Howls and Hallows: A Steampunk Fairy Tale (Steampunk Red Riding Hood Book 5)

by Melanie Karsak

  “Thank you.”

  As we walked back toward the ruin, I noticed that even more blue lights had appeared. They spun in circles, zipping back and forth. The stones shimmered with magical light.

  “An ancient place hidden in the modern world. We don’t have long now. When the modern world comes, it will be the end of us. That is why the boy must leave. We aren’t long for this world, Clemeny Louvel.

  “I’m sorry to ask for your help with the child. I love him, but he has taken to roaming the fens, haunting the manor. With the curse, I am sure everyone is spooked. When you and your partner arrived, I knew I must act. But then the wind whispered your name. It told me I could depend on you.”

  I stopped. “Why? Why did the wind whisper my name? Why can I be depended upon? That light inside me… What is it?”

  “Are you ready to know?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then follow your dreams. They’ll lead you to answers.”

  The image of Glastonbury—and Lionheart—came back to me once more. “Thank you.”

  We walked through the ruin to the road on the other side. The trail disappeared down into the mist. Afwyn gestured before her. At once, the mists parted, allowing me a path through. “Meet me tomorrow morning at the airship tower.”

  “I will,” I said, then headed back into the mist.

  In the moonlight, it was easy to see the way. As I went, the path continued to clear before me. The elementals had been true to their word. The enchantment didn’t touch me.

  But as I walked, I caught soft whispers in the air.

  Clemeny.

  Clemeny, come home.

  I closed my eyes. It was not the spell. It was the other voice that whispered to me. I didn’t know what or whom was speaking to me. But at least now I knew what the voices wanted.

  Clemeny.

  “I tell you what, if you want me to come to the summer country and sort all this mess out, bring Lionheart home. Now,” I said, turning to the mist around me, watching phantom-like shapes that twisted and twirled.

  No answer.

  I glared at the mist. “That’s what I thought.”

  Feeling suddenly frustrated, I turned and stalked back toward the manor. With each step, I felt my frustration rise. How could Lady Charlotte just abandon her child like that? How could she play around with a werewolf—knowing he was a werewolf—then just expect everything to go well? Such creatures were not objects of curiosity. They were men with hearts and minds of their own. She had no business falling in love with a werewolf. She should have known it would never work, that she wouldn’t be able to have a normal life with him, let alone a child. And then she just abandoned them both. Did she even know her father’s child was dead? Didn’t she pine for him with every breath, worry about him every minute, and wait and wonder where he was? Didn’t she feel pain in her chest every time she thought she might not see him again? And her own child… Didn’t she feel something? No. She was foolish and careless. A tourist. Apt title. And now here I was, trying to find a way to protect the boy she had abandoned. Me. I had been sucked into the mist to clean up her problem. I wouldn’t stay at Cabell Manor a minute more than I had to. Tomorrow morning, I would take the lycan child to London. I’d send a message to Edwin. I didn’t want to hurt him, but I couldn’t tolerate being near that woman. I could never be around someone who disregarded the preternatural as toys. They weren’t. They were people with minds, and hearts, and souls. They were people who deserved to be loved just like the rest of us. Just because they were different, it didn’t make them bad or wrong.

  I stopped.

  My heart was beating so hard I could hear it in my ears.

  I looked up at the moon.

  No, there was nothing wrong with loving a preternatural.

  Nothing wrong at all.

  Chapter 20: In the Garden

  I slipped across the misty fen, arriving at the manor once more. The silhouette of the building appeared on the horizon, backed by the almost full moon. The angel on the top of the house was bathed in moonbeams. Silver light broke through the mist, casting a bluish haze on the place. The windows of the house stared like empty eyes out onto the fen.

  Light passed one of the upper windows as someone moved in and out of the room with a lantern.

  When I reached the back gate, I slipped quietly inside, keeping in mind there was a pair of mechanical gargoyles prowling. Creepy devils, I’d rather avoid anything I couldn’t take down with a silver bullet. Following the primly kept garden paths, I made my way past the reflection pools, weaving around the statues.

