Saving the Scientist (The Restitution League #2)(15)

As if he could read her thoughts, Edison squeezed her hand. “They don’t bite. At least not without good reason.”

His footfalls silent on the plank floor, he sped to the door and held it open for her.

“Hello.” The woman in green waved as Ada stepped outside.

Shading her eyes with a hand, Ada blinked in the bright sunlight. Edison took her elbow, guiding her toward the approaching crowd.

Edison stopped in front of the woman in green. "Mrs. Templeton, this is my cousin, Mrs. Philomena Crane."

While a wide smile lit Mrs. Crane’s face, Ada didn’t miss the speculative gleam in her eye as she studied the two of them.

Ada felt as if she were covered in telltale clues. She stilled under the scrutiny, praying no signs of Edison’s kisses showed on her face.

“Please call me Meena,” the woman said, offering a hand.

“I’m Ada.” She liked the woman immediately. Edison’s cousin was pretty, in a most genuine manner. A quick, lively intelligence lit her face.

"That is my husband, Spencer.” Meena pointed at an impossibly handsome man leaning a hip against the trunk.

The man's beautiful mouth tilted up in a small smile of greeting and he nodded in Ada’s direction.

“Next to him is our Mr. Hapgood.” She indicated the gray-haired gentleman who’d assisted her husband with the luggage. “He and his wife are indispensable."

"And more dangerous than they look." The beauty with the auburn curls chimed in. "I'm Briar. That great lump at your side is my brother."

Edison growled softly.

Though Meena's dress was lovely in its simplicity, Edison's sister was far more fashionably attired. On any other woman, Ada suspected the white satin bows and bold blue stripes would be over-the-top. Somehow, the busy dress only complemented the young woman's vast store of energy. The only awkward element was the very large black rucksack slung over her back.

Noting her interest, Briar swung the bag off of her shoulder. It fell to the ground with a distinct clunk. "I brought a great many weapons. There's no telling what sort of trouble we’ll run into."

The girl seemed inordinately pleased at the possibility.

Meena beamed at her cousin. “Briar is especially adept with swords and throwing knives."

The smallest of the lot, a fine boned girl, with straight hair the color of chestnuts, poked her head out between Meena’s husband and the older man. In contrast to Briar’s ruffles and bows, her dress was quite plain, almost severe in it’s lines. Just the sort of thing she herself would wear.

"I'm Nelly.” The girl dropped a lovely curtsy. "Nelly Tremaine. I'm what you might call the office girl."

"Delighted." Ada inclined her head in greeting. What an odd, intriguing group they were.

Edison had left her side to throw open the trunk. Brow furrowed, he stared down into it. "You got all of it?"

“We decided to leave the head at home.” His sister caught Ada’s eye and grinned.

Edison opened his mouth to protest, but slammed it shut when he saw his sister’s teasing grin. “Better not have done,” he muttered.

Curiosity got the better of her. Ada moved to look for herself. A jumble of brass gears and wires and something that looked like a metal arm filled the box.

"It's an automaton.” Nelly, the office girl explained.

Ada looked at Edison in surprise. "An automaton? Truly? But it’s so… large.”

"Life-sized," he acknowleged. “Been planning to design an automated manservant.”

Briar rolled her eyes. “Because everyone needs a metal butler to pour their tea.”

“Once I get things sorted out, it’s got a lot of possibilities.” Edison frowned down at the tangle of parts. “Like silence. A man could have silence with his tea. That alone is worth a fortune.”

Ada smiled down at the jumble of parts. Being an only child, she’d never had the chance to engage in the sort of playful banter that seemed so effortless for siblings like Edison and Briar. The kind of teasing one could engage in with a person one knew so very well there was no risk of offense.

A loved one.

Without warning, the brass parts sparkled behind a sheen of tears. Ada blinked them away. That kiss had knocked her every emotion askew.

Another reason it had been a very poor decision.

She set her hands on her hips, determined to regain her equilibrium. Scientists did not succumb to the vagaries of emotion. They used reason, testing—the scientific method—to make sense of things.

Though the painful lump in her throat remained, her eyes began to clear. The brass parts came back into sharp focus. “Speaking of tea, may I offer you some?”

Meena tossed a gear back into the trunk. “That would be delightful.”

Edison tilted his chin toward Ada. “Maybe you can get her to give up the battery,” he challenged his cousin. “She’s as stubborn as you are.”

Meena grinned at her. “You say that as if it were a bad thing.”

He sent Ada a piercing look. “Bad or not, in this instance, it’s a get-you-killed sort of thing.”

“Do stop badgering the poor dear.” Meena set her hands on her hips and glared at her cousin. “She's got a perfect right to be wary. Besides, it's not the device we need to guard." She studied Ada with sharp intelligence. "It's her."