by S. S. Engle
While Blue was consumed with his newfound fame, Kassidy was hatching her plan and laying seeds to be sowed at a later time. She saw Asa drift through the crowd, largely being ignored by his new recruits. She met his angry glare with a sweet snicker of a smile. Natasha kept trying to hang herself off him, but she kept getting pushed away. The girl’s eyes passed each other more than once, and if anybody was going to catch on to Kassidy’s true intentions first, it was Natasha. Who better than someone who lived a lie every single day of her life. She played loyal to Asa, yet slept with every man in the city. Harlan was mixing into the dinner now as well. He did well to keep his distance form Kassidy, and they paid little outward attention to one another as the festivities got underway. Every time a tray of champagne went by Kassidy insisted Blue take another glass. She remembered how quickly he got drunk, and how easy it would be to manipulate him from that point. A bell rang and the men from the upper echelons of the gang had to remove themselves for the formalities of the recruitment ceremony. Being the two most important women in the room, Kassidy and Natasha had no choice but to sit next to each other, in full view of the room. They played doting wives to their godlike husbands yet neither of them were formally married. Speaking in smiles through clenched teeth they gripped each other hands in a sisterly like manner, but with a fatally tight grip.
“That dress looks beautiful Kassidy.”
“That’s so nice of you to say Natasha. I knew you wouldn’t mind me borrowing it for the night. I mean, I look so much better in it than you ever could.”
“I always liked giving my used things to the less fortunate. Like Blue for instance.”
“Or Asa?”
“What did you just say?!”
“You heard me. And Natasha, if you don’t have anything nice to say, at least give me the honor of saying something clever, will you?”
“I thought if you couldn’t say anything nice you weren’t supposed to say anything at all?”
“Oh Natasha, we both know you lack that kind of restraint.”
“You really think you’re going to get away with this, don’t you?”
“I already have.”
“You know, you could almost be mistaken for a lady.”
“Almost.”
“If you weren’t such a lying whore!”
“Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?”
“When I use men at least they know going into it that they’re being used. What you’re doing to Blue is just cruel.”
“Like he didn’t have it coming to him.”
RING RING
“Dare I ask, but what does that bell mean?”
“Dinner is served.”
“Do we have to eat next to each other too?”
“No.”
“There is a god.”
Kassidy stole herself away from Natasha as fast as humanly possible. As the crowd assembled themselves around a multitude of banquet tables Kassidy reunited with a very drunk Blue. He was far beyond tipsy, and had trouble keeping his balance as he leaned down to sit in his chair. Kassidy held on to him to keep him upright and heard a sneeze. She scanned the room quickly to see it was Harlan. He was sitting all by himself at an empty table in the back of the room. Asa was clinking his glass with a knife now to get everyone to settle down. Kassidy and Harlan nodded to each other from opposite ends of the room. Now all she had to do was wait and play along with whatever it was Harlan was about to do. All eyes were on Asa now. To his right was Natasha, beaming with silent and arrogant pride. To his right was Blue, wavering back and forth with a sideways smile plastered on his face for no apparent reason. Then there was Kassidy. An invited and exulted guest of the O’Briens. Asa was getting ready to give what would probably be an amazingly skewed speech about the state of the city, but he was interrupted. Like a protester at the beginning of a riot Harlan stood up in all his exiled glory in the back of the room. He stood up on the tables and began ranting about the Ringers. Asa quickly dispatched men to take his brother down and shut him up, but Kassidy had to play along with all eyes watching.
“This whole gang is croo-croo-crooked! And you’re the worst of them all Ka-Ka-Kassidy.”
“What the hell are you talking about Harlan?!”
“You think these pe-pe-people will actually acc-accept you as one of their ow-ow-own? They’ll just u-u-use you! They use every-ry-rybody!”
“You have no idea what you’re saying Harlan!”
“Y-y-you have no idea wh-wh-what you’re saying! Come on Kass! I kn-kn-know you! And this is-is-isn’t you! Y-y-you hate these people! You kn-kn-know I’m right!”
“I know you hate your brother, and all the progress he’s made in this city. Engia would be in ruins if it wasn’t for the Ringers patrolling the streets and keeping the good people of this city safe! If it was up to the Dreadcranks we’d all be living in poverty! You’ve lost your mind Harlan. I can’t…I can’t trust you anymore!”
“Trust? Trust! TRUST! Y-y-you talk to me about trust?! I’m the one wh-wh-who can’t trust y-y-you! You’ve changed Kass!”
“Maybe I have! But at least I changed for the better. I opened my eyes to the truth Harlan. It’s about time you did too!”
“Prove it! Prove me wr-wr-wrong! Prove y-y-you’ve changed! Prove y-y-you belong here with these people!”
“I don’t have to prove anything to you!”
“Prove it Kassidy. The Ringers are waiting.”
“This doesn’t concern you Natasha!”
“Prove it Kassidy. We’ve got a room full of people just dying in anticipation.”