  My senses, however, felt the presence of another in the garden with me.

  I slowed to a stop then turned and looked, gazing around the foggy garden. In the distance, I heard the click of the mechanical gargoyles’ gears and saw a flash of blue eyes in the mist. I stopped to watch the clockwork guardian prowl. How curious a creation. Yet still, there was something else there. I could feel something besides the machine.

  If I spoke, it would trigger the gargoyle’s alarm. Still, who in the world would be out here now? Had the boy gotten loose once more?

  I eyed the place closely with my mooneye.

  Witches. Elementals. Werewolves. Humans. Spirits. Could have been anyone out there. But at the moment, they weren’t moving, weren’t intervening. Best to leave well enough alone.

  I pulled my silver blade, ignoring the tingling feeling on my back of my neck, and headed toward the house. Spotting the second gargoyle perched near the front door, I hesitated, unsure what to do. But a rustle in the garden not far from the gate caught the machine’s attention, and it went off to investigate.

  Taking my chance, I rushed to the door.

  But now my curiosity was piqued. Rabbit or monster? What had the clockwork device heard? I scanned the mist, but there was nothing there. Nothing more than a heavy feeling that lingered on my senses.

  Suppressing a sigh, I headed inside.

  Chapter 21: Harper in the Small Library with a Plan

  Hoping to avoid Lord Cabell and Lady Charlotte, I tiptoed down the hallway toward the small library. It was already very late. I expected everyone was in bed, except Harper. But as I approached the library, I heard voices.

  Wonderful.

  I took a deep breath then opened the door.

  On the other side, I found Harper, Lady Charlotte, Lord Cabell…and Edwin.

  My heart skipped a beat.

  They stood over a map laid out on the desk. Edwin’s hands were laced behind his back as he considered Harper’s words, but his brow was crinkled with worry. Harper was talking in hurried tones. She was nervous.

  “Something interesting?” I asked.

  Harper stopped mid-sentence. “Clemeny,” she said, exhaling deeply.

  My eyes met Edwin’s. The wrinkle on his forehead disappeared at once.

  “We were getting rather anxious about you,” Lord Cabell said, crossing the room to greet me. “Agent Harper and Sir Edwin were about to go out to look for you, despite mine and Charlotte’s repeated pleas of caution.”

  So, Lord Cabell and Lady Charlotte wanted to leave me on the fen to die? That was nice of them. “That’s the job, sir. But all is well.”

  “So glad to hear it, so very glad. Here, let me pour you a drink,” Lord Cabell said then headed for the bottle sitting on a cart nearby. “Edwin? A drink?”

  “Yes, I do believe I’ll take one now,” he said, his voice tinged with relief. He crossed the room to greet me. As he did so, I saw Lady Charlotte’s eyes follow him. There was annoyance in her gaze, especially when she noticed the affectionate look on Edwin’s face.

  “I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow,” I told him.

  “I thought you might want an extra hand. And then I arrived to find you had been lost in the mist. I almost lost my composure. Must you always find trouble?”

  “Yes, but I’m not bloody and bruised, for once.”

  “Well, that is a relief.”

 
“The matter is nearly sorted. We should talk later.”

  Edwin gently touched my arm, giving it the softest of squeezes. “I’m glad you’re all right. And very glad to see you,” Edwin’s eyes spoke volumes as he stared at me. But there was more. There was an expression on his face I hadn’t seen there before, a kind of nervous excitement.

  “Are you all right?” I whispered.

  He laced his hands behind his back once more. He smiled softly at me. “Now, I’m perfect.”

  “Here you are, Edwin,” Lord Cabell said, handing his old friend a drink. “And one for you, Agent. Please don’t leave us with bated breath. You must tell us what you found out in the mist.”

  I took the drink, sipping while I concocted a lie, then nodded. “It was an apparition, an echo of things long forgotten. You know how it is, Romans and druids running amuck, leaving behind bad spirits. You must have kicked it up in your visit to the ruins.”

  “Do you mean a ghost? How extraordinary,” Lady Charlotte said.

