Boneseeker Read Free Page B

but he merely smirks and my anger dampens as quickly as it flared. My cheeks flush at my outburst.
    His eyebrows rise, but his expression is unaffected. “Your temperament still matches that hair, Bella. Well, that’s a relief. I know how I may be of use.”
    “How’s that?”
    “Your sense of humor, my dear. You’ve lost it. Finding it will become priority. I can only assume the lack of my presence contributed to its demise,” he pauses, blue eyes scrutinizing.
    I feel like one of my specimens, I’m the one under the microscope.
    “Yes, well, father has a very—”
    “Dry sense of humor, I know. I was around him as a boy, too. It’s just, in order to survive amidst these egomaniacal men of science—you must learn to control it. Stygian obviously doesn’t want you on the team, then?”
    “No. He was vexed that I was actually granted a curation position. He doesn’t believe in women venturing out of the home. Or being worth more than child-deposit-boxes.”
    A memory flashes. Stygian’s hands, rough against my bare arm.
    The hot color on my face deepens. I turn away quickly, but he catches it.
    “Arabella? What aren’t you telling me? It’s more than that. Did he try to woo you? And you spurned him?”
    I laugh, and almost taste the bitter. “ Woo is a very interesting way to put it.”
    Henry goes rigid, clutching my elbow again. He spins me to face him but I cast my eyes to the floor.
    Father warned me of my eyes. How they never, ever lie.
    Henry’s warm, large fingers grasp under my chin, turning my face up to force my gaze. “Did he—? What happened?”
    Henry’s face glows a furious red, a muscle bulging in his jaw.
    “I’m fine.” I blush when I realize what he’s asking. “It’s nothing, it’s over. He is not worth the worry. I’m sorry Henry. I just, well, I’m sure you remember. I don’t—I’m not like other girls. I just can’t be. I gave up trying.”
    Especially after the fiasco that was our kiss.
    He nods, nostrils flaring as he exhales through his teeth. His long body eases, his thigh brushing mine as he relaxes against the lab bench.
    His hand slips too slowly from my cheek. His eyes skip across my face, trying to read me.
    “I remember. But I also remember you were my favorite playmate. I never knew what adventure you’d dream up.”
    I smile. I must get him off the Stygian subject.
    “One side has proposed the skeleton is a Nephilim.”
    “From the Bible, the book of Jude?”
    I nod, feeling the hair on my arms rise. I rub furiously, trying to quiet them. “Yes, the angels who forsook their dwelling in the heavens—”
    “To mate with women. Their offspring were giants.”
    I nod. “Nephilim. The mighty men of old. I plan to write a paper disputing it. Proving the bones are Neanderthal.”
    Henry cocks his head, frowning. “Really? Without any data, you’re already forming a hypothesis? That does not sound like any Holmes I’ve ever met.”
    “I believe in science , Henry. And in myself. Nothing else.”
    “Ah.”
    His expression is so smug my hands ball into fists.
    “What does that mean?”
    He shrugs.
    I begin to pace. “This position at the Mutter…is everything. Father called in a myriad of favors to secure this placement. I’ve never fit in. Not in sewing circles or with giggling girls or with anyone, anywhere. But here .” I stare up at the bones, with more affection than I know to be acceptable. “The museum is a home built of science. This I understand, nay I excel in. And if I was forced to leave…”
    Henry’s gaze is rapt, never leaving my face and he swallows. “I recall one other place you always fit perfectly.”
    I bite my lip, perplexed. “Your father’s morgue?”
    He rolls his eyes and steps closer once again. “With me, you intolerably obtuse girl.”
    Heat and fear for my heart flush my cheeks.
    “As for science, I have witnessed events without explanation,” he says quietly.
    “Preposterous.”
    My embarrassment fizzles to