Ultimate Nyssa Glass, H. Burke [cat reading book .TXT] 📗

Dropping the photograph to the floor, she stepped around him. Her skin crawled at the thought of bending to Blythe’s demands. However, if she didn’t, what would happen to her? To Ellis?

Betraying Amara doesn’t bother me. I owe her no loyalty, but I’m getting sick of people strong-arming me into things. What will Ellis think of this whole mess?

Chapter Nine

“Do you think Blythe is trustworthy?” Ellis whispered.

He really didn’t need to keep his voice down. They’d left Amara and Renard in the cabin and retreated to the hold. It was the safest place on the ship, in terms of privacy. Nyssa leaned up against their carriage while they talked, keeping one eye on the door in case someone peeked in.

“No,” Nyssa said, in her normal voice. “But neither are Renard and Amara. At least with Blythe, we know what he wants.”

“I don’t like that he gave you an ultimatum and a deadline. You don’t deserve to be blackmailed this way.” Ellis exhaled and ran his fingers through his hair. “How long do we have left?” He checked his pocket watch. “Blast, already two. You should’ve told me right away.”

“I tried. Renard and Amara were watching.” Nyssa fiddled with her goggles. Sitting in the room with that sappy pair, knowing what she knew now, had been torture. “I need to either find the gem or figure out how to deal with Blythe.”

Ellis put away his watch. “If Renard truly took the ruby, then returning it to Blythe is not only the safest course of action but the right thing to do. However, we only have Blythe’s side of the story.”

“We gave them every chance to be honest with us. We can’t ask them their side now. For all we know Renard could become violent. He has the revolver, remember?”

“Yes, and him pointing it at me is not an experience I’m eager to relive.” Ellis frowned. “However, if you take the ruby from him, he could come after us anyway.”

“We make port tomorrow. If I can get it away when he’s not looking, perhaps he’ll assume Blythe got it. If not, we’ll easily be able to escape them once we reach San Azula.” She shook her head. “Either way, we’re caught in the gears. I’m not going to stand by and let myself get ground up.”

“Be careful, Nyss.” He took her hand. “Maybe we should try to talk to Amara. She may be hiding something, but she seems more reasonable than Renard. If we can get her alone, we might be able to reason with her.”

“I suppose, but whatever we do, we need to hurry. All it would take is for Blythe to mention our arrangement to the captain, to put all four of us in the brig, probably with me bound back to New Taured due to that price on my head.”

On the way back to the room, they only passed one steward who was carrying a stack of towels. He actively averted his eyes from Ellis’s chair. Ellis stiffened.

Nyssa was relieved when they finally reached their cabin, but her body tensed when she entered. The room was empty.

“Sparks and shocks!” She scowled. “They know they aren’t supposed to leave when we’re gone. Never more than two of us in public at a time. That was the deal.”

“Hopefully they’re being discreet about it.” Ellis sighed.

Nyssa made a beeline for their luggage.

“Nyss, I thought we agreed to talk to Amara first.” He frowned.

“I just want to see if it’s here.” She pushed aside the suitcase then looked behind and inside the trunk, and under both beds. “It’s gone. The hatbox is gone.”

“Could Blythe have sent someone to steal it? No one was here watching.”

“No, I don’t think so. Nothing else seems to be disturbed, and we weren’t gone that long.” She sat at the foot of the bed. “If someone were searching for the ruby, they would have to check inside the trunk, under the mattresses, everywhere … the chances of them simply guessing it is in the hatbox without checking one or two places first are slim. No, whoever removed the hatbox knew exactly what they were after.” She bit her bottom lip. “Amara must’ve moved it.”

“Do you think she somehow figured out you met with Blythe?”

“I don’t know. I think the smaller of her suitcases is gone, too.”

A part of Nyssa couldn’t help but hope they were rid of them. That the love-struck pair had taken what they could carry and ran … to where she wasn’t sure. It wasn’t as if there were many places on the zeppelin to hide. Still, their absence would solve everything.

Before she could relax, the door opened, and Amara whisked in, Renard obediently at her heels.

Nyssa glared at her. “Where were you?”

“We just took a stroll.” Amara shrugged then peeled off her long black gloves. She set them aside. The familiar smell of grease tickled Nyssa’s nose.

Renard crossed his arms. “We aren’t prisoners, you know. We can come and go as we please.”

“Prisoners, no, but you agreed to specific guidelines when we entered into this arrangement,” Ellis said. “Gallivanting around the ship puts us all in danger. Remember, you two have neither tickets nor passports.”

“We kept out of sight. It was only a quick jaunt.” Amara eyed Nyssa’s trousers. “And you were outside out of costume. We agreed that was inadvisable too. Anyone looking at you now would know at a glance that we’re different people. They might even doubt we’re the same sex.”

The hair on the back of Nyssa’s neck stood on end. “I suppose they might. However, I learned to judge whether someone was a lady based on their behavior, not their garb. Considering you rob people in dark alleys and fondle your boyfriend in stolen staterooms, I think I have an edge in that.”

Fists clenched, Renard stepped towards her. “You don’t talk to her that way.”

Ellis rolled his chair to block Renard. His eyes glinted. “If you take one step closer to her, you will regret it.”

Renard looked