by A R DeClerck
“Captain, please maintain your position,” she ordered. Corrigan jerked, trying to fight the compulsion, but Lucia knew he could not. She concentrated, trying to force her mind past the wall of dark aether that held her in its grip.
Elizabeth was insane. Lucia castigated herself for missing the telltale signs that the woman was a wizard. A dark mage. Her wide blue eyes sparkled with malice and barely contained glee at the success of her plan. From the moment she had sent the note to Grayson every move had been expertly made. Lucia flinched, even though her face did not show it, when Elizabeth turned to her.
“It’s very nearly midnight.” Her smile grew impossibly wider, and to Lucia’s eye, it was predatory. She turned away and went to Grayson, stroking her hand over his cheek. “Darling, help your brother bring down the machine.”
Grayson trundled away, and Elizabeth seemed to forget about Lucia for the moment. She wandered away to the table loaded with food. As she nibbled daintily on the pastries Lucia nearly cried in relief as her thumb twitched at her command.
“Yes!” she cried out in her head. She narrowed her focus, pushing for the feelings that would be strong enough to allow her to break free of the control of the dark aether. She stared down at Archie’s face. The fire bubbled up in the pit of her stomach, acidity eating at her throat. She would never let him be hurt. The fierce protective instinct roiled, and her hand clenched at her side.
Archie stirred, his eyes fluttering open. His gaze locked with hers. What did he see, she wondered. She had succumbed so easily, even after all her talk of strength.
“Lucia?”
“Ah, Adept!” Elizabeth hurried to his side, watching as he struggled to sit up. “You came out of that much more quickly than I’d anticipated.”
“Somnolence spell?”
“Indeed!” She tapped the toe of her satin slipper and nodded. “You know it?”
“I knew another dark mage who used it.”
“Really?” Her tone grew sharp with interest. “Only the most powerful can control a large group.”
“He was just as insane as you.”
She laughed. “I seriously doubt that. Tell me, Adept, are you still feeling the effects of that wonderful contraption the captain is holding?”
Their eyes went to Corrigan, who stood as still as a statue by the door. His hand was out, something metal glinting in his palm.
“A dielectric?” Archie shook his head with disgust. “Where did you get that? We had them all destroyed.”
“Not all. There are so many things that can be obtained if one has access to enough money.”
“How is it that you’re not affected?”
Lucia knew Archie must be feeling the hollow press of the effects of the dielectric. It made it impossible for aether to act, leaving a wizard defenseless.
“I’ll never tell,” Elizabeth trilled in a singsong voice.
“Another of your special talents I’d wager.”
“We are getting to know each other!” Elizabeth’s face became serious. “You’ll do as I say, Sir Merriweather, or all these innocent people will suffer. You do understand that, don’t you?”
“Oh, yes. I understand you quite well.”
“Good! Now get up.”
As Archie struggled to stand, Lucia tried harder to fight the dark aether for control of her body. She could feel it inside her veins, thick like an infection.
An infection! The idea startled her, but that is what it was. The aether was in every part of her, blocking her connection to her body. She was an Apothecary. A Healer. Could she use that connection with aether to eradicate dark aether, like she would for any other infection?
“Dod I mi, ffrindiau. Cartha tywyllwch hon gan fy ngwaed,” she called to the aether inside her mind. It had always been with her, even as a child. She knew its presence, felt the hot, heady press of it against her skin. Even with the dielectric working, she was somehow shielded from its effects. To maintain her control over me, she has to shield me from the effects of the dielectric, Lucia thought. That is what will save us all.
The aether came to her, clinging to her skin. It felt the presence of its corrupted brethren within her. She flicked her eyes to Elizabeth, but she was occupied with taunting Archie, who was pale and barely standing.
“Cleanse me,” Lucia begged silently to the aether. “Help me.”
She was not prepared for the echo of the aether’s voice in her head. Though Icarus and Cora had told her of its sentience, and its multi-chordal voice, she had never experienced it for herself. Now it vibrated against her eardrums and resonated deep within her mind.
