by Penny Cavan
Chapter Five
Harlow
Meg’s was quiet during the day when most of her employees were occupied. I had all the documents that had been in the golden box spread out in front of me, but most of them were formulas and different scientific chemical breakdowns. None of it made sense to me.
Each of the samples of whatever this was were individually sealed in their own bags with biohazard symbols sewn on the outside. I didn’t have a need to open them, so I left them as they were. If I couldn’t figure out what the notes said, there was no way I was going to be able to figure out what this was from some samples.
“Why would they give me this and not tell me how to figure it out?” I moaned, flopping back on the couch. Meg laughed from the small stage. Today she wore a pair of tight leggings under an over robe of bright blue. The sheer skirts danced in between her legs as she practiced a new routine. The hems were hung with bells which jingled merrily with each move.
“Sometimes I wonder if you were wrongly labeled a Hollow, Harlow,” she said, arching her body in a way that looked downright impossible. “You figure out so many problems simply by thinking that it seems to be a magic of its own.”
“Yes, well, they’re usually problems that I can solve. I don’t even know if I’m pronouncing succinylcholine right, let alone what it does.” I blew a puff of air to move a strand of hair from where it was tickling my nose.
“Sex what?” Meg said, turning to look at me with a raised eyebrow.
“I think it’s suck-something, actually,” I murmured looking at the word again. “And it says that the serum does something similar. Or maybe it’s part of the serum? I really don’t know.” I growled in frustration. As a Hollow, I was an unregistered citizen, with no formal education and no chance at ever being allowed into one of the big universities that would have given me access to the libraries. The disparity between the people in the business district, where the Midas Corporation was located, and the pleasure district was more apparent than ever when I looked around at the torches and fireplaces, but the disparity even between Meg, who possessed a gift, and me, who didn’t, was even bigger. If she had wanted to, she could have access to things that I never would.
Meg chuckled and moved back into her dance. “Don’t think about it, and maybe it will come to you,” she suggested blithely. A burst of giggles crossed the lobby as three of the women came in from shopping.
“He was prowling around the market. Can you believe that he was in this area?” Milya said, throwing out her arms and spinning.
“I can’t believe how handsome he is,” Jennet added, sinking on to a bench and fanning herself. “Sure, you see him on the news screens, but they don’t do a thing for that jaw.”
“Or those eyes,” Grayce added dreamily. “They’re like liquid gold.”
“Who are you three talking about?” Meg asked as she worked into another position that simply looked uncomfortable to me.
“The head of the Midas Corportaion was shopping in our district today!” Jennet exclaimed. Meg and I shared a look. “What is his name, anyway?”
“I don’t know,” Milya said, her brow furrowing. “I wonder what he was after, anyway.”
“He was shopping in the silk district, Milya,” Grayce said condescendingly. “Clearly he was looking for silk! Maybe he has a mistress!” The girls descended into giggles again.
“If a man like that has a mistress,” Meg began tartly, “then he would not be shopping for her in the Pleasure district of the city.” She finally placed both feet firmly on the ground, and her hands on her hips. “I don’t want you three to get your heads in the clouds thinking that he’ll wander in here and whisk you away to a gilded tower.”
“Yes, Miss Meg,” the girls chorused.
“She can’t stop us from dreaming,” Jennet muttered as they ascended the stairs with their shopping.
“Harlow?” Meg asked, looking worriedly at me.
“I left nothing behind that could be traced to me,” I soothed, but I wasn’t completely certain. Could it be mere coincidence that the man I had stolen from two days ago was in the same district of the city that I was, especially when that was a place that he had never visited before, to any knowledge? “Still, I won’t put you at risk.” I gathered up the documents and biohazard bags, putting them in my satchel.
“Harlow, here might be the safest place for you,” Meg said gently.
