Clockwork Heart: Clockwork Love, Book 1

by Heidi Cullinan

  As the door closed behind Cornelius, Johann and Valentin regarded one another. For a long time they said nothing, but eventually Valentin’s irritation spilled over into words.

  “I’ll give you five hundred francs to go away.”

  Johann said nothing.

  Valentin developed a tic in his cheek. “Eight hundred. A thousand. What is your price to leave him alone?”

  Johann made no reply.

  Valentin’s nostrils flared as he closed the distance between them. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but you’re not telling me the truth. That much I do understand. You should know this—if you hurt him, if you so much as break his heart, I’ll kill you.”

  Johann kept his expression mild. “I feel this also. Do not hurt Cornelius.”

  Valentin made a very French noise through his nose, but said nothing more. Eventually he stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

  Alone at last, Johann shut his eyes and let the mask fall away from his face as he allowed himself to acknowledge the weight of what had happened. Of what he had done. What Cornelius had, quite clearly, been happy to have him do.

  The kiss. The kisses. The touching, the holding.

  The wanting. To kiss Cornelius more. To be his lover not for pretend. To make love to him for real.

  It had not been bad. It had not even been merely tolerable. It had been as if someone had lit a flame inside Johann, a torch he hadn’t known he carried. In fact, Johann didn’t know when he’d yearned for something more.

  He decided he would not wait a month to see if it happened again. When Cornelius returned, he would find a way to explain himself. That he wanted to do more than simply kiss. He didn’t fully understand what else taking a male lover would entail, but he was ready to admit he was willing to embark on that adventure.

  He was also fairly sure none of these things would be in the dictionary.

  He wondered, too, if he should find a way to explain some of his past to Cornelius. About how he truly had been a pirate, how what he’d told Valentin had been the truth, with only the part about the army discovering him once more being omitted from the tale. He would tell Cornelius, yes. But he decided he would kiss him first. In case the kisses could help soften the blow, to keep those explanations from making Cornelius want to send Johann away.

  Because that was the only thing Johann wanted now: to stay with Cornelius. With or without the kisses. For as long as Cornelius would let him remain by his side.

  * * * * *

  Cornelius found Master Félix in the vault where the tinker’s most expensive, valuable clockwork prosthetics were kept, which also housed the additionally locked unit where the clockwork heart had been stored. The vault that was now in complete and utter shambles, every bit of priceless clockwork shattered and strewn across the floor.

  Cornelius put a hand to his chest. “Were we burgled?”

  Félix blinked up at Cornelius, despondent through his thick handmade clockwork glasses. “Yes. God help us, yes, child—someone has stolen the heart.”

  Cornelius did his best to look surprised. And innocent. “Are you certain?”

  “Nearly. The door was blown open when I returned, and they forced open the lock on the heart’s special case as well.”

  Cornelius paused. “So you found it like this? Everything strewn across the floor?”

  “You think I would treat the contents of my vault this way?” He motioned impatiently to Cornelius. “Come. Help me put things to rights.”

  “But who would do this?” Cornelius asked Félix as he replaced a battery pack made with gold and silver diodes. The connectors in that one device were worth hundreds of francs for the metal alone. Yet whoever had come here hadn’t taken it. Which yes, meant they wanted only one thing.

  Of course, they could not possibly have found it.

  “I have no idea who would be so beastly as to perform this atrocity.” Félix paused as he put a gold-plated differential into a bin. “Well…I do have some ideas. But nothing solid enough to go on.”

  “We should tell the magistrate.” Cornelius hoped his blush was easily mistaken for high emotions over the destruction, not his traitorous biology giving him away. He told himself there was no way to trace the theft to himself, not of the heart or the other pieces. He’d tarnished Johann’s clockwork so it looked aged and worn, the way a real pirate’s stolen clockwork would appear, and he’d rebuilt every bit he’d taken for his own use.

  All but the heart.

  Félix snorted. “I’m not telling the magistrate about this theft when he’s at the top of my list of suspects.”

  “What?” Cornelius put down the broken clockwork finger he’d been holding. “You think…the magistrate could have ordered this?”

  Félix hushed him and scurried to the door, closing them in. It wasn’t an action advised for laymen, but a master tinker and his apprentice could certainly undo their own locks. Even after they were sealed in, however, Félix spoke in hushed tones. “Yes, I think he easily could have done so. He’s kept strange company of late. Rumors are wild he is in cahoots with an Austrian spy.”

  Cornelius’s eyes went wide. “I was with him the other day, but I saw no spy. A friend of my father’s was there, however. Insisting I go work for him in Paris, at my father’s decree.”

  “Savoy? He’s nothing but a popinjay. The magistrate, however, is more than he seems. That flustered imbecile posture is nothing more than an act. And I fear now he and whoever he works for has penetrated my most secure space with relative ease.” Félix grimaced. “I should have moved it then, but I wasn’t ready. Frankly, I’ve put it out of my mind as much as possible, unwilling to address the problem of its security. And now look what has happened. I should have been more cautious, especially after the attack on the western shore two months ago. I had too much faith in my locks.”

  The attack which had brought Johann into Conny’s life was somehow connected to this? “What do you mean?”

