Clockwork Twist : Missing Read Free Page A

muttered under her breath. “No taste whatsoever.”
    Twist readied a retort in defense of his gender, but his words were stalled as his gaze caught on the figure that had just walked in through the door. Tall, well built, and statuesque, with imposing confidence, the man swept his very light brown—almost golden—eyes slowly across the room. The host who came to seat him approached hesitantly. The man didn’t answer but only continued to scan the room. Although his vaguely Western features suggested his age as only approaching his forties, the man’s loose, chin-length hair was a bright-silver color.
    His nearly golden eyes found Twist and held, staring at him with the calm intensity of a panther. Twist felt his heart pound quickly in his chest, and a chill broke over his skin as he stared back, as helpless and startled as a fawn. Jonas turned to him with a blind frown.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “What?” The moment of distraction seemed to break the spell. When Twist turned to Jonas, he was surprised to find his breath short and his heart still pounding.
    “What’s going on?” Jonas asked, slipping his goggles off to glance around them quickly. “Are we in trouble?”
    “Trouble?” Arabel asked. Myra looked up at Twist curiously. Twist reached up to the back of his neck absently as he felt a tiny spark of foreign anxiety tingle to life.
    “No, no, it’s just…” Twist looked back to the door, but the strange man was gone. Twist turned quickly to scan the rest of the tea shop, but he couldn’t find the man anywhere. “It’s nothing.”
    Jonas caught his gaze, looking at him seriously with purple eyes. “It felt like you’d seen a ghost,” he said carefully.
    “It’s nothing,” Twist said again, forcing certainty into his words.
    Jonas narrowed his eyes, which took on a deeper hue.
    “Just leave it,” Twist snapped, turning his own eyes away. “I thought I saw something, but it was nothing.” Jonas gave a low sigh and put his goggles back on. Twist gave him a smile, forcing his own heart to lighten. Jonas seemed to sense it instantly and gave Twist an acknowledging nod.
    “You two are very odd,” Arabel said, watching them with a worried expression.
    “But we’ve got the right number of fingers,” Jonas mentioned quickly. “You can’t fault us on that.”
    Twist laughed softly, while Arabel seemed highly confused. Myra gave a long-suffering sigh. When the waitress appeared, Myra instantly ordered the Darjeeling. The waitress stared at Myra’s shining metal face for a long moment before nodding and hurrying off. The conversation picked up again, returning to the joys of London shopping, until the waitress returned with their order. Arabel picked out one of the cups and filled it with the fragrant, deep-orange tea. Then Myra took the pot, serving Twist and Jonas.
    “So, where are we planning to go next?” Twist asked as he sipped at his tea.
    “Good question,” Jonas said, stirring sugar into his cup.
    “Uncle Howell found a lead on a Roman treasure trove that was lost in the Mediterranean back before the fall of the empire,” Arabel mentioned brightly. “He’s thinking to ask Bruno to lend us his submersible.”
    “Bruno?” Jonas asked derisively. “The big guy who always smells of salmon and onions?”
    “Oh, he doesn’t smell that bad,” Arabel said with a sigh. “Besides, we’d just be using his sub. He’s getting older now. He doesn’t go out to sea much anymore.”
    “I’ll bet his sub smells of salmon and onions too,” Jonas muttered, taking a sip of his tea.
    “Oh, you!” Arabel snapped, tossing a sugar lump at him.
    Thanks to his blinded vision, the dense nugget of sugar struck Jonas square on the shoulder, making him jump. He let out a yelp of surprise and reached for the sugar bowl to retaliate. Arabel laughed brightly as she held her arms up to protect herself. Myra giggled to watch them and cheered when Jonas scored a point, striking Arabel on the elbow.