“It wouldn’t,” I told her simply. Too many people came in and out of Meg’s domain for it to be safe. I cupped her cheek. “Take care of yourself, Meg, and I will come back to see you when it’s quieter.” I kissed her quickly, but she grabbed my hair and deepened the kiss.
“If you don’t come see me soon, I shall be forced to come to you, my friend,” she said, resting her forehead against mine. I smiled and closed my eyes for a moment, basking in our friendship. I knew that Meg wanted more, but she respected that I didn’t.
I refused to take a direct route home once I left Meg’s. The Golden Drachma was also in the pleasure district, but the opposite side. The side streets that both locations were on were connected by the main thoroughfare, but if there was something about my cargo that drew that man to me, I wasn’t going to give him an easy hunt. I wandered through the streets, stopping here to listen to a singer, then pausing in a courtyard to watch an acrobatic act. I didn’t feel like I was being followed, but I wasn’t foolish enough to think that I wasn’t being watched.
I didn’t notice Addy and Sara in the marketplace until after Addy slammed into my legs. She was talking a mile a minute and, as always, I couldn’t help but smile at the enthusiasm. “I’m sorry!” Sara cried, trying to grab her sister to draw her away and not drop the two baskets she was carrying on one arm. “She saw you and I couldn’t catch her before she ran off!”
“It’s perfectly fine, Sara,” I said, grabbing Addy up and resting her on my hip. “Actually, I’m glad that I ran in to you girls.”
“You are?” Addy asked in wonder, her whole face lighting up.
“I am! You see, I need a very responsible girl to take my bag back to my room for me while I do a little shopping here. I heard that someone’s birthday was coming up.” I grinned sideways at Sara. Addy’s fifth birthday was in just a couple of months. Addy bounced in my arms.
“I can do it!” she exclaimed.
“Can you?” I set her down and very seriously handed her my satchel. It dragged on the ground, but Addy nodded brightly. I laughed, unable to keep a straight face and took the bag from her, quickly putting a knot into the strap to keep it from dragging across the ground. Now it hung closer to her knee than her hip, as it did on me, but it was adorable to see her like this. “Can you put it in the bigger bag by the window in my room?” I murmured to Sara.
“Of course,” she said, holding her hand out for Addy. “Come on now, sweetie. Mama is expecting us home.” I leaned down to get one more hug from Addy, then watched as she skipped away next to Sara. Now I could wander without worrying about getting my bag snagged anywhere. What my followers didn’t know was that I could wander this district for hours and never walk the same path twice.
I knew I wasn’t alone as I let the door shut behind me. Whoever was here had a big presence. It reminded me of when I’d snuck into the menagerie and sat watching the massive maned cats. You could tell that, even though they were lazing around, they could do more damage than anyone could realize. The male in my room—and it was a male—had the same sense of power.
I pretended to stumble as I moved to the light, which let me pull the thin knife from my boot without my guest seeing it. I fumbled with the light before it bathed the room with a warm light.
Aren’t you an interesting one?” my guest said win a smooth as velvet voice. I turned to face him, letting myself gasp in shock. He was tall and lean, but his clothes concealed the lethal power in his form. I only knew it was there from years of experience. This one might actually be able to give me a fight.
He stood, comi
ng toward me. I knew that I wasn’t tall, but he was at least a foot taller than I was. If this had been other circumstances, I might have felt like a delicate flower instead of a deadly one. In this case, I backed away from him while pretending that I was a wilting flower. If he touched me, he would be able to tell that I was a Hollow, but if he got that close, I could also take him out of the equation. It would be a mess to clean up, but better him than me. A downward strike just behind the collarbone and he would bleed out internally and leave no mess, but that would have been incredibly obvious. A slice through the large vein in his crotch would be just as fast but all that blood. I liked the rug I had in here now.
“I can’t seem to sense you at all,” he said, tipping his head to the side. “If you hadn’t gotten greedy…” he trailed off with a shake of his head. My back hit the wall and he took another step closer. He stared down at me, studying my face.