We hear your pleas. They are within you.
“Yes! Please, help me. I have to stop her.”
We are limited in our response. Any attempt to eliminate our brethren may result in your extermination. That violates our terms.
The aether could not kill. Lucia remembered Icarus’ explanation of the three laws by which the aether operated. It could not kill, it could not alter the future or the past, and it could not allow humans access to information that might alter the future. If it eliminated the dark aether inside her, it ran the risk of killing her, breaking one of its own rules.
“Please. She will kill them all.”
We are limited in our response.
Icarus had not exaggerated about the irritating way the aether chose to answer questions. There had to be a way to get the aether to do as she wished without breaking the rules.
She stumbled when Elizabeth’s hand jerked hard on her arm. The cruel pinch of Elizabeth’s hand was sharp. She was not in control of her body, but her pain receptors still spoke to her brain.
“Stop dawdling, Lucia. We have work to do.”
Lucia had no choice but to follow the woman, even as she resisted it in her mind. She walked with a stilted, ambling gait, her knees locked and her hands at her sides.
“What is happening here, Elizabeth?” Archie demanded. He was trembling, his mouth drawn. Without the aether, he would feel as if a vital part of him was missing. Lucia longed to go to him, to put her arms around him and erase his pain.
“Why must the hero always demand to know the plan of the villain?” Elizabeth asked with a huff. “Why must I tell you what I plan? So you can devise a way to stop me? That seems a bit silly, doesn’t it?”
“We will stop you.”
She laughed. “I suppose you’ll try. You would not be a hero if you did not. Precisely why I was so happy to hear that Grayson had convinced you to come.”
“Why would you invite the very people intent on stopping you?”
“Archie, darling.” Her sugary sweet tone and the subtle sway of her hips as she approached him had Lucia fuming. When the petite blonde woman ran a long satin-covered finger over his cheek Lucia wanted tear her apart, limb from limb. “There you go asking about my plans again. Suffice it to say, I like to play with my food.”
She pressed her lips against his cheek, and it did Lucia’s heart good to see the look of disgust on his face.
Elizabeth smiled as the Trimble brothers carried the large metal box from the ninth room into the ballroom. “Ah! Here are my men now! Yes, yes dears. Put it right in the center, please.”
They placed the contraption in the center of the room and stood next to it. Elizabeth hurried to look it over, a mad, excited grin on her face. “You’ve completed it?” she asked Atraxas.
Lucia was not astonished to see that the man showed signs of control by dark aether. He crossed his arms and nodded. “I have. It will work as you requested.”
“Thank you, darling.” Elizabeth pressed her lips to his, writhing against him in as lewd a public display as Lucia had ever witnessed. Lucia flicked her eyes to Grayson, but he was starry eyed, staring off into space with a blank face. Archie looked away, his lips curled in disgust.
When they pulled apart, Elizabeth patted her chignon and waved her fan to cool her heated cheeks. “As randy as ever I see!” She patted Atraxas’ cheek as one might a p
et, and then bent over the machine. “How many will I need, do you think?”
“With the bird as the catalyst I’d suppose only two or three of the strongest.” Atraxas looked at the party guests heaped against the wall. “You’ll have to subdue the rest before we start. The machine won’t work if the dielectric is operational.”
“What have you done to Machiavelli?” Archie demanded. He took several menacing steps toward them, his hands clenched against his sides. “Lucan Orrin will rip you apart for this.”
“And I’d be rightly terrified if I thought the Grand Master could get here from India before my plan is complete,” Elizabeth told him. “But as it stands I will have what I want before the night is through and there will be no wizard in this world who can challenge me then.”
“This is about power?”
“Isn’t it always?” She snapped her fan and gave him an exasperated roll of her eyes. “At what point in any conflict can you say that the true root of the skirmish is not power? Really, Adept! I thought you savvier in the art of war.”
“We are not at war, Elizabeth.”
She narrowed her eyes at him as he stalked closer. “I beg to differ. There is always a war on, even when you do not realize it. You think I will stand by and find myself on the losing side? You would find yourself sorely mistaken.”