  I didn’t look at her for fear my utter disgust would give me away. “Well, the ruins are an ancient, sacred place. So, unless you want to upset the spirits of ancient druids further, risking the ire of the old gods, you should appeal to the Historical Commission to earmark the land as a historical site and leave it be.”

  Harper raised a confused eyebrow. “An apparition? But we saw corporeal evid—”

  “We were mistaken,” I said, cutting her short and shooting her a let’s talk later, stop asking questions look.

  “So it’s not the curse—or the anything else…monstrous,” Lady Charlotte said.

  I swallowed my rage. “I suppose that depends on how you define monstrous. Your family was warned not to return to the ruins. Seems like advice that should have been heeded.”

  Lord Cabell took a drink. “Blimey. I don’t know what to say.” He looked pale. While he tried to hide it, his hand was shaking.

  “We should just pull down those stones and be done with that place,” Lady Charlotte said with an annoyed glare. “Nothing but trouble has ever come to the Cabells from those old stones.”

  “Pull down a ring of standing stones? You’ll risk the wrath of all the Celtic gods,” Edwin remarked stiffly.

  “Very true,” I said, giving Lady Charlotte a sharp look.

  Lady Charlotte frowned and looked away.

  “We must set that land aside—for good,” Lord Cabell said. “There will be no more debate about it. It’s an important historical place. I won’t develop the land anywhere near there.”

  I cast a glance at Lady Charlotte. She was staring into the fireplace. Her brother also looked at her, an inquisitive expression on his face. “Charlotte? Don’t be irritated.”

  “I’m not.”

  “What is it then? Your ball can proceed as planned,” Lord Cabell said.

  She forced herself to smile. “It’s nothing. Good. Very good. Well, if the spirit is put to rest, then we can proceed. As long as Agent Louvel is sure.”

  She turned to me, her eyes fishing my face. Did she suspect I’d learned something? She had hidden the child, hidden her dalliance with the werewolf, hidden it all. But did she suspect I knew? Was howling on the fen the very thing that had landed her in trouble in the first place.

  “There is nothing to concern you on the moor now,” I told her, my voice hard and flat.

  She stared at me as she turned over my words. Part of her was dying to question me more. The other prayed her secret hadn’t been revealed. “Very good. Well done, Agent,” she said then rose. “Sir Edwin, I’m afraid I’ve had a hectic day, and my eyes are drifting. I hate to leave you so soon after you’ve arrived, but I’m afraid I must.”

  Edwin nodded to her. “Of course. Please, don’t hesitate.”

  “And now, for the first night in many weeks, we will all sleep soundly,” Lord Cabell reassured his sister with a loving smile.

  “Yes, you’re right,” Lady Charlotte said. Pausing to kiss her brother on the cheek, she waved goodnight to the rest of us then left the room.

  Of course. Sleep soundly while the child you abandoned suffers. Why would that keep anyone awake at night?

  “I, on the other hand, need to go warn the downstairs staff that the ball is still on,” Lord Cabell said, setting aside his drink. “Will you excuse me?”

  Edwin nodded to him while I gave him a tired smile.

  We stilled, waiting for him to leave the room. The moment the door closed, Edwin and Harper looked at me.

  “All right, Clemeny. Now, out with it,” Harper said.

  I eyed the door. “Are we sure we’re alone?”

  Edwin looked around the room then nodded.

  “Well, there was a werewolf on the moor. And tomorrow, I will escort him to London.”

  “Wait, what? Then why did you lie? And where is the wolf?” Harper asked.

  “The wolf is under the watch of an elemental. I’ll meet her tomorrow at the airship tower in the village to collect her charge.”

  “An elemental,” Harper said with a gasp.

  “She—and the others—were local spirts once worshipped as gods. They are barely hanging on. They still exist, but in the most rudimentary of forms.”

  “I don’t think we have any record of an agent encountering an elemental,” Edwin said. “And certainly not a local god.”

  “But is this all safe? How can an elemental control a werewolf?” Harper asked.

  “It’s complicated.”

  “But Clemeny—” Harper began.

  “The werewolf is a seven-year-old lycan who is the heir to Cabell Manor.”

