Into the Ether (18 page)

 

Outside the window, dawn painted everything in shades of pink and orange.
It should have looked cheerful.
Instead, I saw shades of blood.
In the distance, the metal hulk of the factory grew bigger the closer we approached.

Just before we
arrived
, our driver stopped.
We were just below the crest of
a hill in the road, out of sight
of anyone watching from the factory.
I didn't wait for him to open the door,
but climbed
out on my own.

“I just want to find out what your plan is before we go any farther.
”
When I didn't speak up, he fisted his hands on his hips.
“You do have one, don't you?”

“Of course I do,” I snapped.
But moisture beaded on my lip.
What I had was sketchy at best.

“Let's hear it.”

Thomason climbed from the auto, watching the two of us.

“I'm going to demand Terry's return in exchange for the box.
Then we'll run.”

He didn't say anything for a minute.
I wiped at my lip.

“That's it?
You're going to hand over the box to him and expect that he'll release Terry?
Unbelievable.”

Anger fizzed under my cheekbones.
“I'm not giving him the real box.
And I was planning on a distraction, but I don't really have much at my disposal.”

“If you aren't giving him the real box, then what
are
you giving him?”

I threw open the auto door and pulled out the replica.
Ephraim
actually took a step back, and then a slow grin broke out on his face.
He reache
d out and I handed him the box.

“Magnificent work.
Phillips?”
He looked up for my confirmation, and went back to perusing the box.
“He does have quite a knack, doesn't he?”

“He's got more than a knack.
He's a genius with metal.”
My words spilled out, curt and defensive.

Ephraim
looked up with a chuckle.
“Don't get defensive.
I meant it as a compliment.”

He handed back the box and I hugged the chilly metal to my chest.

“I thought maybe you might help us by providing a method of escape.”
Blurting the statement, I felt my face flush.
Asking for help grated, especially when asking a stranger.

“I wondered when you'd ask.”
He grinned and crossed his arms.
“I'd be delighted.”

Relief poured through me and I swayed on my feet.
If he'd said no, I didn't know what the plan would have been.
My attention turned to the battered auto we'd been riding in.
Even
at rest the crooked smokestack belched smuts in huge clouds.
Lucky the wind was blowing away from us.

Ephraim
clapped a hand over my shoulder.
“Don't look so bleak.
She isn't as bad as she looks.
Besides
,
she h
as a few tricks up her sleeve.”

He didn't wait for a response
.
Instead
he leapt up to the driver's seat and pulled on a few levers.
The auto started to shake, and the smokestack vomited a massive cloud of steam and soot.
Thomason and I both took a step back.
Slowly, and with a bit of screeching, the entire vehicle seemed to peel away its outer layer.
The side panels recessed and new, shining plates of brass slid upwards.
The smokestack was slowly covered, inch by inch, by a wide, thick brass tube, studded with steel bolts.

Ephraim
jumped
down
,
shedding his green coat and throwing it back up on his seat.
He was dressed in tails beneath.
“Ta-da!”
He laughed and pushed a finger under my chin.
“Close your mouth, my dear.
You'll catch flies.”

My head bobbed between the auto and Thomason.
An idea shimmered into being.
“You made Thomason.
You're the inventor the
colonel
spoke of.”

He blushed.
Somehow I found it strange that a man of such importance would be so shy about his work.

“Let's talk about that later.
Now,
” he
leaned against the side of his machine.
“What is the plan?”

“We
'
ll drive up.
I
'
ll get out.
I tell Kreios that I
'
ll leave the box at my feet.
When Terry and I are in the auto, driving away, he can have it.”
Edging closer to the auto, I asked, “She can get away fast, can't she?”

The corner of his mouth twitched.
“She'll go fast enough for this.
What happens if he doesn't agree?”

All the emotions of the last twelve hours churned in my gut.
“He's taken everything I hold dear.
He doesn't have any other options.
He does it my way, or I'll destroy the box.”

“And how do you think you'll do that?”

My smile wasn't quite kind.
“I know what's in that box, and even if he isn't sure, he has an idea.
He'll believe me.”

Ephraim
pushed off from the metal beast and studied me for a moment.
“Worthington was right about you.”
He opened the door for me.
“There's more to you than anyone thinks.”

I sniffed.
“I'll take that as a compliment.”

We loaded back into the auto and I checked
my
timepiece.
Nearly an hour left.
We'd be early.
It wouldn't faze Kreios one bit.
My teeth worried at my lip as we drew closer.
Still a good distance away, I couldn't draw my eyes from the outline of
the factory.
Even at this hour
the smokestacks poured huge grey streams into the sky.

A flash of light sparked at the edge of the roofline, and a small figure dashed out of sight.
We'd been sighted.
Butterflies danced in my stomach and my feet tapped an impatient rhythm on the floorboards.
Thomason leaned forward and looked out in the direction I had been.
He stayed still for a few moments then returned to his rigid position.
His yellow eyes swirled for a moment and a voice curled through my mind.

Don't worry.
You'll do fine.

My entire body came up from the seat.
“What?
Was that you?”

My hand hovered over his leg and then lightly touched the fabric.
It was hot, but not so tha
t it would burn.
I asked again
with my mind.

Blank silence was the only response.
I sat back against the cushions and glared.
“I don't understand why you won't talk when I ask.”

He lifted his hands, palm up.
If he could have shrugged, it would have been the same motion.

I sighed.
“Fine.
But I'll figure it out eventually.”

Thomason nodded once.
I didn't know whether to be flattered or worried.
I yanked the rags from around the real box in my bag and wrapped them carefully around the replica.
Kreios would know that I had touched it
,
had seen what it held.
He would know I did
n'
t want to repeat the experience.

