The Apothecary's Poison (Glass and Steele #3)(48)

"Spy on me! For what purpose?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. India, he dislikes and distrusts you."

"Because I have the ability to ruin his business and ruin the guild's reputation and importance. But I have no interest in having a shop, Catherine. None at all. Watch and clockmakers like your father have nothing to worry about there. Tell your father that. In fact, tell Mr. Abercrombie when next he visits."

"I don't think it wise," Matt said. "It's better for her if she pretends innocence."

"Fiddlesticks," Catherine said with a sniff. "I'm tired of everyone thinking me naive and silly. I'm going to at least tell Father, and he can decide whether to tell Mr. Abercrombie or not."

"I think that's a good compromise," I said.

Cyclops walked in and paused in the doorway when he spotted Catherine. "My apologies," he said. "I didn't know you had company."

"I don't think you two have properly met," I said. "Cyclops, this is my friend, Catherine Mason."

Cyclops bowed and she gave him a small curtsy before sitting again. "I noticed you through your father's shop window," he said.

"You noticed me?" Catherine's pale cheeks flushed pink. "When you were Mr. Glass's coachman?"

"He's not my coachman anymore," Matt assured her. "That was a temporary arrangement that couldn't be helped. Cyclops is a good friend."

"Then I'm pleased to finally meet you properly, Mr. Cyclops."

"Bailey," Cyclops said.

"Pardon?"

"My name's Nate Bailey." He fingered the edge of his eye patch. "Cyclops is what they called me after I got this. But I'd like it if you called me by my proper name, Miss Mason."

"Yes, of course."

Matt's brow furrowed. "Do you want all of us to stop calling you Cyclops now?"

"Just Miss Mason." Cyclops's gaze flickered to her then away. "It doesn't seem right that she should call me that, somehow."

"Why?"

"I agree," I said to save Cyclops from answering him.

Matt looked from me to Cyclops to Catherine then back to Cyclops. Then he smiled into his teacup. "I see."

"I gave up looking for…your colleague, Matt," Cyclops said. "It's impossible in a city this large without a place to begin."

Matt nodded. "I suspect Willie and Duke will be back soon, too. Come and join us."

"You've returned at an opportune moment," I said, pouring tea into a spare cup for Cyclops. "We've just finished telling Catherine about my magic and explaining why that means the guild members fear me. I think she should tell her father about me. What do you think?"

He accepted the cup and sat a little awkwardly on the sofa. Usually he sprawled, as did Duke and Willie, but this time he sat with his back straight and his legs tucked in, not stretched out in front of him. I hoped Catherine appreciated the fine figure he cut for her benefit. He did ruin the effect a little by wrapping his fingers around the teacup rather than holding it by the delicate handle. To be fair, it would have looked like a sausage trying to fit through the eye of a needle.

"I think Miss Mason can trust her parents but no one else," he said. "You accept the existence of magic, Miss Mason?"

"I…I suppose." She wrinkled her nose. "It is rather fanciful, but since I know India isn't the fanciful type, I must believe her."

"I think that's a fair assessment of her character."

"Is magic unique to England, or are there magicians in America, Mr. Bailey?"

"We have magicians back home. It took me some time to accept they were real. I didn't trust too many folk back then, and I didn't know Matt all that well, so believing in magic was like taking a leap off a cliff. I soon learned the truth of it. Saw some of it work with my own eyes."

"Really?" Catherine's gaze studied every inch of Cyclops's face, and I rather suspected he liked it. He was certainly chattier than I'd ever known him to be. "Tell me more about your home. What's America like?"

"I can't speak for all of it, but it can be a wild place where Matt and I come from. It ain't somewhere that fair ladies like yourself should visit, Miss Mason."

She eyed him over her teacup. "And what about ladies seeking adventure?"

He chuckled, the deep rich sound filling the room. Catherine smiled back. "Those will find it interesting enough but may wish they were home safe in their English beds if they ever witness a gunfight or saloon brawl."

"Oh, I don't know. I think that rather depends on how adventurous she is."

Matt looked all at sea as he watched Catherine flirting with his friend and Cyclops enjoying it. It seemed he hadn't expected it. But then, he didn't know her like I did. Catherine may seem sweet, with her pretty face and big eyes, but she had a wicked streak and sought adventure whenever she could—which wasn't often, under her mother's watchful eye. I suspected she would like to travel to America, or anywhere, before she settled down with a husband. If she settled down at all.

We talked more about America and magic again, and the discussion returned to Abercrombie and the guild's determination to spy on me.