by Lexi Ostrow
“Very well.” Odette nodded. “Please leave. Seek rest and go to Nicolette. The Pure Angel is working side-by-side Physician Danders to tend to injuries. We have done all we can do, which is the plan. When the time comes, we will get Lucius back and destroy the threat to humanity.”
“Clara?” Eliza asked, her voice slowly starting to sound more level. “Please come with me. We have work to tend to. I know you have earned rest, but this should not wait.”
“I was healed, by Nathaniel, I believe. I am rested and well.” She kissed Hugo’s cheek. “I will see you soon. I must help her. I owe it to her.”
Grasping her hand in his as she turned, he tugged her against him and slid his hands up her neck and into her hair. His lips grazed hers, a chaste kiss, but one he wanted to give her. “Go. I will be waiting for you when you are done.”
Sunlight streamed in through the window and fell across her face as she turned. Opening one eye, she realized how bright the room was. It was easily past morning meal, even for an Alliance member that kept late nights.
“I think I rather enjoyed one element of our journey.” Hugo’s voice drifted over to her from the door.
Smiling, she rolled over once again and found him sitting up in the elaborate white chair that sat next to the door. He was dressed in finery, a navy suit that appeared to be made of silk and a deep blue tie to match. The white shirt beneath seemed to be his regular tunic.
“What is that?” Yawning, she sat upright, not minding that she was bare before him. She wouldn’t have minded no matter the man, but it felt right to wake with Hugo seeing her.
“I miss sharing a bed.” He winked and stood up from the chair. Even his shoes had a brilliant black shine to them.
“I was thinking something similar just now.” She smiled and wished the bed was large enough for two.
“Should you be here? If you are courting me in terms of the nobility, that is.”
He chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest. The suit was almost too tight, and it showed off the fine muscles he had, despite being a man of brains, not brawn. “I think my plan of that disintegrated the moment we met, even if I’d had hopes to treat you like a lady.”
“I assure you. In this one action, I do not mind not being treated like a lady.” She pushed to sit upright on the bed and tucked her heels up to her buttocks to allow him room to sit at the foot of the bed. “When it comes to extravagant gifts and expensive dinners, you may shower me thusly.”
His eyes lit up as he smiled, laughter rumbling through him.
“You’re alright?” Her question slipped out.
“I am. I was not the one that foolishly rushed the supposed most dangerous demon of all time and got knocked on her keister.”
“Dieargog is terrifying, but Seraphina succeeded in taking Hell from the only ruler it had ever had. She alone had the power to trap the other previously, and she was the one that stood a real chance of harming him yesterday. She is well and truly the most dangerous demon. Reformed or not.”
“Is that how you avoid me calling you out on your foolhardy actions?” He smiled, still teasing her.
“I thought of only you . . . and my past.” She admitted. “I had been afraid or a prisoner for many centuries. I wanted to go to my death on my own terms. If doing that yesterday would have meant your safety, I would do it again. That is what love means.” She wondered if only the fear of the moment had made him have feelings he didn’t really feel. “If you did not mean it last eve, I would not hold it against you.”
Warm hands reached out and took hers. Hugo’s eyes stared into the depths of her own, and Clara knew her statement had been foolish.
“I don’t know how in the devil it is possible for me to have fallen in love with you in such a short span, but I have. From your deviant nature in the bedroom to the way you sort of push your mouth to the side when you’re thinking in the labs, I love you. I am certain these feelings were slightly imposed by the mating bond, but I do not think that makes them less viable. There is much left for us to explore, and hopefully, we will survive this mission to do so. If not, then I am grateful for having stepped foot inside the Palace those short months ago. To feel what I feel for you . . . that is the greatest gift.”
She felt herself flush, but there was only one way to know for certain if he spoke truthfully. “Even more than the ability to create sustainable light . . . electricity . . . before Tesla and Edison?”
His boisterous laugh echoed off the chamber walls and seemed to fill the room with a happy energy. “That is a very close second, but I can assure you, not more important.”
Her heart swelled with his words. She knew them to be true because he had no reason to lie to her, and there was nothing in his tone or position that made him appear to be.
“I feel as strongly for you. I’m not certain I have studied you in quite the same fashion you have me, but I am not the scientist amongst us, merely the helper.”
The way he smiled at her made her feel something she’d never felt, even in the Alliance. He made her feel safe. The way his lips curved and his eyes seemed to see only her, he would protect her, even when he couldn’t. Her mate was not meant for battle, yet he was going to leap headfirst into it in order to save a life, to pay penance.
“You’re going to make me a better person.” She said thoughtfully.
“Can demons be better people?” he grinned at her.
“Oh, we certainly can, mister scientist.” She stretched her arms above her head, encouraging her stiff muscles to loosen. “I try to pay you a compliment, and you decide to be cheeky.”
“I can always be such when I am in good spirits. What did Eliza have you do when you left with her?”
Clara blew out a deep breath. It had been a very rough two hours. Eliza had spent much of them ranting to absolutely no one and walking back and forth across the small makeshift room they used as a lab. Then, once they had begun to develop a device that could trigger bursts of fire, they’d set off an alarm twice and stopped.
