“What’s this?” I asked, raising my voice over the roar of the engines.
“Water,” Chesh responded. “In case the bikes run out of steam. I’ve got some too.”
I tucked the canister into the bag on the back of the bike. “Ready?”
“When you are.” Chesh pulled his goggles over his eyes and revved his engine loudly.
I kicked off, and the wheels screeched as I sped out of the workshop and onto the street.
“Woo-hoo!” The wind tore at my hair as I motored down a backstreet. Several people jumped out of the way, shaking heads and fists as I rode past, but they were little more than a blur. I fixed my eyes on the street, as I felt the thrum of the engine beneath me, and the wind pulled at my clothes like I was flying.
At the end of the street, I slowed to a stop and looked back at Chesh. “Shall we take them around the city? Test them properly?”
Chesh grinned and revved his engine. “Ladies first,” he replied.
I needed no more encouragement. Taking a right turn, we tore down the backstreets where there would be fewer people milling about. I swerved sideways to avoid a downpour of wastewater as someone pitched it out of a second-floor window, then skidded to avoid several children playing hopscotch.
Winding our way through the backstreets, we traveled through the Diamonds Quarter, toward the docks.
When the water stretched out in front of me, I stopped again, letting the motor hum as I looked out over the water. The docks were one of my favorite places in Melfall. Ships came in and out from all over the Twelve Kingdoms, bringing spices from Badalah, dried fish from Atlantice, fresh flowers from Floris, potions from Arcadia, and countless other goods. I could see the marks on the different crates, denoting where they came from, but I’d seen no more of the Twelve Kingdoms than the marks on those crates. I watched as another sailor loaded boxes of machinery made in Melfall—I’d heard Alice mentioning a self-playing piano, a recent Guild-developed invention, which had quickly become highly sought after in the clubs of Renais, the capital of Arcadia.
Out of the persistent shadows of the buildings that towered over the backstreets, the overhead sun beat down on us. My leather cap and goggles now felt restrictive, and a trickle of perspiration ran down the back of my neck. I wished I’d brought my fan.
“Where to next?” Chesh asked as he came to a stop next to me.
“Let’s make a circuit around the inside of the wall?” I said, as my eyes trailed around to the large fortifications where the city wall joined the edge of the docks.
Chesh shrugged and revved the engine. “What are we waiting for?”
I kicked my bike forward again, and Chesh and I raced along the docks, skidding and swerving to miss the carts loading and unloading goods from the ships berthed in the harbor. Several people jumped out of our way, yelling, but I lost their voices in the din of the engines.
As I approached the end of the docks, I took the wide road that ran alongside the first fortification that began the wall that encircled Melfall. The paved cobblestones made for a rougher ride than the timber docks, but I picked up speed and heard Chesh give an excited yell as he followed me. I looked over my shoulder to smile at him when something caught my attention in the edge of my vision.
A flash of red and white. I slowed, staring into the side lane.
A Heart.
The Heart was marching in the other direction, but it was unmistakable.
My breath caught in my throat, and, without hesitation, I swung the bike around, my tires skidded as I sped up onto the side road to follow it.
“What—?” Chesh yelled. I heard the squeal of the brakes behind me, but I didn’t look around. I couldn’t take my eyes off the Heart, in case it disappeared.
The Heart kept a good pace, but I was on a mechanical bike—it couldn’t outrun me. It didn’t look around, only trudged onward, oblivious to the noise the bike made as I followed. Perhaps it was oblivious to its surroundings—it was a machine, not a person, although its mechanical body resembled one.
As I got closer, I saw the arms and legs sticking out of its square body. Like a playing card, it had the heart motif and a number on its front, but on the back, there was a regular, gray geometric design like pressed metal.
