These Ruthless Deeds

by Tarun Shanker

  After four nods, he waved his hand and the game started quickly as the players enacted their plans and anticipated their opponents. Vines burst out of the ground and flailed unpredictably in all directions, while small shields of earth popped out in defense. The flying girl wove and attacked through the chaos, but Oliver kept his teammate protected by grabbing her and rendering the both of them intangible.

  I gasped. He had never been able to make another person intangible! “You taught him to do that?” I asked Captain Goode.

  “Mr. Myles? Why, he discovered it himself,” he replied proudly. “I simply raise their powers. By practicing with these heightened abilities, they teach themselves how to control it best.”

  “But in one day…,” I said. “And how does your influence help control it?”

  “They get used to the higher level and learn how to access it by habit. It gets into their bones; lets them see how it feels to use their powers to their fullest extent. It’s the same for an archery or fencing expert—they don’t even have to think about it, their bodies just understand what to do. They do it by instinct. After a while, Mr. Myles may not even need me. Same for you as well.” Was that why Miss Inoue’s healing was stronger than mine?

  I watched in awe as the game continued at a chaotic pace. Both teams were evenly matched, attacking and counterattacking, doing everything they could to stay on their feet. At some point I lost track of Oliver as he got buried in a mess of bushes, leaving his teammate to deflect attacks from both opponents. The girl who controlled the rocks seemed to be managing it, until they slowly moved to striking from both sides.

  She turned and shouted desperately, “Oliver!” The flying girl seized the opportunity and swooped in like a hawk at full speed.

  A moment of confusion followed, as she passed right through the earth-moving girl and flew into her plant-covered teammate. They both fell to the ground, eliminated, as Oliver emerged from the ground underneath his teammate, grinning.

  “He’s a fast learner,” Captain Goode said with a nod of approval.

  Oliver said something that made the other three laugh and I saw his smile grow. He was happy. In fact, all four of them looked perfectly content, even the two who had lost. It was hard to deny that they were adept with their powers.

  “I shall decrease their powers momentarily. The boy with the vines has some trouble controlling his, and we don’t want to have him wake up in a tree again,” Captain Goode said, chuckling with Miss Grey.

  “Can you remove someone’s power entirely?” she asked innocently.

  “Only when necessary,” he said, looking at me to see if I would take issue with yet another revelation.

  But with that simple exchange, my world shifted entirely.

  “You can take away our powers,” I said, the words echoing in my ears, hard to hear over the roaring of my thoughts.

  “Yes—but of course I wouldn’t do that to you, Miss Wyndham,” he said, looking a little alarmed at my reaction.

  My thoughts were swirling so fast I could barely keep up with them.

  Miss Grey could find people with a new accuracy.

  Captain Goode could take away our powers if so desired.

  Sebastian Braddock was missing, hating himself for what his power had wrought.

  And Rose. She would want me to use my gift.

  As each thought landed, a gear whirred into place, locking me into my destiny.

  “I’ll do it. I will join you.”

  Captain Goode and Miss Grey looked up at me in surprise and hope.

  “Under one condition. You will find Sebastian Braddock and take away his power.”

  Chapter 6

  IT TOOK A week for Miss Grey to find him.

  A week spent making calls with Lady Atherton at the most exclusive houses. A week spent secretly healing everything from their mild aches to their deadly illnesses. A week spent listening to Lady Atherton sing the praises of the charm I carried. A week watching her win more friends for the Society.

  A week spent trying to find the right words to say to Sebastian.

  I still didn’t have them when a note slipped through a crack in the air, asking me to be in my garden at four in the morning. Anger, anxiety, excitement, and gloom swirled in my stomach for hours, forming too many concoctions. I couldn’t simply settle on one feeling because it changed constantly, overwhelming me.

  I didn’t sleep. What would he say?

  When the appointed time came, I bunched my bedcovers together and shoved some extra clothing under them, hoping it would be enough to fool the maid who would light the fire shortly.

