Alchemist's Kiss (29 page)

“How long?” Icarus let Archimeds take his hand and pull him to his feet.

Archimedes’ frown grew. “How long?”

“How long were we gone?”

“You never left. The moment your hands touched you both flew backwards. By the time I got to you, you were already opening your eyes.”

Icarus caught Cora’s eyes as the captain helped her stand. She was pale, but a smile blossomed on her lips and she shook off Levisque’s hand to walk into his arms.

“Can we do it?” she whispered into his ear. He held her tight, burying his nose in her hair. “Is there a spell?”

“Not yet. But I will create one.” He kept his arm around her and looked at Archimedes and Levisque. He ignored the shared look of confusion between them and rubbed Cora’s shoulder. “We may have a way to rescue my father’s prisoners without casualties. It will require you to work a bit of complicated magic.”

“We can do it.” Archimedes let his eyes stray to the distant figure of Lucia in her dark blue gown on the ground. He focused on Icarus again. “What about you?”

“I will deal with my father while you three,” Icarus tried to ignore the stiffening of Cora’s shoulders, “rescue Desmond House.”

Icarus did not need to look at Cora to see the tightening of her lips or the blush of anger that spread over her cheeks. “You want us to split up?”

Icarus felt the itch of something important at the back of his mind, but he ignored it to focus on Cora. He turned, looking at her directly so that she could not misinterpret his words. “This is not about what I want. It is about what we must do. What has to be done. Archimedes is not strong enough to do this without you.”

“What about you?” She raised her chin but her lip quivered. A small sign of her distress, but enough to make him feel wretched. “I don’t want to leave you alone.”

“My father is my burden. If I do not go alone he will try to use you to hurt me. If I am distracted by my concern for you I may make a mistake and we will all pay for it.”

He knew his logic got through to her as her eyes darkened. She pinched her lips together and the chin went up another notch. He wanted to smile. His Cora was full of fire and sass. Her courage was a sight to behold. Despite her fear and worry for him, she knew he was right. He turned back to Archimedes and Levisque. “Come. We have preparations to make.” Icarus waved to Levisque. “Your wizard, can you show me his stores?”

“What about Machiavelli?” Cora asked. “Would he give you another feather?”

“He needs his strength to recover. We will have to do this the hard way.”

“Do you know any other way, Grand Adept?” Levisque fidgeted with his skullcap but his joking words were belied by his worried frown.

“Unfortunately I do not.” Icarus reached for Cora’s hand but she moved to stand with Archimedes, leaving him frowning. He tried to catch her eye but she looked away and he sighed.

“This way.” Levisque said.

Icarus did not miss the twitch of the captain’s lips as he strode toward the stairs that led below-deck. Though he needed his focus on the spell he was about to write, he could not get his mind off Cora’s sudden inability to meet his gaze. She swept past him and he grabbed her arm, keeping her close as Archimedes followed the captain, leaving them alone on the deck.

“Do not be angry with me.”

She refused to meet his eyes. “I am not angry.”

“Lying does not become you.” He tugged her chin until her eyes met his.

“I am not angry.” She pulled her chin away and met his eyes of her own volition. “You are correct, Archie cannot do the spell on his own.”

“Cora.” He pressed his lips to hers on the whisper, ignoring the stubborn way her lips remained taunt beneath his. When she didn’t relent to his teasing he laid his lips against hers again. He felt her soften and he deepened the kiss, easing his tongue between her lips to slide against hers. The tension bled out of her and she pressed against him, her hands clenching his coat. She kissed him back, matching every stroke of his tongue with her own, until he had her tight against the bulkhead with his body aching to be inside hers. He didn’t pull away until he couldn’t breathe anymore. “Don’t be angry with me.” he begged again.

“I’m not angry.” She pressed against him, putting her head in the hollow between his neck and his shoulder. “Your logic is sound. My head tells me this is the right thing. My heart does not agree.”

“I love you.” His whispered words made her shudder and he held tighter against the wall. “I would do anything for you. I would leave now and run away with you, if you asked.”

She pulled back, shaking her head. “You wouldn’t.”

“I would. You have only to ask.”

“I did not fall in love with a scoundrel, Icarus Kane.” Her stern warning made him smile. “As much as it scares me, and as much as I hate it, this is what we have to do. You could no more let those innocent people die than I could.”

“If only I was a farmer. A blacksmith. Anything but this.”

“This is who I love. The wizard. The warden. The man. We would not be the same without our magic or the danger it brings.”

She was right, and from the triumphant grin on her face she knew it. He dreaded pulling back from her, but a shout from Archimedes made him do it. He reached for her hand and this time she took it willingly.

“Icarus.”

Her soft words brought him to a halt again. He turned to her.

“I love you, too.”

***

“Can you see anything?”

Archie shook his head, waving his hand at me to quiet me. I ground my teeth together and crouched low behind him as he looked over the rise to the town below us. I glanced up as Levisque tiptoed closer, going to his haunches beside me.

“The ship is ready.” He whispered into my ear. “Shall I stay?”

“No.” I grabbed his hand in mine, smiling at him. “Thank you, Captain.”

He was uncomfortable with my appreciation, and he flushed red before nodding and striding off quickly back to his ship. I looked up as Archie backed away from the rise and hunkered down closer to me. “The Captain is ready.”

Archie nodded. “The wards I placed over the ship, in addition to his invisibility cloak, should keep him and the hostages safe.”

“If we can get them out.”

“I see Gecko milling about through several of the old homes. That must be where Victor is keeping the prisoners. They can see the bonfire burning from every room.”

“Where’s Bainandelio?”

Archie shrugged. “The bastard is sensitive to light, so he’s lurking about in the shadows. I’ve no doubt he’ll come out to play when we put the plan in motion.”

