by Becca Andre
Chapter 13
Briar ran after the others, and Kali followed suit. Briar knew her effort was futile, but couldn’t stand and do nothing. Darby must have decided that with his identity revealed, he had nothing left to lose with a direct assault. And with that reinforced bow, he would definitely come out the winner.
Perseus and Grayson were running side by side, moving away from the rest of them with astonishing speed, closing the distance a lot faster than Briar would believe possible. But even with their superhuman quickness, she didn’t think they could get there in time.
The thought no sooner crossed her mind than Grayson skidded to a stop and threw out both arms.
Darby’s boat abruptly veered to the side and, missing her boat by only a few feet, ran aground. Had Grayson been able to affect it by the metal on the reinforced bow? The distance across the water wasn’t that great. He had just needed to get close enough.
Grayson turned and took off after Perseus, who hadn’t stopped running. They followed the southern bank of the basin and would soon cross to the side where her boat was tied.
The water churned behind Darby’s boat, and to her amazement, it began to slide off the bank. If he freed himself, would he back up and take another run at her boat? Or would he flee?
Jimmy and Zach were well ahead of Briar and Kali, but Grayson and Perseus would reach her boat first by a wide margin.
Darby continued to churn up water as he moved his boat off the bank little by little.
Briar eyed the shrinking distance between Grayson and Perseus, and Darby’s boat. With the oblong shape of the basin it was hard to judge, but Grayson ought to be getting close to being in range to affect Darby’s boat again.
The boat abruptly moved past the point of resistance and slipped down the bank, shooting backward once free. It glided out into the basin, then reversed altogether heading toward the bank once more.
Lungs burning and thighs aching, Briar tried to run faster. Darby was going to make another attempt on her boat. Didn’t the idiot understand what Grayson had just done? Certainly, he knew that Grayson was a ferromancer.
Briar stumbled to a stop as she saw Grayson leap into the air, his silver wings bursting through his shirt and spreading behind him.
Slipping her fingers into her pocket, she pulled out the silver watch and gripped it in her fist. Grayson, she called out to him. What are you doing?
He didn’t answer.
What if you’re seen?
A cool brush of… otherness touched her senses, but that was the extent of his response.
“What’s he doing?” Kali demanded, echoing Briar’s question as she stopped beside her. Zach and Jimmy ran on, leaving them behind.
“I don’t—” Briar pulled in a breath as Grayson banked to the left and shot out over the water, heading straight for Darby.
“Briar?” Kali prompted.
Grayson? Briar tried to get his attention. Was he just getting close enough so he could influence Darby’s boat again? She hoped that was his intent, but the boat wasn’t changing course.
Grayson folded his wings and dove, landing gracefully on the aft deck of Darby’s boat.
The River Shark continued its course, but it hadn’t regained its former speed. If anything, it seemed to be slowing. Had Grayson taken control of the propeller?
Darby left the tiller deck and stepped up onto the aft deck. Surprisingly, he walked toward Grayson, though his steps were hesitant. Briar wasn’t certain if his actions displayed his own bravado, or his stupidity. With Darby, she was leaning toward the latter.
Oddly, Grayson made no further effort to control Darby’s boat, and it struck the Briar Rose with a thump solid enough to make her cringe.
Grayson, my boat, she complained.
He didn’t respond. He just watched Darby drop to his knees before him.
“This isn’t good,” Kali muttered. “I think your ferromancer has decided to take care of the problem for you.”
Or was he giving in to temptation?
Grayson reached for Darby.
She squeezed the silver pocket watch. Grayson, no!
Movement drew her eye, and she was surprised to see Perseus leap from the deck of the Briar Rose to land on the River Shark. He didn’t break stride as he ran across the catwalk toward the aft deck.
Grayson must have heard him coming because he turned to face him.
Darby scrambled to his feet, clearly not sure what to make of this new arrival.