  Satisfied it would do, I awkwardly looped the long plait my maid had braided the evening before around my head, pinning it as much as possible. The question of my dress was another thing. Since I certainly couldn’t manage a corset by myself, the only choice I had was to wear my long night rail under my old traveling coat. Hopefully, it would disguise my shape and therefore the fact that I was in my nightgown if anyone were too curious. That, along with my heaviest, thick-soled boots, and I was ready for Mr. Redburn in my back garden, shivering against the February chill. A cold drizzle was dripping down my neck.

  “Where are you, you rude little man,” I muttered, hoping to make the devil appear as I called him.

  “What a lovely morning it is, wouldn’t you agree, Miss Whine-hard?”

  I whirled around to see a portal in the middle of a thick hedge. Mr. Redburn’s arm was held through to me, the rest of him in a room beyond. I frowned, but stepped forward and took a breath as I was yanked into a study at the Society of Aberrations. Warmth immediately hit my cheeks as I took in the room and its early-morning occupants.

  Mr. Kent was slumped against the fireplace mantel, looking as if he hadn’t had the best sleep. Or, judging by his stained shirt and sloppy necktie, it was likely he had not been to bed at all. “Miss Wyndham, good morning, if we can really call it that.” He looked rather seedy, actually.

  I gave him a rueful smile as Captain Goode appeared in the doorway holding an oversized book.

  “Ah, good, the team is all here,” he said. “Miss Wyndham, have you met Miss Chen?”

  He gestured to one of several great wingback chairs, the buttery, green leather back hiding the chair’s occupant. I moved slightly to see a young woman about my age, legs slung over the chair’s arm. Shorter strands of dark hair were slipping from her low chignon. She raised an eyebrow, gave me a sardonic salute, crossed her arms over her chest, and closed her eyes again. Even with her eyes closed, there was something about the set of her mouth that suggested she knew some joke you were not quite in on.

  “Miss Chen, Miss Evelyn Wyndham is our new healer. Miss Wyndham, Miss Fei Chen has the ability to break down objects, crumbling or exploding them if she stares at them too long.”

  “If I close my eyes, it’s not because I’m sick of you. Usually,” Miss Chen drawled, and I started as I recognized an American accent.

  From the corner of my eye, I could see Mr. Kent peering closely at my costume and I pulled my coat up to the neck. “Where did Miss Grey find Mr. Braddock?” I asked Captain Goode.

  He motioned us over to a desk, where he set the book down, opened it up to a map of a particular region, and pointed to a small, penciled marking. “Southern Italy. Right here to be exact.”

  I noticed the map was dotted with a few red markings and a couple of green ones. “What are these?” I asked.

  “Travelers like my brother and Mr. Hale can only create portals to places they’ve seen, so we keep a record of their accessible points. The red marks are Mr. Hale’s, the green ones Mr. Redburn’s.”

  Mr. Redburn poked his head in for a glance at the atlas. “Not bad—my closest is about a hundred miles away.”

  “How … long will we be traveling for?” I asked, heart sinking. I hadn’t even had tea, let alone packed a nice crumbly cake.

  “We’re up in the middle of the night to help this princess, and then she complains about it,”
Mr. Redburn said to his brother before turning to me mockingly. “Don’t worry, you’ll be back before London’s awake.”

  “Don’t mind him,” Captain Goode said as his hands fell on my shoulder.

  The warmth of the power filled me and I tried to commit the feeling to memory, so I might be able to do it on my own. So I might help Sebastian learn to control his.

  Mr. Redburn opened a portal on the wall next to us. Mr. Kent gestured me forward. On the other side, the Italian sky had achieved that slight glow and warmth of predawn. A breeze whipped strands of hair from their pins and I took in a deep breath of thick, almost-warm air that coated my throat. My coat was welcome, but now it was the only layer I needed, instead of being insufficient against London weather.

  An “oomph” announced the arrival of Mr. Kent behind me. He shot Mr. Redburn a dirty look while Miss Chen strolled ahead of me, looking as though she had simply stepped through the door between a bedroom and antechamber.

