by A R DeClerck
We are unable to terminate life, metal one. She is alive.
Thank you.
A sacrifice was required.
What did you take?
We took you.
Archie opened his eyes just as Lucia’s lashes fluttered.
“She’s alive!” Bessemer crowed, slapping his knee with a guffaw. “Of all the flim-flam!”
Corrigan let out a relieved sigh and Grayson slumped to the ground with a groan. Bessemer looked at him and shook his head.
“No, no, boy. There is work still to do! The lock must be rebuilt.”
Grayson groaned again and climbed to his feet with a nod. He was pale, but his lips were flat with determination. They left Archie and Lucia alone on the ground as they turned back toward the opening in the stones.
“Darling?”
Lucia’s lashes fluttered again at the sound of his voice. He gentled his tone and pressed a kiss against her forehead.
There were many wonders in the world. Magic, steam, science and sunrises. The most wondrous sight Archie had ever seen was Lucia’s deep, dark eyes as they locked on his. “Hello.”
A frown appeared between her eyes. Her body stiffened as she pulled her head away.
“Lucia? Darling?” The aether’s words came back to him. ‘We took you’. “Do you know who I am?”
“What is going on?”
Her gaze filled with raw panic. She truly did not know him. He helped her sit up, and though it killed him, he moved back from her a bit.
“My name is Archimedes Merriweather.”
“Adept...Merriweather?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
She rubbed her forehead, her face pale and her hands shaking. He wanted to take her in his arms and ease the worry in her eyes, but she was already scared and unsure of what was happening. He did not want to make it worse.
“Do you know me?” he asked.
“I....” She shook her head. “No. I’m sorry.”
Archie had always wondered what heartbreak felt like. It was a morose wonder, he knew, but it was there all the same. He did not have to worry anymore. The organ inside his chest was cracking apart, ready to shatter with the loss of her. He tried his best to hide it, and he managed a smile. “No worries, then. You’ve had a shock.”
He moved to turn away and call for Bastion, but the touch of her hand stopped him. She pulled it away with an unsure smile.
“Is something wrong? Are you unwell?”
She shook her head. Her hand wandered to her throat, rubbing absently at the cameo. “No. I...I don’t know.” She cocked her head to stare into his eyes. “Do you feel as if something has gone wrong in the world?”
He felt hope fly in to rescue him, and then abandon him in a terrible explosion when she chuckled wryly.
“Perhaps I’m just being silly.”
“No. Not silly. Never silly,” he managed.
“Mr. Merriweather?”
“Yes?”
“Would you...would you...kiss me?”
He choked. “K—kiss you?”
“If I’ve shocked you I apologize, but there’s a voice inside my head that seems to be screaming at me to kiss you.”
“I’m not shocked.” Archie managed to hold back his grin as he reached for her. Carefully he took her shoulders in his hands and leaned closer.
“Your eyes are the exact color of champagne,” she murmured.
“So you’ve said.” He pressed her lips to hers. This was more than any kiss they had ever shared. He put the memory of every moment with her in the kiss, trying his hardest to light the fire of passion inside her again. It was the aether telling her to kiss him, he was sure of it, and the aether seemed to enjoy the magic of true love’s kiss. It had worked for Cora when she kissed Icarus and brought him back to the world of the living. It could work for him, too. Silly aether and its fairytale sensibility.
Where do you think fairytales come from, metal man? We return her to you, in thanks. Her sacrifice has been noted.
He knew she remembered him when she gasped against his lips. Her arms encircled his neck and he pulled her impossibly closer. He had come too close to losing her to ever let her go again.
He did not pull away until she was breathless from his kiss. “I thought you didn’t know me.”
“How could I ever forget you?”
“The aether took what you valued the most as their sacrifice.”
“Then they gave you back.”
He grinned. “They have a penchant for happy endings.”
“Do we really get ours?” She shivered as sweat beaded on her upper lip. Her hands clawed as she held onto him.
“We will,” he promised. She was detoxing now from the power of the dark aether. It would be several long weeks of hell for her before she would be free of it again. “I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
“And then we go to someplace warm,” she said against his neck. He could feel her smile even through the terrible pain that racked her body.
“Yes. I’ll take you anywhere in the world you want to go.”
IT TOOK MANY HOURS for the breach in the worlds to close. Grayson and Bessemer worked tirelessly, and when the noon sun began to rise over the land they had finally quieted the earth. Grayson dropped into the back of the wagon in an exhausted heap and fell immediately to sleep.
“Take the lad home for a rest. I’ll stay for a bit.” Bessemer rubbed Cosy’s nose gently. “We’ve done what we can.”
Lucia nodded to the old man.
“How be the familiar?” Bessemer asked.
“Healing.”
“Good. Good.” The old man cast a quizzical eye on her. “And ye, lass? Be ye healing?”
Lucia knew that the horror of killing Elizabeth would stick with her for a long time to come. She looked at Archie, talking with Corrigan, and knew that she would not have to bear the burden alone. “Yes, I think I am.”
Corrigan looked up when Archimedes approached.
“Are you all right?” Archie asked.
“No.”
“To be expected. Black magic is not a pretty business.”
“We saved a few, though.” Corrigan looked to where Stella stood with her sister and Bastion.
“Aye, we did.” Archie put his hand on Corrigan’s shoulder. Corrigan was surprised to note it was his mechanical hand, which he usually did not use to touch others. “You did.”
“I was under her spell. I could not fight it, even as much as I tried.”
“It was not your fault. She was stronger than any of us knew.”
Corrigan hung his head. “I should have been stronger.”
“Take my advice on this, my friend. Our lives cannot be led when we focus on the should-haves and might-have-beens. Look the sun, the horizon. Look to tomorrow. Not to yesterday.”
“When did you become so wise?” Corrigan joked. He raised his head to see Archie’s gaze fixed on Lucia. “Ah. I see.”
“Not yet, my friend. But someday, when you find a woman like her, you will finally, truly, see.”
Epilogue
“But we’ve only just returned home!”
Archie grinned down at the petite redhead. “I’m sorry, Cora, but I’ve promised and I will not renege.”
Cora took his hand. “Are you sure that you’re both all right. That was such a harrowing experience!”
“We’re fine. Machiavelli is fully healed and up to his old tricks, and Grayson has returned home to bury his brother and learn more of his arcane magick from Bessemer.”
“And the Captain? Do you think he’ll be all right?”
“In time. He is taking a trip of his own. Back to find a Romani woman, I believe he said.”
Cora’s eyebrow went up and Archie laughed. “I’m sure there’ll be plenty of matchmaking to do when he returns.”
“But I shall miss you both!” she pouted.
“And we you.” Archie kissed her cheek just as Icarus entered the study with Lucia on his arm.
Her beauty stunned Archie. A sort of peace permeated her, illuminating her with a glow that took his breath. She smiled at him and came immediately into his arms.
“Our carriage is downstairs,” she told him with a kiss to his cheek.
“Return soon,” Icarus said with a smile, dropping his arm over Cora’s shoulder. “I should like to hear more of your adventures.”
“In due time,” Archie promised. He touched the black silk of the ribbon around Lucia’s neck. “But for now I’ve promised my lady a vacation in a warmer clime.”
“Do have fun!” Cora kissed them both, and then hugged them tightly.
“Of course!” Lucia took Archie’s hand and smiled at them both. “What trouble could we possibly find in Egypt?”
THE END
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AR DeClerck is a wife, mother, romance writer and all-around goofball. Reading ninja, food assassin and self-proclaimed nerd.
AR writes romance from the comfort of her couch in her little house on the Mighty Mississippi. She hopes her readers remember what it's like to fall in love.
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