Lady Can Never Be Too Curious

by Mary Wine

  She stopped and looked at her friend. “How did you know—”

  “Because that man never stopped talking from the moment his ruffians kidnapped me,” Sophia explained. “Mind you, I’m sure it’s due to the fact that they expect to kill me at some point, but still, you’d think members of some secret order like theirs would be a little less talkative around a nonmember. No one is perfect, after all. One or two captives are sure to escape having their throats slit from time to time. It’s simply a matter of averages.”

  Janette wanted to be horrified; instead, she discovered herself grateful for her friend’s humor. “You never do take anything seriously.”

  Sophia widened her eyes innocently. “That isn’t true, and you know it. Why, I take the threat of being sent to the Highlands very seriously, Janette. You know I detest the rain.”

  “Cold rain, anyway.” Janette looked at the clouds around the peak. Yesterday, they’d grown until they covered the lava flow and dumped warm rain on them. It had been a welcome relief.

  But she couldn’t count on there being rain today. Grainger’s threat hung over her like a stone, ready to crush her.

  Janette walked closer to the crystal, fighting off the urge to sway in time with the humming. It filled her head, leaving little room for any sort of thinking.

  Sophia hooked her arm and pulled her forward. “I do believe it is a good thing I am here. You need a steady hand for this crystal hunting.”

  They climbed over a large finger of lava, and on the other side, water rushed by. It was like heaven and hell were side by side. On one side, nothing but endless dark brown lava rock with the scent of sulfur, while on the other, the lush jungle with its plants all green and sprouting flowers. Through it ran a river. The water rushed down from the top of the mountain where the lava had erupted. It was a torrent now because up near the peak, clouds had gathered and were dropping the rain that fed the stream. The water was moving fast enough to fill it with tiny bubbles, which gave it a white appearance.

  “Water.”

  They both climbed down, eager for a taste. Neither one gave any mind to their hems but waded right into the water to scoop handfuls of it up.

  “I never thought water could taste so sweet,” Sophia muttered.

  Janette agreed, but she was distracted by the humming. Once her thirst was sated, she turned practically hypnotized by the rhythmic sounds.

  “You hear one?” Grainger appeared on the top of the lava flow with Bion close on his heels. “Don’t you?”

  Janette stumbled, instinctively moving away from Grainger.

  “She did until you interrupted,” Sophia scolded him.

  “Shut your mouth—” Grainger ended up following his own orders when Janette looked away from the rock to glare at him. He was furious but gestured with his hand for her to seek out the crystal.

  Part of her wanted to refuse on principle, but there was another part of her that refused to give up on life. Grainger had a long rifle propped against his shoulder. The barrel was pointing at the sky, but that could change so quickly.

  “Let Sophia go.” She wasn’t sure where she got the idea to bargain with him, only that it erupted from her and there was no controlling it.

  “You’re mad if you think I am going to get rid of the single hold I have over you.” Grainger reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a small pistol. It was tiny, likely a lady’s muff weapon. His lips twisted slightly before he aimed the barrel at Sophia.

  “Don’t be an idiot!” Bion lunged at him, but it was too late.

  There was a puff of black smoke and a squeal from Sophia as the bullet tore into her leg. She fell into a heap, clutching at her calf while Janette dragged her out of the water before the current pulled her downriver. Janette shoved her petticoat aside to stare at the groove left in her friend’s flesh from the bullet.

  “That wasn’t necessary,” Bion said.

  Grainger’s eyes narrowed. “I disagree. If you’re too soft to witness the methods necessary to keep this Pure Spirit in line, I suggest you leave. I’ve never had much taste for traitors myself.”

  “I don’t find enjoyment in tormenting females.” Bion pulled his arm back and sent a solid blow toward Grainger’s jaw. It connected with a harsh sound of flesh hitting flesh. Grainger stumbled backward, and the back of his head collided with the lava rock.

  “You…bastard…” He mumbled but collapsed in a heap as he rubbed at the back of his head. He still held on to the pistol, though, even as he seemed to lose track of what was happening.