  An endless black field sprawled in front of us. As my eyes began to adjust, picking out the stars above, I slowly discerned Mr. Redburn and his method for traversing the hundred miles. Crackles sounded rhythmically every few seconds as portal after portal opened in front of him, revealing breathtaking views of the horizon from treetops. It made sense to me now. Since he could only open portals in places that he’d seen, he was using each portal to give him a view of the next point, effectively doing the traveling for him.

  Mr. Kent’s low murmur filled my ear. “So. Very exciting, finding Mr. Braddock finally.”

  “It is,” I said, not meeting his gaze. I wasn’t very much in the mood to see their small rivalry resumed.

  “I’ve missed him,” he said. “Some things you just can’t find elsewhere in London society.”

  I rolled my eyes, expecting the obvious joke. “What did you miss? His moping? His cowardice? His dangerous presence?”

  “I was just going to say his noble nature,” Mr. Kent said, pretending to look shocked. “I didn’t know that was how you really felt about him.”

  As I sighed, a portal crackled open for a final time and Mr. Redburn stepped into it. Miss Chen followed and Mr. Kent and I trailed behind her, trying not to stumble in the thick grass.

  Done mocking Mr. Braddock for the moment, Mr. Kent turned to badger Mr. Redburn. “If you can open a portal wherever you can see, have you ever tried sending someone to the moon?”

  “Yes,” Mr. Redburn answered, and then frowned. “It didn’t work, but if you keep asking me questions—”

  “Yes, yes, then you’ll make sure it works on me. I know, clever retort.”

  An orderly copse of trees was laid out at the far end of this field. At one corner, there was a small run-down barn, which seemed to be our destination.

  “You sure this bloke isn’t going to give us trouble?” Mr. Redburn asked me.

  “No, if you simply let me talk to him,” I replied.

  “That’s too bad,” Mr. Redburn said as we stopped in front of the barn. “I was hoping for something a bit more fun.”

  One side was made up of a large door, one that would swing forward to let livestock and machinery enter. Mr. Redburn reached out, tested it, and found it locked. He gave it a loud, pounding knock. “Mr. Braddock!”

  No response.

  He repeated the process and I added my voice. Still nothing.

  Mr. Redburn stepped aside and gestured Miss Chen forward. “Try not to bring the whole barn down.”

  With those promising words, Miss Chen began to stare hard at the target. Suddenly I heard the metal hinges protesting as the door shook itself apart, falling in great wooden chunks as we all stepped back to avoid the flying splinters. I pulled my coat up over my mouth, bits of wood scratching at my eyes.

  “Such a lovely power,” Mr. Redburn said wistfully, staring greedily at Miss Chen. “I can’t wait to have it again.”

  She gave him a dark glare as the door fell open. The sky was rapidly turning to day now, bright rays just beginning to rise over the trees.

  I stepped through, onto the rough wooden floor of the barn. The sun was slanting through the cracks in the wall, making the dust spin in a tentative, almost dreamy light.

  My feet found a creaking floorboard but I still turned at a rustling sound.

  Sebastian Braddock was staring at me, his body halfway out a window, his features outlined in the morning dawn.

  His hair is longer, was my very silly thought. Of course it was longer. Who would have cut it for him while he had been … doing whatever it was that he was doing. His eyes, too, looked different. Darker, so the green was harder to discern. Impossible, but the man seemed to have grown at least another inch or two, broad shoulders even broader under his vest and linen shirt. There was also something slightly feral about his expression—though that could arguably be because we’d just broken down his barn door.

  “Sebastian … It’s Evelyn. Don’t worry,” I said cautiously. A chill went up my spine as I crossed the floor slowly.

  “Evelyn,” he breathed, his voice hoarse. He quickly looked out the entrance at the others, anger beginning to etch over the lines of surprise on his face. “You shouldn’t be here. I…” His voice drifted off as he finished his leap out the window.

  “Wait!” I shouted.

  I was still too stunned to understand what exactly was going on, but my legs seemed to independently make the decision to go after him. I ran out of the barn and saw him making his way across the field, away from the brilliant dawn, as though he were some kind of demon. I rushed after him, hoping to magically make up for his head start, but Sebastian was too fast and unhampered by skirts, broadening the distance with every step.

