Ephraim smirked. “Well then let’s go.” He stood, then moved to unlock Arhyen’s cuffs.
His hands freed, Arhyen rose from his chair. “Aren’t you needed to investigate a mass murder right about now?”
Ephraim chuckled. “No, I’m beginning to find this case much more interesting.” He retrieved Arhyen’s daggers from the large pocket of his tan overcoat and placed them on the table.
Arhyen shook his head as he retrieved his weapons, wondering if Ephraim was entirely sane. Still, he wasn’t about to argue. Officially recruiting a detective of the Watch might well be the biggest break he’d had yet.
Liliana fiddled with her fingers nervously, leaning her back against the hard chair. Arhyen had been gone for several hours, leaving her with his satchel and no information on what might happen. The satchel rested heavily in her lap.
The officers milling about the small room had mostly ignored her while she sat there quietly, then a few minutes ago, all but one had rushed out of the room. No one had bothered to tell her what was going on, and now she sat in the empty room with the one remaining officer, who never looked up at her as he furiously scribbled something on a piece of paper.
She had almost convinced herself to get up and search for Arhyen, when a nearby door swung open, admitting both he and Ephraim. Arhyen rushed toward her and took her hand, helping her to stand.
“Let's get out of here,” he whispered.
He led her toward the entrance of the building while Ephraim chatted with the last remaining officer. She willingly went with him, her legs feeling stiff from so much time spent in the hard chair. As soon as they reached the busy street, Ephraim caught up to their sides. The clouds had continued to accumulate, and now the air was rich with the scent of ozone. Liliana almost hoped it would rain so they could take a break in a nice cafe somewhere, but it was apparently not to be.
Ignoring Ephraim’s appearance, Arhyen looked down at her, practically bouncing with excitement. “We may have a lead on Victor Ashdown. Or at the very least, we now have a way to look inside his home,” he whispered, leaning close to her shoulder.
She didn’t have time to reply as he placed a hand at the small of her back and hurried her away from the police station. They’d lost the entire afternoon, and now the sun was beginning to sink, not to mention the clouds. People milled about the street, many with shopping sacks in their hands. They entered cafes, laughing and chatting, completely oblivious to the sense of foreboding now plaguing Liliana.
Arhyen placed a hand gently on her arm. She gazed up at him, realizing she had stopped walking. She’d been sitting alone for so many hours, and now things were happening so quickly. She started walking again, forcing herself to focus on the task at hand. It was all she could do to trot alongside her companions, trusting that they at least knew what they were doing.
They hurried away from the chaos of the main street toward what appeared to be a residential district. Most of the homes bordering the street were apartments all stacked on top of each other, though some of the tall buildings seemed to be single homes. They paused in front of one such home, and Ephraim produced a key from his coat pocket.
Liliana glanced at the key, then stared up at gray brick building, wondering if anyone would be inside.
Seeming to have a similar thought, Arhyen asked, “Should we knock?”
Liliana fidgeted on the stoop behind the two men. Was this truly Victor Ashdown’s home? If so, why did Ephraim have a key?
“His daughter won’t be here,” Ephraim explained. “She’s taken up residence in the small apartment above her father’s shop.”
Ephraim inserted the key into the lock and opened the door, then strode inside confidently. Arhyen waited for Liliana to go in ahead of him, then followed, shutting the door gently behind him. The home's interior seemed ordinary with wood floors and pristine, white walls. Liliana was unsure of what she had expected. Victor Ashdown had built himself a mysterious persona within her mind. She had envisioned that anyone involved with her father would live in a secret compound with old books and laboratory equipment strewn about. This home, however, boasted only ordinary looking furniture, a few bookcases, a small kitchen, and a staircase, presumably leading to the bedroom. Remembering that Victor Ashdown had a daughter, Liliana changed her mind to envision two bedrooms upstairs, rather than one.
