A Dawn Most Wicked (Something Strange and Deadly 0.5)(34)

Joseph’s eyes thinned. “You are tired of being a footman?”

She made a face. “The pay is good, but the work is dull, yeah? What you do”—she nudged Joseph with her elbow—“is exciting. And, I dunno. I felt like . . . like I was doing something right.” She bit her lip. “I know it sounds silly, but it’s true. Last night it seemed like the three of us had done something that only the three of us could do.”

At those words the dried mud on the road suddenly leaped into focus. And Jie’s words knocked around in my brain . . . before finally sliding down my spine and settling in my lungs. Something only the three of us could do. My breath hissed out. Then, without thinking, I blurted, “I’ll take the job.”

Joseph almost fell off the fence. “You will?”

“Yeah.” I set my hands on my knees and nodded slowly. “I reckon a consultant’s position might work. For a little while at least.” Until my past catches up again. “And this way, I can make you that influence machine—make sure you’ve always got raw electricity. But . . .” I angled my face toward his, my lips quirking up.

“Wi?”

“You have to hire her too.” I jerked my thumb at Jie. “Like she said, the three of us do well together.”

“Ah.” Joseph slid off the fence. “This seems a fair enough bargain. We did function well as a team, and I believe I can find enough funds to— Wait.” His eyes suddenly popped wide, and he rounded on Jie. “Did he call you a ‘she’?”

“Oh, uh. About that.” She jumped off the fence, her knees bending with the impact. Then she sheepishly rose, her gaze locked on her feet. “I’m not really a boy, Mr. Boyer. I just dress like one.”

Joseph gulped. “Oh my.”

“‘Oh my’ is right,” I drawled. Then I slid off the fence too. My new plans were all good and well . . . but there was still one more person I needed to speak to. One more thing that needed tending before I could head off with these Spirit-Hunters.

But Cassidy wasn’t easy to find. When I showed up at the hospital, it was to learn she’d gone to a hotel (paid for by the Langs). When I arrived at the hotel, it was to hear she had returned to the Queen. It was just as the sun was setting on the Mississippi’s west bank that I finally managed to find her.

She was in the pilothouse—I should’ve known.

Clack-clack-clack, thwump! The spyglass opened and closed in her hands—louder than my footsteps as I ascended the stairs into the room. Clack-clack-clack, thwump!

I reached the top step and had to squint to see through the sunset. It filled the pilothouse like a prism, and wind licked through an open window. When I swung my gaze right, I got a full view of Natchez. When I twisted my head left, I saw nothing but burning sun and endless green forest. A man could pretend he was king of the world up here. Pretend the gleaming steering wheel could take him anywhere he wanted to go.

Clack-clack-clack—

“Cass,” I said.

Thwump! She snapped the spyglass shut, surprise jolting through her shoulders. But she didn’t look at me.

“You’re . . . angry.” I crossed the small space toward her but paused a step away. “Is it because I didn’t tell you about the reward—”

“It’s because you didn’t tell me about my father!” She whipped around, her eyes blazing. “You didn’t tell me that he would lose his job. Or that the Queen was getting pulled off the river.”

“But now she ain’t being pulled off—”

“But Father still lost his job!” Her voice screeched out, bouncing off the glass before flying from the open window. She had been letting this anger simmer all day. “You had no right to keep that from me, Danny.”

“Maybe not.” Lifting my hands, I dug my knuckles in the corners of my eyes. I had expected her displeasure. I hadn’t expected her rage. “I just did what I thought was right.”

“And is that what you did when you killed that man? That factory guard in Philadelphia? What you thought was right?”

My breath wuffed out. My hands fell. “That man’s death was an accident.”

“Oh? Then why does that Wilcox family want you so bad? Father told me about your secret. About your prison sentence.” Clack-clack-clack. “And what other secrets are you keeping from me? What else don’t I know about you?”

“I only have one other secret, Cass.” I inhaled until my ribs were fit to crack. Then I let it all rush out. “I’m leaving the Sadie Queen. I ain’t takin’ Lang’s offer.”

Her cheeks paled. The spyglass thwumped shut. “Are . . . are you joking?”

I shook my head. “After I gather my things, I’ll be gone. For good.”

“Why?” she breathed, shoving the glass in her pocket and stepping toward me. Her eyes searched my face. “I don’t really care about your past, Danny—I was just surprised is all.” Her hand reached for my cheek.

I didn’t move. Not even when her calloused fingers brushed down my jaw. I just stood very still.

She flinched as if I’d slapped her. Her hand wrenched back. “You mean it. Oh God, you mean it.” She clutched her stomach. “But what about being an engineer? What about me? I thought . . . I thought we were a team. You. Me. Engineer. Pilot.” Her breath hitched, making her chest kick up. “What about . . . what about feeling something more than friendship? Did that just vanish?”