If I could get close enough—or, better still, if I could lay my hands on the Heart—I could find out how it worked. If I understood its programming, I might discover why they’d suddenly appeared again. I might even find out who was controlling them. The elusive Raven flitted through my thoughts, though it was as much coincidence as anything else that the Hearts and the vampire were both puzzles that had appeared in my life at the same time. Then again, after my visit with the Tweedles, I wouldn’t put it past them to have set the Hearts loose as a prank.
I pushed the bike faster so that the buildings on either side of the narrow streets became a blur. I was gaining on the Heart when a yell surprised me from above, then a chamber pot of wastewater splashed on the street in front of me. I gasped, pulling on the brakes, then swerved to avoid the mess.
In front of my adjusted course, a door opened, and a woman with a baby on her hip stepped out of it.
My instincts kicked in, and I screamed at her, braking hard. My wheels squealed as the bike skidded. The woman stared at me, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, frozen in place. I was still moving too fast, heading directly for her. I pulled back on the brakes, as hard as I could, my eyes locked on the woman and her child.
Everything moved slowly.
The woman pulled the baby to her chest, opening her mouth to let out an ear-piercing shriek. The child screwed up its face and howled.
Directly overhead now, the midday sun cast a stripe down the middle of the street. The sunlight flashed off metal, blinding me for a moment. I held my breath, squeezing my eyes shut, then threw myself sideways to avoid the collision.
I hit the ground hard, groaning as the bike slipped out from underneath me.
“Ivy!” A voice echoed through the narrow street.
A moment later, there was a hand on my shoulder, and I was being turned onto my back. The bright sunlight shone straight into my eyes, making me blink, and obscuring the face staring down at me. Then the head moved, blocking the light. Chesh gaped down at me, the sun behind him shining a golden halo around his face.
“Are you all right? Answer me!” Chesh gripped my shoulders, his fingers digging into my flesh as he shook me. His eyes were wide, panicked.
“I’m all right,” I struggled to sit, sore down the side of my arm where I’d hit the ground. I looked at my arm—I’d grazed it, but the material of my coat, now torn at the elbow, had taken most of the blow. My eyes opened wide as I remembered the woman and child. “The woman. The baby? Did I…?”
Chesh shook his head, looking over at the doorway where the woman was clutching the baby to her breast. Even from where I lay, I could see she was trembling.
“Can you stand?” Chesh asked.
I nodded, and he helped me to my feet. I moved my fingers, arms, and legs, testing myself for injury. There was a scratch on my goggles, but other than the graze on my arm, I’d emerged unscathed. “Really, I’m fine. Just a little shaken.”
“What were you doing? I thought we were doing a circuit of the walls?”
I rubbed my throbbing arm. “I saw a Heart and tried to catch it.” I looked around for the place I’d last seen the Heart, but it was gone.
Chesh frowned. “What for?”
I shook my head, disappointment blooming in my chest. “To find out how it works.”
Chesh gaped at me, then pulled his cap off and ran a hand through his hair. The gesture made it stick up at an unfashionable angle. He shook his head, then pointed a finger at me. “Didn’t your mother tell you curiosity killed the cat? It almost killed you today.”
“It didn’t. I’m fine,” I replied. “Really.”
“I’m not,” Chesh said, but the edges of his mouth were already turning up into his trademark grin. He put a ha
nd over his heart. “My heart might never be the same. I’m sure it stopped back there.”
I snorted, then stepped around Chesh and walked up to the woman, apologizing profusely as I approached her. She shrunk away from me, backing further into the open doorway.
I stopped, raising my voice to call to her instead. “Did you see the Heart?”
The baby started wailing again as it set eyes on me, and the woman shook her head, bouncing the baby on her hip.
“Where did it go?” I asked, but the woman had already shut the door firmly behind her.
I walked back to Chesh, who had stood up my bike and was checking it over.
“No permanent damage,” he said, rubbing at several scratches on the metal.
“Sorry,” I replied.
Chesh shrugged. “Perhaps we walk the bikes back?”
I hesitated. “Just give me a minute, would you?”
I walked up to a group of people who had appeared in the narrow street, likely drawn by the unusual noise. They watched us, openly curious.
