A Study in Darkness (50 page)

“Why not stop it?”

It was a good question. She was slower to answer this time. “He didn’t want Blue to know he had done it. I think Keating wants to know just how strong Blue is before he openly opposes him. He’s stringing him along until he can strike a definitive blow.” Evelina laced her fingers together, resting her elbows on her knees. “That’s why he sent me here, so he knows exactly what he’s up against.” And she only had another day before her extension ran out. Nick had turned up just in time.

“He’s trying very hard to find out,” Nick added. “He has devices that transcribe conversations and transmit the information over a distance. I found that out from Bingham, another of the Blue King’s men that he turned.”

“If the Gold King had access to the Blue King’s men, why didn’t he simply ask them what weapons Blue has? He said they didn’t know, but is that really true?”

“Maybe they don’t know the information he needs. Jones was no more than a foot soldier. Bingham might have known more—he was on the craft that was carrying supplies back from Bohemia—but he might not have known everything. The Blue King is known for being a suspicious man, and he’s been far more secretive about his strengths than any of the other steam barons. No one knew about the army I saw—it’s in a place I doubt anyone goes by accident. It was news even to the Schoolmaster.”

Evelina bit her thumbnail, deep in thought. “And every baron has a maker. Their names are all known, except who works for Blue.”

She didn’t utter Tobias’s name, but it hung between them like a moment, until Nick made a gesture that swept it away.

“Exactly.”

“Am I right?” she asked quietly. “Is Magnus the one?”

Nick lifted a shoulder. “I wondered, so I asked a few questions about our sorcerer. The Magnetorium might be the toast of the town right now, but it’s brand-new. Even if people connect Magnus the showman to the Magnus who came to town last April, almost no one knows that he has any interest in mechanics, much less enough knowledge to act as a steam baron’s inventor. If the Blue King likes secrecy, he’s the perfect choice.”

Evelina blew out her breath. “But why would Magnus do it? I know it buys him protection to run his theater, but is that enough of an incentive? I thought he despised the barons.”

“Unless he intends to rule through the Blue King,” Nick said flatly. “I can see him using one of the steam barons as a puppet, first to defeat the others and then as a mouthpiece.”

She buried her face in her hands. “That’s brilliant. Of course that’s why he’s doing it!”

“You forget,” said Nick. “I worked for him, too. I’ve heard him ramble on about the barons. He thinks he’s smarter, and maybe he is.”

Evelina, growing excited, began ticking points off on her fingers. “So we have the barons all fighting each other so that only one will rule the roost, we have Magnus waging his own war for supremacy through the Blue King, and then we have the rebels trying to get rid of the lot of them.”

“Yes,” said Nick. “And we’re not sure who precisely is behind the rebels, besides your Uncle Mycroft. That’s why the barons fear them. They’re an unknown quantity.”

“That gives the rebellion an edge, doesn’t it?” she asked, her mind racing. Jones had mentioned Mycroft’s name, and Nick had casually mentioned her uncle earlier, too. “What do you know about Uncle Mycroft’s involvement with the rebels?”

“Not a lot.” Nick was suddenly cautious. “I thought you knew.”

“No.” She sighed, a shiver running down her arms—though she wasn’t sure if it was excitement or anger. “I’m not sure Uncle Sherlock even knows half of what Mycroft does. But if there’s a game to be played, I’m sure he’s in it.”

“Is that lucky for the rebels?”

“Depends on where he places his bets. I hope he’s for them.”

Nick’s face grew solemn. “Do you?”

“I’ve lived in Mayfair and I’ve lived here. It doesn’t matter where you are, the barons make life hard.” She didn’t say more. She didn’t need to.

They fell silent, thinking their separate thoughts until he leaned down and kissed her gently, a touch of affirmation rather than arousal. “Now I’m going to show you what I saw, and then you will report to Keating and never go back to the Magnetorium again.”

“You’re telling me what to do,” she pointed out.

“This once, yes,” he said in a tone that brooked no argument. “Your life is in danger. Now, come on so I can show you that army.”

She wanted to protest, but held her tongue for the moment. Nick meant only the best for her. “There’s something I don’t understand,” she said as he pulled her to her feet again. The touch of his hand was distracting, and she lost the thread of her thoughts for a moment. “If this army place is supposed to be secret, how come you could see it from the air? Why haven’t others seen the same thing?”

“Most everything is kept in sheds, and the day I saw it there was very low cloud cover. Maybe they only bring the machines out when the conditions favor secrecy.”

“So how come you were so lucky?”

Nick coughed slightly. “I was, uh, engaged with a ship at the time. One bound to make a delivery to that very place. In other words, it was pure chance. An associate has done some reconnaissance since then. Gwilliam reports that the toys rarely come out of the sheds.”

“Is Gwilliam another airman?”

He paused. “Sort of. He was with the
Red Jack
when we saw the army.”

He was leading her around the corner of the roof when she realized that Saint Winifred’s had a peculiarity that was impossible to see from the street. The arch set high at the back of the church tower, rather than being filled with stone
tracery and stained glass, was empty. In fact, the space extended under the roof like a giant barn, leaving a perfect landing bay for the tiniest dirigible that Evelina had ever seen.

It looked like a giant dragonfly, with a long tail and backswept fins with propellers either side. The balloon was a slender oval of sky blue, the gondola a pale gray. It fit inside the arch of the church tower as if one had been designed for the other. Nick craned his neck to give the craft a fond look. “She runs on aether distillate, but she has two small engines for speed.”

Evelina watched him regard the machine with the same admiration he’d once shown for his horses. Nick had always loved to fly—he’d just found a more literal way to do it.

“Whose craft is this?”

“The Schoolmaster’s.” He shot her an amused glance. “I owe him a favor. There’s no piracy involved.”