“I may not have my magic, but I could snap your neck and end all of this before it begins.”
Lucia had seen this side of Archimedes before, but it was clear Elizabeth had never expected to see his savage past for herself. She stepped back, and Lucia felt a buzz of excitement inside herself. Elizabeth was afraid!
“You’ll never touch her,” Atraxas said hotly, stepping between them.
“You’re no match for me, boy.” Archie’s voice was low. Even. He stared hard at the young engineer. “Stand down while you have the chance.”
“Kill him!” Elizabeth screeched, her back pressed against the machine.
“See how easy she forfeits your life? She would sacrifice you like she sacrificed her own cousin.”
Atraxas’ eyes went to Elizabeth, whose face had paled, twin dots of red appeared on her cheeks.
“You killed Billy Langley, didn’t you, Elizabeth?”
Lucia felt the grip of the dark aether loosen around her as Elizabeth’s control over it slipped. While the other woman was confronted by the sins of her past her mind was not fully on her magic. With all the strength she could muster, Lucia managed a half step backward.
Elizabeth’s chin went up. “So what if I did? He was a sniveling brat, anyway. I needed the blood.”
“He was a child!” Atraxas’ eyes were wide. “Your own cousin!”
“Darling, he was a means to an end. It was his blood that made Delbert Wicket finally notice me.”
“You used Billy’s blood in a love spell? To ensnare Del?” Atraxas swallowed hard. “When you knew Gray and I loved you.”
“I needed Summer Ridge as my own. The power here is rapturous. A font of untapped aether. I did it for us. For our future.”
“Stand down, Trimble,” Archie warned again, his eyes on Elizabeth. “She’ll gut you when she doesn’t need you anymore.”
Atraxas took a step back, but he froze a moment later. His face contorted in a bizarre mask of pain and Archie gasped as an audible crack echoed in the ballroom. The engineer’s body fell, his neck at an angle no living body could withstand.
“What did you do?” Archie muttered sickly, looking to Elizabeth. Her hand clenched in the air, swarming with dark aether. She had used her magic to snap the young man’s neck.
“I can’t afford a turncoat. Not now. Not when I’m so close.”
Archie took a step toward her, and she shook her head. “No.” She opened her fist, and he froze in his tracks. “You’re an exceedingly strong man, Adept. Yes, you could kill me if you get close enough. So I think you’ll stay right there.”
Archie struggled against her magic, but without his own, he was powerless. Elizabeth went to the food table and picked up a large butcher’s knife. The twinkle of the candlelight off the blade made Lucia’s stomach sick. Images of blood and the memory of pain washed over her. Elizabeth stalked toward her, the knife held in her hand.
“Don’t you touch her,” Archie warned. “If you hurt her—“
“Calm yourself. I would never hurt Lucia. She and I are much alike.” Elizabeth took Lucia’s arm and propelled her to stand in front of Archie. She picked up Lucia’s hand and held it. “She looks beautiful tonight, does she not?”
“She always does.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Ah, love.” She put the knife into Lucia’s hand. “Hold it,” she commanded.
Lucia could not stop her fingers curling around the blade. Elizabeth raised Lucia’s arm and pressed the tip of the knife to Archie’s chest, directly over his heart.
“I heard that you could not kill him when you were under my spell in the cabin. I can remedy that now.”
Sudden memories swam in Lucia’s mind at Elizabeth’s words; flashes of the woman with Dooley and Wicket, her face close to Lucia’s. Her eyes swimming with dark aether. Elizabeth had placed the knife in Lucia’s hand, pressing it against her own flesh. “Cut me!” the woman had commanded. She had even laughed when the blade sliced her arms, blood spraying over Lucia.
Lucia raised her eyes to Archie’s.
“It’s going to be all right,” he assured her quietly.
If she could have smiled, she would have. He was not scared for himself, even with a knife pressed against his chest. He was worried about her.
“Kill him.”
