Alchemist's Kiss (22 page)

“Courage is not the absence of fear, Icarus.” Cora placed a kiss to his cheek, and he wanted to pull her into his embrace and run. Run as far and as fast as he could from all that might take her from him. He'd once been afraid to love her, and now he could not imagine his life without her by his side. Once, his city and his people had been his greatest concern, and now he would let it burn to see his Cora safe. He looked down into her eyes and knew that he would lose her forever if he let the fear make him a coward. She could never love a man who chose himself over the greater good.

“Courage is action in spite of fear.” she said.

He leaned closer, breathing in her scent as he tried to gather the courage to choose the right path. The white path. He opened his eyes and looked at his companions, who waited for his decision. He was the Grand Adept, and they trusted him.

“Very well. Here is what we will do.”

***

I walked through the fog with Lucia at my side. There was a scant amount of midday sun peeking through the clouds and it made me wish for those rare London mornings when the fog rolled out to sea and left the city bathed in light.

“Explain to me your relationship with Kane.”

I looked at Lucia in surprise. The woman was wound tight, to be sure, but her question was hesitant.

“Excuse me?”

“Your relationship with Kane. I'd like to know...” she trailed off as a red tint suffused her face. She looked away from me.

“You may ask me anything.” I encouraged her. I needed to talk, to ease the fear that swirled in my belly. I was certain our plan was the best we could have devised, but our part was dangerous. I knew Icarus and Archie were not far, hiding in the shadows of the buildings, but I also felt the repressive lack of my magic. A kind of pain, in the way that a limb feels when it falls to sleep and begins to tingle to awaken again. The tingling encapsulated me, cutting me off from the connection to the world I had never known I would miss.

“I have never been engaged in emotional jousting, and I cannot seem to get the gist of it.”

I grinned. “Emotional jousting?”

Her wide brown eyes were earnest. “We parry, we jab, then break apart to return to separate corners, where we then barrel toward one another as if we cannot avoid collision, only to pass.”

“A good description.” I agreed, thinking of the six years of emotional jousting Icarus and I had engaged in. I put my hand on her arm, “Are you emotionally involved with Archie?”

“A bond was forged between us, all those years ago.” She tapped her fan against her hand, snapping it open to fan her face. “I'd begun to fear that my thoughts of him might drive me mad, and I could not marry as my parents wished while he danced through my mind both day and night.”

“An obsession, then.” I grinned at her. “He's a good man.”

“A man I barely knew.” But her mouth twitched into a small smile, “A boy when I first met him.”

“And now?”

“He teases me, laughs and seems to enjoy my company. I came to him to determine if the bond existed in truth, or if my mind had simply latched onto my hero as the man I imagined him to be. I cannot decide how to proceed.”

“It takes time.” I squeezed her arm as we neared the area where the oppressive weight of the dielectric was heaviest. “For Icarus and I it was six years of pretending before we both garnered the courage to admit our feelings.”

“Why not simply say how you feel?”

I smiled. The woman was only just learning that relationships between men and women came with far more caveats that she'd ever imagined.

“We were both afraid. Too prideful. I thought I needed grand gestures and declarations of love. He thought he could never give me the life I wanted.”

“What changed?”

“When you face the idea of losing that person you realize that none of those things matter. I don't need flowers and candies and candlelight. I need Icarus.”

“It sounds simple when you say it.”

“Ah but it's not.” I slowed and she followed, and I nodded to the building just ahead. “We've arrived.” I took her hand in mine and tried to give her the best, most earnest, advice I could muster, “Become his friend, and choose to know him. If there is more to your bond than a girlish infatuation with her savior it will bloom in its own time. Don't deny it, don't try to change it. Let it happen as it will, and embrace whatever may come.”

“Sound advice.” Lucia's serious frown grew deeper. “Are you prepared, Cora?”

“As ready as I'll ever be.” I assured her, taking her hand. I pasted a silly smile on my face and tugged her forward. “Let's go.”

We moved quickly toward the building. Two men lounged casually against the steps, but their eyes were watchful. I moved without hesitation to stand in front of the taller of the two.

“Excuse me.”

He stood up straight, staring down at me. He was a half a head taller than both Lucia and I, a ragged cap sitting askew on his mop of dark hair. A homespun shirt stretched over wide shoulders and grew impossibly tighter as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“What's yer business, miss?”

I drew up straighter but never let the smile drop. “Patrick O'Halloran sent us. We're to deliver food to the men.” Lucia held up the wicker basket she held.

“O'Halloran?” The man relaxed a bit, a smile pulling up the side of his mouth. “Where is the bastard?”

“Back at the Inn.” I hiked a thumb in the direction of Whitechapel. I batted girlishly at the man, watching the smile grow with my attention. The other man noticed us and moved closer, his eyes fixed on Lucia's generous curves.

“And you'll stay awhile, entertain us?” The tall one asked.

I looked at Lucia. We'd assumed this was the turn the conversation would take when two innocent women appeared.

“Now, now, Bert, don't hog them to yourself.” the shorter man sidled closer to Lucia, taking the basket from her hand and letting his fingers linger on the bare skin of her wrist. She stiffened beside me but didn't speak.

“I'm Tara and this is Lucy.” I nodded to Lucia. “Are you hungry?”

“Famished.” Bert leaned closer to me, and I held my ground even as I let my smile grow wider. He tugged on a curl that lay against my shoulder.

“Pat was unsure how many men were here, so we brought plenty.” Lucia said, her voice breathless.

“There's five now, with Bert and me outside.” the shorter man put the basket on the ground and grabbed Lucia around the waist, rubbing his cheek along her hair. “You're the prettiest thing we've seen in days.”