Perseus launched himself at Grayson, who sprang forward to meet him. The pair collided and went rolling across the deck. With no rail to stop them, they tumbled over the side of the boat.
Cursing, Kali turned and ran.
Don’t hurt him, Grayson. Briar gripped the silver pocket watch and ran after Kali.
Free of their passengers, Darby’s steersman must have decided that enough was enough. He had the boat moving again, steering it away from the Briar Rose and heading toward Roscoe.
Briar was close enough to where the canal branched off from the basin that she could see Darby and his steersman’s animated conversation, but she couldn’t hear what they said. One thing was certain. Darby was getting away.
Unable to do anything about it, she hurried toward her boat, arriving just behind Kali. Jimmy and Zach stood at the edge of the water, along with Eli who had leapt ashore. No one spoke, each inhaling deeply after the long run. Grayson and Perseus were nowhere in sight.
Briar stepped up beside Kali. “Where are they?”
Kali pointed at the murky brown water before them. She took a step forward, but Briar caught her arm.
“Underwater?” Briar asked.
Kali jerked her arm free and hurried into the water.
Grayson, come here, Briar demanded, trying to put her will behind it.
Nothing.
“Grayson,” she spoke aloud. “Answer me.”
Again, he didn’t respond. She didn’t even feel a brush of that alien coldness.
“Perseus!” Kali shouted, now chest-deep in the water. Had she reached a point where the basin dropped off? Kali couldn’t swim.
A tingle of static, and the pocket watch morphed into the little metal dragon. Lock sprang up on Briar’s shoulder, his fear washing over her. Grayson was in trouble.
Briar waded into the water. Unlike Kali, she was a good swimmer. And so was Perseus. Where the hell was he? If he couldn’t drown, what was he doing? Holding Grayson underwater?
Furious, Briar suddenly remembered Lucrezia’s guardsmen and how she’d controlled them. “Perseus,” Briar spoke aloud, not certain it would work otherwise. “Let him go. Now.” Of course, Perseus couldn’t physically hear her under the water, so—
Grayson burst from the water a few yards ahead of her. He gasped violently, clearly struggling to pull air into his lungs. Perseus rose from the water behind him. He took a couple of deep breaths, but seemed otherwise fine, unlike Grayson who was in obvious distress.
Briar opened her mouth, ready to tell Perseus to help him, but he swam closer to Grayson and wrapped an arm around him, helping him move toward shore.
“Perseus! Are you all right?” Kali asked.
Perseus didn’t answer, his eyes locked with Briar’s as he pulled Grayson toward shore. Fortunately, they hadn’t been very far out and were soon able to stand. Or at least Perseus could. Grayson continued to cough and wheeze as he half stumbled, half swam toward shore.
“Eli, would you help him?” Briar asked.
Eli was frowning, but nodded and hurried into the water to help Perseus drag Grayson onto shore. To Briar’s relief, the wings and razor-edged dorsal spines were no longer visible.
Once on shore, Grayson fell to his knees and doubled over. He continued to cough, but it was beginning to subside.
Briar hurried over and dropped to her knees beside him. “G
rayson?” She gripped his shoulder.
Lock moaned and then hopped over to Grayson’s shoulder and pressed his cheek to his. He was very worried about him. Had it been that close a call?
The back of Grayson’s shirt had been shredded by his wings and dorsal spines. Through it, Briar could see the newly visible metal that now ran between his shoulder blades and spine, across the back of his shoulders. Dear God, he seemed to be losing ground faster and faster. Had Esme’s suggested timeline for a drake’s devolvement been too generous, or had all their troubles accelerated things? And did the cause matter? The outcome was the same.
I’m sorry. Grayson’s mind touched hers.
It’s all right. She squeezed his shoulder.
No, it’s not. He bowed his head, but sent her nothing else.
Seeing that he wasn’t going to share—and that they had an audience, she got to her feet. Thank goodness there were no other boats around, and the lock tender across the basin had been busy repairing the aqueduct towpath.
