Chains of Silver (Alchemy Empire Book 1)

Chapter 14a

This chapter is dedicated to EyesofMidnight for being obsessed with this book. Thanks for the support, EOM! 

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Raymond and I slipped through the side entrance and melded into the bustling crowd of the club. Thea found us and waved. We threaded our way around the other people to join her.

“There you are!” She grabbed my arm. “Dietrich and Delphine were looking for you.”

“That would be my cue to make myself scarce.” Raymond bowed to me. “Always a pleasure, Miss Mellor.” His eyes held mine a moment, a spark of heat from earlier still in them.

“Likewise.” I couldn’t resist a tiny smirk. To Thea, “Where are they?”

“At the cozy table-for-two, of course.” She surveyed Raymond critically. “Do want to dance some more, or should we get you put to rights so you can talk to the director at the Prescott Theater?”

Raymond’s response was lost in the general buzz as they walked away. I watched them disappear together, and a wistful ache grew in my heart. The three of us had been a single unit since I’d returned to the Alchemy. If Raymond and I got together, what would that do to our friendship with Thea? I’d told Raymond the truth—I needed him. But I needed Thea, too. I needed the three of us to always be friends. Was that possible if two of us paired up?

Everything seemed to be changing so quickly. In a few months, we’d all go our separate ways. I wasn’t ready for that. My throat tightened and my eyes felt hot. If only there were a way to make time slow down, so I could hold onto it for just a little longer. Just a little more time to enjoy finally being happy.

I swallowed hard and inhaled, clearing away the sentimental thoughts. It wasn’t like me to get all emotional over things like that. Life was always moving forward, and I liked to look to the future, not pine away for the past.

I made slow progress through the press of bodies near the bar, and finally found the table in the corner that Delphine had told me about. She was there with Dietrich, looking serious and even a little worried. I wondered what the presuls had said to put that pinched expression on her face. 

Dietrich glanced up, saw me, and stood from the table. I slammed to a halt, a delicious shiver shooting down my back, making my toes curl. 

“Regular steam engine” didn’t begin to describe how unbearably hot he looked tonight. Maybe “god-like steam engine” or “steam engine on fire in middle of volcano” might come close. 

Gone was the angry, hurt boy from last night, and in his place was a young man that radiated confidence and ease. In black from head to toe, he wore a frock coat that emphasized his muscular shoulders, with a velvet lapel that might have made a lesser chap look like a dandy. But on him, it brought a note of stylish softness to his appearance. His high-collared shirt was black, his waistcoat a black brocade, his cravat a waterfall of black silk. And black dress gloves that made his hands look dangerous and sensual. He wore no hat, and his dark hair, usually a bit messy, had been somewhat tamed into a swept-back style that screamed elegance. 

I could not look away. Images shot through my mind—him unlacing my corset with those gloved hands in front of a mirror as he’d said he wanted to, me unwinding his cravat and sliding up his shirt to sneak my hands beneath—

I slammed a mental door on my fantasies. This was absurd. Hadn’t I just been kissing Raymond, not even fifteen minutes ago? And liking it! I was behaving like a cat in heat. After so many years of being dead, my newly-woken sex drive was making up for lost time. How embarrassing.