do you remember his name?”

James chuckled nervously. “What? Oh, sure. Of course. The boys and I took him under our wing, it being his first time on and all. Almost asked you to hire him, he’d looked so down on his luck, but then he disappeared.”

“I remember, James. Clearly. His name,” Bodhan spoke through gritted teeth, reminding himself that he was known for his patience. Famous for it. “What was his name?”

“C-Cyril? Or Silas I think? No,
Cyrus
. That’s it. I remember because the night we got him drunk enough to talk to Grey and Ivory, who were both giving him the eye, he went and bragged about having a cock the size of a sword.” Bodhan let James go and the guard took a nervous step back, a wary smile on his face. “Cyrus the Sword, he called himself. We told him dagger or sword, it’s still all about skill.”

Bodhan shook his head absently. “I was distracted during that trip, but he was a bit of a prig, wasn’t he? More like the nobles who refuse our services than an abused stray.”

James Stacy’s shoulders relaxed and his eyes sparkled. “He was nice enough that he didn’t deserve to be taken, but he was upright and tight for a certainty. He ended up turning down all comers and drove Seraphina herself crazy. I seem to recall her sniffing after him. She loves a challenge. But even I was surprised at how often
he
rejected
her
. She’s not used to that, you know.”

Yes, Seraphina had been on board then as well. And just as interested in Dare now as James said she had been in the man. Damn. More than chance indeed. He now knew for certain that Seraphina would be one of the women he chose for the evening.

“James, I’ve changed my mind. Whoever it was sneaking about my suite has nothing but the knowledge that I leave sweets and customer complaints in my desk. We’ll worry about security after we surface.”

Another guard knocked on the door, balancing a tray of food delicately in his large, awkward grasp. Bodhan offered the man a genuine smile. “At last. It looks good.”

He hoped Dare thought so.

James and the guard exchange knowing smirks, and Bodhan scowled at them. “Is something amusing?”

“No, sir.” James’ smirk disappeared and the other guard made a hasty exit.

Bodhan lifted an eyebrow. “Spit it out.”

James Stacy shrugged. “Coral said everyone is talking about you and the girl… I mean, the way you and she…” He raised his hands as if to ward off Bodhan’s expression. “Women do love to speculate, sir.”

“The women aren’t paid to speculate. They are paid to distract and please our passengers and indulge their whims. Let them know
that in the future, restraint concerning speculation about me is strongly recommended.”

“Did you still want that drink, sir?”

Bodhan took a breath, offering an olive branch. “Relax, James. I am not myself today. And this food will do to soothe your beast of a boss. You can go now. I’ll let you know when I’ve chosen the women I’ll need for this evening.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll just leave this with you.” James set down the paperwork he’d been asked for and headed out of the room once more.

The door had no sooner closed behind him than the female voice that haunted his dreams spoke up behind him. “I volunteer.”

Dare felt his surprise through the blood pounding in her ears and the intensity of her own emotions.

She’d barely slept, too aware of the man on the other side of the hidden door. Too tempted to join him. Instead, she’d found one of his shirts in a small chest in the corner of her sleeping chamber and put it on after working her way out of the layers of her gown and corset. Then she’d proceeded to study every inch of the room, the devices on the shelves, and each seam of the wall for an alternate entry point.

It hadn’t taken long to discover the latter. Minute metallic shavings beside the narrow vent that allowed air to circulate through the room was all the proof Dare needed. Seraphina must share her penchant for climbing through air ducts. She was, however, far better at it than Dare had been. There was no way she could imagine squeezing through the narrow aperture, yet Seraphina had done it. For folly? Or something more nefarious?

The devices were unusual and varied, one seeming to have no relation to the other. At least, none she could discern. They certainly gave her no clue as to what this room was used for.

There was a small board that seemed to be a puzzle game. Its strange, maze-like structure and miniature steel ball that journeyed through it had distracted Dare for half the night without being solved.

Another device looked to be more dangerous. It was made of smooth swirling desert glass, similar to the jewelry she’d seen at the square, only this piece was long and thick as a bottle’s neck. When the small brass key was wound at the base, the shaft’s tiny internal mechanism began to hum and flicker with life, giving off a shock that reminded her of the stormgate technology. When her fingers touched it, however, it did not cause pain. Just a strong tingling sensation that spread throughout her limbs. If it was a weapon, its smoothly rounded end made it an awkward and ineffectual one. But what else could it be? Without context the devices told her nothing, held no secrets. She was no closer to understanding Bodhan or his activities than she had been yesterday.