“We were working to create a system that could expel fire when expected too.”
“Do we not already have that? I see men utilizes a small device to light their cigars quite oft.”
“Well, yes. However, Eliza wished for something on a larger scale,” she shrugged. “If I know her as well as I think I have come too, she is still at it and will be done before evening meal.” She was tired of thinking about both what was to come and the fact that a member of the council, as well as a good friends mate, was missing or worse. Leaning forward, she flipped the satin tie up, tugging it up from where it was tucked under the jacket lapels. “You look handsome today.”
His grin seemed to reach from ear to ear. “Jacob is presenting me to some imperative people in the French Court and Spanish Courts and American government. We are informing them there is a third contender for creating light, and that Britain is in the race.”
He seemed rather chuffed, and she smiled. When she’d met him, he’d been ambitious, dangerously attractive and brilliant. Presently, however, he seemed playful and happy. Something she wanted to believe was because of her. He brought out different things in her as well. She’d always helped in the labs out of curiosity. However, she wished to truly learn things now, to impress him and be able to show him his interests matter. Lesser Demons were a lot like humans, but it was only once they found a mate that they actually could place other people’s lives completely above their own interests.
“I’m very proud of you.” She allowed her fingers to trace a quick path over his forearm. “When must you leave?”
He quirked a brow, even as his lips slid into a seductive smile. “We are to be present at midday meal.” His eyes shifted their gaze to the clock ticking away on the nightstand on the side of the bed nearest the window. “Plenty of time, if you are asking what I think you are asking.”
Her body heated at the mere thought of getting to lay with her mate. Pulsing with need, she knew she’d find her core
wet and ready, with only a single thought of sex. Her body certainly needed the rejuvenation only sexual engagement could bring, but she couldn’t remember a time when she’d been more primed for a partner.
“Would you find it terrible if I told you I was ready for you?”
His eyes grew dark with hunger. “I believe something is pointing to that very same fact with me.”
She let her eyes travel down his chest and land in his lap. His prick was erect, tenting the rather loose fabric of the suit trousers. A groan passed from her lips, and she reached out, unable to resist touching her. Grasping his thick rod through the fabric, she stroked him.
“I think you might be a little late to that meeting of yours.” She breathed, her lips a mere fraction away from Hugo’s.
His hand snaked underneath the top of the sheet and hovered just above where she wanted to feel him most. “In this instance, I do not think I’d mind making a bunch of diplomats wait whilst I make love to the woman I love.”
His lips dropped to hers, gently kissing her as his hand came up from the sheet and tugged at his tie.
“I’m going to make absolutely certain that you have all the energy you need.”
Her body pulsed with desire, and she crawled out from under the linen and watched as he undressed. The play of his muscles as he slipped the coat off made her sigh. As he tugged the white tunic over his head, she leaned forward, allowing her fingers to run over the hard muscles of his stomach before he stood up from the bed.
“I cannot think of a way I’d rather spend my morning.”
The knock on the chamber door should have sent him careening from Clara’s bed out of respect for her honor. Yet, he didn’t move. Clara was as much his as a woman could belong to a man—and he was hers. He doubted any in the Alliance found error in their coupling and he couldn’t imagine anyone from the palace seeking them out.
“May we enter?” Jacob’s familiar voice barely came through the wooden door.
“One moment, your Majesty.” Clara shooed him off the bed, pointing at his clothes. “If Jacob has come, it might have to do with Lucius. We must be ready to go at a moments notice.” As she spoke, she had crossed the room to the dresser and had pulled brown breeches and a black tunic.
He couldn’t help but pause and admire her bravery. She more than any of them had come close to death in the last encounter. Yet, she was rushing to be ready to leave if Lucius could be saved. She’s rather brazen, and you like. Grabbing the suit off the floor and the chair where it had been flung, he worked to dress as quickly as she. He knew the news would have little to do with Lucius and more to do with their bid for electricity, but he wouldn’t tell Clara that, not when it seemed she so needed it to be about Lucius.
She stashed a dagger into the left black boot and practically leapt across the room to grab the doorknob. When she opened it, he was shocked to see the King and Queen before them, wearing clothes similar to hunters.
“May we enter?” McKenna asked, smiling in a polite fashion that showed off the tiny age lines around her mouth.
“Please,” Clara bowed her head and stepped aside for them to enter. “Has there been progress on Lucius?”
Jacob gave a sharp shake of his head. “None yet. Have heart, it has been less than a day. McKenna and I dressed as such to resume our hunting skills. She was a mighty good shot, and I was rather good and speaking demon’s ears off. We had hoped to hear news of Dieargog, but we were not successful.”
Despite having thought this meeting had little to do with Lucius, he still felt his heart grow heavy at the news that they had made no progress.
“May I ask what you need me for?” Clara returned to stand by his side.
“I apologize, Clara. We came looking for Hugo.” Jacob nodded in his direction. “It would appear our instincts were correct.” When he chuckled, he seemed to look far younger than he was.
“Many pardons, Jacob. I did not mean to dishonor her.”