  He was going to disappear again.

  “Sebastian, stop running!” I yelled, out of breath.

  “Then stop chasing me!”

  “No, you started it!”

  “Well, you shouldn’t have come!” He continued at that breakneck pace, not even turning as he shouted back to me. Really, I was unequal to the chase.

  Until strange things started happening in front of him. Miss Chen’s power cracked and exploded the ground into great hunks of grass and dirt, as though something was tunneling up from under the earth. His path blocked, Sebastian veered to the left and I kept pushing, following, beginning to catch up. I would make him explain himself. Explain where he had been and why. Explain why he took off again now.

  The earth continued to erupt around us on this path, too, dirt flying through the air and the ground emptying out into small holes by Sebastian’s feet. He did his best to dodge them, leaping around them to stable ground, but his foot caught, he stumbled, and that was all I needed to seize him from behind.

  Tripping over a hole, I brought both of us to the ground with a clumsy tackle. “No!” Sebastian shouted as that familiar and wild sensation from his touch flew through my veins, taking my breath away as if I’d just leaped off a cliff. He struggled against my hold, caught between trying to rise to his feet and trying not to hurt me.

  “Just—stop—running—!” He pulled out of my grasp and I began to slap at his legs.

  “Let me go,” he growled.

  “You are so bloody ridiculous,” I responded, lunging for his foot. But he yanked himself loose and was running off again.

  I should let him go. I should let him run forever, if he wanted to.

  “We have a cure!” I bellowed.

  He stopped.

  “What?” I could barely hear him, but I felt the weight of the one word, what it meant to him. All the hope that was in it.

  “We have a cure … for your power,” I said, trying to catch my breath.

  He took a few slow, heavy breaths, turning to see if he’d imagined the words. The wind blew across the fields, his hair flying wildly, his long coat billowing behind him. He stared at me.

  “We have a cure,” I repeated, not knowing how else to say it.

  Somehow, the third time worked. I could see the notion slowly c
ome over his face, deathly white in the pale light. He clenched his fists, his body stiffened, he took a step forward—

  And he fell into a hole.

  Chapter 7

  THE NEXT THING I knew, the ground opened up below me and I was dropped on the rug in the Society of Aberrations foyer, a foot away from a very confounded Sebastian. Mr. Redburn, Mr. Kent, and Miss Chen followed a moment later, taking a portal straight from the barn.

  “It’s nice to see you can accomplish something other than complaining about us,” Mr. Redburn said, looking down at me dispassionately.

  “Hello…” Captain Goode was poking his head into the hall.

  Mr. Kent lifted me to my feet and away from Sebastian, toward a chair in the corner. “Did he hurt you? Is this far enough to heal?”

  “No, yes, I’m fine,” I said, trying to turn back.

  His hand gripped my arm and his eyes were pointedly on the ceiling. “There—there’s also the matter of your coat.…”

  My cheeks warmed as I realized why my body felt cooler. For heaven’s sake, why did this keep happening to me? I spun around and closed my coat tightly around my nightgown. “Thank you, Mr. Kent.”

  “Oh, I was actually offering to take it for you, but yes, fine, you’re welcome.”

  Sebastian’s panicked voice echoed from across the room. “Please don’t, I’ll hurt you,” he said, recoiling from Captain Goode as he tried to help him to his feet.

  “Oh Lord, is he always like this?” Mr. Redburn asked.

  “Sometimes he’s worse,” Mr. Kent put in, escorting me back.

  Sebastian stood tense, looking ready to run again. “Where are we?”

  “Welcome to the Society of Aberrations, Mr. Braddock,” Captain Goode said with a smile. “My name is Captain Simon Goode, over there is my brother, Mr. Felix Redburn, and this is Miss Fei Chen. I believe you’re already acquainted with Miss Wyndham and Mr. Kent.”

  Sebastian met my eyes with a sharp look. I knew he would not have forgotten the Society of Aberrations either. “Dr. Beck’s society.”