by C. J. Archer
"I don't understand."
A smile touched Quin's eyes if not his lips. He turned to Myer. "You have to give it to her," he said, voice raised. "Or the Langley girl will die."
Myer, catching on, nodded. "No! You'll have to kill me first."
"That can be arranged," came Edith's voice.
Sylvia cried out in pain. "Stop it! You're hurting me!"
I exchanged a glance with Quin. Sylvia hadn't managed to hold her captor at bay.
Sylvia protested again, but it was abruptly cut off. The basement fell into silence. I stepped down, but Quin blocked my progress. I stood alongside Myer and watched the door. Quin stepped down until he was facing it.
"Is it true?" Edith called out. She sounded like she was up against the door too, on the other side. "You have it?"
"Aye," Quin said, heavily, as if resigned to handing it over. "You have won. The demons came through accidentally when Dawson brought the book back. They destroyed almost everyone here. Myer, Cara and I are the only ones left. Just promise me that you won't use it to harm the people on this realm and I will give it to you."
Loud sobs from Sylvia almost drowned out Myer's voice. "No, you can't believe a promise from her! She's a liar." He seemed to be enjoying himself a little too much. Sick man.
"We need to know that Miss Langley is safe," Quin said.
"Can't you hear the whelp?" Edith shouted.
"I need to see her. Then I will give you the book."
"Who has it? Him or you?"
"He does."
Edith seemed to consider this. "I will crack open the door. He must hold it up."
"I'm not holding anything up!"
I signaled for Myer to put his hands behind his back to pretend he held the book. He set the lamp down on the step and did so.
"When you open the door, I'll force him to show it to you," Quin said.
There was a long pause and I thought our plan had come to nothing. It was a stupid plan anyway. I didn't know why I thought we could bluff her into opening the door.
The bolt slid back on the other side. Myer glanced at me and grinned. Quin kept his focus on the door. The large brass handle twisted and the door opened a fraction.
It was all Quin needed. He wedged his sword blade through the narrow gap. Edith went to slam the door, but it wouldn't close. He pushed all his weight against the blade, using it as a lever to pry the door open wider. An ordinary sword would have snapped at the hilt, but it seemed demon forged ones were strong.
Quin was stronger than her too. He managed to get the door open enough to reach through. My stomach dove, imagining Edith slicing his hand off. Instead, the door flew open wide.
Quin hadn't expected it, and, with his entire weight against the sword, he stumbled forward into the basement. Edith slipped past him in the moment it took him to regain his balance.
"Cara!" he shouted.
But she was already upon me by the time it left his lips. She possessed demonic speed, as well as strength, and pushed me aside before I even registered her presence. She snatched my revolver and aimed it at Myer.
He held his hands up in surrender. "I don't have it!" It was, perhaps, a foolish thing to admit to a desperate and frustrated woman who already harbored deep hatred toward him.
She shot him. The bullet went through his left eye and shattered his skull, sending blood and bits of his head over the stairwell wall behind him.
The sight, coupled with my anxiety, was too much for my stomach. I threw up on the steps.
Quin raced past me and I realized Edith had already left the stairwell. I didn't like the odds of having a gun versus a sword, but I trusted that he would be careful. Or as careful as a dead man could be.
"Stay back!" I heard him shout. "She has a gun. Stay back!"
At least that would keep the others out of the way for now. Sylvia stumbled out of the basement. A bruise bloomed on her cheek, matching mine, and her lip was cut. Her hair fell about her shoulders in tangles and her clothing was askew. I caught her in my arms and she sobbed into my shoulder.
Other arms took her from me. Hannah, I realized. I left her to explain and ran through the house, bumping into tables and walls in my haste. Hannah called after me but I ignored her. I would be careful, and I wasn't going anywhere near Edith Myer. But I had to watch, had to see what happened to Quin.