  “The rumor is that it was a suicide mission meant to distract our soldiers while something nefarious happened on the eastern side of town. English airships, Austrian soldiers. I’m certain now they must have been after the heart.”

  The barge of dead soldiers with Johann dying on top drifted all too easily into Cornelius’s mind. That had been a suicide mission? Had Johann known? Had he meant to die?

  What on earth had Cornelius done, bringing such a dangerous man back to life?

  He’s not dangerous. He’s Johann.

  The thought was pretty and sentimental, emotions Cornelius began to realize he could ill afford. Johann rattled off a story about pirates so neatly, it seemed entirely true. Who was it, exactly, lurking in Cornelius’s bedroom? Who had just kissed him so sweetly?

  Was the magistrate not the only one conspiring with an Austrian spy?

  Félix sighed and went back to sifting through the wreckage on the floor. “There is no logic to the Austrians capturing Calais—well, unless the rumors are true and the Austrians and English are forming an alliance once more. But even so, they could never hold it. So if they are here, they want something specific. That someone has stolen my clockwork heart bodes ill. Though I am confused as to why it would take two months for that to happen, if it truly was the Austrians. There haven’t been any more burglaries since that night.”

  “Why would the Austrians want the heart? They don’t have clockwork technology beyond the basics.”

  Félix looked over his glasses at Cornelius. “The heart is worth learning clockwork for. Everyone has wanted it ever since I made it all those years ago. I should never have made it. All I wanted was to help the sick and dying. If only I’d been less naive, it might have occurred to me that even the noblest of inventions will be used by evil men for war.”

  Cornelius paused. “War? How could the heart be a weapon?”

 
“Think it through, boy. What is a heart but a pump? An engine. The engine of our bodies, the host of our souls. What would a government do with a thousand clockwork hearts? Especially a government that needed to win a war? An entity with heaps and piles of broken men, who would do anything to have a heart making them strong and whole once more?”

  Cornelius stared at Félix. “Oh, no. No.”

  “They would make an army. Every dying man would be an opportunity to keep a trained soldier. With some of the experimental human clockwork going on in Marseille, they might even be able to animate corpses. All they lack is the engine. My engine.” He shut his eyes and wiped his brow. Then he looked Cornelius dead in the eye. “You didn’t tell anyone about the heart, did you?”

  The question was so direct, so unexpected, Cornelius stammered. “I— No, sir. I told no one.”

  I only stole it and put it inside a stranger, who might be one of the men searching for it.

  Félix patted his shoulder. “I’m sorry, but I had to ask. I shouldn’t have told you about the heart at all. I shouldn’t have kept it. I should have destroyed it years ago. Thank God I never gave in to greed and sold it to anyone. Any fool carrying that infernal device would be nothing more than a target.”

  Cornelius’s hands shook as he resumed his tidying. “Could you make another? Do you remember how?”

  “Not without the schematics, which burned in a fire shortly after I completed it. I suppose I could copy it if I had it in my hands. You could too, possibly. But any other tinker? They don’t have the skills, or the experience. This was my conceit. I thought only I could use it. It was safe to keep because of this. But what if I’m wrong? What if even now they are making others and creating a monstrous army?” He tossed a bit of filigree into Cornelius’s bucket. “I think I must concede they came for the heart and took it. Why else would they leave so much treasure behind?”

  No, if they’d come for the heart, they’d have taken it and left. This carnage came from not finding the heart. Somewhere, a spy was reporting the failure, and receiving new commands. Would they kidnap Félix next? Cornelius?

  Would they figure out the strange visitor upstairs carried the treasure they sought? Would they cut him open and take it while Cornelius looked on?

  Would Johann, the suicidal soldier, present himself for surgery if he knew what he carried?

  “When did this happen?” Cornelius asked. “When was the break-in?”

  “Earlier, when we were all out. All the doors were wide open when I returned. You were still walking with your pirate. I would have suspected him right off, young man, but there’s no question he was with you the whole time. Maryann was clerking, but she’d closed the shop for lunch, and she swears up and down she set the locks. Louise was at market, and I was sent on a goose chase to meet a buyer who never showed. I’m certain now it was all a ruse to get me out of the house.”

  Cold seeped into Cornelius. “Valentin was here when I returned. In my rooms.”

  Félix waved this away impatiently. “That dandy couldn’t organize an afternoon tea. Besides, he’s too busy being jealous of you and your pirate lover to bother about clockwork hearts.”

  “Valentin doesn’t feel that way about me.”

  “So you say.” Félix tapped his glasses. “I may need these, but I still see.”

  Cornelius refused to think about that now. He put the bucket aside and reached for a cloth on the shelf to wipe grease from his fingers. “Louise said there was a letter for me and made it sound urgent.”

  “Oh yes, I quite forgot about it, with all the excitement.” He withdrew an envelope from his jacket and passed it over to Cornelius. “It came via courier, so I assume it’s from your mother. I didn’t open it.”

  It was from his mother—he knew it by the bright blue seal with EG embossed in the stamp Cornelius had customized for her. “Would you mind if I read it now, or should I wait until we finish?”

