The Girl in the Clockwork Collar

Finley’s last fight was against Sam.

It was ironic that her former nemesis be her final fight. She wasn’t surprised that it had come down to the two of them. If she had to fight all comers till the end of the world, it would still end up just her and Sam, squared off.

“What are you doing here?” he growled as they stood face-to-face.

“Same thing you are—trying to fight my way into Dalton’s gang.”

“You’re mad.”

“And you’ve been seen with the Duke of Greythorne.” That drew him up straight. “Sam, Dalton’s already noticed me. He likes girls that fight. Stay with Griffin and Emily. Protect them. Let me have Dalton.”

“What are you waitin’ for?” A voice from the crowd shouted. “Fight!”

A roar rose up in the crowded room, reverberating off the walls, trembling through the floorboards.

Sam raised his fists. “Let’s do this.”

Finley adopted a fighting stance. “Are you going to take a fall?”

He nodded, jaw clenched. It would be a blow to his pride, she knew it. “But I’m going to make you work for it.”

And she did work for it. By the time Sam finally hit the floor, she had the bruised—at least she hoped they were only bruised—ribs, sore jaw, split lip and assorted other injuries to prove just how he’d made her work. She stood in the center of the ring, battered and bloody, exhausted and exhilarated, and reveled in the roar of the frenzied crowd.

She hadn’t seriously injured anyone, and she was proud of herself for that, because other fighters hadn’t been nearly so considerate. She’d taken pleasure in knocking out those who had such little regard for human life. In fact, she’d toyed with them like a cat with a mouse—taking her time in putting them down. Perhaps that didn’t say much for her character, but in the moment, she hadn’t cared.

She had achieved what she wanted: she had Dalton’s attention. He tipped his hat to her when her gaze settled on him, and she smiled in return before looking away. It wouldn’t be good to appear too eager.

With her one good eye—the other was swollen shut—she turned so that she could see Griffin. She didn’t make direct eye contact with him, because she knew Dalton was watching her, but she had to look.

Griffin stood now, as did all the other spectators, only they cheered for her—or booed her. The Duke of Greythorne just stood there, stoic and expressionless. Then he said something to Sam and turned away. Sam flashed her a quick, almost apologetic glance and followed after him. The crowd swallowed them wholly and quickly.

Finley looked away, refusing to hunt him down with her gaze. The sudden ache in her chest rivaled any of the injuries she’d suffered at the hands of her opponents. She knew he couldn’t come to her, couldn’t show any emotion because of Dalton, but she would have liked to see a little anger in his gaze, perhaps a little pride. She’d done good.

She pushed thoughts of Griffin aside as Emily joined her, supporting her physically and emotionally as Finley acknowledged the crowd with a cocky grin. Together, they made their way to the place where all the fighters had waited for their turn. Emily had to hold the ropes as far apart as she could for Finley to slip through. As it was, her ribs cried out in protest.

Bloody hell, she needed a hot bath and bed. And maybe some laudanum for the discomfort until the Organites did their work. She didn’t care if people noticed how fast she healed. She wasn’t allowing this pain to linger. The little “beasties” from far below the earth—supposedly the ooze from which life began—would fix her up in no time.

Those dreams were dashed when a behemoth of a man stepped in front of them. Finley looked up—way up. The man was bigger than Sam. A giant. Emily stiffened at the sight of him.

“Mr. Dalton wants to meet you,” he said in a voice that sounded as though it came from his toes.

Finley scowled at him. This is what she had hoped to achieve, and now that she had, she was annoyed. “Mr. Dalton can wait.”

The man straightened, making himself even taller. “Mr. Dalton doesn’t wait.”

A sharp glare wrinkled Emily’s brow. “Look, you…gargantuan, she’s hurt, and she’s not running off to meet your master until I’ve addressed her injuries. Is that understood?”

Surprise lit his large face. He nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll wait here.”

As they walked away, Finley turned her head to look at her friend, admiration taking the sting out of her wounds. “You’re a fierce one, Emily O’Brien.”