“What the hell was that?” Kali demanded.
Briar frowned. “What do you mean?”
“With Perseus,” she clarified, her hands clenched at her sides. “You gave him a command. He couldn’t hear you, yet he still obeyed.”
“It was just something to try. I wasn’t certain it would work—if it even did.”
“Of course it did.” Kali moved a step closer. “Tell her, Perce. Tell her you were a mindless minion, just like the soulless are to one of them.” She waved a hand at Grayson.
“Stand down, Kali.” Perseus stepped between them.
“Of course you would come to her defense. You have no choice.”
Perseus sighed.
“That is not true,” Briar shot back. “I don’t tell anyone what to do.”
“Bull. Shit. You tell everyone what to do. Every single person here.”
“It’s my job. I’m captain. And I’ve had enough of your bullshit.” Briar glared at Kali before addressing the crew. “Let’s get moving. I don’t want Darby to get that far ahead.”
“We’re going after him?” Jimmy asked. “I thought Andrew gave you a deadline to reach Portsmouth.”
“Andrew?” Kali demanded. “It wasn’t Andrew. He’s a soulless minion with no capacity for independent thought.”
Jimmy frowned, looking annoyed with her himself. “The captain said that Andrew gave her a deadline to avoid arrest.”
“The details are immaterial,” Briar spoke up, hoping to distract them from the topic. “We have a deadline, and I intend to meet it.”
“It was Solon,” Kali cut in. “And getting arrested has nothing to do with it.”
“Kali,” Briar tried to stop her. Maybe if she threw a punch…
“Solon said that if she didn’t deliver the ferromancer in one week’s time, he and his fellows would raze Portsmouth to the ground.”
“What?” Jimmy whispered.
“Isn’t that right, Captain?” Kali asked.
Briar lunged for her, but to her surprise, Perseus caught her and pulled her back.
“Good move, Perce. You’d better keep her off of me if you’re to be a good little minion and protect her. Enjoy your new life. I’ll get my things and go.” Kali turned and walked away.
Perseus released Briar. “Excuse me.” He took a step after Kali, but Briar caught his arm.
“And what the hell happened with Grayson? Were you intentionally holding him underwater?”
“Yes.”
Briar blinked at the abrupt answer.
“He can explain it to you,” Perseus added. “Allow me to go after Kali? She has a lot of issues with our world that she has not come to terms with.”
“Your world,” Briar corrected him. “I’m not really part of it.”
He held her gaze as if debating whether to argue, then bowed his head. “I stand corrected. May I go?”
“Of course. I don’t tell you what to do.”
Again, he seemed to hesitate, then thanked her and hurried away.
The silence was incredibly loud. Briar took a deep breath and faced her crew.
“Solon is going to destroy Portsmouth?” Jimmy asked.
“No, he’s not.” Briar put all of her conviction into those words. “It’s an empty threat.”
“Then he really said it,” Zach spoke up.
Briar sighed. “He did, but nothing will come of it.”
“How do you know?” Jimmy asked. “The guy is desperate to get Grayson. He’s chased him around the world.”
“Just across the Atlantic,” she clarified. “Seriously, he’s not going to do anything.”
“What makes you so certain?” Jimmy’s voice broke at the end. “He’s already proven he’ll do anything. Why didn’t you tell us?”
“This is why.” She waved a hand at him, giving in to her frustration. “You’re overreacting.”
“Overreacting?” Jimmy opened his mouth and closed it a few times as if unable to find an appropriate response.
“What exactly did he say?” Zach asked. His tone was cool and collected, yet it set off an urgency in Briar.
“Do not use your voice on her,” Grayson said, his voice even cooler, though he didn’t look up.
“Or what?” Eli asked. “What will you do?”
Grayson lifted his head, though he remained kneeling on the towpath. “I would ask again.”
“That wasn’t an ask. That was a command,” Eli said through gritted teeth.
“Would you stop?” Briar asked.
