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recover his usual air of nonchalance, Sebastian accepted the handshake. As always, he was dressed like a model on the cover of
The Dapper Gentleman’s Quarterly
, but his shoulder-length hair and aristocratically thin mustache were currently tinted the ice-blue of saffyre gin. His eyes were the same dazzling color, but right now they were obscured by smoked-glass spectacles. He’d inherited his good looks, cheerful demeanor, and eye for the ladies from his father. His weakness for infernal, newfangled contraptions and rakish gentlemen came from his mother. Like both his parents before him, Sebastian was involved in every profitable venture in Industria as well as countless abroad. “Did we arrive in time for the festivities, or is this the after-party?”
    “Penny’s Ticker is troubling her.” Nic hooked the wires of his spectacles behind his ears, his face puckering again with worry. “She needs to go up to bed and rest. I’ll send to Currey Hospital for one of the surgeons.”
    “No, you won’t.” From the sturdy chain hanging about my neck, I retrieved a gold key, warm from nestling against my skin. Marcus popped several buttons off my collar when administering the jolt from the Pixii, so I merely had to nudge the fabric aside to access the brass faceplate set just under my left clavicle. Another demoiselle might have blushed, but the faceplate was located well above the ruffles atop my corset, and I’d been examined by so many doctors that I’d no patience for false modesty. I slid the key into place with a small click. “I must have forgotten to wind my Ticker this morning.”
    Violet gave me a narrow look. No doubt she wondered if I’d lied to her at SugarWerks or if I was lying now, but I would have died thrice over before admitting that Marcus had been the one toalmost kill me, that his body pressed to mine and the heat between us had been enough to stop my heart. His gray eyes were on me as I tightened the mainspring. The muscles in my chest constricted under the combined pressure.
    I am more than a pretty little windup doll.
    But he knew that, somehow. There was respect in his eyes, alongside something decidedly personal. I paid back his attention with interest, wanting to see how long it would take him to avert his gaze. We were well on our way to a full-blown staring contest when Nic interrupted.
    “I do wish you’d take more care with yourself,” he said, wiping a handkerchief over his glasses and resettling them on his face. “I swear you’ll forget your name one of these days, Penny.”
    It was a variation on the theme he’d played since the implant, seeing ominous shadows in every passing rain cloud. Fresh frown lines pinched the bridge of his nose. His eyes, once as merry as my own, were dark and somber.
    “Thankfully, you’ll always be there to remind me of it.” I reached out and gave his arm a squeeze, trying to convey through layers of cotton and wool that I was stronger than he thought.
    Before I could offer further reassurances, six men entered the study, guns raised.

THREE
    In Which Hazards Appear Around Every Hedge

    “Stand down!” Marcus barked at them. Under the command was steel. Steel, and layers of reinforced Chytin body armor.
    They immediately lowered their weapons.
    “The rest of the house is clear,” the tallest of them said. “Save for rooms on the top floor we couldn’t access.”
    I let go of a breath I hadn’t known I was holding and explained. “The bedrooms have combination locks on the doors. There’s no way to access them without chopping a hole in the wall.”
    The soldier spared me a nod. “No other breaches or signs of forced entry at the back or side doors. And no sign of any of the staff.”
    “We’ve only a chatelaine, and today’s market day,” Nic said. “She wouldn’t have been here, thank goodness.”
    When Marcus reached into his pocket, the charcoal wool fell back far enough from his waist to reveal a holstered Magnetic Acceleration