I made myself breathe faster as if I was afraid of him and looked up through my lashes. I was studying him. It would be easy to take him out now, but I was curious to see how this ended. He took another step closer, pressing me closer to the wall without touching me. One hand slid down my arm towards the knife. He couldn’t have seen it. He gripped my wrist and lifted it, scoffing at the blade. I let him take it from me, keeping eye contact as he threw it behind him. I tried not to be impressed when it thwacked solidly into the middle of the beam behind him.
His gloved finger ran across the golden filigree chain I’d wrapped twice around my wrist. “Why this one?”
“Maybe it called to me,” I said, leaning towards him. He raised an eyebrow.
“Called to you?” he repeated, skeptically.
“Called to me,” I said sweetly, laying my hand on the side of his face. His nostrils flared as his breathing sped up. Perfect. Now I had him right where I wanted him. “Can you blame me for wanting a piece of a man who looks like you?” I whispered, staring at his lips. I licked my lower lip and he gulped.
I kissed him. His whole body stiffened for a moment. I took advantage of his distraction and slipped under his arm. By the time he had tuned, I had grabbed the bag that I kept at the ready and gave him a two fingered salute as I jumped from the window.
Chapter Six
Midas
She kissed me. Her bare skin had touched mine and she was still alive. Still moving. I spun in time to see her drop from the window with a jaunty salute. It only took two steps, and I was studying everyone in the crowd below for her. It was the barest glint of gold as she pulled up her hood that I saw. She turned away and blended in perfectly with the crowd. I followed what I thought was her, but a cart passed behind her and I lost her. “Damn!”
“What have you done to her?” a young voice asked. I turned to the door and there was a small girl standing in the door. Her hair curled messily around her head and a well-worn stuffed creature in one hand. She wasn’t yet old enough to worry about powers manifesting and if she would live another year.
“I haven’t done anything to her.” I said solemnly. The child’s lower lip began to tremble, and she started to cry. “I promise, child. She left here of her own will.
“Addy?” an older girl asked, coming to the small one.
“He’s done something to Miss Harlow!” she sobbed, flinging her arms around the older girl.
“Who are you?” the older girl asked belligerently, pulling the small girl tightly to her.
“No one you need to worry about,” I said, brushing past the pair without touching them. I had a name now, and she had my gold. I could find her.
How hard could it be to find one girl in this city? I had every possible tool at my disposal and still she had eluded me. It was as if she had disappeared into thin air. “Sir?” I motioned for Nigel to talk. “I have confirmed that the girl’s name is Harlow. If she has a surname, no one knows it. It’s believed by many that she is a Hollow, but there is no confirmation. What is certain is that she was orphaned when she was four years old and taken in by a Hollow named Ivy. The pair lived on the street and lived on what they could beg or steal. Ivy was killed when Harlow was sixteen. She has no confirmed residence, or patterns. The word is that she is an incredibly talented thief, which she would have to be in order to steal from you.” Nigel stopped talking momentarily and I could hear him tapping on his tablet. “Unfortunately, none of this gives us a way to find her.”
I smiled. “I think you’re wrong, Nigel. It gives us a perfect way to find her. You’re going to hire her to steal.”
“M-me?” Nigel stammered.
“Well, really me, but you’re going to broker the meeting.” I sat back in my chair and laced my hands behind my head, still staring at the wealth of humanity walking just outside my windows.
“I see, Sir.” I watched as Nigel’s reflection pulled up a new note page on his tablet. “What are we going to steal?” He looked at me, his stylus poised to take notes.
“We need something to tempt her,” I mused. “You said she’s a Hollow?”
“Suspected Hollow, Sir,” Nigel quickly confirmed. I tried not to smile as a suspicion crept into my mind. I heard the rumors of suspected Hollow children being stolen from their beds at night. Some parents were grateful, I’m sure, but the ones I heard most often had parents who were spitting mad. It was a fifty drachon reward for a Hollow child. If she was a Hollow and a thief, my guess was that she was at least part of the system.