“Excuse me, have any of you seen a Heart passing this way?” I pointed in the direction it had taken. “Did you see where it went?”
People frowned, suddenly wary at the mention of the Heart, and moved away. I sighed, returning to where Chesh crouched next to the bikes.
“We should go back,” he said.
I looked down the street one more time, hoping for another glimpse of the Heart, but it was empty. I looked back at Chesh and shook my head.
“Let’s keep going—but slower this time, I promise,” I replied, swinging my leg over the bike before Chesh could object.
I kicked the bike into action and took us back towards the wide road that ran along the inside of the city walls. We rode at a more sedate pace, and though I searched the streets for any sign of the Heart, I didn’t see it again.
However, as I rounded the corner, moving into the Spades Quarter, I saw something else that made me stop.
Across the road, on the wall of a shop, the white rabbit motif was painted. This time, the rabbit seemed to be looking around a street corner. When Chesh came to a stop next to me, I pointed to the street where the shop with the white rabbit on it was.
“Let’s take a trip down there,” I said. “I’ve never been there before.”
“I would hope not—that’s the beginning of the vampire quarter.” Chesh gave me a strange look. “What’s down there?”
I shrugged but didn’t take my eyes off the white rabbit. “We won’t know until we find out.”
“You almost killed yourself back there. Now you want to tempt the vampires?”
“It’s the middle of the day. There won’t be vampires around. You’re not afraid, are you?” I wiggled my eyebrows at him.
Chesh opened his mouth to protest again, but I kicked my bike into action and turned into the vampire quarter.
As promised, the streets were empty. I was being more careful , since throwing myself off the bike earlier, but I could have used as much speed as I wanted here. There was no-one around to run into.
The Spades Quarter, or vampire quarter as it was unofficially known, was a very old part of town. Narrow, three-story townhouses stood right next to each other, as though the houses leaned on each other for support. The shutters on the windows were closed, keeping the light from entering the rooms inside. Still, despite the closed windows and absence of people on the streets, I had the eerie feeling of being watched.
At street level, shop windows displayed their goods, though none were open. There were shops selling clothes, shoes, and hats, shops selling furniture, both new and antique, and shops selling watches, machines, inventions, and many other curiosities. There were no food shops, no bars, and no blood banks. I noticed all the shops were on the pricier end of the scale, catering to the renowned wealth of the vampires who gathered to live in this quarter of the city who had owned their property for generations, and who had had centuries to amass their fortunes.
I slowed, getting off my bike to admire a range of hats in a shop window, Cappello’s Finest Hats.
I thought of Pearl as I saw one particular item in the window. A fascinator decorated with flamingo feathers in different shades of pink so that the feathers spread out like the brim of a hat over her face. I reached out to touch it, but my fingers came up against the cold glass.
The shop wouldn’t open until nightfall, according to the sign on the door. I stepped back, knowing the fascinator would look magnificent on my twin and wishing Pearl was with me to see it. I knew she’d never come into the Spades Quarter.
Perhaps I can bring one to her, I thought.
I looked around, trying to spot a street sign so I might make my way back here when the shop was open when I spotted a small, white rabbit painted on the bottom corner of the shop. It was sitting, staring straight out like it was looking at the passers-by walking down the street. As though it was watching me.
I stepped toward it, reaching out to touch it when Chesh’s voice made me jump.
“Are we going to get going?” Chesh said. “This place gives me the creeps.”
I had a prickly sensation on the back of my neck, though I didn’t want to admit it. Though eerie, this part of the city was fascinating. Not only was the architecture older than what I had seen before, but this white rabbit was teasing me. Twice now, I’d seen it painted on the walls.
The petitioner had said the white rabbit was gathering the Queen’s supporters. The vampires had been supporters of the Queen during her reign. Was it a coincidence that I saw the painting of the white rabbit in a place where most of the city’s vampires lived?
