Geared for Pleasure

by Rachel Grace

  A frightened male voice cried out, “You won’t take her away from me, demon. She is mine.”

  The words helped him focus.

  He arrived in a guest room full of rogue Wode. They were surrounding a bed, protecting the man he assumed was Raj Ellsworth and a terrified Nephi.

  Seraphina was hacking through them like a bloodthirsty warrior. “Need any help?”

  She huffed out a breath as she slashed the closest guard with a dagger. “What took you so long?”

  The poison was spreading quickly through his system. He had to push past it, make sure she was safe. Not even she could handle all of these men alone.

  He held his sword in the hand that he could still control, using the flat of it to fell the Wode coming up behind Seraphina.

  “I finished my mission and grew impatient waiting on you,” he huffed heavily. “Thought you could use a hand.”

  A hand. He laughed raggedly at his private joke, knowing he had a perfectly useless hand to spare. One that was blackening with venom even as he killed two more of his fellow Wode. It seemed he only needed one hand for this.

  He could see the Raj growing paler with each guard that fell. “Ellsworth? The Queen’s Sword charges you with crimes against Theorrey. Unspeakable crimes that can only be paid for in blood. Unless you release the Felidae into my custody at once.”

  The rogue Wode paused at his words, as did Seraphina. Some remnant of their inheritance, their training must have recognized his authority. He focused on standing tall, unwilling to allow the men to see him weave. “I am the Arendal. I am taking this man into my custody.”

  One of the men shook his head slowly. “We no longer follow your command. We are the queen’s protectors. Her Arendal and Senedal are dead. If not, they are traitors to the throne.”

  Cyrus swung his sword outward so they could see the design on its hilt. “And you believe the queen would allow this injustice to stand in her palace? You are a fool, and no one calls me a traitor.”

  They rushed him, their figures blurring before his eyes, but he could still see. Could still fight. The moves were instinctive. Years upon years of training until fighting was as natural as breathing, as necessary.

  These men were already dead; they simply had yet to reach his blade.

  When he finally heard the voice calling his name, he realized the floor was covered in bodies. Luckily, none of them were his own.

  “Cyrus? Cyrus, you’re hurt.”

  Was that Seraphina? He could not tell for the pounding in his ears. He looked up and shook his head. No, it couldn’t be her. This woman had black streaks and blood covering her face. Blood on her clothes. Red blood everywhere to match her hair. Red hair. Green eyes.

  He lifted his arm, wondering where his sword had gone. “Phina?”

  “You killed them. Ellsworth tried to get away but with no one to protect him he was no match for me. He’s dead, Cyrus. He is dead and we need to get out of here now before more Wode arrive.”

  The bloody Felidae was speaking. He heard her words but he was having a difficult time comprehending what they meant. Leave? Yes, they needed to leave.

  “Damn it, you are hurt.” She’d grabbed his hand, the one he couldn’t feel. The dark lines of poison had traveled halfway up his arm.

  “But you are safe. And Nephi. And I’ve been bit by a cursed windup toy,” he muttered.

  He felt her drag him back toward the queen’s sitting room and heard the phrase, “Nephi, we’re going to need rope.” Then he watched as she lifted his palm, biting into his wound with her sharp teeth, making him shout at the pain. He finally felt it.

  There was nothing after that but blessed darkness.

  A few days’ journey from the palace he watched the sunlight glisten off the pristinely white peaks of the mountains as they moved by him on the starboard side of the Deviant. They were following the Yazata Range north, letting Centre City fall away behind them. If he crossed the deck, he knew he would see the shimmering black sand of the Avici to the west. Not far enough away for his liking, but then, it never would be again.

  The captain was flying hard to make up time. The engine pumped at full steam, and he could hear the Deviant’s propellers chopping at the thin air. They were moving so swiftly, the wind was wrestling with what Dare had called an aether cocoon, causing it to ripple in reaction.

  He could get used to this mode of travel.

  “Someone is looking out for you, my brother. And I think she has a tail.”