  “Damned idiot,” Bion muttered before dropping to one knee beside Sophia.

  “We don’t need your assistance,” she snapped, but the First Officer paid her no mind. He pulled her leg out so he could look at it, without a care for how forward his actions were. Not that either of them should have been shocked, considering the circumstances, but Sophia sucked in a deep breath and her eyes bulged. She likely blushed, but with the sunburn, it was impossible to tell.

  “It’s only a flesh wound. You’re lucky.” Bion grabbed her skirt and tore another length of fabric off the already-mangled hem. He wound it around the wound before tying it securely. “But it’s going to hurt like hell.”

  “Good,” Grainger snapped.

  Janette turned to see the muzzle of the pistol aimed at Sophia again. Grainger’s eyes were glittering with rage. Blood trickled down his chin, and more had soaked into his collar from the back of his head. Fear tingled through her because he looked far more dangerous wounded than he had ever looked before. There was desperation in his eyes now.

  “Get that crystal, or I will put the next bullet closer to her heart.”

  Bion moved, but Grainger followed him with the rifle. “Stay right there! I’ll shoot you too. Actually, first, because it would please me greatly to be rid of you…traitor.”

  Bion froze, but his gaze was on Grainger, judging the distance between them.

  “I’ll get off a shot, Bion, and that’s a promise.” He stood, using the lava rock to support his body. “Now get me that crystal. I know you hear one. Dig it up, or enjoy having your hands stained with blood.”

  “Don’t do it, Janette,” Sophia muttered.

  Bion reached out and covered her mouth with his hand. “He’s not in his right mind.”

  “I am indeed in my right mind!” Grainger insisted. “Get me the crystal!”

  His finger moved on the trigger, his eyes glowing with some insane light.

  “I’m going,” Janette announced. “Look…I’m going now…just be patient.”

  “I am the one giving orders here!” Grainger yelled.

  “I can’t hear it,” she shouted back at him. Her heart was racing, sending blood pumping through her ears. “I just need to listen—and everyone needs to stop shouting, so I can hear it.”

  Grainger ground his teeth. His nostrils flared; he looked like he was losing control.

  “Do it now,” he told her in a low growl.

  Panic threatened to grip her, but she fended it off. Sophia shook her head, but Bion pulled her against his body to keep her still. The sound of the crystal rose above the water, drawing her to the edge of the lava, where the river rushed around it.

  “Yes…yes…crystals need water to grow…” Grainger mumbled.

  Janette waded into the water. The current pulled at her skirts, but she bent down and dug into the black sand beneath the surface. Pieces of lava stone bit into her fingers as she pulled up handfuls of mud until she felt the tingle of power traveling through her body.

  “Yes!” Grainger shouted with glee. “Bring it to me!”

  “It’s stuck,” Janette insisted. “I can’t free it.”

  He glared at Sophia. “Give her your gloves, Bion, and do so slowly.”

  “They won’t have the strength to harvest it,” Bion argued.

  “They’d better.” Grainger refused to budge. “Give her your gloves now, or she can take them after I shoot you.”

  Bion’s exp
ression tightened. A muscle along the side of his jaw twitched. “I believe I’m going to enjoy killing you.”

  “Not while I have the gun.” Grainger snickered. “Give her the gloves.”

  “I believe I am going to enjoy watching the pair of you fight over that damned crystal,” Sophia remarked as she took the gloves Bion held out for her.

  “I agree,” Janette added. She was beginning to shake, the water stealing every last bit of warmth from her legs. It felt like the blood running back up to her heart was cold too.

  “Shut your mouths. Women never know when to be silent.”

  Sophia rolled her eyes when she reached Janette. She limped and stood at an odd angle to favor her injured leg once she was next to her friend. They reached beneath the water, Sophia feeling about until she had her hands on the crystal. Sophia jerked but didn’t let it go. They pulled, combining their strength until it came free. They both lost their footing and sprawled into the middle of the rushing water.

