Obsidian Eyes (42 page)

She didn’t have a chance to touch the second guard, who was taken care of from behind by Christian. He gave her a nod before they both turned in opposite directions.

The Conri came pouring in through the windows at various heights, rappelling from the airship hovering above. The black clad soldiers launched themselves into the fray, dispatching guards as though they were scything hay. Allie turned in search of her next opponent only to realise there were none. Looking over the side of the catwalk, Duncan and Jared stood alone among the Conri, walking between the fallen. A tiny lightning bolt shot between table legs and then disappeared into her satchel.

She drew a deep breath. Adrenaline surged through her body and her heart pounded hard in her chest. She concentrated on where her throwing stars ended up, using the mental distraction to calm her rampaging body and mind. The metal discs were too valuable to lose. She found all but one up on the catwalk and remembered the first guard pitched over the side.

She slid back down the ladder and found her last throwing blade in the throat of the downed guard. Pulling it free, she gave the star a quick wipe and then replaced it in the last slot on the belt slung around her hips. She would have to spend some time in the evening ensuring they were all spotlessly clean and oiled, before putting them away again.

She looked up to see the KRAC medical officer inspecting Jared’s arm. Christian detached himself from a conversation with Lord Lithgow and approached.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, his gaze sweeping over her.

She shook her head. “No.”

He cast around the room. “This place is empty, Lord Lithgow says they packed up everything a few days ago.”

“It’s why Gregor didn’t protest too hard about us coming out here, he was leaving anyway. They would have been long gone before we ever returned to Edinburgh.”

He made a noise of agreement. “With the two Lithgows and the device. Did you learn anything before the cadet put a knife in his back?”

Another shake of her head. Her gaze flicked to his wrist and the thick leather gauntlet he wore, concealing his guild mark. A tiny voice deep inside told her to keep the conversation about the Consortium and Victoria to herself, at least until she knew the larger picture.

He gave a huff of air and crossed back to his men just as the medic finished with Jared’s arm.

With only a brief nod to the man, he closed the distance to Allie in a few easy strides. Before she could say anything, he swept her into his arms and kissed her with a fierce hunger, fuelled by the remaining adrenaline from the fight. She melted into him, matching his need and tinged with relief he wasn’t seriously hurt. His lips were hard as he crushed her mouth and his tongue sought access between her teeth. Briefly, she thought she tasted the crispness of apple, before she drowned in a whirlpool of blissful sensation as he deepened their kiss.

Jared’s body was the eye of the storm, being both the cause of her disorientation and sheltering her from its effects. The pressure of him against her and his arms tight around her, held her upright as the room spun and the tide of pleasure reeled through her body.

True to his promise, she lost the ability to stand upright, her knees shaking at the pure heat zinging through her limbs.

Duncan smiled and watched Zeb help his father out from under the workbench. He opened his arms and made a kissing gesture. Zeb picked up a loose screw from the bench and threw it at Duncan’s head.

“What?” Duncan rubbed the side of his head and stuck out his bottom lip. “I thought we all kissed now.”

“How bad is the arm?” Allie managed to ask when Jared released her for air.

Jared shrugged off the injury. “They’ll stitch it when we’re back on the airship, but this will hold while we finish up here.”

It was Allie’s turn to scowl. “Then you better get going, I’ll go with Duncan and retrieve the horses.”

Jared leaned in to kiss her again but Allie put a hand up to stop him. “I’m serious, get going before I make you bleed somewhere else.”

“You really are the most infuriating lass I have ever met,” he muttered.

“It’s called being independent,” she said.

“Then I guess I had better get used to it.” He gave a long-suffering sigh.

Allie took pity on him. With her fingers curled around the lapels of his vest, she pulled his head back to her. She took the lead as their lips met again and she threw herself into a whirlpool of desire. Kissing Hakim had never liquefied her bones like this. For the first time she wanted to feel a boy completely against every inch of her skin.

It was Jared who broke it off. They teetered on the precipice of needing more, but aware of their surrounds and watchful eyes.

“God, Allie,” he whispered, unable to say more, his eyes swirling storm clouds of gathering desire.

“I assume that will hold you until later?” she responded, her breath coming in shallow gasps as she tried to regain control over her body. “And it’s a long trip back to Edinburgh, whatever will we do with all that time on our hands?” she added with a grin.

Jared gave her a longing look before releasing her, to follow the medic outside.

“What about me?” Duncan wailed as Allie walked past him on her way out.

“Men!” she exclaimed. Swinging around to him and standing on tiptoe, she pulled his head down and managed to place a chaste kiss on his lips.

Duncan broke out into a broad grin. “I knew you couldn’t resist me for long.” But a troubling thought crossed his mind. “Wait, you just kissed Jared. Does that mean I just kissed him too?” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Yuck!”

Allie picked up her discarded satchel and looped the strap over her shoulders. Lifting the flap, she smiled to find Weasel curled in the bottom. He lifted his head and his blood splattered tail gave a thump.

“Good boy,” she whispered, running a finger down his spine.

The creature chirped, and his eyes whirled shades of red.

Allie and Duncan walked up the stairs, back toward the hallway and main entrance.