  Cyrus looked away from the scenery at Dare’s words and over his shoulder, catching only a glint of brilliant red hair and corset lacings before she disappeared below decks. Again.

  She had been avoiding him since he woke up. Seraphina had saved him, the dagger and her brother and sister while he had been bitten by some inventor’s idea of fun.

  The mighty Queen’s Sword had a penchant for getting poked with needles and falling like an ironwood in a storm of late. A weakness that was unacceptable to him. A weakness she could no doubt smell with her keen Felidae senses.

  At least he’d managed to kill a few of those Wode.

  Dare pinched his arm and he looked down at her in shock. “What did you do that for?”

  She glared up at him defiantly. “I never realized how idiotic men could be. You, Wulfric, even Freeman. Idiots.”

  Cyrus grunted and looked out at the scenery once more. “I notice you conveniently left Bodhan’s name off that illustrious list.”

  Her voice was smug. “I did. Bodhan knows how to treat a woman. He admires and respects them for their abilities, even thanks them for saving his life.” She lowered her voice to ensure none of the passing crew would hear. “He understands that a woman with a difficult past may need a different kind of protection. Particularly when that past comes back to bite them, then leave again at the first port.”

  She was talking about yesterday. The captain had descended and Bodhan’s cousin Hadi had gotten off, taking Nephi and Jobi with him as they headed for the mysterious Aaru. They had both been offered sanctuary. Safety. And they’d taken it.

  To be honest, Cyrus was glad Phina’s brother Jobi was gone. That was one mean Felidae. Angry at the world, and crueler to his youngest sister than he should have been allowed to be. If he hadn’t been wounded, Cyrus and Freeman had an unspoken agreement that they would have politely taken turns beating him bloody.

  Nephi had been as sweet as he remembered. As shy. She had also been badly beaten, he assumed by Raj Ellsworth. The late Raj Ellsworth, according to Seraphina.

  A member of the Theorrean Raj was dead. Justifiably murdered by Seraphina herself. If Cyrus had not been struggling against the poison, he would have killed the bastard himself when he’d gotten through with the treasonous guards.

  He could not recall a time in history when that had occurred. A Raj killed. They usually held their own lives too sacred to risk them in any fashion. Ellsworth’s obsession with Nephi had obviously been stronger than his obsession with life. He’d made a deal with the wrong side, supported the false queen, just to satisfy his twisted need for the innocent Felidae. He’d paid with his life.

  “I would thank Seraphina if she would let me.” He gazed down at Dare, noticing a few strands of gold were appearing in her indigo curls. “Dare, what’s happened?”

  She touched her hair self-consciously. “You are changing the topic so we don’t have to talk about you and Phina ignoring each other.”

  Cyrus shook his head. “You can berate me all you like, so long as you tell me if you are ill or not.”

  She bit her lip and studied him, her hand going up to touch a button near the neckline of the fitted jacket that had become her new uniform. “I told you before that I could feel the queen. That I saw her and felt she was in danger, but it was not immediate.”

  He remembered. “I have always been in awe of your ability. I had no idea until you told me that it extended beyond sensing the feelings of people who were in your close, physical proximity.”<
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  “It doesn’t.” She hesitated. “That is, it never had before I got what the Khepri sent me.”

  She pulled a chain from beneath her jacket to reveal a necklace with a small charm. A theorrite charm. “What’s that inside it?”

  Cyrus could see a miniscule mechanism working within the charm, but saw no way it had been placed there. No opening. What exactly had the Khepri given Dare?

  His question must have been strong enough for her to hear it, because Dare answered him. “I believe it is somehow connected to her. A piece of her. A piece of the Nymphaea Infinitum. The workings inside seem to be of the same metal. And when I hold it, and think about the queen…” She paused, closing her eyes. “I can feel her. See the things she sees.”

  Cyrus rubbed his face with his good hand, trying to hide his emotions from her. Disbelief was the strongest. Concern followed closely behind. He had seen many things of late. Automaton creatures battling as though sentient, theorrite engines, weapons that were so far beyond what the Wode knew of, what the shield guards could fight against… it was almost like magic.