I pressed my lips together, frowning as my mind worked over the puzzle while I got back on my bike. I rode slowly for another few blocks, my eyes roving at street level for any more signs of the white rabbit. Twice more, I spotted more paintings—each white rabbit in a different pose. Sometimes painted as though it was running down the street, or peeking around a corner, or entering a rabbit hole, with only its fluffy tail on view.
I thought again of Raven’s card, with its white rabbit motif on the back: We choose our future.
I remembered the vial of black market blood. There was some connection between the blood, the white rabbit, and the mysterious vampire. The puzzle, it seemed, wouldn’t leave me alone until I solved it.
The sun was dipping lower in the sky when we finally drove out of the vampire quarter and into the more familiar parts of the city. Chesh seemed happier the further away we rode from the Spades Quarter, but I felt my mind returning there—to the white rabbit, and to the mysterious vampire that haunted my dreams.
As we headed for home, we rode through the marketplace where the Pinnacle clock ticked ominously.
Tick, tick, tick.
“I want to get a present,” I said to Chesh as we walked the darkened streets.
“For whom?”
“Pearl. I saw a fascinator earlier that she will absolutely love.” I didn’t tell him where I’d seen the hat or the other reasons I wanted to return there. I knew Chesh wouldn’t agree to a journey into the vampire quarter to look for more paintings of the white rabbit. Or to find a particular vampire.
Chesh slowed his pace, putting a hand on my arm to make me turn around. “It’s too late. The shops are closed.”
I held my breath and looked him in the eye. “Not where we’re going.”
Chesh blinked at me as comprehension dawned on his face. “No,” Chesh shook his head. “No, no—it was bad enough during the day. I’m not going back. Let’s go to a bar and get a drink instead.”
“Sure. Let’s do that,” I smiled, looping my hand around his elbow. “After we get Pearl’s hat.”
Chesh opened his mouth to object, but I cut him off.
“Come on—you won’t make me go on my own, will you? Please?” I squeezed Chesh’s arm, but he wouldn’t move. I hesitated a moment, then used a phrase that Chesh had said to me many times: “You’re my lucky charm.”
Chesh glanced at me, his eyes going wide with surprise. Conflicting emotions played over his face. Finally, Chesh pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed in resignation. “The things I do for you,” he said. “Let’s get this over with.”
We walked into the Spades Quarter, and a smile spread over my face as I took in the almost unrecognizable streets. The quarter was very different from when we’d been there during the day.
Above us, street lamps shaped into bats in flight were casting their lamplight over streets full of people. It was almost as though it was the middle of the day. Shops were open, tearooms, restaurants, and bars were full, and people—vampires, mostly—strolled the streets. Everyone was well-dressed. Everyone glowed with an ethereal beauty.
I tried to look everywhere at once, entranced by the sights of the evening, but also checking every shop wall and street corner for signs of the white rabbit.
Chesh fidgeted beside me, constantly looking over his shoulder. I squeezed his arm. “This way,” I said, pointing towards a side street. “Another block over.”
I stepped into the side street, while Chesh hung back a moment. Behind me, he sighed, and his footsteps rang out on the cobblestones as he followed.
The side street was almost empty, except for a figure in the shadows who leaned against a wall, smoking a pipe. I didn’t pay much attention to him as my eyes fixed on the snippet of a busier street at the end of the lane, which was—I was sure—where I’d seen Cappello’s Finest Hats.
I didn’t look at the figure until I was almost past him. As I walked past, I glanced at him, and my heart raced. Outwardly, I froze.
His eyes were bloodshot and sunk deep into their sockets, with heavy purple smudges beneath them. His pale, almost-translucent skin stretched tight over his bones like a walking skeleton, and he hunched over, as though it took too much effort to stand up straight.
My throat swelled so I could barely breathe. Blood rushed in my ears. A prickling sensation raised along the back of my neck, then spread until the skin all over my body was tingling.
Ivy: Daughter of Alice Page 7