I ran out through the front door and took the steps two at a time. The gravel dug into my stockinged feet. I'd forgotten I'd removed my shoes for the noise. The night was eerily silent. There were no sounds of night birds in the trees, no sounds of life from the house behind me. I paused on the lawn, deciding that was close enough. Quin and Edith were already at the ruins. She stopped running and rounded on him, revolver raised. He wasn't close enough to use his sword.
"Duck," I murmured. "Get out of the way."
He did not. To my horror, he stood his ground. She cocked the gun and pulled the trigger.
CHAPTER 15
Edith's aim was thrown off at the same moment the gun fired, but from a distance, and in the dark, I couldn't see why. Had Quin hurled his sword at her?
No, he still held it. He used it to knock the revolver out of her hand as a strong wind slapped her hair against her face and lashed at her skirts. It must have been the wind that unbalanced her and saved Quin.
But why was the portal opening now? Oh God.
Edith bobbed down behind a crumbling wall, protecting herself from both Quin and whatever was about to come through the portal.
I wanted to scream at Quin to get away and find some protection too, but I doubted he would hear me over the gale. It was too late anyway. A figure burst from the portal's mouth, followed closely by another.
Quin lifted his sword then lowered it again. What was he doing? Why didn't he attack the demons before they attacked him?
The figures picked themselves up off the ground. Not demons. Humans. Jack and Tommy!
I surged forward but paused again before I reached the ruins. In the moment of distraction, Edith had scrambled to the revolver and picked it up. She aimed it at Tommy.
"You tricked me!" she shouted at Quin. "Fetch the book now, or I shoot him."
Tommy, hand raised in surrender, said, "Is Sylvia…?"
"She's alive," Quin told him. "They all are."
Tommy sank to one knee and raised his face to the inky black sky. Jack went to help him up, but Edith cocked the gun. "Get back into that portal and fetch the book." The portal had closed, now that it had delivered its travelers. Someone would need to open it again with the chant.
I pressed a hand to my rapidly beating chest, hardly daring to breathe.
"We can't," Tommy said, getting to his feet. "The administrators won't relinquish it. We already asked."
Edith delivered the filthiest string of words I'd ever heard, and I'd heard terrible ones on the streets in my childhood. She gritted her teeth and tensed her arm, the revolver aimed at Tommy's head.
I shut my eyes. Oh God, please don't shoot him.
"No!" Sylvia screamed from the house behind me.
I opened my eyes, expecting to see Edith shoot. Instead, I saw Quin pulling his sword out of Edith's chest. She dropped the gun and her body began to disintegrate. Her mouth contorted with rage and pain, until it was blown away along with the rest of her on the wind.
I ran down to the men, but held back from embracing Quin. He was still here, but for how long? I steeled my nerves, waiting for his exit. It did not come.
"Why didn't she shoot?" I asked, not taking my gaze off him.
"You didn't see?" Jack said.
"I had my eyes closed."
He smiled as he spotted Hannah behind me. "She fired, but the barrel was empty. Quin must have known, because he was unperturbed when she pulled the trigger."
Either he knew or he didn't care about his body expiring.
"I counted," Quin said.
I'd been wrong. He was beginning to disappear, I just hadn't noticed it in the dark. It beg
an at the edges, as if someone were erasing him from the outside in. In moments, there would be nothing left. "Bollard described these weapons to me the last time I was here," he went on. "I knew this one could hold six pellets."
"Bullets," I said, gathering my frayed nerves, trying to hold myself together. "Bollard described it to you?"
"With his hands." He poked the gun with the toe of his boot. It went right through. "I prefer a weapon that can be used more than six times."
With each word, his body grew fainter. I watched, helpless, wanting to take him in my arms and anchor him to this realm. But nothing would keep him.
Jack gave him a nod. "Thank you again." He moved away, giving us space.
I didn't need space. I needed time. Time with Quin. Tears burned my eyes but did not spill. He blinked at me, as if he could think of nothing to say. We'd already said it all, and everything I needed to know was in his eyes. Bleakness and love mixed together. So much love.
