Evie's Gift Read online

  Evie’s Gift

  Piper J. Drake

  Copyright © 2019 by Piper J. Drake

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Any actual places, products, or events mentioned are used in a purely fictitious manner.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please email [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  Previously published under the pseudonym:

  PJ Schnyder, by Decadent Publishing Company, LLC.

  For Daddy,

  because so many of my steampunk heroines are Daddy’s girls.

  Also by Piper J. Drake

  True Heroes series

  Extreme Honor

  Ultimate Courage

  Absolute Trust

  Total Bravery

  Fierce Justice

  * * *

  Safeguard series

  Hidden Impact

  Deadly Testimony

  Contracted Defense

  * * *

  Stand alone titles…

  Siren’s Calling

  Finding His Mark

  Red’s Wolf

  Keeping Cadence

  Foreword

  Dear Reader,

  EVIE’S GIFT is a steampunk holiday story with romantic elements, first published in 2010 under my previous (now archived) pen name, PJ Schnyder.

  This story has been out of print for quite a few years now. I decided it was about time to put this story back out there for my readers, especially those who enjoy my steampunk adventures.

  I hope you enjoy.

  xoxo

  Piper J. Drake

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Afterword

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  "Come look, Evie! We're coming into port!"

  Evie gathered her skirts in both hands so she could hurry to the fore of the airship cabin and join her brother to enjoy the view of the slowly approaching Portsmouth skyline. With a series of excited clicks and chirps, Toby climbed from her wrist to her shoulder, the little mechanical activated by her excitement.

  "We're so high up," she murmured as Jeffrey made room for her at the viewing window. The ocean stretched out far below them, a vast blue expanse of marbled floor.

  "Well, we are on one of the most elite airships in the British Navy. Of course she can fly high." Jeffrey puffed his chest out with pride and he made no small boast. Few civilians were allowed aboard. She and her brother were two of just over a dozen wealthy passengers. The less affluent would have had to take the much longer journey by ship across the Atlantic.

  A shadow caught at the edge of her vision, and the feeling of something dark and heavy brushed her senses from far below. "What's that?" She strained to see way down to the ocean surface, thinking perhaps a whale or some other leviathan swam in the waters. "Is there something down there?"

  Jeffrey turned to her, flashing straight white teeth in a show of boyish delight she hadn't seen in ages, not since their parents died. "Only you could spot something so far below, Evie. Just wait until we get to London. You'll see the finest technology and luxuries of high society. There'll be no need to strain to see wonders miles away. Everything will be at our fingertips."

  For a moment, just a moment, she had forgotten the reason they travelled aboard the airship in the first place.

  "Miss Dunn." A deep voice stroked down her spine, rich with arrogance and good breeding. She'd come to thoroughly dislike the sound of the captain’s dialogue during the voyage from America, predominantly because of the way it continually reminded her of what she ought to be doing. "May I suggest you return to the ladies' seats at the other end of the cabin? They would be much safer while we approach port and land."

  She paused, her back stiffening in sheer annoyance. Amazing how such a wonderfully decadent voice could touch off her temper with every word. Sensing the change in her heartbeat and skin temperature, Toby reared on her shoulder and gave a tiny whistling hiss of steam.

  She chose to ignore the recommendation and craned her head to find the shadowy shape that had caught her attention earlier. "I felt sure I'd seen something, truly. Perhaps a fish or porpoise?"

  "As high as we are, Miss Dunn, it is very unlikely. Only a whale would seem a shape of any size, and they don't migrate near these waters," the captain answered her, his tone flat with disapproval. How arrogant he was. "I must insist you return to your seat for landing."

  Jeffrey turned and quickly adjusted his expression to a more composed look, his brows drawn together and his lips pressed in a thin line. She supposed he meant to be stern.

  "Really, Evie, any proper lady should stay safely settled," Jeffrey admonished her.

  To her mortification, heat rushed to her cheeks as her own brother chastised her in public when he had been the very person to call her over. Worse, he had changed face in front of the captain. She fought to take deep, even breaths against the confines of her corset, beginning a steady mental count to refrain from a very unladylike gesture, like swinging a grand right hook at his chin.

  Jeffrey hadn't noticed her temper, or he would never have stepped so close, turning her to face the insufferably handsome captain.

  "I hope you'll forgive my younger sister, Captain Corwin," Jeffrey said in earnest. "This is Evie's first trip to England, and she hasn't had time with a sponsor to help polish her manner. A diamond in the rough, my Evie."

  Truly, enough steam hissed from Toby in response to her rising temper to power one of the propellers directing the great airship that had brought them literally across an ocean. Jeffrey's manners proved every bit as rough as her own, speaking of her so candidly to the captain, a man of consequence and not some schoolyard chum. Besides, he intended for her to marry a man of high standing and extensive means. He needn’t highlight her shortcomings.