Asa wanted proof as well. He was aware of the possibility of a reuse now. Kassidy looked over to Blue for help but he was intoxicated beyond belief now. Maybe, maybe just intoxicated enough. She leaned into Blue and pulled him towards her to kiss him. It was passionate, with Blue getting too carried away, running his hands up and down Kassidy’s dress as she climbed up on top of his lap in full view of the entire room and began removing his coat and unbuttoning his shirt. Blue was coming around now, aware enough still to know something was going on. He stood up, carrying Kassidy still, and without unlocking their lips he excused them to go upstairs for the night. Congratulatory cheers arose from the crowd and Kassidy sighed relief as she was whisked away out of view for more private quarters. That could have gone smoother, but at least she was out of there. Harlan was too, still hollering out obscenities about injustices done to not only him but the Dreadcranks and the people of the city. He was locked up in the basement holding cell now, Kassidy was sure of it. He played his part perfectly tonight. She really owed him one. But some things he said were bothering her. She wondered, maybe he hadn’t been acting throughout the entire argument.
Once in his room Blue got down to business. He threw Kassidy down on the bed in the heat of the moment and she backed up to the headboard. He was undressing as fast as he limited motor skills would allow. Toppling over himself and onto the ground when he struggled getting his pants off because he couldn’t balance on one foot for any length of time. But Kassidy had no intention of following through with any of this debauchery. From behind the pillow she secured her hand around the barrel of a gun, and as soon as Blue climbed up onto the bed and got close enough she clubbed him in the back of the head with the stock. He fell down cold right on top of her. She knew she had to act quickly now with a purpose. After shoving him off onto the ground she began to ransack the room. First she rifled through the pockets of his coat and his desk drawers. There were stacks of paper she could use for counterintelligence, but she had to be strategic in what she took. Then she stumbled across a familiar looking envelope. It was her letter that she had written in Luca’s office weeks ago. He must have taken it when she was attacked in the library and he picked up her other things she had stowed away in her corset. She remembered she needed to get changed now, back into her usual clothes. The candle burning nearby looked so tempting, but she couldn’t bring herself to destroy the letter. Not yet, not when so mu
ch of it was still true. Satisfied with her haul she stuffed the papers into the band of her thigh sheath and ran out into the hallway. She was bolting for the staircase to go and help Harlan downstairs when she was caught.
“You little vixen. Just where do you think you’re running off to?”
10
Instinctively Kassidy reached down to grip her dagger in her hand and poised herself to fling it. But it wasn’t her dagger in her sheath, it was Asa’s knife. And she’d also stuffed stolen papers in the belt from Blue’s office. In Natasha’s dress, she couldn’t get to the weapon as easily as she wanted to, and had to settle for being momentarily out of brilliant ideas. Silas was silent as the grave as he walked towards her down the hallway. She knew he had a talent of lurking in the shadows, but she’d never been so terrified before of him coming towards her. She was frozen where she stood at the top of the stairs because at least she had an escape route in mind that way. With the dinner still in full swing downstairs she could cause quite a ruckus with the performance she just gave. She was not completely out of options, just comfortably acceptable ones. Before this got out of hand she knew there had to be some way she could gain the upper hand again. Thinking on her feet had always been a strong suit. She couldn’t let herself down now. Taking in her surroundings she saw an open room with a lock on the door. It was another office. Takin careful time to read a nameplate on the empty desk she saw that it read Mr. Foley. That was perfect. She slapped a sly grin on her face and slowly backed into Silas’ own office, tempting him all the way inside. He was eager to follow, and keen to close the door and lock it behind him. Kassidy hoisted herself up on his desk and spread the skirt of her dress out wide. When Silas made the move to jump on her she held her boot out and kept him away at a leg’s distance.
“This isn’t how I do things Silas. Need I remind you I am not Natasha?”
“I knew you’d warm up to me eventually. Blue always has been a sloppy drunk.”
“One of his weaknesses to be sure. But I didn’t come in here to talk about Blue.”
“Well if you’d put your foot down we could get back to what you really came in here for.”
“That’s sweet, you think you know me so well?”
“I think you were happy to see me in the hallway. You were happy to see me come after you. I was happy to see you in the hallway at least. I think about you all the time Kassidy.”
“You do?”
“And I like what I’m thinking.”
“Why don’t you tell me what you’re thinking?”
“Why don’t I just show you instead?”
“Why don’t you just do what I asked you to do the first time?”
“I like you so much better when you smile. You get so serious all of the time. Has anyone ever told you you’re so much prettier when you smile?”
“You really shouldn’t have said that.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere!”
