Corroded

by Becca Andre

  Perseus smiled, appearing pleased by her gratitude. “Well, I’m going to go find some dry clothes.” He headed for the door.

  Now that her head had cleared enough for her to notice her surroundings, Briar realized that Perseus’s hair and clothing looked as damp as her own—unlike Grayson’s.

  “You jumped in to get me?” she asked.

  Perseus stopped on the threshold and looked back. “As I told the others, I was the best candidate for the task. A member of your human crew could have drowned, and if Grayson took damage, it would make him devolve more quickly if forced to repair himself.”

  Briar could see his point about Grayson, but as for the rest of it… “Couldn’t you have drowned?”

  “My body repairs any damage done to it—with no input from me.” He shrugged.

  “You can’t drown?” she clarified, stunned.

  “So it would seem.”

  “You’ve tested it?”

  He hesitated. “I went through a dark time and tested a lot of things. I’m still here.”

  “Decapitation?” Grayson asked, sounding more curious than mean.

  “Considered it, but haven’t tried it. Mainly because I was afraid it wouldn’t work.” Another shrug, and he left them.

  “He really is immortal,” Briar whispered. “And not as in long-lived, but as in can’t die.” She rubbed at the chill bumps that rose on her arms. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but how… horrifying.”

  “I’ve come to realize that immortality is not a good thing,” Grayson said.

  She looked up. Ferromancers were also immortal, but only because their flesh turned to metal—which didn’t age.

  Not sure what to say to Grayson, she glanced at the door Perseus had exited through. “I wonder what we’d see if we looked at his blood under a microscope,” she said, remembering Esme’s research.

  “And what would it prove if we did see something?”

  “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I guess I’m curious.”

  “Reading Esme’s journals must be rubbing off on you. You’re starting to sound like a scientist.”

  “It’s an illusion. I still have no idea what most of it means.”

  He smiled faintly. “Well, I’d better go so you can change out of your wet things.”

  “Oh yes.” Her clothing had dried some, but they were still uncomfortably damp.

  “I’ll let the others know you’ll be up shortly. They were debating whether to cast off, or wait in case you wanted to see the lock yourself.”

  “Why would I need to see it? I know what happened. The snubbing post broke.”

  “It didn’t break. It was cut.”

  “What?” She had started to turn toward her alcove, but faced him once more. “Are you saying the post was deliberately vandalized?”

  “It was sawed more than halfway through at ground level so that when the weight of the boat pulled against it, it would snap.”

  A chill crawled up her spine as she remembered the man she and Eli had seen on the lock wall.

  “Give me a minute to change,” she said. “I do want to see it.”

  Briar crossed her arms as she studied the damaged lock. At the moment, they had the place to themselves, though the lock tender had been notified and the upstream gates closed to stop the flow of water through the broken lower gates. The vandalized snubbing post was just as Grayson described. Fresh sawdust lay scattered around the base of the post, giving evidence to the recentness of the cut.

  “I bet the man we saw was the culprit,” Briar said to Eli. “Or he was at least the lookout.”

  “What man?” Grayson asked. He had joined her, Eli, and Jimmy on the short walk to the damaged lock.

  She told him about the man she and Eli had seen.

  “Weird thing was,” she continued, “Jimmy and I saw a boat heading downstream as we approached the lock. At the time, I figured they’d been tied up below the lock, otherwise we would have had to fit the lock.”

  “Unless the vandals fitted it for us,” Jimmy said. “That way, we’d go straight into the lock without stopping to check it.” He cast a dark look in the direction the other boat had gone. Though no one blamed him for the mishap, he clearly felt responsible for what had happened—not that he could have done anything to prevent it. Not with the boat already in the lock and needing to be stopped.

  “The question is,” Grayson spoke up, “was this random vandalism and bad luck on our part? Or was it something more directed?”

  Unease tightened Briar’s stomach. The prank no longer seemed like a prank when she considered it in those terms. And the fact that it had almost killed her…

  “Why do you ask?” Eli’s eyes narrowed. “Are you about to tell us that there is someone else after you?”

  “No,” Grayson answered, “but this incident seems suspicious on the heels of the boat being struck last night.”

  “That was most likely a log or some other debris.”

  “It could have been, but now I wonder if another boat was responsible.”

  “The captain and I were awakened immediately,” Eli said. “We saw nothing—and we looked.”

  “It was dark.”

  “Sound carries on the water. Yes, a boat might move in relative silence, but not the tow animals. I heard nothing.”

  Grayson shrugged. “It was just a thought.”

  “Besides,” Eli continued, “if it’s not someone else after you, who would it be? This isn’t even our home stretch of the canal. No one knows us.”

  “That’s not entirely true,” Briar said, an idea forming. “Andrew knows where we are—down to the mile.”

  “It’s not him,” Grayson said.

  It was Briar’s turn to frown at him. “I know my cousin. He doesn’t want me to have the boat. He’s taunted me with the fact that it is legally his since his father died.”

  “I’m not claiming to know the man, but I do know his situation. He’s soulless. He can’t disobey the one who cast him.”

  “You mean Solon.”

