Free Born of Treasure (Treasure Chronicles Book 2) by Jordan Elizabeth

the mine, but he wasn’t. Ain’t nobody could find him. Captain Greenwood, he killed my ma and grabbed me. Clark said since I was his girl, he’d come back for me.”
    Clark’s girl—his wife. “What did he do?” Jeremiah gritted his teeth. Clark would’ve had to do something bad to start so much trouble, but it didn’t mean the army could kill Tarnished Silvers.
    “It was that absinthe he drunk, only it ain’t absinthe. It was something else. Captain Greenwood said it would do something to him. I’ve heard them talking a lot about it.”
    No wonder Clark hated the army and why Captain Greenwood wanted him there. “What did it do to him?”
    “I don’t know for sure, but it sounds like it gives him magic. The army’s been after him. They want to…” She scrunched her nose. “Dissect him to get to it. I don’t know what that means.”
    It couldn’t be the real story. Magic didn’t exist. Jeremiah glanced out the window at the bare yard and whitewashed fence. It didn’t mean her story wasn’t partly true.
    “You’ll find him for me?” Mable rubbed the tears off her face. “He’ll come get me. He won’t let them hurt me no more. We’ll run away, just like he promised.”
    “We can’t leave her here,” Alyssa whispered.
    “If we take her, he’ll punish the Bromi.” Jeremiah nodded at the slave by the stove. That man hadn’t done anything besides allow Mable to tell her story.
    Unless it was a lie. They could be working together.
    “But…” Alyssa bit her lower lip.
    “We’ll get Clark,” Jeremiah said, “just like she wants.” He could confirm or deny. Garth would know what to make of the matter.

    Mable screamed into the pillow on her bed, but even that couldn’t lessen the excitement that made her heartbeat race. Clark would finally come for her. He must not have known Captain Greenwood had her. If Clark was on the run, Captain Greenwood wouldn’t have been able to get him word.
    She rolled onto her back to stare at the white ceiling. Everything in the house was white. Captain Greenwood wouldn’t have it another way. She stretched her legs and adjusted her corset. Sure, the captain used her once in a while like men had used her mother back in Tangled Wire, and sure he starved her sometimes, beat her once in a while, all depending on his mood. He’d only pulled out a hunk of her hair once, when he’d been in a rage over Clark escaping him again.
    He needed her alive so he could use her against Clark.
    He’d put her in the clean room, with a real bed, and he got her clothes so she wouldn’t be naked. Whenever he left, she and the Bromi got to talk. He taught her about his lifestyle and his language. The Bromi had even taught her about the government—how he knew, she wasn’t sure, but he swore it was right. When the king had died, heirless, the government had decided to elect a president. The queen became what the slave called a figurehead. The people liked to look at her, but she didn’t have power. The president, therefore the people, since they elected him, got to control the government.
    Clark would save him, too. He didn’t deserve to be a slave.
    Mable giggled. Clark would give her a perfect life, full of riches and rich food. She’d grow fat and happy.
    He’d promised.

    “I’ll give the telegram to Mr. Treasure.” Captain Greenwood held out his hand, grinning.
    “It goes right to him.” The Bromi sidestepped in the hallway.
    Captain Greenwood clenched his teeth. The message might be about Clark. Garth wouldn’t share it.
    “You are a slave,” Greenwood snarled. “You will know your place and act like it. Hand me the missive.” The captain yanked it from the Bromi’s hand and slapped him across the head, knocking him into the wall. Captain Greenwood landed a kick to his face, hearing the man’s nose crack. Blood gushed down his face.
    “Know your place.” He unfolded the telegram and scanned the words.
    Beware Captain Greenwood. He has history with