Steam Guardians 01 - A Lady Can Never Be Too Curious (11 page)

“Telephone?”

Galene nodded. “You’ll be allowed to use one if you ask. I will call you often, though not too often, for you will have a full schedule on your way to your first degree.”

“I see…” Actually she didn’t, but Janette maintained her composure while she battled to keep her uncertainty from showing. Of course there were levels inside the Illuminist Order. She was a fool to believe a new member wouldn’t have to work to achieve respect. Earning it would be a pleasure, because for the first time in a very long time she would be judged on things that mattered instead of social niceties. Knowledge and learning—all of it was now at her fingertips.

“I am looking forward to the challenge,” she declared, much to Professor Yulric’s delight.

The door opened, and Lykos stood there wearing his overcoat. Behind him, another Illuminist Guardian held Galene’s cloak, his message clear. Her grandmother lifted a hand and waved.

“Study well…”

The doors closed behind her grandmother, and Janette felt a pinch of loneliness. It surprised her because Galene was almost a stranger to her, but at the moment, the old lady was the only family she still had contact with.

“Since you have joined us, I will escort you to your quarters in the women’s section.” Darius pressed on his ear device and extended his arm toward the door, which opened. She heard the tiny hum of the crystals. “All new members—”

“Stay in the dormitory for their first year. Yes, I know.” She was interrupting but needed to feel as though she knew what to expect from her life, or maybe what she needed was to make sure Darius didn’t see her as a lost child in need of comforting. A sense of uncertainty was threatening to eat through her fragile confidence and leave her vulnerable to despair. Well, she would just have to muster up some courage. The year of living inside the dormitory was yet another reason many people suspected the Illuminist Order of strange and grotesque dealings. Why else would new members need to be separated from their families?

“I used to come to Sophia’s to buy a circular outside.” She followed Darius from the room. “My father was very displeased when he found them, but I am glad I have some knowledge of life inside your Order.”

“Our Order.”

“Yes…of course…”

His eyes narrowed slightly in response to the hesitation in her tone. Janette diverted her attention to the décor of the hallways they were passing through.

She was simply overstimulated.

You
certainly
were
this
morning…

She shook her head and felt another look from Darius as heat suffused her cheeks.

The man read her emotions too well. She reached up to finger the Illuminist pin, seeking proof she wasn’t dreaming. It was cool beneath her fingertips

Darius didn’t stop to comment but took her farther into the secret world she’d only read about. The Solitary Chamber was much larger than it had appeared from the street. They went down wide corridors before going through a gate. She heard the hum of the crystals but her pin didn’t have any secured in it.

“Novices need permission to leave their dormitory wing because our secrets could leak out with them before they take their Oaths,” Darius informed her. He turned to face two large doors and pressed his earpiece. “The first gate is enough deterrent for other novices.”

The doors opened to reveal another long corridor, and two men standing guard on the other side of the doors.

“But I’m a Pure Spirit and can cross the gate without a gold pin.” Knowing the facts didn’t stop her heart from accelerating when Darius pulled her to a stop and the two guards studied her face.

He raised an eyebrow. “Misgivings already, Miss Aston?”

“Your arrogance is ugly, Mr. Lawley.” She stepped away from him. “Is it so hard for you to understand that my tolerance for being placed under lock and key might be strained today? Well, I do assure you, I shall weather the conditions necessary for me to make my place here.”

He reached out to capture her arm. To be sure, her pride didn’t care to know she liked the way he imposed his will on her, but there was a part of her that enjoyed feeling his strength and recognizing that it was greater than her own. He was arrogant, but that fact seemed to give her satisfaction. Part of her found it attractive.

Foolish…

She needed to focus on beginning a life for herself, not on the way Darius Lawley made her feel. Her father was correct about one thing: emotions would lead her astray.

“Your door to your rooms will not be locked, unless you do it yourself.” He guided her down the hallway to the very end and reached for his earpiece.

