Free Seleste deLaney - [Badlands 02] by Clockwork Mafia Page A

trained on the lawyer’s still form, Catherine stepped aside as Henri approached. “He has not moved or spoken.”
    “Thank you. If Noah’s back inside, can you ask him to fetch Spencer?”
    “I do not think it wise to leave you unguarded.”
    Strange that having the warrior woman concerned over her well-being didn’t bring Henri an ounce of comfort. “I hardly think Mr. St. Clair is a physical threat. Besides, I know how to take care of myself.”
    Catherine shrugged and stalked off, whether to find Noah or get Spencer herself Henri didn’t know or care. Tobias on board was most definitely not random. She feigned tripping over her skirt as she gathered supplies to treat his wound.
    The charade seemed to work. Tobias smiled at her with the same expression one might use on a child. Henri knew the look well. It was the one that acknowledged she was nothing but a weak female in need of a man to protect her. Though she planned for him to underestimate her, it still made her want so badly to press the toggle on her brooch. To send the clockwork scurrying across the room to drug him. Stupid , arrogant men .
    No matter. She’d find out what she needed—one way or another.
    “Mr. St. Clair, when I left you at the hangar, I thought I made myself clear that I’d contact you when I returned. Precisely what are you doing aboard my ship?”
    “When I left, I saw one of your father’s associates speaking to someone leaning out from the first in a row of steam carriages. The next thing I knew, he pointed toward the hangar and a dozen armed men stepped out of the carriages. I couldn’t be sure it had anything to do with you, of course, but the proximity and timing seemed far too great a coincidence. So I rushed back to warn you.”
    She dabbed at his wound with a cloth, clearing the blood away. “I appreciate the effort, but as you probably noticed, we are well aware men were shooting at us. There was no reason for you to come aboard.”
    “True. Unfortunately, I was caught in the crossfire and had little in the way of choices. Plus, considering which of his associates it was, I suspect I know what they were after.” Her fingers probed at his wound, and Tobias let out a hiss. “Is there a reason you aren’t utilizing one of your father’s clockworks for this?”
    Henri gritted her teeth as she applied a bandage and stowed her supplies. While she had many mechanicals based on her father’s designs, she’d rebuilt them all. They were hers . “I stopped living in my father’s shadow the day he died, Mr. St. Clair. It would be smart of you to recognize that. One of my regular patients—my most regular patient in fact—has an intense hatred of clockworks, so I do my best to maintain my abilities with field medicine.” She wiped the remnants of his blood from her hands with a wet towel. “So what exactly did those men want desperately enough to shoot at my airship?”
    His gaze darted around the infirmary as if someone might have joined them without his notice. “Your father was a brilliant man, Henrietta.”
    “It’s Dr. Mason. And that hardly answers my question.”
    “I don’t know how to explain it exactly.”
    Unacceptable. And most unfortunate that the serum in her brooch would only encourage him to be truthful, not to loose his tongue. Henri jerked a comb from her hair and pushed a spring. The clockwork dragonfly whirred to life, wings with razor-sharp edges vibrating beneath her fingers. Never again would she be taken by surprise and defenseless—she’d made damned sure of that.
    “Let me make this clear. All I have to do is let go. There’s something you aren’t saying, and the last time I let anyone do that, people around me started dying. So I suggest you tell me everything before I decide yours is the only blood I need to wash my hands of this time.”
    With his eyes glued to the clockwork, Tobias licked his lips and shrank back on the cot. “I’m not a scientist. I don’t know what it’s