  Grayson nodded. “Andrew himself told us that Solon commanded him to ensure our arrival in Portsmouth.”

  “Well, he phrased it as being charged with the responsibility.”

  Grayson offered a slight smile. “That’s just him deluding himself.”

  “You’re saying that the soulless has to obey the one who made him that way?” Jimmy asked. “Like if Solon commanded Andrew to jump in the canal he’d—”

  “Jump in the canal,” Grayson finished. “Immediately—if that was Solon’s intent. Andrew could not refuse. He could not even physically stop himself from completing the act.”

  Jimmy swallowed. “Why would Andrew allow such a thing to be done to him?” Jimmy stood a little straighter. “He did allow it, right?”

  “He did,” Briar agreed. “He’s even proud of the fact.”

  “Why the hell…” Jimmy didn’t seem to have the words to express his incredulity.

  “He sees it as being given magic and immortality,” Briar said. “He sees it as a special favor from one greater than himself.”

  “But…”

  “Yes,” Briar answered his unspoken question. “To the sane, it’s crazy.” She shrugged. “But that’s Andrew. He never was quite right.”

  Jimmy shook his head, his expression still stunned. “That is crazy.”

  “But being made soulless,” Eli spoke up. “It doesn’t have to be voluntary.” His gaze settled on Grayson.

  “Eli,” Briar complained. “Must you constantly—”

  “No, it’s all right,” Grayson interrupted. “They deserve to know the truth.”

  “What truth?” Jimmy asked.

  “That I could make you soulless, right now, in moments, and there would be nothing you could do to stop me.”

&n
bsp; “But the fact that he hasn’t,” Briar pointed out, “speaks to the kind of person he is. Every one of us is capable of murder, but we don’t go around killing people.”

  “Because we can control ourselves, but what if that were no longer true?” Eli asked, though his attention remained on Grayson. “I’m assuming that’s what Perseus was implying when he stopped you from healing the captain.”

  “It was,” Grayson agreed.

  “That isn’t—” she tried to cut in, but Grayson held up a hand, silencing her.

  “We’re all in this together, and I’m fine with everyone being aware of the situation, even if Perseus’s concerns are invalid… for now.”

  “What do you mean?” Jimmy asked.

  “I’m still in full control, but as I devolve, I will become unable to resist taking the humanity that I am losing. That is why the ferra take our hearts and lock us away. And that is why I wanted to be given to Esme.”

  “But the captain,” Jimmy began.

  “Isn’t ferra. That’s why Perseus is still with us.”

  Briar rubbed a hand over her face. “This isn’t—”

  “Can Perseus stop you?” Eli asked.

  “Yes,” Grayson answered, his tone calm and matter of fact. “By ending me.”

  “And that’s the only solution?” Eli asked, his tone just as calm.

  “That’s the only solution.”

  Briar took a breath to speak as Eli sprang forward and seized Grayson by the collar. His move so sudden that the breath she drew became a gasp.

  “Eli!” she cried out.

  He ignored her, pulling Grayson up on his toes as he tugged him closer. “That’s not the only solution, asshole. There’s also the one the captain is working on.”

  “That’s not…” Grayson hesitated.

  “Not what?” Eli demanded. “She might not have found it yet, but I believe she will. How about showing the same faith in her that she has in you?” He shoved Grayson away hard enough to make him stumble.

  The sound of running footsteps drew Briar’s attention. Perseus was hurrying toward them.

  Grayson said nothing, and Eli simply turned and walked away.

  Jimmy stood undecided for a moment, then hurried after Eli.

  Briar sighed, but didn’t get to comment as Perseus joined them.

  “Something wrong?” Perseus asked, his tone politely inquiring.

  “No, why would there be anything wrong?” Briar headed after Eli and Jimmy.

  “Briar?” Grayson called to her.

  “I’ve got a boat to get underway. I’m late enough as it is.” She heard him sigh, but he made no other effort to detain her.

  They made it across the aqueduct outside Bolivar, and through the six locks between there and Canal Dover without incident. To Briar’s relief, they arrived at their destination on time—even with the added precaution of examining each lock before venturing into it.

  The Briar Rose came to a stop against the dock, and Briar was the first one across the gangplank.

  “Briar, wait,” Grayson called to her.

  She did as he asked, waiting for him to join her. She hadn’t had any significant conversation with him since the scene at the damaged lock in Navarre that morning. He had either been helping Molly with the meal preparations, or walking with Zach on the towpath.

  “I’d rather you didn’t meet with Andrew alone,” he said as he joined her.

  “I thought you were of the opinion that he couldn’t disobey his master.”

  “That’s true, but since I don’t know the exact nature of what he’s been commanded to do, I thought it best to err on the side of caution.”

  “All right.” She turned toward the toll office once more.

  “No argument?” he asked, falling in step beside her.

  “Do you want an argument?”

  “I want to get you alone and share some more blackberries, but I fear you took Eli’s words to heart and are angry at me.”

  “I’m not angry,” she said. “I’m not angry at anyone.”

  “You’ve been very quiet today.”