Leaving her standing near the door, the two men began to investigate. Feeling useless, she approached one of the bookcases and began perusing the labels on the books’ spines. Most of the books appeared to be works of fiction, though she saw a few alchemical tomes scattered about. She plucked a familiar one from the shelf and flipped through its contents. It was the twin of one of the more advanced books Arhyen had purchased for her. She replaced the book and grabbed another. This one also seemed ordinary. Feeling silly for thinking she might find something of import on the bookcase, she stepped away with a sigh. Ephraim had ventured upstairs, leaving Arhyen to shuffle through stacks of paper on nearby desk.
Deciding she would be more useful at his side, she began to turn away, then something caught her eye. It was a book titled, Notes from Above. It was a work of fiction, one she had read many times before, as the same title resided on her father’s shelves.
As she knelt to retrieve the book from one of the lower shelves, Arhyen came to stand at her side. “I don’t know what I’d hoped to find . . . ” he trailed off, sounding tired.
Liliana was too distracted to reply. She wrapped her fingers around the book’s familiar green spine, then lifted it from the shelf.
“What do you have there?” Arhyen inquired, kneeling beside her to get a better look.
She stroked her fingers across the book’s cover and its ornate gold lettering, repeating the same title on the spine. “My father had this book,” she explained distantly. She opened it to the first page, and a small slip of folded paper fell to the floor.
Arhyen retrieved the paper near his foot, then unfolded it. “The LN has discovered everything,” he read out loud. “Fairfax, they'll be after you next. I hope this letter finds you in time. Take everything and run. The world is not ready for what we have to offer.”
He stared down at the paper, a look of astonishment on his face.
There was the sound of a door shutting somewhere on the second story, then Ephraim descended the stairs. “Nothing out of place,” he said. He reached the bottom of the stairs and eyed them curiously, then approached. “Not that I expected any different,” he finished dryly.
Arhyen stood and handed the note to Ephraim.
He read it quickly, then looked to Liliana, who still crouched on the floor, book in hand. “Do you have any idea what this means?” he asked, gesturing to the note.
Liliana shook her head and stood. She wished she knew what it meant. The note had warned her father that someone was coming for him. Could it be the someone who’d stabbed him? If so, did that someone know of her existence?
“The LN . . . ” Ephraim muttered, drawing her out of her thoughts. “What could it stand for?”
“I'm more interested in what he meant about the world not being ready for what they have to offer,” Arhyen stated.
Glancing at the book in Liliana’s hands and seeming to patch things together, Ephraim moved his gaze to the bookcase. “How did you know to choose that particular novel?”
Liliana’s hands convulsed reflexively around the book. “My father had the same one. I’ve read it many times.”
Ephraim stroked his chin in thought. “So Victor hid a note, hoping that Fairfax would know to look there.” He stared at the bookcase for a moment longer. “Search them all,” he demanded. “We don't want to miss anything else.”
The three of them began pulling the books from the shelf, searching each before replacing them, yet Liliana had a feeling they would find nothing more. She kept her thoughts to herself as she checked book after book. Was Victor referring to the formulae that she had produced in the journal that morning? Was that
what the world wasn’t ready for? She felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach and couldn’t help glancing at the satchel Arhyen carried. If the formulae within the journal had made the mysterious LN go after Victor Ashdown and her father, would they come for Arhyen next? If they already knew who Liliana was . . . what she was, then it wasn’t safe for her to be around him. She should take the journal and leave. If she was then captured, at least whoever wanted her would have no further need to pursue Arhyen. Her thoughts nagging her, she replaced another book onto the shelf. The first opportunity she had, she should take the journal and run. Any other course of action would be selfish. Where she would go, she did not know, but if she left, at least Arhyen and Ephraim would be safe.