  “Go on. This will take all day, and she never writes unless it’s important.”

  Cornelius tucked the letter under his arm while he worked the lock, but he began to open it as he walked down the hall. Usually he read his mother’s letters with a glass of sherry in the library, but he didn’t feel like the indulgence today. After the first paragraph, however, he put it away and didn’t open it again until he had a snifter of brandy in his hand.

  May 29, 1910

  Derbyshire

  Dearest Cornelius,

  I pray this letter finds you in time. Please read it with a cup of tea and all your focus, for it is the most important letter I will ever send to you. Its contents are tricky to understand and require you to be brave and clever, as I know you can be. I have reason to believe you are in grave danger. You must leave Calais, for I’ve heard whispers the Austrian Army intends to kidnap you and hold you for ransom.

  I cannot go into details in this letter as to how I know, but I implore you to trust me. This is vitally important. I would never play you false. I have arranged passage for you to London with the same ship that brought you this letter. They can hide you so well you won’t know yourself. And you must tell no one where you are, not even friends. Do not doubt your carriers, though. Trust them as you would trust me or your father. You must stay away from France and remain in England until it is safe. I only wish I could say the war is over and nothing like this would be needed and you and I could be together. Pray God that day comes soon.

  Go to the dock tonight and seek the seafaring ship whose name you will remember from our childhood game. You will find the clue easily, I hope. I love you always, my darling tinker boy, and hope to see you again soon.

  Thinking of you always,

  Mama

  Cornelius drained his brandy and half of another snifter as he read the letter several times. Someone wanted to kidnap him? Why? His father loved him, after a fashion, and did his duty with a steady and generous allowance, but he wouldn’t pay overmuch for a ransom, and he’d give exactly nothing if this were a political play, for the archduke loved war and power far, far more than he loved any actual human beings.

  Except…what if they didn’t want Conny for ransom? What if the thieves hadn’t been looking only for the heart? What if they wanted the device…and someone who could make the pattern?

  With shaking hands, he put his mother’s letter back into the envelope and tucked it into his pocket. He didn’t know what to do. He wanted to ask Félix, but his mother’s letter said he shouldn’t tell anyone what was going on.

  Should he try and find this ship? What if they caught him?

  What in the world should he do with Johann while he searched? Bring him along?

  What if Johann was part of the plot?

  It made no sense—Johann had been left for dead. But of course, he could have been back in contact with his superiors. Look what’s happened—the fool’s repaired me and is falling in love with me while he teaches me French. I’ll let you know when everyone’s out of the house, and you can get the heart. I’ll bring him along after.

  Except Johann had the heart. And didn’t know it.

  If Johann were truly part of a plot, why would he wait so long? What made today the day to search? Johann could have drugged Cornelius and sneaked away at any moment. This wasn’t the first time the house had been empty, either—plenty of times Johann had been left alone and could have let anyone in.

  Yes, that works out tidily. Have you finished arranging it so the most likely suspect isn’t a traitor, simply because you wish him not to be?

  Groaning, Cornelius finished off the brandy and paced the library. The thought of leaving Calais made him ill. He hated sea travel—even crossing the channel made him vomit. Slogging all the way to Derbyshire in the belly of some smelly fishing boat would have him retching so badly he wouldn’t be able to walk by the end. She couldn’t smuggle him out in a dirigible? If she were that far inla
nd, air travel was so much more logical.

  And wasn’t he a brat, fussing over how he was being rescued?

  Except…this whole affair made little sense. The letter was so odd. She didn’t sound like herself in almost any sentence. Please read this with tea? He didn’t drink tea, which she well knew. And why was she in Derbyshire? A new paramour? Except why was she lounging in the country if Cornelius was in danger?

  The ransom was equally ridiculous. His father wouldn’t ransom him from the Austrian Army. Cornelius had no value, unless the Austrians truly did want him for his tinkering ability. Except Félix would be as good as himself, for that. And his mother, fickle as she might be, adored Félix. He’d been her contact, back in her spying days. When espionage was mostly keeping score, not life and death. In any event, she wouldn’t rescue Cornelius without bringing Félix along as well.

  Which meant perhaps he should show this to Félix after all.

  He walked quietly through the shop. Technically they were meant to be open, but Félix had locked the front door tight after the burglary, and the place was empty. Maryann had been sent home, and Louise as well. Dust danced in the afternoon sunlight, giving the illusion of glitter on the many brass and gilded parts on display. Cornelius stared, letting the hypnotic sight occupy his nervous mind while the better part of him sorted out what logic could be found in his situation.

  The letter didn’t make sense. She didn’t sound like herself. Not exactly. The situation made no sense. Her rescue was off as well. He didn’t know any childhood game that might be a clue to what the ship name would be.

  Valentin couldn’t possibly be involved. Félix was right, sorting through the vault with a set of tongs would overwhelm him. He hated clockwork. He hated politics more.

  Johann, however, remained an absolute mystery. Cornelius could neither damn nor exonerate him.

  Cornelius needed to sort out his pirate-soldier. He needed to put aside his attraction and ask hard questions and make certain he received decent answers. He had to make certain he could trust him.