“Pfft,” McKenna waved her hand in the air dismissively. “We have seen plenty of mates to understand the pull it has for you. I admit there are days when I wish Jacob and I could say we were fated mates, but I like to think we were of a different kind.”
Knowing they did not condemn him for being in Clara’s chambers only made him like the pair even more. He was aware that them least of all the members of the Alliance Council, not that he should be familiar with the king and queen.
“Now then,” Jacob looked around the room as if he were expecting to see something. “Hugo, you are aware of the meeting with the Courts in less than an hour. I wanted to come and see if you were up to a demonstration. I’ve heard rumors that France is coming close, and we are obviously closer.”
“You don’t want them to be able to make a power grab.” He understood, but he wasn’t certain the world was ready for it. Not so quickly. “I do not know if she can overrule one such as yourself, but have you spoken with Odette?”
“Aye. She was not entirely in agreement. But she recognized the decision was yours.”
He sucked in a deep breath of air through his nose, trying to fully understand the choice before him. There was an opportunity to help not only the Alliance but also Britain. There was also the chance that it would not go as planned. He’d had no time to come up with a way to trigger the light without a switch mechanism on a small display board. Without an explanation, onlookers could cry magic and discredit the invention.
“I have been a part of these circles since I graduated from university. It would be unwise to unveil that we have succeeded without first stating our intent. To snub those in the intellectual community could create tension as well as place possible assets to the Alliance at arm's length because they felt slightest.”
“You are very well spoken, Hugo.” Jacob nodded. “Your points are valid. I do have my doubts that a Frenchman could beat Tesla and Edison, let alone us.” He nodded again as if the first time he hadn’t been fully convinced. “Yes, we will wait. Thank you for seeing clearly what I could not.”
Clara smiled up at him and slipped her hand into his. “He is rather brilliant, when his ego isn’t getting the best of him, of course.”
He felt his cheeks flame with embarrassment. What she spoke was truthful. His hubris was his greatest fault. As it was for most scientists.
“I take it you can be ready for our meeting in time?” The question was the first time Jacob had shown any judgment on the situation before him.
He smiled, squeezing Clara’s hand. “Yes. I will straighten my attire and will arrive at once.”
Both Jacob and McKenna nodded.
“Very well, before you go, Eliza would like to see you in her chambers to discuss the operation of the flying . . .” he paused, his face twisted in disbelief, “dragon. Bloody hell, of all the things we’ve encountered, this might be the most unbelievable.”
Clara laughed, as did McKenna. For his part, he couldn’t fathom how many ridiculous and terrifying things of myth and legend the Alliance had faced during its tenure.
“Clara, Eliza mentioned that should you wish to know the steering mechanics, you may go with him.”
Without another word the pair left. It was only then Hugo realized they had not shut the door when they entered.
“They speak freely of secret matters.”
Clara nodded. “As I understand it, this entire wing is full of Alliance members. There is no need for secrecy. All were made aware of the issue last night. The council learned long ago not to keep secrets as big as this.”
“I suppose I’m shocked because I spent much of my adult life working with two men that did nothing but keep secrets.” He nodded towards the door. “Would you be interested in seeing the controls?”
She smirked. “Would I be interested? Of course, I’m bloody interested. We’re going to fly!”
Laughing, he tugged her toward the door and waited as she closed it behind her. Men and women lined the hall, some in hunter attire and others in fine dress. It seeme
d strange to him that they could know Lucius was missing and continue about their day.
Similarly to how you had no trouble bedding Clara or enjoying the announcement of your hand in the electricity race, he thought, chiding himself.
“Eliza has taken a room at the far end to work so that she would be near the inventors.” Clara pointed down a hall with a purple liner rug that seemed to stretch past at least ten and thirty more doors. “I’d never known how large the castle was before calling it home.”
They walked, and he was too busy counting the doors, trying to see for himself just how large it truly was. Door after door passed until they stopped before a yellow painted one and the very end of the long hall.
“Come in,” Eliza shouted through the door, apparently hearing their footsteps.
Clara twisted the brass knob, and the door swung inward, revealing tables upon tables of metal work. He did his best to survey every table, wondering what she could be doing. Eliza sat in the far corner, under a window, tinkering with what appeared to be a control box.
“Hugo, before we start I have news to deliver,” Eliza spoke without looking up, her fingers still fiddling with the box. “In light of all that has occurred, when this mission ends, Odette has offered you entrance into the hunter's school.”
His jaw dropped open. “Beg pardon?”
Eliza snorted and pulled the goggles off, leaving them on top of her head. “You’ve faced enough dangers that Odette thinks it fit you go through the entirety of the school. I told her no, you were needed fully in the labs, and she reminded me I did not run them any longer.” Her voice seemed cold as if the idea of no longer being the head meant nothing to her any longer.
He supposed another man might have thought of it, might have even asked for a moment to weigh the pros and cons. He was not that man.
“With all due respect to all those that hunt,” he nodded toward Clara. “I have no wish to engage with them. I was brought into the Alliance of Silver and Steam for my mind. I would like it to remain such.”