The trio left Victor Ashdown’s home just as night fell. Arhyen felt nervous to be out in the dark streets with such a small group. He had a sneaking suspicion that the LN had something to do with the masked man, and that the masked man had something to do with Clayton’s murdered thugs. Whatever the LN was, it was interested in the work of Fairfax Breckenridge. They were likely behind Victor’s disappearance, and may have been behind Fairfax’s murder. Liliana had claimed that she hadn’t seen nor heard anything when her father was killed. She’d simply happened upon him in the hallway, after he’d already gotten a dagger stuck in his back. If the journal was that important, and Clayton was after it, it made sense to take out his men. Clayton himself would be difficult to reach, but killing his men sent a very clear message. End your machinations, or else.
There was a fresh coating of moisture on the street. Apparently the clouds had expended a bit of their moisture while they’d been snooping around Ashdown’s home. He shook his head as they walked down the quiet street, his mind hung up on Clayton Blackwood. He would not give up so easily. He was a man used to getting what he wanted, just as he was used to having little to fear. While most men would heed the warning of several mutilated corpses being left at their gate, Clayton Blackwood would see it as a challenge. He’d be after the journal now more than ever, and by effect, would be after Arhyen.
“I’ll look into finding information on the LN,” Ephraim stated, his eyes scanning the damp empty street ahead of them. “Do you have somewhere to lie low until then?”
Arhyen nodded. “I can think of a few places.” He glanced at Liliana. “Though I’m not sure where I’ll want to be around 10 PM,” he added cryptically, hoping that Ephraim would catch on that he had not told Liliana about the possible meeting.
“10 PM is a dangerous hour,” Ephraim replied cryptically. “I’d not be out at that time without adequate information.”
Arhyen glanced at Liliana to make sure she wasn’t catching on. If he did decide to go to the meeting, there was no way he was taking her into that sort of danger, especially now. Fortunately, she gazed off distantly, obviously immersed in her own thoughts.
“Yet much could be gained,” Arhyen countered.
Ephraim nodded. “In that case, I will go with you.”
Arhyen shook his head, then glanced again at Liliana, still deep in her own thoughts. “There are other things that LN might want,” he explained ambiguously.
“Then I will watch over them,” Ephraim assured.
Arhyen nodded in acceptance, relieved that he wouldn’t have to leave Liliana alone while he went to the meeting. If anything happened to him, Ephraim would keep Liliana safe. He wasn’t sure at what point Ephraim had been upgraded from an acquaintance of occasional favors to full-time partner, but he wasn’t about to turn down the help of one of London’s finest, especially when it felt like the entire city had somehow turned against him.
Chapter 10
Liliana glanced at the satchel, then toward the door as she nervously clutched the sides of her hard, metal chair. Ephraim stood with his back to her, searching through a nearby file cabinet. His blond hair reflected the light of the single, dim bulb hanging from the ceiling. They were back at the mostly empty police station. At the late hour, the majority of the other officers were either patrolling the streets, or they’d gone home . . . or so Ephraim had explained to her before turning to ignore her completely. She glanced at the satchel again, lying forlornly at the foot of Ephraim’s desk, in his small, dingy office. Any moment now, she would make her escape.
After retrieving a few items from the satchel, Arhyen had left it, and the recreated journal, with them. He’d claimed he was simply returning to his home for supplies, but Liliana was not quite sure she’d been told the truth. His honey colored eyes had shifted slightly as he ordered her to remain with Ephraim.
She glanced at the back of the man in question as he muttered something to himself. Ephraim was looking for information on the LN, and she had a feeling Arhyen was doing the same, wherever he was.
She pursed her lips in thought, trying to remember anything she might know, but she was quite sure her father had never mentioned the LN, unless it was an acronym, and she simply wasn’t connecting the words with the abbreviation. What could it mean? London Nation, Lawful News, Little Network . . . her thoughts trailed off.
“Aha!” Ephraim exclaimed, though she was sure he was speaking to himself since his back remained turned. “London Network,” he muttered.
“London Network?” she questioned.