“We’re going to fly in that?” Her stomach churned with jubilation and horror combined into one heady mix. Then she surged forward, itching to look inside the engine. This was better than fifty new dresses. But when she touched the housing, it was warm. She drew back with a pang of disappointment. “The boilers are already hot.”

“Digby?” Nick called.

High above, a hatch opened in the side of the gondola and a head emerged. Evelina couldn’t see the face well—the man was wearing elaborate goggles—but she got the impression of red hair and an enormous grin. “At your service, Captain, ma’am.”

Nick looked smug, regarding her with his arms folded. “I told you to trust me. We’ll go find proof and take care of your Jasper Keating problem.”

NOT LONG AFTER, THE
WREN
SLIPPED OUT OF THE CHURCH
tower and flew southeast. It was a credit to Digby’s skill that Evelina barely felt the wind catch the ship as they circled the tower and joined the handful of dirigibles flying over the city. She learned that the church was only one of several landing sites for the craft, which changed frequently since the ship was too valuable to risk falling into the hands of the Blue Boys. And, typically, the
Wren
came and went at dusk or dawn when she was harder to see. The Schoolmaster had made an exception for this mission—whatever favor Nick owed him, it would be a large one.

She only gave half an ear to Nick’s explanation. She had never been in a flying machine before, and there was too much to take in. There was the constant vibration of the motors, and the eerie sensation of drifting aloft—like being on a trapeze but not quite. Like Nick, she had trained young as an acrobat and heights did not frighten her, but here her safety was not reliant on her agility or sense of timing. She was entrusting her life to an engine that she hadn’t inspected herself, and she did her very best not to think about that.

The gondola of the
Wren
was closed in, with the pilot up front and passengers on a long seat behind him. Evelina remained glued to the large window beside her. The ground below was a map that had suddenly come alive, with all the people and boats and houses in miniature. Her sense of space and distance, of the shapes in a landscape she thought she knew, was utterly reborn. It was like developing a sense she hadn’t known she’d missed—and she wanted more. As the shadow of clouds moved below, she felt it a crime that the
small craft would not fly high enough to sport in the billows of mist.

And although he had his own window, Nick seemed to delight in sitting close behind her and peering over her shoulder, his breath hot on her cheek. She knew it for the flirtation that it was. She also knew she would never be able to separate his closeness from her first memories of flight any more than she could take Nick out of learning to ride, walk a tight rope, or throw a knife. Time had taken them on different paths, but some patterns remained. He was still showing her the world, and he was irrevocably entwined with discovery.

But as they neared their destination, Nick grew still. Evelina began to make out the white roofs of enormous sheds, each as large as a hangar for a dirigible. They were a little distance away yet, in a fenced field that had watchtowers at each corner. There was no flag or other marking visible that set this large industrial compound apart from any other that dotted the countryside. Since the advent of the Merchant Brotherhood of the Air, shipyards, while not common, were certainly not rare. The only clue that something was different was a brick tower that arched over a wide stream of water to the west.

“What’s that?” she asked, raising her voice to be heard over the chugging of the engines.

“Water power,” Nick replied. “If I’m right, they run a wheel or turbine of some kind. That kind of power is less conspicuous than if load after load of coal was being delivered, or if an entire power station was dedicated to this yard.”

Evelina frowned out the window, wondering about the water source. London had many tributaries that joined the Thames, and this was probably one of them.

Then the world tilted as the
Wren
began a gentle, circling dive. Evelina braced herself on the window frame. “What’s happening?”

“We’re going to stay far enough away that they don’t suspect the
Wren
of spying on them.” Nick narrowed his eyes,
suddenly all business. “Now that we’ve had a better look at the layout of the place, we’ll go in on foot.”

“Over the fence?” she asked incredulously. She’d seen the watchtowers.

“Through the river gate. It’s the one break in the perimeter we can use. And I’ll need your help,” Nick said. “You know Magnus’s magic best. I’ve no doubt the place is guarded with more than weapons.”

His words caught her off guard. She’d expected to have to fight to go with him into the compound, and now his confidence unnerved her a little. She nodded, not able to trust her voice. If she had wanted proof that Nick trusted her again, this was it. They would rely on each other to make it back safely.

The dirigible hovered close to the ground and Nick tossed the ladder out the hatch. Digby was to stay with the
Wren
and keep her safe, and he would be the one to get help if they didn’t come back. As Evelina climbed to the ground, she realized that she was, as Nick said, very close to completing the mission that had brought her to the East End. Joy and anxiety both made her knees weak. Giving Keating his answers would keep her uncle out of harm’s way for the moment and buy her time to plan for the long term—and whatever Keating thought, that future would be the result of her choices, not his. Unfortunately, none of them would be easy.

They set off along the path of the river, about half a mile away from their goal. Partway along, she noticed a flock of birds circling in the sky. They were ravens, but bigger than any she’d ever seen.

“They’re the ash rooks,” Nick said with a sly smile. “They can fly where we can’t.”

Two landed in the grass ahead of them. Evelina saw one was wearing a helmet and neck chain. “Are they trained?”

Nick laughed. “They won’t thank you for saying that. The big one is Gwilliam.”

Evelina recognized the name of the associate who had scouted the Blue King’s compound. She was about to ask for an explanation when Nick crouched close to the birds. Instinctively, she hung back and a heartbeat later his magic
prickled against her skin. With a touch of awe, she understood that she was witnessing some of Nick’s newfound powers.

The larger bird gave a rattling croak and the smaller one, who wore no metal, bobbed and spread his wings in an enthusiastic gesture. Nick spoke softly to them, too low for her to hear. Evelina felt a sense of wonder—this was a kind of magic that she’d never seen.
But it makes sense. He is a creature of air and so are they
.