  “Hold it right there!”

  Janette jerked her head around, sure she was hallucinating because she heard Darius’s voice loud and clear in spite of the rush of the water and the crystal humming inside her head. She quickly righted herself. She had it in her hands—it was an inch wide and four inches long.

  “Don’t move, Grainger. Not an inch, or I’ll put a bullet between your eyes.”

  It was Darius.

  She turned her head and found him standing on the other side of the river. He was waist-deep in the water with a pistol leveled at Grainger.

  “I’ll kill her,” Grainger threatened, the muzzle of his rifle aimed at Sophia.

  Bion launched himself at Grainger while everyone was looking at Sophia. The gun went off, but the bullet only hit the water as Bion tackled Grainger to the ground.

  The current was much stronger than Janette had realized; it was pulling at her. She struggled to stay on her feet while holding the crystal.

  “Janette…give me your hand…” Sophia lunged toward her, grabbing her hands and pulling the crystal closer to the water.

  The moment the crystal hit the water, there was a sizzle and an explosion. Whatever had been in her hands vaporized like it was scalding-hot and the water had cooled it. The white steam rose into Sophia’s face, while the force of it sent Janette back into the strongest part of the river. The current swept her off her feet, tumbling her like a stick. It sucked her down, filling her mouth and nose, encasing her in a swirling white environment. She couldn’t tell which way was up or down. She felt the water suck her down, pulling her body away from the light. Her lungs began to burn, and she fought, but to no avail. Darkness began to crush her in its grasp, but she fought against it, struggling to escape the hold of the current. Where her mind was willing, her body couldn’t maintain the battle without air. Her muscles refused to obey her as her mind began to succumb to the darkness.

  Darius had come for her. Maybe to kill her, but at least she’d seen him one final time.

  ***

  “We must go after them.” Sophia’s voice was a mere croak, her throat feeling as raw as her sunburned face. “Before they drown.”

  Tears streamed down her face in spite of her resolve to maintain some dignity. It certainly wasn’t easy. Men surrounded her—Lykos and others who seemed to be working with the Illuminists. Sophia sat on a rock and tried to recover from whatever had happened to her. She rubbed her eyes, trying to restore her vision.

  “She must have had a root ball,” Bion remarked near enough for her to hear him. Sophia looked up, but her vision was blurry, and all she saw were unrecognizable shapes.

  “It was a bunch of tiny crystals, hundreds of them,” she informed him. “But they turned to steam when Janette got them too close to the water.”

  She heard Bion mutter something under his breath and slapped her knees with frustration. The wet fabric of her dress and petticoat sloshed, but she didn’t dare stand, because she didn’t know which way to go.

  “Stop whispering—at least so long as we are discussing my eyes. Even if what happened is part of your secret Order, it happened to my eyes. You can’t take them with you.” She stood but stumbled as her blurred vision disoriented her. Bion wrapped an arm around her waist. It was horribly improper, but she would have fallen without his assistance. She bit her lip.

  “What we need to do is cover them before the sunlight damages them.”

  “What we need to do is go after Janette—she isn’t the best swimmer, I can tell you.”

  “We’ll see to Darius and Janette. You need attention.”

  Bion picked her up. Swung her right up into his arms as if she were a child. A harsh gasp got past her lips in response.

  “You cannot be so forward with me.”

  “For the moment, it cannot be helped.” Bion deposited her back on the rock she’d been sitting on. He covered her eyes with one large hand, sweeping it downward to close her eyes.

  “Why aren’t you in chains or dying like Grainger?” She was being rude but couldn’t seem to control the urge to snap at him.

  He ripped another strip from her dress, making her sigh. “Your dress is beyond repair, Sophia.”

  “I know.” But she didn’t care for how defeated she sounded. “You didn’t answer my question.” At least returning to her demanding questioning was better than sounding like a lost little girl.