I glanced over the top of the hill at the ruins of Longmoore. The bonfire burned bright in the town square, the crackling of the logs loud enough to be heard even that far away. “Shall we go, then?”

Archie’s smile was strained, but he nodded. With Lucia’s help his bruises had faded to ochre, and Nickerson had managed to pound the mangled joints of his mechanical hand back into some working order. He gathered his bag filled with the supplies we would need and threw it over his shoulder. He wrapped his human hand around mine and we stood together looking down at Longmoore.

“Don’t worry.” Archie’s big hands squeezed mine. “Icarus will be fine.”

“Do you really believe that?”

“I think we need to worry about us,” Archie said with a grimace, “because we will have enough on our plate when Gecko and Baiandelio get a taste of this.” He patted the bag.

I nodded, but still I strained for a sight of blonde curls below on the road to Longmoore. I followed Archie as he tugged me away, but I stayed focused on the road until I couldn’t see it anymore.

We made our way quickly and quietly through the deep underbrush toward the edge of town. I winced at the crack of every branch under my boots, but Archie marched on, his face a mask. I hurried to catch up to him and he looked down at me when I touched his arm.

“Are you thinking about Lucia?” I asked.

“Is it that obvious?”

“Well,” I pretended to scratch my chin as I looked him over thoroughly, “you appear to be in pain and your face is twisted in ill humor. It seems to be a symptom of early love.”

“Love.” He shook his head, the word slick with disgust. “I take back every foolish, sentimental ideal I tried to force onto you and Ic.”

“Is it that bad?” I wondered what had happened back on the ship. From all outward appearances Archie and Lucia had grown close in the short time since we’d left him in her care at the VansMueller. I pondered exactly what she might have said to him to bring on his foul distaste for love now.

Archie was silent a while as we moved through the dense forest. So far there was no sign that the dark wizards were warding or protecting the farthermost edges of the town.

“She fears me.”

I could not help but laugh. Archie glared at me, scratching his head in anxious ire at my response.

“What? It’s a plain as the nose on her face. I can’t get within a foot of her without her running from me.”

“Archie,” I laid my hand on his forearm, drawing him to a stop, “Lucia isn’t the sort of woman to be afraid of anything. If she’s running, it’s not from you.”

“Then what?” He shuffled his feet and shook his head in bewilderment. “I tried to kiss her.” His face grew red with embarrassment and he looked away from me, “A proper kiss, you know, before we left the ship, and she ran from me. She ran pretty fast.”

“Did she tell you about her past? What happened to her after she was healed?”

“No.” He frowned down at me, worry twisting his lips. I patted his arm, not willing to give up Lucia’s confidences, but hating to see him pained.

“Ask her, then. I think you’ll find she’s far more fearful of what this,” I motioned to the air between him and the field of tents behind us, “means, than of you.”

“What does this mean? I am not sure I know myself.”

“That is part of the problem. Lucia is afraid to give her heart to someone who ends up breaking it. She wants to be sure of your intentions before she gets too close.”

“My intentions are honorable.” He drew himself up in a huff, insulted by my unintended slight.

I suppressed a smile. “
I
know that.
She
does not. It’s not me you need to convince.”

He nodded slowly, and we began to walk again. His face was serious as he looked at me. “I think you’ve become more knowledgeable in the ways of the heart than I.”

“No, I’m simply a swift learner.” I leaned against him for a moment, my mind leaving his romantic troubles and returning to the danger that lay ahead. The trees were thinning and the tops of the empty buildings were just visible. We froze as the crack of breaking underbrush hit our ears.

“Don’t move.” Archie whispered. I stood with one foot in front of the other as the sound of someone running through the brush grew closer. Archie removed a knife from his pants, and I made my hand into a fist, calling the aether to me with a word. We waited, stiff with fear, as a figure ran at full speed from the bushes ahead.

It was a man, covered in dust and leaves. He skidded to a stop before us, backpedaling fast when he saw us.

“Wait!” I recognized the square jaw and handsome hazel eyes almost immediately. “Mr. Trimble, it’s Cora Jenkins!”

The young mage stilled, his breaths rasping as he bent over his knees. He raised his eyes to mine, relief so stark on his face that he went pale with it. “Thank God, Adept Jenkins!”

He moved to me, grabbing my hand in his trembling one. I just managed to snuff out the aether before he touched it.

“Grayson! What happened?” I put an arm around the traumatized young man, holding him as he shuddered.

“Dark wizards.” He bit his lip and breathed a deep slow breath. “You most likely know it already, seeing as how you’re here.” He grabbed my hand again, squeezing it. “They have the children.”

“How did you escape?”

Grayson’s eyes went wide at the size of Archie. He was quite formidable with his gleaming golden clockwork peaking from the cuffs and collar of his shirt, stretched wide across his shoulders with his girth. Archie stuffed the knife into his sheath as Grayson followed every move. “S…sir?”

“Escape, boy!” Archie’s voice was sharp with impatience. “How did you get away?”

“They tried to keep us all together, but there were too many. They separated us, taking the children away to a different building. Some of the seniors tried to resist, and I slipped away during the frenzy.” The young wizard’s voice shook, “I s…saw a lot of blood.”

I rubbed the man’s arm, my stomach sick with the knowledge. I looked up at Archie. “So there are two buildings, then.”

He nodded and turned to Grayson. “What else can you tell us, son?” His voice dropped an octave and was gentler now. It was strange to hear Archie call Grayson ‘son’ when there was barely a decade between them, but Grayson was fortified by Archie’s new approach. He straightened a bit and the color came back to his face slowly.

“Two dark wizards, in service of a more powerful one.”