Shouts drew my attention to the scene outside the window and breathing became a little more difficult
.
Terry stood, chained, between Kreios and Spiros.
Both looked like they'd rather be ripping a small animal to shreds than waiting for me.
Anger crackled in the stiff lines of their bodies and the hard, sharp glint in Kreios' eyes.

Terry's face had a purple bruise down one side, and his body and clothes were nearly black with grime and soot.
Several of Kreios' overseers had lined up behind the trio, waiting.
I'm sure it was intended to intimidate.
Instead, as I
stifled a laugh
.
This was a lot of show for a teenage girl Kreios didn't find to be a threat.

I stepped a few yards away from the auto until only ten feet separated me from Terry.
Around us, from the corner of my eye, I could see small faces pressed against the window panes.
With their overseers outside, the children in the factory were curious.

A shaft of pain shot through me.
I was saving one, but what about the others?

Kreios cleared his throat.
“Do you have what I want?”

I flipped one edge of the cloth up, revealing the gleaming metal.
When I saw him take a deep breath and his eyes fix on it like an addicts to opium, I replaced it.

“Now, release Terry.”

 

“You really believe the two of you
'
re leaving after all this?”
Kreios' lips twisted into a sneer.
“More
naive
than I thought.”

“What's to stop me?”
I scoffed.
Underneath my bravado, I started to sweat.
I only needed him to believe it a little bit.

Terry watched me with a mixture of confusion, disbelief
,
and fear.
He d
idn't understand, and I could
only hope he went along with this.

Spiros motioned to the men behind them.
“Please, tell me you're joking.”

My spine was rigid.
Catching Spiros' gaze, I held it.
“Lord Kreios knows I
'
m not
.
We both know what this can do.
Shall I put it to the test?”

“Playing that card so early?
I thought you'd try to finesse your way around this.”
Kreios sounded bored, but worry began to creep into his eyes.
“I thought the Colonel taught you better than that.”

“You've killed Colonel Worthington and taken every family I've ever known from me.
Finesse is the last thing on my mind.
I just want you to return what you've stolen.”

“Funny.
I was going to say the same to you.”

All the anger I'd been ignoring bubbled up, squeezing my throat and making my hands shake.
“I didn't take anything.
This was given to me.
I've more right to it than any of you.
You're the thief.
I might have been a thief before, but I stole what I had to in order to survive.
You steal people's lives.
When we get to the Pearly Gates, no one's going to argue against my entrance.”

Kreios
'
laugh rolled around me and drew
goose bumps
from my flesh.
“You assume I'm interested.
I'll let you in on a little secret, my dear.
I
only
care about this life, and the Devil offers a much better package.”

“Then I suppose the decision is up to you.
Either you give me what I want
,
and I'll leave this damnable box here on the ground, or I'll open it and see who laughs then.”

He hesitated, and a thousand things ran through my mind.
What if he called my bluff?
What if he didn't?
Could we escape?
Would it matter when he started to hunt
for
us?
And he would
.
I knew that as surely as I could feel my heart
beat.

Anger and mad desire
flitted across his features, the lines around his mouth and eyes deepening and tightening.
Spiros shifted beside him, his eyes glued to Kreios.
His frustration shone from the frown carved into his face and the cruel glance he cut to me.
Oh yes, I had thwarted Spiros' search, and he wanted revenge.

“Fine,
” Kreios
spat.
“I accept your offer.
You leave the box and I
'
ll give you Terry.”

With a nod, I stepped forward and placed the box on the ground.
I started to unwrap it and stopped.
No reason to give him the opportunity to examine it before we were on our way out.

“Now release Terry.”
I demanded.

Spiros
unlocked the manacles and pushed him forward.
He stumbled, but caught himself, taking the distance between us in three long strides.
His hands caught my shoulders as Spiros moved to pick up the box.

“I can't believe yo
u came after you promised
—”

“Shut up and get in the auto, Terry.”
I
snarled
.

He
jerked back, his eyes widening with surprise.
“What?”

My hands tugged on his
as Thomason threw the door open.
I risked a glance over my shoulder where Kreios watched us with
an intensity that made my pulse jump.
Spiros tucked the box under his arm and made a motion with his hand.

The line of muscular men moved forward.

Terry was in the auto, and I threw
myself in, yelling at Ephraim
, “Go.
Get us out of here!”

The auto groaned, shuddered, and leapt forward, even as my feet still hung from the doorway.
Terry cursed and hooked his hands under my arms, yanking me inside and
against
his chest.
Thomason closed the door.

“You are the most amazing, stubborn, stupid female I have ever met in my life
,”
Terry told me.

I looked up into his green eyes and grinned.
“I aim to please.”
I threw my arms around his neck and squeezed,
refusing to shed anymore tears, even happy ones
.

Pushing back, I told him,
“I think it's the perfect time to collect that kiss you owe me.”

His lips twitched and he leaned closer.
“It would seem so, wouldn't it?”

Without another word, his hand cupped the back of my head and his lips pressed to mine.
The sensation was like nothing I'd ever felt before.
Fireworks lit at my lips and burst in my
heart.
The feel of his mouth
against mine was brief, and I wanted more as he drew back, his breath warm against my ear as he
pulled
me closer
.

That was all it took.
Somehow, just being near Terry had helped stop the riot of emotions that had been spiraling out of control.
I clung to him, enjoying the freedom to do so.
I turned my head and got a glimpse of the scenery flashing by.
Ephraim
hadn't lied about the
auto
.
She did have hidden depths.

Keeping hold of his hand, I extricated myself from Terry.
I pushed the window glass down and poked my head out.
A single auto was pulling away from the factory, but it would never catch us.

As I hung out of the window, a sound sent ice through my veins.

Kreios.
Screaming in rage.