  “I’m depressed. I don’t know how to stop your devolvement.”

  “Briar.”

  “There he is,” she said. The toll office had come into view, and she spied Andrew sitting on the bench out front, Owens leaning against the building at the end of the bench.

  Andrew got to his feet, but he let her come to him. When she stopped before him, he wordlessly held up her wanted poster, then ripped it in half. Opening his hands, he let the paper fall to the ground.

  “The toll has been paid. I’ll see you at the office in Roscoe, tomorrow afternoon.” He turned to go.

  “Was it you?” she asked.

  He stopped and looked back at her. “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me.”

  “I did, but I didn’t understand you.”

  She took a deep breath in an effort to maintain her temper. “Did you vandalize the lock in Navarre or strike my boat during the night.”

  “It’s not your boat.”

  She took a step toward him. “Answer the question, Andrew.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Let’s try another question.” Grayson closed the distance between him and Andrew in two long strides. “What exactly did my brother command you to do? I do hope it isn’t to force your presence on us at each toll office. That will get tiresome.”

  Owens snorted.

  Grayson lifted his gaze to Solon’s other henchman. “And what of you?”

  “I was told to keep an eye on that one.” He nodded at Andrew.

  Grayson’s attention shifted to Andrew. “Well?”

  “As I told you,” Andrew answered. “It is my responsibility to see to your timely arrival in Portsmouth.” He took a small step back and lifted his chin. “And should you prefer to travel in a more… pleasant environment, we have a private car.”

  “My environment is already quite pleasant.”

  Andrew frowned. “Certainly you are accustomed to better, sir. We can provide it.”

  Owens snickered.

  Andrew cast him a frown. “What is your problem now, madman?”

  “He does not refer to his environment, but the company,” Owens clarified. “He doesn’t find you nearly as charming as your cousin.”

  “True,” Grayson answered. “But kindly refrain from further comment, or I shall finish what we started in that alley in Chillicothe.”

  “My lord.” Owens dipped his head as he acquiesced, but he was smirking when he straightened.

  “Then we shall see you in Roscoe,” Andrew cut in. “Good afternoon.” He turned to go.

  “Mr. Rose?” Grayson stopped him.

  “Sir?”

  “If I find out that you’re behind Miss Rose’s recent problems, I will harvest your organs and return you to your natural state. Are we clear?”

  “My cousin has misled you, sir. You may inquire of Owens for confirmation, but we spent the night in Massillon, then journeyed directly here.”

  Owens didn’t offer a confirmation. He continued to watch the exchange in amusement.

  “You have been warned,” Grayson said to Andrew, then offered Briar his arm. “Shall we?”

  “Please.” She took his arm, knowing how her familiarity with him infuriated Andrew. “But let’s stop at the market on the way back. I’d like to get some more berries.”

  Grayson laughed. “Indeed.”

  She didn’t turn to look, but she could feel Andrew glaring at her. She couldn’t fault Mr. Owens for being amused. Getting the better of Andrew was always entertaining.

  Chapter 6

  “What do you think?” Grayson asked once they’d left the toll office behind them. “Was Andrew telling the truth?�
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  She thought back over the encounter. “He was probably telling the truth about spending the night in Massillon and the rest of it, but that’s not to say he didn’t hire someone to sabotage us. He wouldn’t want to get his hands dirty.”

  “I assume you mean physically. He doesn’t seem like he has much of a conscience otherwise.”

  “True,” she agreed, not especially proud of the fact. He was family, after all. “What about you?” she asked Grayson. “Do you still think he’s bound by Solon’s orders?”

  “Yes, though short of hearing Solon give the actual command, I can’t be one hundred percent certain. But we both know that Solon wants us, and Andrew would not want to disappoint Solon.”

  “Even if he wasn’t soulless,” she added. “If he realized that you outrank Solon, he’d be kissing your ass.”

  “It seemed he had already puckered up.”

  She laughed. “Thank you for that image.”

  “You’re welcome.” He laid his hand over hers where it rested on his arm, the gesture sympathetic. Had he picked up on her shame over Andrew? She didn’t ask.

  They arrived at the small market a few minutes later and spent a pleasant quarter of an hour browsing the stalls. For a short time, Briar was able to push her troubles aside and simply enjoy Grayson’s company. Perhaps she should accompany him to market more often. Though a public place, it was a rare opportunity to be alone.

  But it was a short reprieve, and all too soon they were on their way back to the boat.

  “I think those are way more berries than the two of us can eat.” Briar slid her hand into his—the hand that wasn’t carrying the basket full of ripe blueberries. “Are you planning another cake?”

  “Some tarts,” he answered.

  She smiled. “Yes, I’m certainly glad I kidnapped you.”

  “Because of my cooking skills, or is there another reason?”

  “The cooking, of course.” She winked. “What other reason could there be?”

  Sensation washed over her. In her mind’s eye, she saw the aft deck in the dim glow of a shuttered lantern. The taste of blackberries filled her mouth and warm lips brushed her own.

  “Grayson,” she whispered, glancing around.

  He laughed. “No one can see,” he said softly. “That was in your head.”