  Dare smiled sadly. “I can sense the rest of you more than ever before as well. Queen Idony has been alive for hundreds of years, Cyrus. Never aging. Ever young. Why is this so hard for you to believe?” She tucked the charm back inside her clothing, hidden from view. “I think she can feel me as well. And she knows we are on our way to Tower Orr, still trying to find her. It has given her comfort.”

  “I am glad of that, at least. Though I will be keeping a closer eye on you now. I refuse to believe she would want you to wear it if it has adverse effects.” He looked down at his bandaged hand.

  He was training rigorously every day, with the help of James Stacy and, interestingly enough, Wulf. With no one to play his game, Wulf was a skilled sparring partner. The two men had very different styles of fighting, but the same amount of zeal.

  He was not ready to take on Freeman yet. Not as ready to protect the women he cared about, this crew, as he wanted to be. He felt a vein at his temple throb. “I regret I have not been more help on this mission. I seem to be the weak link of the chain more often than not. I fear I am setting a low bar for the next Arendal Sword.”

  Dare touched his arm. “Even poisoned with something that would have killed a normal man in an instant, you still protected Nephi and Phina. You still retrieved the dagger. Phina knows how strong you are. How courageous. She told me how you survived the desert. How you escaped your fate all on your own. I, as usual, had help.”

  Cyrus glanced back toward the door that led to the cabins. He wanted to see Phina, talk to her about what they’d been through, what they had done in the wardrobe. But now was not the time.

  He lowered his lids in thought. “Does the queen know who this is? What kind of mind planned abductions for us both that were designed not to kill us quickly, but to break us?”

  “She knows. But she is not telling me. I haven’t learned to control it yet, this new ability. But it comforts me, at least, knowing she is alive. Knowing she still has time.” Dare stepped away from the railing. “What doesn’t comfort me is the knowledge that while I have told you all of my secrets, you have shared none of yours. The dagger you nearly died to obtain, for instance. May I see it?”

  He pulled it out of his belt. He had refused to let it out of his grasp, even when he was recovering from the mechanical serpent’s venom. He handed it to Dare. “I would do more than have you see it. I want you to hold on to it. Keep it safely in your care until I am back to full capacity. The Khepri said it was important to restoring the queen to power.” He tried to smile, knowing she could still feel his shame at his weakness. “I have seen you training with Seraphina. Between you, the captain, and our Felidae… I believe the men here feel there is no use for us.”

  Dare’s grin was more knowing than he wanted to notice. “I am certain she could find a use for you. Were you brave enough Wode to tempt Seraphina Felidae.”

  Cyrus’s blood heated in his veins at the thought. “Is that a dare, Chalice?”

  She laughed. “Is that an acceptance of my challenge, Sword?”

  He turned and strode across the wide expanse of deck, knowing the men were watching him from the corners of their eyes. Wulf was on the steps that led to the helm’s deck, his shaded spectacles shielding his expression.

  Perhaps it was time. He needed to tell her, show her what he wanted. He knew he was man enough to hold on to her. That he wanted her. He had to make sure she did as well.

  “There it is! I see it. We’re here, Freeman. By the two moons, it is just as Captain Amaranthe said it would be. The lake is lit up like a sky full of stars.” James Stacy’s voice came down from his watch in the lookout just below the bow of the aether cocoon. He had a monocular trained on the port side of the ship.

  Cyrus moved with the others to the port side, and was staggered by its beauty. The lake was a massive bowl cradled in the mountain’s grasp. Two ranges met here, and their inspiring sight alone would have been enough. But the water was full of clusters of violet and silver light so brilliant the overcast day could not disguise it.

  “She was worth the getting here. Now we just have to find that tower,” James crowed, and Cyrus winced at his words. He could not decide if he wanted to kill the man for poor timing or thank him for the salvation of a new mission. A new chance for him to make a contribution.