Sleigh Bells Ring
For much of her life Lucia had felt that she was not in control of herself. Raised with expectations of lady hood, and later responsibilities as an Apothecary, etiquette, decorum and the suffocating press of court had robbed her of her breath. After the night at Indulgence she had run away and found a life that was everything she had ever dreamed of. Except for one thing. Now he stood before her, her hand wrapped around a knife pressed into his chest, and she knew she was about to kill him. Destroy the thing she had always been missing, what was finally in her grasp.
“It’s okay.” He leaned forward as much as his bonds would allow, and pressed a kiss against her forehead, even though it pressed the knife more deeply into his flesh. They had done this before, she thought. That night in the cabin, she had been prepared to kill him, too, and she had managed to break free of the dark aether.
“You cannot fight me this time, Lucia. I said kill him.”
Lucia turned her eyes to Elizabeth.
“I can see you have something to say to him? Very well. Have your goodbyes.” Elizabeth waved her hand and Lucia felt her tongue become her own again.
“Not to him.” Lucia licked her dry lips and stared hard at the dark mage beside her. She was not ugly on the outside yet, but there was darkness in her heart. Her soul was rotten with it.
“To me?” Elizabeth pursed her lips. “Save your speeches, Lucia. Tell me how much you hate me later.”
“To...Corrigan.”
Elizabeth’s eyebrows went up. “The captain? Do we have a love triangle here, then? My, my, I had no idea! Very well.” She waved and the Captain moved toward them. “Say what you wish.”
Lucia pulled her eyes to Corrigan’s. He was awake inside his body, the same as she. She could see the agony in his eyes, as he held the dielectric in his hand and aided the enemy against his will.
“Captain.”
His eyes bored into hers.
“Turn. It. Off.”
Elizabeth shrieked and slapped Lucia had across the cheek. “That is not a proper goodbye! Now they shall all die without a word between you!” She grabbed Lucia’s hand and squeezed, her strength enhanced by the dark aether. Lucia screamed as her bones ground together.
“Kill him,” Elizabeth demanded.
“Don’t make me do this.”
“Don’t hurt her!” Archie roared as Eliza
beth squeezed Lucia’s hand harder.
Lucia could feel tears on her cheeks. Blood ran red over Archie’s crisp white shirt and across his stomach to drip on the floor.
“Kill. Him.”
Lucia screamed as the knife thrust forward, slicing through Archie’s chest. He grunted but she did not stop until the handle pressed against his chest. Elizabeth let him go, and he wrapped his arms around Lucia, keeping her close. She was trembling, sobbing against him as the blood steamed hot between them.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered against his neck. “Please forgive me.”
“Nothing to forgive,” he told her, and she felt the blood on his lips smear across her cheek. “Not your fault.”
He fell and she went with him to her knees beside him. She could not even hold him as his eyes slid closed.
“Come now. That’s enough mourning.” Elizabeth forced Lucia to stand.
“I will tear you apart for this,” Lucia promised.
“Now, now, he’s only a man. There are plenty more where he came from!” Elizabeth patted her shoulder. “He was certainly handsome and noble, but that kind rarely lasts.” She waved to Grayson, who handed her their coats. “Now put your coat on, darling. We have a trip.”
Lucia’s mind was numb as Elizabeth stuffed her arms into her coat and buttoned it up.
“Load the machine and the five we’ve chosen,” Elizabeth instructed Grayson and Corrigan. “We’ll take the sleigh, you follow in the wagon. You know the way.” She paused and looked at Grayson over her shoulder. “Once you’ve loaded the wagon, burn the rest.”
Elizabeth handled the horse team with precision. They flew over the newly fallen snow in the jaunty red sleigh as the sleigh bells rang around them. Elizabeth looked ethereal in the moonlight, her cheeks pink with excitement as her eyes glowed. She snapped the reigns and looked at Lucia.
“Oh do cheer up! We are going to achieve everything I have been working for tonight. What a Christmas present for me.” She shook her head and sighed. “But that dress is ruined! Never worry, we shall have wardrobes of dresses at our disposal when we’re done.”