Mechanical Hearts (Skeleton Key) by Nicole Blanchard, Skeleton Key

told him to.”
    I reeled away from him, my mind swimming. “Then why did we even go after the whales? Why didn’t you just turn me in the first time you suspected anything?”
    “I never wanted to turn you in.”
    “And yet here we are.”
    “I don’t have a choice.” Finally, he shed the façade of patience.
    “We all have a choice,” I said.
    “Not if I want to provide for my family. Not if I don’t want to watch them starve to death.”
    “You’re not the only one with family,” I snarled.
    I wanted to run, I wanted to scream, but I could do neither. There was nowhere to run. I didn’t have a ship I could escape in and there were only limited places to hide in Arliss. It wasn’t like my world where there was an entire planet to lose yourself.
    I was well and truly trapped.
    I put my hand on the door to pull it open, but Ezra slapped it shut, and my strength was simply no match for his.
    “I’m not sure why you’re delaying the inevitable, but I’d really like to get this over with.” I didn’t turn, couldn’t look at him for even a second longer.
    “I promise once he’s done I’ll take you anywhere you want to go. I’ll go to the ends of this Earth to help find what you need so you can go home to Phoebe.”
    “Don’t say her name,” I said through gritted teeth. “From this moment on, I want nothing more to do with you. I never should have trusted you in the first place. Now move.”
    “Caroline …”
    “Move!”
    His sigh caused our bodies to brush, and I stiffened as his front came in contact with my back. I cursed him and myself for the mess we were in, but I wasn’t going to give him or Fletcher the satisfaction of seeing me break.
    As soon as he lifted his hand from the door, I swung it open so hard it slammed into the wall.
    Fletcher was waiting behind his desk looking down at the city from floor to ceiling windows that stretched across one wall.
    If I wasn’t so angry—and yes, I admitted to myself, sad—I would have enjoyed looking down at the neat little boxed shops and the gleaming glass in relief of the dark water beyond. It truly was a beautiful world; one I’d grown to love.
    It was a shame I would have to leave it.
    Fletcher turned when the door closed behind us and simply lifted a brow at my dramatic entrance. My fists clenched by my side in an effort to restrain myself from leaping across the room to tear his face off.
    “Castle,” Fletcher said. “And guest. What a pleasant surprise.”
    “Oh, cut the crap,” I spat.
    He ignored my outburst and said to Ezra, “Do you have what I need?”
    I snorted, but they both ignored me.
    “Do you have what you promised me?” Ezra didn’t allow me to move more than a couple feet away from them as we crossed the room. His voiced followed me like a shadow until we came to a stop in front of Fletcher’s desk.
    Fletcher merely jerked his head toward the glass. Ezra finally left my side to stride over to the wall of windows. Whatever he saw made his shoulders slump in relief.
    “I suppose you are satisfied?” Fletcher asked. When Ezra nodded, he said, “Good. Now for your end of the deal.”
    Despite my rage, my hands still trembled so I knotted them together in front of me. There was no way I was going to let either of them see my fear.
    “That would be me,” I said and was proud to find that I didn’t trip over the words.
    What passed for a smile flitted over Fletcher’s lips. “I don’t have time for games, girl.” To Ezra he said, “Which dock did you park at, my boy? As soon as I have my whale, The Avenger is yours.”
    “I don’t have a whale,” Ezra said and then hurried to continue before Fletcher started to bellow. “But I have her.”
    “Her?” Fletcher exclaimed. “What the devil am I supposed to do with her?”
    “Well, this is a nice change of pace,” I said as Ezra pushed me forward. “I suppose you were right when you said you weren’t a hero. More like the villain, right?”
    His normally