  “Keep your eyes closed. You’ll have to endure being blind until we can get you some glasses.” She heard him dunk the fabric in the water a few times before squeezing it.

  “So answer my question.”

  He began to wind the fabric around her head. It was a long strip, and soon, every bit of daylight was blocked out.

  “Why can’t I know? It seems only fair to know if I should thank you or curse you.”

  He tucked the edge of the strip in. “I doubt you’d know many curses.”

  “I know a few,” she groused, the wound on her leg beginning to throb. Fear was trying to strangle her. “Please tell me what happened to my eyes. I’m a tailor…you see. My father needs me.”

  “You won’t be blind,” he offered softly.

  “Don’t coddle me.” She stood again, needing to prove she wasn’t weak, but her leg crumpled. Pain bit into her so hard she couldn’t breathe. She ended up cradled against Bion’s chest again. It should have horrified her. She should have been offended or angry with just how familiar he was being.

  Instead, she felt comforted as her mind shut down and she sank into oblivion.

  “She lasted longer than most,” Lykos remarked.

  “She’s a bloody big problem now,” Cyrus muttered, “but I suppose she’ll find it rather fortunate, considering she’s best friends with the Pure Spirit. They can continue their friendship now.”

  “That’s assuming Janette and Darius are still alive.”

  Lykos looked down the river. There was no sign of Janette or Darius, and he knew the water wound its way through the jungle all the way to the coast. Two hundred feet into the foliage, the river split.

  As if they didn’t have enough complications as it was.

  “This case is cursed,” he announced, not really talking to anyone in particular. “We still haven’t recovered our Pure Spirit, and now we have a Navigator who isn’t a member of the Order.”

  “She might not be a member of the Order but we’re going to have to explain what’s happened to her.” Bion peered down at Sophia. Bitterness welled up inside him as well as anger. She was a mess and an innocent.

  “You recovered her alive. It’s more than some have been granted,” Lykos muttered nearby.

  “I’m no more happy with that than you would be. But the light is fading, which means we’re going to have to leave the search until tomorrow.”

  Understanding dawned in Lykos’s eyes. Bion turned and began carrying Sophia to where a carriage waited. He expected better from himself. Lykos was the sort of man who recognized the trait because he held himself to higher standards too.


  It was not good enough. He’d fallen short of his mission.

  Eight

  She was still alive. Somehow, some way—and part of her resented it because there was pain in living.

  The water still roared with a deafening sound. Now that she’d listened to it for so long, it was becoming soothing.

  “Wake up, Janette.” Darius slapped her cheek gently. “We can’t stay here.”

  She reached up to rub her eyes. They felt full of grit, and her tongue was coated with the same. But memory rushed through her, clearing her mind, and she sat up. Her head collided with Darius’s, sending another jolt of pain through her.

  “How did you...” She looked around, confused. “How did we get here?”

  Darius’s clothing was filthy. His once-fine lawn shirt was full of dark volcanic sand that made it look charcoal gray. His hat was long gone, and his hair was drying in soft curls.

  “I followed you with some notion of rescuing you, but the river got the best of my intentions,” he remarked as he hooked his hand under her arm and lifted her to her feet.

  His grip was solid and real, sending a rush of relief through her. “How did you find me?”

  He turned his dark gaze toward her, the intensity of it sending a ripple of sensation down her spine.

  “You left the note behind.” His eyes narrowed. “What you should have done was brought it to me.”

  “I was not willing to risk Sophia’s life or her toes.”

  “It was foolish of you, Janette. It nearly drove me mad to think of you out with that monster with no way to protect yourself.”

  “I’m not so helpless, you know.” But she was glad to see him, and her voice was full of relief.

  He was frowning, but in his eyes was a flicker of relief as well. His stony expression crumbled as he grinned. “I know you aren’t. In fact, your ability to undermine my self-discipline is quite remarkable.”

  He managed to deliver his comment in a dry tone, worthy of any high-society drawing room. Coupled with the tattered clothing and filth, it struck her as so funny that she laughed out loud.