Eli turned his frown on her. “I’m disappointed in you, Miss Briar.”
“Eli—”
“We’ll go check the boat for damage and prepare to cast off. It doesn’t sound like we have any time to lose.” He walked away, and Zach and Jimmy followed.
Briar crossed her arms, struggling to keep her emotions in check. There was nothing she wanted more than a good cry, but she couldn’t give in to that. She was captain, and captains had to be strong.
Grayson climbed to his feet and stepped up behind her. “Who says captains can’t cry?”
“That’s what Uncle Charlie always told me.” She took a breath. “I failed him twice over.”
“Come here.”
She turned and he pulled her to him. She went willingly, collapsing against the remains of his wet shirt.
“I would imagine you make your uncle incredibly proud.” Grayson’s lips brushed her forehead. “Though it must pain him, even in the afterlife, to have spawned such a son as your cousin.”
“It pained him in life as well.” She wrapped her arms around him and felt the metal that now made up so much of his back. She stepped out of his arms.
“Briar?”
“You’re changing before my eyes,” she whispered. She glanced toward the boat, but there was no one around. “And your… other side keeps slipping out more and more. I feel like we’re running out of time.”
He didn’t look away. “That’s because we are.” He took a breath. “I wonder if Solon knew I wouldn’t be useful for long, and that’s why he gave us so short a deadline.”
“Once you devolve, you won’t be able to stop the devolvement of the others?”
“Or I won’t care.” His gaze held hers.
A new worry hit her. “Are you going to do what Solon wants?”
Grayson brushed his fingers along her cheek. “If I’m not going to be me much longer, shouldn’t I make my life count for something?”
Her heart clenched. “You are going to do as he wants,” she whispered.
He took his hand from her face. “I thought I could give my life purpose through my inventions, but I don’t have the time. Saving my brothers—if I can figure out how—would at least be something. Esme gave her life for this cause. I would be dishonoring her memory if I
do less.”
“So I’ve got what—four more days with you?” Briar asked.
He held her gaze for a moment, then pulled her to him and hugged her once more. “Forgive me. I don’t want to leave you, but I must do this.”
Unable to come up with a good argument, she returned his embrace, her hands again finding the metal of his back. “You need to get on board and find a shirt that isn’t so shredded,” she said, though she didn’t release him.
“Worried that you won’t be able to contain yourself?” A hint of his usual humor colored his words.
She smiled, though she’d rather cry. “Absolutely.” Steeling her resolve, she released him and stepped back, then gestured toward the boat. “Shall we?”
He took a breath and released it, growing serious. “All right, but I’ll probably need to leave dinner to Molly and walk the towpath this evening.”
“Perhaps I’ll join you. I could do with a walk myself.”
“The crew loves you. They’ll forgive you.”
“I hope so, but I’m not so sure I can forgive myself.”
“That does seem to be a problem with you.”
“I know, but I don’t think I can change.”
He offered a smile, yet didn’t comment further as they headed for the boat. She remained silent as well, her mind awash with all the problems facing her.
Chapter 14
It had been a while since Briar had driven a team out on the towpath, probably not since she’d become captain. Some might suggest that she saw it as beneath her, but that wasn’t true. With two able drivers, she had never needed to cover for them.
“I forgot how pleasant this was,” she said to Grayson who walked beside her. “I always loved driving the mules for Uncle Charlie.”
“Even on a hot, sticky day like today?” Grayson asked.
“Well, those weren’t as pleasant, but it usually isn’t much different on the boat. Here, you have shade trees and you’re moving. That can distract you from the heat.”
“If you say so.” He wiped his brow and glanced at the sun moving toward the western horizon.
They had been walking for about an hour. Roscoe was well behind them, and they’d seen no sign of Darby. They hadn’t seen Perseus or Kali, either, but Briar couldn’t stop to wait on them. She didn’t doubt that they would be back. Not with Grayson still on the loose.