"Goodbye, Cara."
"Will you…will you request to move on?"
He held my gaze for so long that I thought he would disappear completely before he answered. "I have not decided."
"Please…not yet."
He frowned. "Why?" He took a step toward me. "Cara, what are you planning?"
I paused long enough that he'd faded away to nothing before I answered. I touched the air where he'd stood. It was still a little warm. Or perhaps that was merely my imagination.
I trudged toward the two contented couples, standing at the edge of the ruins. Tommy and Sylvia were embracing and caressing one another's faces as if they couldn't believe they were finally touching in public. Jack had tucked Hannah into his side, and was whispering something in her ear that made her gaze up at him with complete trust and love.
I was so relieved and happy for them, yet my heart felt like it was broken and bleeding. I wanted what they had, but it wasn't possible.
Unless I made it possible.
***
"I don't care!" Sylvia's shout wasn't the first thing I expected to hear upon my entry to the house. I'd thought they'd all be joyous now that they were safe and peace had settled over the estate. But Sylvia's clenched fists and fierce scowl indicated otherwise.
"My dear, I understand that you've had an ordeal," Langley said. He was relatively calm, considering his niece was defying him in the entrance hall with everyone listening in, including me, a guest. Only Mrs. Moore was absent. Bollard looked a little pale, his clothing in disarray, but he was standing straight, as usual, at his master's back.
"Yes, I have had an ordeal," she snapped. There wasn't a tear in her eye or a wobble in her voice. Everyone kept their distance from her. Except Tommy. He rested his hand on her lower back and faced down Langley too. They were a team, a united couple, and I was pleased to see their open defiance. "Being held captive in a basement all day and night made a lot of things very clear to me. I love Tommy, and he loves me. We're going to be together, whether you like it or not. It would be much easier if you accepted that fact. If you don't…we're leaving Frakingham."
Langley's breath hitched. He attempted to cover it with a cough. "We'll talk about this in the morning after you've rested."
"We'll discuss it now." She leaned into Tommy's side and he kissed her temple. "When I thought he was dead…" She choked on the last word, proving that her tears weren't completely banished after all. "When I thought Tommy was dead, I didn't want to live either. Not without him. He went through the portal for me! If that's not love and loyalty, what is?"
"Sylvia—"
"What do you know of love anyway? You treat poor Bollard like a servant."
Langley's face darkened. His lips pressed into a ruthless line. "He is a servant."
Hannah and I exchanged glances. I thought Jack might say something to diffuse the situation, but he didn't.
"He loves you!" Sylvia cried. "And you love him, so why try to hide it from us? Your family and friends don't care about…"
Bollard's face had gone paler and his eyes wider. He probably wasn't used to this sort of discussion, perhaps not even with Langley. Some things are just too taboo to talk about, even in private. He signed something to Sylvia.
"It does matter," she told him hotly. "I'm tired of subterfuge and awkwardness. I'm tired of everyone being afraid of you, Uncle."
"Afraid of me? Who is afraid of me?"
She threw up her hands. "Everyone! But not me, not anymore." She tossed her head. I am going upstairs to have a bath. Hannah, please send Mrs. Moore in with some supper and hot chocolate. Then I'm going to bed. We'll discuss this again in the morning, Uncle, after you've had time to give it some serious consideration."
"Good," Langley said tightly. "That is what I was trying to get you to do all along."
She sniffed and with another toss of her head, marched off, only to return to Tommy, kiss his cheek, then leave again. She stomped up the stairs, her shoulders square, her head high. I was rather proud of her. From the small smile on Hannah's and Jack's lips, I suspected they were too.
Jack rested a hand on Tommy's shoulder. "You go too. There'll be time for discussion when we've all recovered."
Langley huffed out a long breath and wheeled himself away. When Bollard followed and grabbed the handles to take over the pushing, Langley growled, "I can do it."
Bollard moved to where Langley could see him, and signed something. He pointed at the stairs.