“I don’t like being ordered about or bullied” was all the explanation she offered. For the second time that day, Finley had violent feelings toward whoever had hurt her friend in the past.

“I’ll clean your wounds and apply some cosmetics so no one notices that you heal faster than regular folk, but I’m going to inject beasties into your ribs to mend them—and remedy any chance of internal injury.”

Finley assumed her insides would heal just like everything else, but serious internal injuries could kill her faster than she could repair herself. She knew this because she had once injured Sam and almost killed him. She nodded in acquiescence.

They found a bench toward the back of the hall, and Finley gingerly sat down. Emily rummaged through her bag and removed a metal syringe, which she filled with an earthy-smelling substance Finley recognized as Organites. Griffin’s grandfather had discovered it on his property years ago. It was also believed to be the cause of these “evolutions” she and the others had gone through. Her father had experimented with the stuff, and so she had been born with her abilities, but Emily, Sam and Griffin had developed theirs over the years. Sam was part machine and wickedly strong. Griffin could harness the Aether—a dimensional energy unnoticed by most of the living. And Emily could talk to machines.

Organites were everywhere—part of the earth. Who knew who else had been affected around the world? Jasper had developed abilities while living in California, though they’d increased after using some of Emily’s healing salve.

“This may hurt,” Emily warned as she positioned the needle between the plates of Finley’s steel corset. The sharp point went through her shirt to pierce her skin. Finley hissed as it struck one of her abused ribs, but she remained still. The last thing she needed was for Emily to puncture her lung.

“Sorry,” her friend whispered. “There, done.” The needle slid out.

Almost instantly, Finley felt the Organites go to work. There was a tingling sensation, almost like a tickle, and then the pain in her torso began to ease. It would take a little while to heal completely, but at least it didn’t hurt so much.

Then Emily cleaned the blood from her face while Finley unwrapped the damp and soiled bandages from around her hands. She flexed her fingers. Her knuckles were sore, but none were broken.

“Ready?” Emily asked when she was done.

Finley nodded. “Em, maybe you should go back to the hotel with Sam and Griffin.”

A dark flush rose in the other girl’s cheeks at the suggestion. “And leave you to face that giant and Dalton alone? I don’t think so, lass.”

Perhaps not, but all Finley could think of at that moment was how badly hurt Emily had been when they went up against The Machinist and his automatons. She would never forgive herself if anything happened to her friend while she was with her.

“Em…”

“You just shut your mouth. I am not letting you do this alone, so you can either let me go with you, or I can march out there and tell that mountain of a man that you’re the Duke of Greythorne’s girlfriend.”

Finley’s jaw dropped. “You wouldn’t do that.”

Movements stiff, Emily crammed her supplies back into her satchel. “Don’t push me. I’m all for bravery, but there’s a fine line between that and buffoonery. You’re quickly siding on the latter.” She hoisted the bag, face impassive, and jerked her head toward the entrance. “Let’s go.”

Gingerly, Finley rose to her feet. It didn’t hurt as much as she expected. She was able to walk by herself as they made their way to where their “escort” waited.

“Right, then,” Finley said to the giant as they approached. “Lead on.”

He pointed at Emily. “Not her.”

Emily opened her mouth, but Finley cut her off. “Sorry, mate. She goes where I go.” She had to stop herself from putting on an accent as atrocious as Jack’s butchered English. She wanted to sound a little lower class than she actually was, but not so much that Dalton felt too superior.

The big man didn’t like this change of plans, but he didn’t argue with her. “Fine. Follow me.”

Finley had to walk faster than she wanted, to match his long stride. Poor Emily practically jogged beside her. Somehow they managed to keep up as he led them from the fighting area to a small parlor—for lack of a better term—just off the main vestibule.

The room was sparse and in need of fresh paint and paper. The furniture was aged but sturdy. Dalton sat on a small blue sofa, while Jasper and the Chinese girl were seated to his left on a red love seat. Three armed men, looking as though they’d just stepped off the cover of a cowboy dime novel, stood behind Dalton.