I caught Lucia's wide eyed glance and tried to send her thoughts of courage.

“Don't be manhandling the lady, Joe.” Bert frowned as Joe let Lucia go, and stuck his hands in his pockets sheepishly. “This isn't a brothel. These are fine ladies.”

I liked young Bert, despite his hatred of magic. My smile to him was genuine this time.

“Shall we go inside, Bert?” I asked, taking his arm in my hand. He took off his cap and smoothed down his hair, nodding to me. He glanced over his shoulder at Joe. “Bring the basket and escort Lucy, will ya Joe?”

I glanced around as Joe and Bert led us into the building. With the lookouts out of the way the others would be able to slip inside the building unnoticed. Lucia moved closer to me and her face was pale.

“Don't worry, Lucy.” I nudged her with my shoulder and spoke quietly as we entered, “Everything will be fine.”

The building was actually an old library, I realized. The shelves still remained where the books had once been, now covered in a layer of thick dust. A staircase round wound and wound toward a large upper floor and several men stood around a large center table playing cards. When we entered they looked up.

“Now Bert, who's this?” asked an older man with graying hair and rheumy blue eyes. He peered at me over his hand.

“This is Tara and Lucy. Pat sent them 'round with food.”

“Good boy, that Pat.” another man said through a thick black mustache. “Guarding this bloke is boring work.”

I kept my eyes open and tried to take in as much of the building as I could as the men began to lay out the bread, milk and cheese Lucia and I had purchased at the market a few streets over. They cheered when the bottle of dark whiskey came out of the basket. I stood close to Bert with Lucia on my other side as the men dug into the food.

I jumped when Lucia's elbow nudged mine. I followed her line of sight and saw what she'd noticed. The fellow with the mustache had a tell-tale round lump in his right coat pocket. The dielectric. I watched the other men and realized that they all carried one somewhere on their person.

“Sit awhile, Miss Tara.” Bert offered, holding out a chair for me. Joe did the same for Lucia and we sat as the men returned to their game of cards.

“Patrick said that you're guarding an important man.” I said, leaning close to Bert as the man with the rheumy eyes dealt the cards.

“Pat's got a big mouth.” the mustached man said as he took up his hand. He narrowed his eyes at me. “You'd be best to forget what you heard, girl.”

I did not like the glint of menace in the man's cold eyes and I moved closer to Bert. His hand was warm on my lower back as he glared at the dark man.

“No need to threaten a lady, Sullivan.”

“He's right,” the older man agreed, clamping a cigar between his teeth, “it won't matter soon anyways. Croft's machine is nearly ready.”

“Is it true then,” Lucia asked, her eyes wide, “that the end of magic is near?”

“Aye, little lady, it be true.” the old man grinned at us as he threw down two cards to pick up others, “the world is soon to be equal.”

“Why destroy magic?” I asked as all their eyes swung to me, “Who will light the mills and drive the underground without wizards?”

“A good point, my girl.”

We all turned to see a tall thin man coming down the curving stair. With his dark hair and wild yellowish eyes I knew he was Robert Croft. He was the spitting image of his father, Percival. He took up the whiskey bottle and drank deeply, grabbing up a crust of the bread and chewing it thoughtfully.

“You see, my dear, when there are wizards and magic about there will never be a place for science or non-magicals in the world. We will always play a second fiddle to those who can manipulate aether.”

“My sister died in the mills because a wizard lost control of his magic and let the tunnels collapse.” Joe said.

“Skilled men like me and my sons can't get paying work because a wizard can whip up a buggy in half the time using magic.” the mustached man agreed.

“And it will never change,” Croft murmured thoughtfully as he chewed. “Unless we change it.”

“How long?” the gray haired man asked.

Croft looked at his pocket watch. “A few hours at most.” He turned his yellow eyes to us, “Would you care to see it?”

I nodded, and he waved for us to follow him. Bert stood as well, following Lucia and I up the stairs.

“He's not right sometimes.” he whispered to me as Croft turned the corner, “I wouldn't feel right leaving you alone with him.”

I turned the corner to find that the entire upper area was a massive workshop not unlike Rivensbrow's. Bits of piping and metal lay here and there, all around a large metal sphere. It was encircled with rings of copper and had wires extending from the top.

“What is it?” I asked, walking round the object to study it from all sides.

“An electromagnetic resonating chamber.” Croft fiddled with knobs and pulleys on a table across the room. “It will nullify the aether once and for all.”

“Nullify?”

Lucia's eyes were as wide as mine as I looked at her with horror.

“Precisely.” Croft pointed to the copper rings as he pulled a handle and they began to turn. The rotation grew so fast that I could not follow it with my eyes and the rings became streaks of color. “When we have achieved full power we can project the beam into the sky and erase aether from our world forever.” He was smiling wildly as he clapped his hands and pointed to the skylight in the ceiling. “From this point we can project the energy to the atmosphere and it will disseminate throughout the world.”

I stiffened as a crash sounded from below. Bert straightened from his spot by the door and looked at us. “Stay here. I'll find out what is going on.”

We nodded as he thundered down the steps. I gasped as Croft took hold of my arm. He stared at me with narrow eyes. “It was you!”

I pulled my arm away. “I have no idea what you're talking about!”

“It was you!” He moved closer, making me back up as he pushed against my chest with his. His finger was waving near my nose as he screamed at me, his eyes bulging from their sockets, “Trying to destroy me! Trying to undo my work! I won't let you!”

I cried out as he grabbed my arms again in a punishing grip. He started to drag me toward the stair when he suddenly slumped, nearly dragging me down with him. I looked up to see Lucia holding a long metal pipe in her hand. I brushed off my skirts and grinned at her. She'd knocked the raving man unconscious.

“Thank you for that.”