"You're injured," Langley snapped. "Jack!"
Jack rolled his eyes, earning him a smile from Hannah. He picked Langley up and carried him up the stairs. Bollard stood with his hands at his sides, watching his master—lover—go without him.
Hannah touched his elbow. "He'll be in a better temper in the morning."
Bollard looked at her as if he thought she was being overly optimistic. Then he followed Jack and Langley. I wondered what their conversation would be like when they were finally alone.
Tommy hovered nearby, in the shadows, but emerged once the others were out of sight. "Hannah, may I have my old room?"
"Of course not! You're no longer a servant. The rose guest chamber is yours for now. And don't worry about Sylvia."
"I'm not." His gaze lifted to the top of the staircase. "For the first time in, well, ever, I'm not worried about her."
"She has come a long way."
His gaze softened. "She's become the woman I always knew she would be."
I thought his faith in her admirable, considering I had no inkling Sylvia could ever be so strong, or so willing to give up her pampered life for the man she loved.
Tommy headed up the stairs and Hannah finally turned to me. "Are you all right, Cara?"
"I'm fine. I'm growing used to Quin leaving. But I think I'll go upstairs and rest too. It has been an eventful day."
"Very true." She eyed me warily, so I quickly took my leave and followed Tommy.
I caught up to him on the second floor landing. "Tommy," I whispered, trotting after him. "May we speak?"
He looked a little surprised that I wanted to talk to him privately. We had never been alone before, and I'd never had reason to have a private word with him. "Is something the matter?"
I sucked in a deep breath. "I'd like the parchment. Do you still have it?"
His lips parted in a quiet gasp. "Why?"
"I want to go through the portal. I think I can help Quin stay on this realm."
"What? How?"
"The book contains all the information. It's been done before. Gilbert de Mordaunt was sent to Purgatory and managed to return here and live a normal life."
"But he was a demon. Quin is—was—human."
"Then it should be even more natural for him to come back."
"Won't there be consequences?"
I shrugged. "There weren't any for Gilbert."
"Are you sure? What happened after his death? His second death, I mean."
"I…I don't know for certain." It was the only fly in the ointment. The book had warne
d that something terrible would happen to the soul that tried to follow those instructions. Yet Gilbert had lived a full life here. If something happened to him in the afterlife…well, it was something to find out beforehand. Somehow.
I held out my hand. "Please, Tommy. May I have it?"
His mouth twisted to the side, unconvinced.
"I saw what you did for the one you love," I said. "And I know you would have done anything to save her. I want the opportunity to do the same for Quin."
"Your situation is different."
"No, it's not. It all boils down to being with the person you love."
He dragged his hand through his ragged crop of hair. "I don't know, Cara. Jack and I landed in the demon realm together after leaving here. It was…a strange place."
"Were you in danger?" Quin had said the demons weren't as threatening to us as we were to them, unless we appeared dangerous. Much as we treated those from their realm who came here and killed, of which there were all too many lately.
"We were only there briefly. I think the same people who found Myer found us. They didn't seem surprised by our presence, or worried, and we were immediately sent through another portal to Purgatory. The administrators there sent us back here after an all-too-brief discussion."
"Without the book."
He nodded. "They claim it's too dangerous to release back into this realm. I have to agree with them. Humans can't be trusted with such knowledge. I'm just glad we didn't need it in the end."
"I have to at least try and convince them. All I want is an opportunity. Please, Tommy. You did the same thing for Sylvia."
"Yes, but you're a woman. Like it or not, you can't punch a demon in the face and expect him to be knocked unconscious." He didn't look quite so opposed to the idea of me going, however. It gave me hope.
"By all accounts, yours included, I won't have to punch anything in the face." I crooked my fingers at him. "Please, Tommy. I will support you against Mr. Langley."
He smirked. "I'm not sure you'll need to. Sylvia's doing a fine job on her own."
"I'll name our first born child after you."
He laughed. "What if it's a girl?"
"Thomasina."