  He knew the Felidae women from Faro Outpost demanded their suitors perform feats of bravery before they accepted them. Perhaps if he found the tower, found the answers to the queen’s whereabouts, Seraphina would see him as a worthy mate.

  He would not allow it to be any other way.

  Chapter Eight

  “I do believe Freeman is unhappy with you, my friend.”

  Phina’s ear twitched in amusement as she listened to Wulf and Bodhan’s hushed conversation behind her. They were scouting the area around the lake—Bodhan and Dare, Wulf, the captain and Freeman… Cyrus. The rest of the men had the good fortune to deploy the landing dodge and either stay inside or guard the perimeter.

  Wulf had a smile in his lilting voice. “The burn of the sun is worth it, for that reason alone. Besides, you know me, Bodhan. I am an adventurer.”

  Bodhan covered his laugh with a cough. “You are a great inventor, Wulfric, son of Wulfric the Great. You are a humorous companion as well. But you cannot call yourself an adventurer when this is the first time you have left Aaru.”

  “If something is worth doing, it is worth pretending expertise in until you are as perfect as you appear to be.” Wulf made a tsking sound. “The irresistible Captain Amaranthe’s first mate has the opposite problem. He is too good at his jobs. All of them. So perfect, the appropriate people are not impressed by his prowess. A clock that needs no winding is never cleaned. His loss could be my gain.”

  She raised her eyebrows at that. She had seen the dance the captain and their latest passenger were doing. She knew the fearless Nerida Amaranthe had been impressed with Wulf’s… appreciation for her type of foreplay.

  But they did not smell right together. Wulf was correct, in his way. Freeman needed to stop being perfect at everything. To stop being everything the captain needed before she knew she needed it. It might be the only way to change the state of things.

  As they wandered around the clearing near the lake, she noticed suddenly that her skin felt odd. Unusual. Something was here, just out of reach, but she could neither see it nor quite smell it. It was simply off.

  She wanted to blame Cyrus. But then, she could not seem to blame him for anything these days. He had helped her to save her sister, though he’d nearly paid a fatal price for his actions. She’d sucked the poison out of his skin and strapped his unconscious form between herself and Nephi so they could cross the steep drop between the Palace and the tunnel’s opening. She’d listened to her brother’s endless stream of complaints and insults while she tried to assure Nephi that her demon was truly gone as they waited for the Deviant
. But her thoughts had been with him. Cyrus. She’d prayed for the captain to hurry. For Freeman to know what to do to make him better. She could not lose him now.

  Ellsworth was dead by her hand. She had reveled in his blood, and reveled in watching Cyrus end the lives of those who’d guarded him. It had been a primal need to protect her own. She had seen the insane light in Ellsworth’s eyes as the Raj member had stroked Nephi, begging for her love even as he touched the bruises he had caused. Phina had lost control.

  Killing a Raj was the highest offense in Theorrey. Despite his aid in the rescue, was that the reason Cyrus was not throwing her over his shoulder and holding her prisoner in his bedroom until neither of them could walk?

  No. She knew it wasn’t true. He no longer hated her. The way he looked at her now scared her more than his rage ever had. It made her crave things she wasn’t sure she deserved.

  After what happened in the palace, that the stalemate between them had changed. He was no longer angry. And she? She was no longer the same. She wanted something she’d never dared imagine before. Something she had scorned but secretly desired her whole life.

  And she wanted it with him. She just needed to find the courage to tell him.

  “Phina?” She turned to see Dare staring innocently in her direction. She was standing close the captain, and both the women watched her with knowing smiles.

  She lifted her chin. “Yes, fair Dare?”

  “Cyrus went to check the tree line at the forest’s edge. Could you please find him and tell him it would be nice if he remained in view?” Even from this distance, Phina could easily see the mischievous sparkle in her eyes. “I am sure he would be grateful for the help.”

  Humans had no true subtlety. But then, Phina hated subtlety. She also hated the surge of excitement that heated her blood at the thought of speaking to him alone, knowing Dare could feel it. “I am always eager to serve. You know that. In some towns I am famous for it.”