  Fortunately, Captain Alec Corwin did not add to her humiliation. He only nodded gravely, settling his unnerving ice-blue gaze on her for a moment too long. The cold of it burned through her gown and corset, right through her thin chemise and raced along her skin. A tension wound up in her core, not anxiety or nervousness, but a new sensation to her, binding tighter than her corset strings.

  When he turned to speak to one of the crew, she slouched in relief. She ignored her brother, who muttered to her about the proper behavior for a British lady as he steered her back to the indicated seats. Captain Corwin's profile shone in the light from the windows of the cabin. Platinum and gold highlights danced in his short cropped hair as he nodded his head and moved toward the bridge of the airship. Once he had left the room, the strange tension slowly released and she could breathe again.

  "Evie, really, I need for you to listen to me," Jeffrey insisted, whispering with intensity. He snatched Toby from her shoulder and pressed the tiny mechanical back into watch form to circle her wrist. She viewed him through narrowed eyes and his jaw took a stubborn set. "We're here for a very specific purpose. With mother and father gone, I'm the one in charge of the family foundry. I need connections with the British aristocracy to take our business to further success. It is your duty to charm our hosts this holiday and convince them to s
ponsor you next season in London's high society, Evie."

  "I know this, Jeffrey," she whispered in return, swallowing a fierce desire to shout her denial in his face instead.

  "Be a lady," he admonished, tapping her chin. "Be a lady of such poise as to capture any British gentleman. I expect several to choose from, especially with the dowry I've set aside for you. The family business is relying on us both."

  Her brother left her then, turning to enjoy the view with the other gentlemen as she sat seething in the uncomfortable chair at the rear of the passengers’ cabin. Since when had he become such an intolerable prick?

  "As if I have any other choice." She stroked her bronze and steel watch, a final memento from her father, her only friend. Even in watch form, Toby gave her a comforting chirp. “Maybe he’ll turn back into the brother I remember after I find a suitor.”

  The sound of a siren cut across the cabin, making her jump and clap her hands over her ears. Other passengers did the same, some of the gentlemen falling into a crouch as the airship lurched.

  Several crewmen entered the passengers’ cabin, and one lieutenant shouted across the panicked exclamations of the civilians. "Everyone please remain calm. There is a minor disturbance. In only a few moments, the issue will be resolved. Until then, I must ask everyone to take a seat."

  Despite the reassurances of the crewmen, Evie was certain something was very wrong. Her tiny slippered feet pressed into the carpeted floor of the cabin, reading the vibrating thrum of the airship's propellers. They had reduced speed, but she couldn’t explain how she knew, not without giving away her secret.

  "Evie." Jeffrey had returned and whispered to her, so no other passenger would hear. "You saw something earlier."

  "Sort of," she murmured, distracted by the odd vibrations traveling along the ship's hull. A door or hatch opened somewhere, the sharp clangs of the hinges piercing her inner senses though the sounds never reached her ears.

  "It wasn't one of those feelings of yours, was it?" His voice urgent, he placed a heavy hand on her shoulder.

  "I hadn't thought so." She shrugged off his grip, still caught by the sensations from the airship. "It was so far away, down below us. I thought I'd seen a whale or something."

  "But, Evie." Jeffrey grabbed her wrist, his slender fingers tightening over Toby. "There was nothing to see, and you only sense metal."

  Cold fear washed through her as she realized what her brother meant. If she had sensed something in the ocean from so far up in the air, it must be a very large metallic object. The British didn't have a submersible of such a size, nor did the Americans.

  "Mr. Dunn." The ship's lieutenant had come to stand beside them. His eyes were very hard despite his outwardly pleasant expression. "The captain has requested you and Miss Dunn on the bridge."

  Jeffrey paled. "Of course."

  He straightened, holding out his arm for her. She took it carefully, projecting an outward calm she didn’t feel, and they followed the lieutenant out of the passenger's cabin and down the hallway. The airship lurched again, sending Jeffrey to his knees. Having had a slight warning from the tremors of the ship, Evie put out a hand to brace herself against the wall and managed to keep her footing. The lieutenant hurried the both of them down the corridor. Despite his haste, the sound of the propellers returned to the previous steady hum she had grown accustomed to on the journey, and the siren ceased its wail.

  The bridge was quiet, the atmosphere heavy with anticipation. Whatever the danger, it hadn’t passed them by, even though they’d returned to normal flight speed.

  "Miss Dunn." The sensual voice caressed her again, hot and cold all at once. "I believe we found your whale."

  She forced herself to look up into Captain Corwin's light blue eyes, bracing herself for the streak of electricity shooting through her as their gazes met. "Oh?"

  Of course, she couldn't think of anything remotely intelligent to say and damn, his influence annoyed her so!

  "Indeed," Corwin responded, his gaze even more intense. "I am most interested to know how you managed to spot a submarine cruising below us prior to it surfacing."

  And the thing lurked far below them still, hovering at the periphery of her awareness, keeping pace with their flight. Now that the captain had confirmed her fears, she couldn’t ignore the truth of its presence.