Ephraim startled as if he’d forgotten she was there. He turned to look at her with a stack of papers clutched in his hands. “Yes,” he explained, the light of the single bulb illuminating his face eerily. “I knew I had heard the acronym LN before.” He approached his desk and spread out the papers he’d removed from the filing cabinet. Hovering over them, he continued, once again sounding almost as if he were just muttering things to himself, “We’ve had several reports over the years of an organization referred to as the London Network. A few have claimed that this organization was out for their lives, but they were mainly criminals, so the information was taken down, and not much was done. Over time, we gathered enough reports for the London Network to merit its own file, and at that time the Watch looked into the previous cases, but nothing was ever found. As far as anyone can tell, the London Network is a myth.”
Liliana furrowed her brows, ruminating. “But if they’re a myth, what happened to my father, and where is Victor Ashdown?”
Not answering her, Ephraim returned to the file cabinet and opened a new drawer. After flicking through its upright contents, he withdrew a thick stack of papers, clipped together with a photograph on top. He returned and handed the papers to her. “Have a read over those, would you? See if anything jumps out at you.”
She looked down at the papers, topped with the photograph, then gasped.
Ephraim turned back toward her, finally giving her his full attention. “Find something already?”
She nodded, then looked back down at the photograph. “I know this man. He visited our home on several occasions.” She’d recognize those clever blue eyes and thick moustache anywhere. “His name is Remington Hobbes.”
Ephraim moved to kneel in front of her, then flicked the photograph in her lap. “That man is Victor Ashdown,” he explained. “This is his missing person’s file.”
Liliana shook her head. “No, I remember quite clearly. His name is Remington Hobbes.”
Ephraim sighed. “He might have told you that was his name, but I assure you, this is Victor Ashdown. This photo was provided by his daughter.”
It didn’t make sense. Why would Victor Ashdown go by a fake name when only she and her father had been present? There had to be some sort of mistake.
“Look through the rest of the papers,” Ephraim suggested. “See if anything else jumps out at you.”
She nodded and did as he said, pushing off her plans of escape. She knew she needed to get away from Arhyen and Ephraim to ensure their safety, especially if this London Network was after her, but she couldn’t resist delving into the mystery that was unfolding before her.
She scooted her chair toward the desk, opposite where Ephraim stood, to hold the papers near
er the office’s lone lightbulb. The first sheet was filled with simple descriptors. Height, weight, address . . . then she reached a scribbled note at the bottom of the page. Alchemist credited with the formulation of the Advector Serum.
Something tickled at the edges of her memory. She pushed the paper toward Ephraim to regain his attention. “What is this?” she questioned, pointing to the scribbled note.
“Ah, yes,” he mumbled, reading over the note. Finished, his eyes turned up to her. “Victor Ashdown was mildly famous for this discovery. The Advector Serum is a substance created to be mixed with medicines that need to be inhaled. It binds to other serums, turning them into vapor particles small enough to be absorbed through the lining of the lungs. Do you know something about it?”
Her memories came crashing back to her. It was a time before she’d really became herself. Her father had been working to create her soul. He’d been muttering about it for weeks as she blindly assisted him. The memory was foggy, just like any other memories of that time, but she was quite sure he’d mentioned the Advector Serum on numerous occasions.
“I think,” she began shakily, then took a deep breath. “I think this is part of what my father . . . ” she trailed off, realizing that Ephraim still thought she was Fairfax Breckenridge’s real daughter, and not an artificial construct. “It was part of a medicine he gave me,” she corrected quickly.
Ephraim frowned at her. “Well that’s not uncommon. That’s what the Advector Serum is for, after all. What type of illness did you have?”
The question almost made her laugh bitterly. Her only illness was to be created as a thing.
He shook his head. “What am I saying? Automatons can’t catch illnesses.”
Liliana jumped to her feet in surprise, knocking Victor Ashdown’s file from the desk to land with a thwap at her feet.
Clockwork Alchemist (The Thief's Apprentice Book 1) Page 9