  Edwin and Harper stared at me.

  “Lord Cabell’s…heir?” Harper asked.

  “Yes and no. His heir, but not his son. The boy is Lady Charlotte’s child.”

  Edwin coughed then coughed again. “How do you know?” he asked.

  I relayed the tale the Afwyn had shared with me.

  “Is she to be trusted?” Harper asked. “Is she telling the truth?”

  “She has no reason to lie. And the boy looks like his mother—and uncle. I’ll take the child to the Templars. They will know how to raise the boy.”

  “Even though he is a lycan?” Edwin asked.

  “I trust the Templars to do the right thing.”

  “A human and a werewolf,” Harper said.

  “A lycan,” I said then shrugged. I tried to look nonchalant, but there was a heavy feeling in my stomach. “Lycans are not common but not unthinkable.”

  Harper shook her head. “But Lady Charlotte… I can’t believe she just abandoned her child like that.”

  I nodded to her.

  “I guess some things are more important than blood,” I said.

  Harper frowned. “I can’t imagine what. Lycan or not, he’s still just a boy.”

  “Lycan or human, a child born out of wedlock would have been a scandal for Lady Charlotte,” Edwin said.

  “Well, God forbid,” Harper said, sounding exasperated.

  I was glad she said it because I was certainly thinking it.

  Edwin frowned, unsure what to say. After a moment, he turned to me. “I’m sorry to hear you need to leave. I had hoped you would stay on for the ball. I suppose the whole affair is tarnished now.”

  “I can take the boy to Temple Square,” Harper offered. “Blackwood doesn’t seem to completely despise me or ignore me like Lionheart used to. We’ll go together and meet the elemental in the morning. I confess, I’m dying to see her, if you think she won’t mind. I’ll take the child, if they’ll permit it.”

  A sudden panic gripped me. I really, really wanted to leave. Part of me was praying Harper would stop talking. But the other part of me noticed how forlornly Edwin was staring at me. He really wanted me to stay. “Don’t you want to stay for the ball?” I asked Harper.

  “Um. No. I think it’s best if I bow out now,” she said, her eyes full of unspoken words. Had Lord Cabell said something? Was she trying to escape this place as desper
ately as I was?

  I raised an eyebrow at her.

  She gave me a telling look. “It’s better this way, as long as the elemental will agree.”

  I looked back at Edwin who was trying to remain calm but was looking very eagerly at me all the same.

  “I can’t say I’m much inclined to be friendly toward Lady Charlotte now,” I admitted, turning to Edwin.

  “Were you ever?” Harper asked.

  I winked at her over my shoulder.

  “I understand, but there are some people coming I’d like you to meet. My…godmother is planning to attend. I just thought… If you stayed, I would be grateful,” Edwin said nervously. “Edison is a good friend. Charlotte has always been problematic,” he said then shook his hand. “I believe she once had her cap set at me, but I think she liked me more out of an interest in my occupation than for myself, honestly. Regardless, will you stay, Clemeny?”

  Moved by his vulnerability, especially in front of Harper, I turned to my partner. I raised an eyebrow at her.

  “See us off in the morning,” Harper said. “Let’s make sure this elemental is okay with me taking over. If she is, then stay. Blackwood and I can handle this. The Templars need to get used to me.”

  I nodded. “All right.”

  “Well, with that settled, who wants another drink?” Edwin asked.

  Harper gently gripped her stomach. “Definitely, not me.”

  Chapter 22: Farewell

  That night, nothing prowled the fens beyond the gardens at Cabell Manor. It had been a long day. I was exhausted, emotional, and ready to be done with this case. But the look in Edwin’s eyes had made me say yes. That same look unnerved me. I cared for Edwin, I really did. But something about that look scared me.

  Leaving Edwin behind to catch up with Lord Edison, I headed to bed.

  Harper and I woke just after sunrise and started getting ready. We were halfway dressed when Emma, the maid, appeared.

  “Oh, Agents. I dare say, you keep such odd hours,” she said, finding us both nearly ready to head out.

  “I was just about to pop in and see if we could get a transport to the village,” I told her.