The League of Illusion: Legacy (11 page)

Chapter Seventeen

Rhys positioned the carriage underneath one of the jail cell windows in the dark alleyway behind the police station. Skylar sat beside him ready to climb atop the moment it was still.

“Are you sure this is his cell?”

“I’m sure. I bribed a sergeant for the information.”

“Too bad you couldn’t have bribed Jovan’s way out.”

“Would’ve made it much easier, yes, but no one wants to go against Hawthorne’s man on the inside. I hear he’s a rather unpleasant fellow who favors the baton.” Rhys rolled the carriage ahead a little then stopped, pulling a lever to engage the parking mechanism. “There we are.”

Skylar climbed on top of the carriage and stood. On her toes, she could just peer into the barred cell window. It was as black as pitch inside. She had no real way of knowing if Jovan was truly inside.

“Is it his cell?” Rhys asked.

“I don’t know. I can’t see anything.”

Then a pale face popped into view. “Looking for someone?”

Startled, Skylar nearly fell backward right off the carriage roof. Rhys had to steady her.

“My word, Jovan, you scared the wits out of me.”

“Well, that’s no good. I love your wits.” He smiled.

“How did you know we were coming?”

“I didn’t. Wishful thinking only.”

Rhys asked, “Is there a guard?”

“He’s having a bit of a nap right now.”

“What an obliging man,” Rhys said.

“So, what’s the plan? How are you getting me out?”

Skylar turned to Rhys. “Hand me the box, please.”

With a look of unease, Rhys handed her a small wooden box. Once she took it from him, he wiped his hands on her trousers.

Jovan’s eyebrow lifted. “What’s in there? Explosives?”

“Better.” She set the box on the window ledge, then slid open the side. Several tiny silver mechanical insects scurried from within, their tiny gears whirring rhythmically.

Jovan flinched. “What are those?”

“Termites.”

“Termites? But Skylar, my love, these bars are not made of wood.”

“I realize that, darling. These are metal-eating termites. They’ve been especially designed to eat through all metals in a very short period of time. They are quite remarkable creatures and modeled from a real species.”

Within a few minutes the little mechanical organisms had eaten through one of the bars. Skylar grabbed what was left of the metal pipe and pulled it from its groove. By the time she’d done that, the next two bars had been devoured. Now that the termites had completed their task they marched dutifully back into the box. She slid the door shut and handed it back to Rhys.

“Now climb through the window.”

Jovan reached through the window opening, hooking his hands along the stone wall, and pulled himself through. Bits of stone and dust peppered his head and face. He glanced at her. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you? Watching me worm my way out of jail.”

“Maybe a little.” But she couldn’t help the smile. She covered it with a gloved hand but even in the dark she suspected he spied it anyway.

Skylar helped him the rest of the way out until he was standing on the back of the carriage with her. His hair was in disarray, his jacket dusted with mortar, and his trousers were ripped along the side. He looked more like a street urchin than a lordly gentleman. Despite that he still made her heart skip a beat or two just by looking at him.

“If you wish to get going, you best stop looking at me like that.”

She was taken aback. “Like what?”

“Like you want to kiss me.”

“Don’t be foolish.” But she turned to hide the flush in her cheeks.

Then he grabbed her around the waist, pulled her to him and, bending her head back, kissed her long and hard. Heat rushed through her body, filling her to the brim. A ball of passion formed inside her belly and radiated a bit lower. His kiss ignited something deep and dormant inside. And she knew she’d have no chance of ever snuffing it out. He’d set her aflame forever.

Rhys’s voice brought her back to her senses. “Sorry to interrupt your sweet reunion but we need to move. Now. We aren’t alone here in the dark.”

Just as Skylar and Jovan turned, Darin Hawthorne stepped into a glare of moonlight piercing the dark alleyway.

“You Davenports are much more resourceful than I first thought.” He tipped his hat. “It must be Miss Vanguard’s influence. She’s a most enterprising young woman and much too good for the likes of either of you.”

Although "-1influhe was complimentary, she didn’t like the venom in his voice. He was up to something. Before Skylar could protest, Jovan jumped from the carriage to the ground.

“Is that what this is about, Hawthorne? Jealousy? Angry that Skylar fancies me over you?”

“Please.” Hawthorne sniffed haughtily. “It is so much more than that. It is everything you Davenports are that sickens me.”

“What? Honorable? Loyal? Respected?”

Hawthorne laughed at that. “Says the thief in search of his murdering brother.”

Jovan rushed forward, hands raised. Rhys jumped down in front of him before he could reach Darin.

“Stop. This is what he wants. For you to be angry and out of control. For you to make a mistake.”

“Yes. For once, Jovan, listen to your older brother. He has more intelligence than your whole family put together, especially your dying father.”

Jovan pushed ahead but Rhys kept him back. “Don’t be stupid.”

“Why are you defending him?”

“I’m not. I’m merely stopping you from getting your head pounded in. He is very skilled in the martial arts.”

“So am I,” Jovan boasted.

“He’s better. Trust me.”

“It sounds as if you know the enemy well, brother.”

Rhys didn’t respond but Skylar could see the conflict on his face before he turned away.

“Did he not tell you?” Darin drawled with smug satisfaction. “He’s been courting my dear cousin Felicia.”

Rhys turned around then to glare at Darin. This made him smile even wider.

“She tells me it’s been too long since you’ve warmed her bed.”

“Enough,” Skylar warned Rhys, “He’s trying to divide us. We have what we need. Let’s just go.”

She thought they were both going to ignore her, but eventually Jovan backed down and turned to her. “You’re right. Let’s go.”