  "I'm sure my sister doesn't know what you mean, Captain Corwin," Jeffrey interceded, his eyes shifting from Evie back to the captain. "She has a sharp eye, of course. Perhaps she simply glimpsed something as she was looking down at the ocean."

  “She knows exactly what I mean.” Corwin’s glare never left her. “I believe it is down there now, this very moment, far enough below the surface to avoid depth charges. If it surfaces and launches missiles…”

  She nodded, mute. Lives at stake, not only hers and Jeffrey’s, but everyone on board, and she could save them all. “It’s surfacing, now.”

  Corwin pounced. “How do you know? Is there some sort of communication device? Are you part of some conspiracy?”

  A warning siren wailed.

  The captain turned and snapped out orders. “Evasive maneuvers!”

  Men on the bridge leapt to action and the ship made another sudden tilt as it turned to a new heading. The air outside the cabin burst into a fireball.

  Jeffrey stumbled into Evie, knocking her forward. The captain reached out and steadied her with a hand at her waist. The weight of his hand warmed her, the heat of it seeping through the layers of fabric to her skin, at odds with the chill of his gaze.

  “No conspiracy,” she breathed, pushing against his chest, trying to regain her footing and a little distance. “Search me if you like, but I’ve no communication devices of any kind.”

  “Then how do you know?” Captain Corwin persisted, gripping her upper arm with urgency.

  It startled her. No man had ever handled her so roughly, and her temper spiked. “I simply know, Captain. The second missile has fired.”

  No sooner had she spoken than the warning siren sounded again and the captain issued orders to the bridge, sending the unwieldy airship into another evasion. The dirigible moved in a ponderous turn, too large to be agile in the skies. The second missile exploded on the opposite side of them, and closer. The third shot would find its mark, of that she was certain.

  Captain Corwin snapped out additional orders, his voice calm despite the urgency but still precise. “Gunny, drop depth charges at two second intervals.”

  The orders wouldn’t save them. The captain’s strategy was obvious to her—he hoped to force the enemy to submerge again by dropping the depth charges. A direct hit was too much to hope for. Still, the submarine could continue to follow them all the way to Portsmouth, and would prove a deadly predator if they didn’t neutralize the threat in a more decisive way.

  Her gaze darted to the control panel and back to the Captain. “Search me if you will, Captain, but you’ll not find a thing. I’ve nothing to do with the submarine down there. And if I did, would I be up here with you, about to die?”

  And she most certainly had no desire to die. Toby disengaged from her wrist, climbing up the captain’s arm and launching from his shoulder before the tall man could react. The little mechanical extended all four paws outward, thin sheets of metal emerging and joining forelegs to hind, allowing him a steam enhanced glide to the control panels. He landed with a chirp and proceeded to jump from knob to dial, changing the gunnery sergeant’s settings.

  “Here now, stop!” One of the sailors made a grab for Toby, but not quickly enough. The panels lit up, indicating several depth charges dropped at syncopated intervals rather than the normal drop rate.

  “What is that machine, Mr. Dunn?” Captain Corwin turned to watch the depth charges as they fell.

  “A plaything, made by our father for my sister.” Jeffrey tried to downplay the situation. “It reacts to her vital signs. It probably went a bit mad because you upset Evie.”

  She rolled her eyes. A bit m
ad, as if mechanicals could behave in any illogical manner. Toby returned to her, slipping under her skirts and becoming a slightly large buckle on her left garter. She hoped the captain wouldn’t search her after all, either for the theoretical communicator or to get a better look at Toby. She blushed at the thought of the captain searching for her mechanical companion.

  Captain Corwin only then seemed to remember his hand at her waist. He stepped back and opened his mouth to interrogate her further.

  “Sir!”

  “What is it, gunney?” Corwin snapped, his eyes never leaving her. She wouldn’t be intimidated and lifted her chin, daring him to continue accusing her.

  “Oil slick off the port side. Direct hit on the enemy submarine confirmed.” Even the gunnery sergeant didn’t seem to believe his own report.

  “What?” Striding to the port side observation windows, Corwin peered downward. “How?”

  “Obviously you have a skilled gunnery sergeant, Captain.” She smoothed her skirts. “You and your crew have saved us all.”

  He seemed ready to say more, but the bridge had erupted into whoops of triumph and relief. After another moment of excruciating scrutiny, the captain ordered the lieutenant to return them to the passengers’ cabin.

  Evie breathed a sigh of relief and kept her seat like a proper lady for the rest of the flight.

  Chapter 2

  It might have been a delight to see the airship dock into Portsmouth, but Evie found herself a bundle of nerves after the incident. She counted herself lucky that they wouldn't be traveling on to London until after their holiday stay with their host in Hampshire. Overwhelmed as she disembarked from the airship, lost in the sea of English gentlemen and marching soldiers, she needed time to strap her personality down and manage the appearance of a proper lady.