“You need her to steal a young child. Your nephew perhaps. A Hollow boy who is a week away from his fifth birthday.” I tapped my fingers on the armrest of my chair. “Set it up for the warehouse on Temple and Knightfall in three days.”
“How will you keep her from escaping you?”
“Don’t worry,” I said with a smile, “I’ll take care of those details.” Nigel nodded and left my office.
I closed my eyes, leaning back as much as my chair would allow, imagining her in front of me. She had a sly grin in a light skinned face, freckles sprinkled across the bridge of her nose. Her hair was almost a true gold, falling nearly to her waist. It had been up when I’d confronted her in her home, braided and pinned against the back of her head. Now I imagined it loose and curling around her shoulders. It hid her breasts from me, even in my imaginings and I growled, my eyes snapping open. I wanted to get to know this girl. No, I needed to.
I hid in the shadows of the warehouse, positive that no one could see me. I’d come in before dawn to ensure that she wouldn’t see me. Staying here, where there had been little light, had been near torturous, but I’d descended into my fantasies of the girl, of Harlow, to keep me occupied. I wanted to kiss her again, to feel her hands on my body. Was there something about her that allowed our skin to touch, or was it simply because she was a Hollow?
A door creaked, and I looked up from my spot to see a shadowy figure slipping in. That would be Harlow; she didn’t move how Nigel did. She shut the door behind her with another nearly inaudible creak, moving from shadow to shadow. I thought about moving in and catching her off guard, but I didn’t know if she was truly alone. Besides, Nigel had the most important part I would need to trap her.
We both waited in the warehouse for Nigel. I had lost track of where she was, but I knew better than to give myself away by looking for her. A careful hunter waited for his prey to come to him. The door creaked again, and Nigel came walking in. He lifted a lantern and glanced around as he shut the door behind him.
“Now that all parties are here,” Harlow said, walking from the shadows and making Nigel jump, “why don’t you tell your boss to come out and we can have a normal discussion?” Nigel’s jaw dropped.
“If you knew that I was here, why did you stay?” I asked, joining the pair in the weak circle of light that the lantern created. She rolled her eyes.
“I get a mysterious note telling me where to find the first part of a puzzle I’ve been trying to figure out, so I steal that,” she said, holding up a finger. “Apparently you are attached enough to that to hunt me down, alth
ough I’m still not sure how.” Her second finger went up. The third finger was accompanied by “I escape, and you find a way to bring me to you. I want to know what is so important.” I nodded my head in concession to her logic. “Now, we’re going to sit and have a nice discussion, and when we’re done, we’re all going to go our own merry ways and never see each other again.”
Chapter Seven
Harlow
I settled onto one of the boxes, watching the two men. The one I had seen before had a curious grin on his face, as if he was fascinated by something. He huffed a laugh and leaned against a wooden support beam. If he thought that his clothes hid his lethality, he was wrong. There was nothing about this man that could hid how dangerous he was. I had to stay on alert if I was going to avoid being trapped by him. The other man, on the other hand, wasn’t dangerous in the least. He was maybe ten years older than me, but his dark hair had grey at the temples. He had on business shoes with smooth soles and his pants were creased down the front. He reminded me of an old painting I had seen as a child of someone who had been described as “white collar”. The museum had been throwing it out, but I’d stared at it, trying to understand why it was called “white collar” when the shirt he was wearing was pink.
Pink shirt turned and look at the other man, who nodded at him. Okay, my burglar was the leader here. I looked at him and raised an eyebrow. He nodded to me to start.
“Who are you and how did you find me?” I asked.
“My name is Midas, and this is my associate, Nigel. I have a,” he paused for a moment, “gift with gold. That gift is particularly strong with gold I’ve handled before.” He nodded to the chain I had wrapped around my wrist. “Your turn. Why were you in my vault?”