Rhys had yet to move, he was still staring Darin down.

“Wise words, but it’s too late for that.” Darin tapped his metal-tipped walking stick three times on the ground. The sound echoed down the alleyway. “You’re not going anywhere, except maybe to an early grave.”

A creature as tall as a man but twice the girth stepped out of the shadows. Its head was as big and gray as a boulder. Its arms were made of various stones and rocks, his joints a collection of metal gears. It was an amalgamation of nature and metal forced together by dark magic. Its center was hollow. In this cavity a clockwork pendulum was swinging back and forth, emitting a loud ticking sound, an imitation heart propelling the beast forward.

“Good Lord, what is that thing?”

“A golem,” Skylar answered, her heart beating louder than the menacing ticking of the creature.

The thing lifted its head to look at her with its empty eye sockets. Fear coiled tight around her body. This was an unnatural thing erected for one purpose—to kill.

“Get on!” she shouted as she climbed onto the driver’s bench.

She pushed the button to ignite the steam engine. The carriage rolled rri>

“Kill the men!” Darin yelled. “Bring the woman back to me alive.”

Without a sound, the golem chased after the carriage as Skylar drove it down the alley.

“Looks like your friend wants you dead,” Jovan said to Rhys as he joined Skylar up top.

“He’s not my friend.” Rhys clung onto the luggage rack as Skylar took the vehicle out of the alley and around the corner.

“Save your conversation until later,” she shouted at them. “Until we’re not being chased by a homicidal golem.” She drove them hard down the deserted street and took another corner, nearly tipping them sideways.

“Slow down, love,” Jovan said from behind her. “You’ll crash us.”

“Tell that to the golem gaining on us.” She risked a glance over her shoulder to see the creature a mere eight feet behind them. The heavy footfalls of his stone feet reverberated from every corner.

“Quite right. Maybe we can slow it down.” He clapped his hands together.
“Accendo.”
An orange glow emanated from within his cupped palms. After another few seconds a ball of fire danced on his hand. Reeling back, he tossed the fireball at the golem.

It was a direct hit to its head but the fire did nothing but bounce off. Obviously, stone couldn’t be burned.

“Well, fire’s ineffectual.”

She just gave Jovan a look. Then she put on the speed, taking another corner. “Hold on!”

This time the carriage careened to the right, balancing on the two right wheels, snapping a spoke on one. Rhys nearly went head over heels as she tried to gain control of the steering. She had to swerve violently to the left to avoid hitting a stray mutt standing on the road. Once she righted it again, Rhys was flat on his back, panting, his knuckles white from hanging on so tightly.

“Do not do that again,” he demanded, sweat dotting his brow.

“I’ll try not to, but I can’t promise anything at this point.”

Despite Skylar’s best efforts, they hadn’t lost the golem. It was still lumbering behind them without any sign of slowing or tiring. In fact, it seemed to be gaining speed. To make matters worse, it had deigned to slow
them
down.

Reaching inside its hollow cavity, it came away with what looked like a metal gear the size of a tea saucer. The golem wound it up and threw it at them. It sailed right at Skylar’s head.

“Duck.” Jovan covered her head with his body.

The gear whizzed by, cutting the air just beside her cheek. The air pressure it exerted was enough to sting her skin.

“It’s throwing body parts at us,” Jovan said, stating the obvious.

“I saw that.” She straightened and took the vehicle around yet another corner. “What other tricks do you have up your sleeves?” she asked Jovan.

“I have ice, wind and water spells.”

“Don’t think any of those will work on rock.”

Rhys cleared his throat. “We’re going to have another problem soon. The docks are just ahead. There’s going erefonto be plenty of activity with dockers and prostitutes plying their trades.”

“So?” Jovan asked.

“So, what do you think’s going to happen when they see that—” he pointed at the golem that was only four feet behind them now, “—chasing after us?”

“They’ll run.”

Rhys gave him a withering look. “I know you’re not that stupid.”

“What do you suggest we do then?”

“Play See, Don’t See.” Rhys smiled.

Jovan nodded. “What are you going to do while I make that thing invisible?”

“I’m going to give our metal friend some little playmates.”

“Of course. The termites.” Skylar smiled. “But how are you going to get them over there?”

“Do you still have your blowgun?”

“In my bag, in the carriage.”

He patted her on the shoulder. “Keep us as straight as you can.” Rhys swung his legs over the side into the carriage window and shimmied his way inside.

“He surprises me sometimes,” Jovan said.

“Me too.”

He gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “Wish us luck, darling. We’re going to need it.”

While Jovan positioned himself at the rear of the carriage, Skylar steered them onto a long, straight road. It was not endless. Eventually they would need to turn or end up driving straight onto the docks which loomed ahead.

She didn’t normally pray, but now she murmured a small one to Belenos, the Druidian sun god, to aid their escape. They needed all the help they would acquire.

Just as they passed Baker Street, she risked a glance over her shoulder. Braced against one of the luggage rails, Jovan had his eyes shut, his other hand thrust out toward the tireless, rock creature still hot on their trail.

Rhys climbed up beside him, her dart pipe in one hand, and the box of mechanical termites in the other. Carefully he gathered a few and slid them inside the bamboo rod. He put it to his mouth in ready.

“People ahead,” she said, “Now or never.”

Rhys took a deep breath and blew just as the golem began to waver in and out of view. He put in more termites and blew again. There was no way of determining if he hit his mark because Jovan had made the golem invisible. Even to them, the creature had disappeared from view. And none too soon.

She drove the carriage past the busy alehouse where at least ten men congregated outside smoking cigarettes and laughing. They barely looked up as the carriage careened past, steam puffing out the back.