“But you have the power to open any door here, don’t you?” she asked, distracting herself from the guards. It was becoming jumbled inside her mind, and she needed to keep yesterday’s experience at the clinic far away from the adventure she was on today.

Yes, that was it. Adventure. Such a marvelous opportunity.

He glanced down at her as the door opened. “I am a Guardian and the head one here. Don’t mistake our Order, Janette. There are laws that are ironclad, and we will protect our knowledge. Treason is punishable by death. I escort every new novice to their chamber when they arrive.”

He pointed into the open chamber. There was a small entry room, with a table in the center of it. A lamp cast white light down onto an open book placed neatly on the table’s surface. “Read the laws first, Janette. You can still walk away. The Guardians at the gate will allow you to leave today if you decide you do not want to follow our ways. You’ve proven you have a fine mind and can grasp more knowledge but we share our learning only with those willing to protect our secrets. You will not be allowed into our most important classes until you complete your Novice year and take the Oath of Allegiance. Only then will you be a full member of this Order.”

She lifted her chin and quashed the urge to shrug off his grasp. Let the man see how little he frightened her.

“I will read the laws, but do not waste your time waiting about for me to bolt like some frightened rabbit.” She turned and walked away from him. He released her, but she felt his gaze on her. Her father would have been proud of her poise; it lacked not a bit of formality as she covered the distance to the table. She picked up the book and turned to look back at him.

“I know you are not a rabbit, Janette.” His voice was edged with frustration, and it touched a similar feeling inside her. “But I do wonder if you aren’t wearing that badge because you believe you have nowhere else to go.”

“Maybe I wonder if you’re bringing up such a thing because it will remind me that you offered me marriage this morning as an alternative.”

An alternative she needed to ignore…or risk thinking about his kisses again. She blushed, as both options left her the possibility of taking him for her lover. That knowledge was too much; she wasn’t even sure how to think about it. The topic had been so forbidden until an hour ago.

Now
it
wasn’t…

“But I am wearing it,” she continued. “So there is no reason to discuss the matter further.”

Her pride came to her rescue, insisting she not begin her life among the Illuminists with rumors she’d gained entrance by becoming the head Guardian’s lover. Maybe among the Order it wasn’t as frowned upon as in high society, but she still wanted to be seen standing on her own. She drew a deep breath.

“Since you claim my privacy will be respected here, kindly leave me to begin my life as a member of the Illuminist Order, Mr. Lawley. We should avoid being overly familiar with each other while I am a novice. Since you claim to escort all newcomers to their chambers, it’s best I do not appear unique. Such would undermine your position.”

“You make an interesting point, Janette.”

She turned back to face him and regretted giving into temptation. His expression was dark, but not with anger. The man was battling the same urges as she. She didn’t need to see him contemplating her lips, couldn’t stop herself from licking them because they were suddenly dry. His eyes narrowed instantly.

“I believe addressing me so familiarly is unwise,” she sputtered, searching her mind for all the lessons her mother had given her on keeping men at arm’s length—something she’d failed to do with Darius. What foul luck she had with this man. There was something about him that unraveled her composure.

“At least, it’s wiser. Surely you can see that,” she implored him. Every bit of poise she had seemed misplaced between them. What chafed was the way she noticed how dishonest she was being. She did not want him at arm’s length.

“Because of my position?” He chuckled, but the sound was far from pleasant.

She heard only a faint sound of his feet hitting the floor before the man was looming over her. He left only a scant inch between them, grasping her arms to pull her close.

“Yes…you’re—”

“I know who I am, Janette.” His breath teased her lips. “I do not need you to protect my good name.”

“Well, you needn’t be so cross.”

He shook his head. “And you needn’t be so mesmerizing.”

His eyes darkened, hypnotizing her. He growled softly before his lips claimed hers. It wasn’t a kind kiss; it was an assault, one designed to break through her defenses. What surprised her was the way she curled her fingers into his vest to pull him against her. Delight speared through her, hard and sweet. Need pulsed inside her, and she turned her head so their kiss might be even harder. She wanted to know everything about him—his taste, his scent, and the feel of his demands.