“So did the Lithgows have Zeb, or grow him in a laboratory?” Allie joked as they walked, commenting on the near perfect resemblance of Zeb to his father and earning a snort of laughter from Duncan.

In the ballroom, Zeb and his father engaged in a heated discussion.

“You built one?” Zeb’s eyes widened in horror.

“Only a small one, for demonstration purposes you know,” his father said. “I’ve been shut up here for three weeks, I had to do something to occupy my time. I started work on a marvellous mechanical chess set, where the pieces battled each other. The count got quite excited about my little knights and wanted to know how I articulated the arms. You know they were building automaton limbs here? He said they were for amputees, never knew underworld types did charity work.”

“Limbs?” Zeb frowned.

“Yes, crates of the things. They had a production line making them while I tinkered with the miniature propulsion unit.”

“All clear,” a soldier reported. “There’s nothing here, let’s all go.”

“This should be destroyed. What if it falls into the wrong hands?” Zeb looked at the small engine that doubled as a lethal weapon. His father very nearly finished it, but didn’t have the final wiring schematic to make the rocket work.
To think the guilds came so close to having the weapon. All for want of the correct wiring and one tiny missing part.

Inspiration slammed into his brain. “It would be a shame to waste such an obvious opportunity for experimentation.” He turned to his father, who followed his son’s line of thought.

He waved to the soldier. “There’s nothing left? So you don’t mind if we conduct an experiment?”

The soldier shrugged. “The lieutenant is satisfied there’s nothing here of interest, so knock yourselves out.”

Lord Lithgow rubbed his hands together, his eyes shining bright. “It’s a remote location and it would solve the issue of destroying the propulsion unit. It would be fascinating to see whether our hypotheses about impact damage have been correct.”

Zeb opened his pouch and extracted a handful of cogs, looking for the exact size and arrangement he needed. “We only need to make a few final adjustments―”

Allie and Duncan headed out the front door, when a commotion stopped them in their tracks. Zeb and his father came hurtling past, the last of the Conri soldiers in the castle hot on their heels, the entire group running like mad for the main exit.

“RUN!” Zeb screamed at them as he sprinted across the slate floor and over the threshold to the outside. Allie and Duncan exchanged startled looks before increasing their pace. Allie was a quick learner. If Zeb was running, everyone should be running. They sprinted out the main door and down the steps.

They leapt down the stairs when an enormous and ear shattering
boom
rent the air around them. The castle shook as though a giant slammed a fist into the side of it. Brick, dust, and plaster rained down on them as they raced across the green lawn.

“What the hell?” Duncan yelled, his ears ringing from the explosion. Zeb and his father thumped each other on the back in congratulations.

Allie, realising they detonated the rocket, thought they overlooked a rather important detail. She turned to Zeb. “What about his airship―”

There came a
whump!
and a wall of heat and sound knocked them all off their feet, lifted them in the air, and then tossed them several feet. An enormous fireball hurtled up into the sky. The explosion through the side of the castle ignited the hidden airship’s bladder, causing the eruption. Flaming debris rained on the castle, igniting the entire structure, turning it into a giant bonfire.

“―behind the castle,” Allie finished, glaring at Zeb. Luckily, the KRAC airship was tethered some distance from the castle and out of reach of the fiery projectiles. She’d hate to lose their ride home.

Father and son looked crestfallen. “The airship explosion will distort our data,” Zeb said holding out his hands to the inferno as though he could stop the myriad of smaller explosions as leftover munitions deep in the castle ignited.

Allie laid her head back on the grass, watching the dust clouds spread, orange, red, and black skipping across the sky.

It’s certainly been some week.

Once the dust settled and the fires burned themselves out, the two Lithgows explored the crater they created, like gleeful children at their first circus.

As the sun lowered on the horizon, the time came to head back to Edinburgh. The horses were nervy from the explosion and intense fire as they walked up the airship gangplank, but they managed to get all of them on board and into the stalls.

Dusk claimed the surrounding land when Allie went up to the observation deck watching the forest pass beneath the airship’s belly.

Jared emerged, his arm stitched and bandaged with a clean dressing. He came up behind and slipped his arms around her waist, pulling her back against his chest.

She gave a sigh as he kissed his way up her shoulder and neck, sending ripples of pleasure running like tiny ants with electric shoes scurrying over each skin cell.

“What will happen now?” he murmured against her skin.

“What do you mean?” She forced herself to pay attention to his words, instead of letting his actions distract her.

His lips nibbled at her ear. “When Le Foy learns what you have done.”

She leaned her head against his shoulder; it was time to tell him the truth. “He’ll return me to Newgate, as promised,” she whispered.

“You assisted KRAC, I’m sure they could have you pardoned. What were you in for, stealing bread?” He went back to nuzzling her neck.

“No, murder. When Le Foy found me I was about to be hanged, now he will put me back on the gallows.”

Silence. His arms tightened around her.

“I didn’t do it. Fredericks botched a burglary and since I was caught with him, a judge sentenced me to share his fate.”

He rested his cheek on top of her head. “I’ll not let him have you. And General Galloway has offered to help protect you.”

“I wish it were that simple.” She wanted to cry. “I have defied the overlord, you don’t apologise and carry on. The guild will demand I be punished.”