Kassidy pushed up the dress and reached for Asa’s knife now. With it firmly in hand she let Silas lunge towards her. Wrapping her legs around him she took the knife to his face and he slowed down. His fingers dropped from her cheek where he had been tracing the scar Blue had given her three years prior. When he tried to back up and get away from her he couldn’t. She put the tip of the knife into the light of the lamp and it gleamed bright silver in the shadows of the room. A reflection of fear staring back up at her. She pushed the thought of morality aside, as she had done so many times before. With a twist of her neck she closed her eyes and yanked swiftly. The tug of human skin is undeniable. If you didn’t hold the man’s face just right the knife wouldn’t do much of anything but jam itself up. But she’d had years of practice in this particular technique. She split Silas’ cheek wide open on one side. He couldn’t even scream, just clamored his hand sup around his face to try and suppress the blood loss. Then without hesitation Kassidy ripped the knife across his other cheek, right form the corner of his lips. Now he had a permanent smile more befitting of the fox he was. Kassidy uncoiled her legs and Silas fell with a heavy thud on the floor. He’d passed out before the fall from pain and the sight of his own blood pooling up in his hands. She wasn’t proud of herself, but she had gained herself invaluable amounts of time. After jumping off of the table she crouched down to clean the knife off on Silas’ own jacket. It was black so it wouldn’t leave a stain. Not like she was worried about that sort of thing in the grand scheme of the night.
After fixing herself back up and putting the knife away she decided to take advantage of the unique situation that was at hand. She began ransacking Silas’ office for anymore Ringer information she could possibly find. Knowing Silas wasn’t trusted with much she didn’t expect to find any bombshells. With the help of a pillowcase she was able to stack some files away though. Then she hit a safe stowed in the bottom drawer and tucked away extra special. Knowing from her pyrette days anything worth hiding is always in a safe she began the lock. It gave way with ease despite her less than steady hands. She couldn’t believe what she found inside. The Clockwork Codex of all things! The lock had been jammed open permanently ruined. She shook her head in disgust at the thought of the carelessness of the Ringers. Then she became furious at the thought of how Silas ever got his hand son this book in the first place. She flipped through the pages, to one she knew in particular because it was the one she had faked the code on. It was the same book, an ink splot on the top right-hand corner. But she couldn’t get hung up on that now. What was important was that it was again in her possession. Dreadcrank possession. Not wanting to waste any more time Kassidy left Silas’ office in a hurry and made her way back towards the staircase. But there was another obstacle in her way. Natasha had spotted her, and was haphazardly making her way up towards her most hated rival now. Kassidy saw that Natasha’s makeup had been smeared after she had been crying. A swipe across her face in a fashion that was undoubtedly not done by her own hand. Knowing Natasha’s evening had already hit rock bottom Kassidy was hoping she could just sidestep the train wreck, but she just couldn’t get away.
“What’s in the sack Kassidy?”
“Valuables of uncertain nature.”
“You didn’t even try to lie to me?”
“What’s the point?”
“Where are you going? I guess you’re leaving now aren’t you? Got what you came for? Hope you at least had some fun while you were here tearing my life apart!”
“Oh I think we’ve stretched the truth a little bit on the one don’t you think? Your life was a mess long before I got here.”
“You think you’re so clever. My names is Kassidy von Detten, and I’m just the cleverest, prettiest girl in the whole of Engia. I’m the Pyrette Queen. My daddy died, feel sorry for me or I’ll kick your ass! I can have any guy I want but I won’t be with any of them! You’re a better harlot than I am and you’re not even trying! What’s with you?!”
“I think somebody’s had her fill of champagne for the night.”
“Why don’t you just go already?!”
“I’m trying! I’ve got to get back to my own kind anyway.”
“At least wipe the blood off your face before you leave. Heathen.”
Kassidy took the sleeve to her face and realized she’d missed a spot, a lot of spots actually. Looking down at the dress she’d never been so happy to be wearing black before. The skirt was a little wet looking, but nothing that would draw serious attention. Lugging the sack up on her shoulder she flew down the stairs now and snuck into the basement. It was unguarded because of the dinner upstairs. Harlan was sitting defeated and hurt in the middle of the stone floor. He hadn’t even turned around to see who had come down there with him. Kassidy raided the drawers of the desk for the keys before finally turning up what she needed. She went to the cell and unlocked the door quickly to join her friend on the floor. He was unhappy to see her. A fat lip was already forming, and he was going to have two black eyes. His nose was swollen and blood had yet to dry on his face. She
took her sleeve up to wipe it off but he dodged her.
“Harlan, what’s wrong? You were brilliant out there! You did everything I needed you to do.”
“Glad I cou-cou-could be of ser-ser-service. Let me kn-kn-know the next ti-ti-time you need me to hel-hel-help.”
“I sense sarcasm, and I’m not really sure why. You knew what you were risking when you volunteered to help me out at dinner tonight. I didn’t tell you to stand up on the tables and yell like that.”
“No y-y-you didn’t! But I did, for y-y-you! Now loo-loo-look at me!”
“It’s going to be alright. I have the keys. As soon as you pick yourself up we can be on our way.”
“And where wi-wi-will we even go?”