“Enough, Janette. I should have listened to you and left.”

He put her away from him, but she felt his hands shaking. Just the hint of a tremor, one his eyes never betrayed. Instead, she witnessed the flare of lust in those dark orbs and understood exactly what it was…because it was the same thing gnawing at her insides.

“Then leave me. But don’t you forget that I am not a frightened child anymore.”

His lips rose into a mocking grin.

“Yet neither are you completely a woman.” The door began to open in response to a press on his ear device. Heat rose to her cheeks at his comment. How dare the man call her immature after kissing her so passionately!

“If I am not up to your standards, Mr. Lawley, kindly stop kissing me.”

He stopped and offered her a half bow. “But my dear Miss Aston, you are the one who was so determined to enter my world. How could I fail to welcome you to it…personally?” His eyes flashed a promise at her before the door closed.

Welcome, indeed. More like a warning.
Or
a
promise…

She felt the need inside her twisting and biting now that he was gone. Her skin was too sensitive, both her nipples drawn into hard points behind her corset, and hidden between the folds of her sex there was a point that throbbed bitterly with frustration.

Janette laughed. She forced the sound out of her body, denying the urge to sink into longing. Smoothing her fingers over the Illuminist pin, she laughed again, this time lower and rich with satisfaction. She turned and picked up the book, placing a soft kiss against its binding. Her life, her future was in her hands. Something she’d only dared to fantasize about in the darkest hours of the night. It had seemed such a far-fetched idea, one she’d doubted she had the courage to pursue. Maybe she’d always hoped her father would find her science circulars. If so, she was a bit of a coward for not being able to step past the threshold of her comfortable home and seek out what she wanted.

You
weren’t afraid to kiss Darius back…

Well, she admitted to being unsure. He was no virgin, nor was he the type of gentleman she’d practiced flirting with. For all the warnings she’d heard from matrons about the unsavory realities of what nongentlemen did, she couldn’t say she believed them. His kiss had excited her, and she liked the feeling. It was wild and unpredictable, but she discovered herself pleased to know he’d be watching her.

She lamented nothing.

***

“Perhaps you are too old for such an important task.”

Dr. Nerval drew in a sharp breath, but the man sitting in front of him only smiled at his outrage.

“Do not forget, Compatriot Silas, I am the one who discovered the girl.”

“And allowed her to slip through your fingers.”

The doctor stood, refusing to remain in the chair that sat alone in the middle of the room while Silas and two of his fellow Helikeians viewed him from a raised dais.

“A temporary situation. Her father still believes I am her salvation, and I will utilize his faith in me to bring the girl back into my custody.”

“See that you do,” Silas informed him. “Nothing else will satisfy us.”

Silas picked up a gavel and pounded it on the desk in front of him. The sound was like a pistol discharging in the room. The other Helikeian compatriots hid their faces in the shadows, never uttering a single word to help him identify them. The two doors opened, and he had no choice but to leave.

“Do you think he can do it?” one of the other men asked solemnly.

Silas laced his fingers together and sighed. “You should never have lost track of the mother, Compatriot Peyton. Your failing has now resulted in the Illuminists gaining yet another Pure Spirit who was supposed to be ours.” Silas turned to look at the man on his left. “The only reason we still tolerate you living is because you somehow manage to maintain your post among the Illuminists.”

“The girl would have been born inside their Order if I hadn’t succeeded in having her mother accused of treason. It wasn’t a simple task to plant enough evidence on her to convince them to proceed with charges. The grandmother has a great many friends. The end result was a victory. Mary Aston left the Order, thereby providing us with the opportunity to claim her children. Such was my mission. It is Dr. Nerval’s failing that allowed the girl to be discovered by the Illuminists.”

Silas flattened his hands on the tabletop. “You make excuses like a child. Your mission was to marry Galene Talbot so her bloodline would become Helikeian, and it would not have been necessary to claim her granddaughter.” He looked at the other man. “Things ran more precisely within our ranks when the weaklings were disposed of regularly.”