by S. S. Engle
“I’m just messing with you.”
“He told me you’ve been working yourself to the bone for this gang.”
“He was exaggerating.”
“He said you haven’t been sleeping.”
“I’ve been sleeping.”
“Sweetheart, I can see he wasn’t lying. And I can see the dozens of needle pricks in your fingers. You need to rest.”
“I haven’t had the luxury.”
“But I’m back now. And as leader I’m ordering you to take some hours to yourself and let me worry about things again.”
“I don’t know how you do it Luca. You made it look so easy back in headquarters.”
“Years of practice. I assure you, most of the time I have no idea what I’m doing.”
“Well as soon as you’re ready I can take you downstairs and show you what the guys have been doing.”
“Business later.”
“Did you have something else more important on your mind?”
“How many guys did we lose?”
“Fifty-one.”
“And the injured?”
“Seventeen counting you.”
“And you?”
“What about me?”
“You’re not injured?”
“Just a few scratches because apparently, I can’t see rocks when I’m running in the moonlight.”
“You can make a crash-landing funny. You have an amazing gift.”
“I’m just glad you view my inappropriate jokes as a gift.”
“Maybe my sense of humor is just as equally skewed as yours. Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“Why’d you come after me on the airship and spend all that money to pay off the doctor?”
“I had to.”
“But why did you feel that you had to go that far?”
“I don’t know. I just had to. I couldn’t let you die. I had to do everything I could to save you. It wasn’t even a question. I had the resources, I used them. That was it.”
“How much did it cost you?”
“I won’t tell you. You’re not paying the money back.”
“There are other ways I can pay you back for this.”
“You saved my life, I saved yours. We’re even now.”
“Then why do I still feel like I owe you?”
“Survivor’s guilt.”
“No.”
“No?”
“It’s more than that.”
KNOCK KNOCK
“Duty calls sweetheart. I got this one. You sleep.”
2
Another five days in and the airship was nearly ready for flight. Dreadcrank had been working around the clock nonstop to get back up into the air. Kassidy had nearly finished reinforcing the envelope. Taking extra material from the palace she managed to double layer the inside of the structure for added protection should they get shot at again. She was sitting in the library, using the couches as a platform to keep the envelope draped open for a better view of what she had to tackle. Her hair was tied back haphazardly hours ago, with multiple strands falling down into her face. She kept having to blow them away to try and keep focus as she laid herself out to keep sewing. The Dreadcranks periodically made passes through the library but were smart enough to keep their comments to themselves. Kassidy was extremely hard on herself knowing that the envelope was taking so long when the guys had managed to nearly reconstruct an entire airship in the same amount of time. But there was always one person Kassidy would break her own rules for.
Luca came into the library, minimizing his limp for her benefit. She had needle and thread in her mouth when she looked over and smiled, dropping them on the couch. She rolled herself off and went to go help him around her craftily arranged library but he refused assistance. She shoved part of the envelope off to the back of a couch and cleared enough room for the pair of them to sit. By the crooked grin on his face she had hoped that he had some good news to share with her. The Dreadcranks now avoided the library when they passed by the open doorways on either side of the room. Seeing their two leaders together meant next to anything could wait. One guy however wanted Luca’s attention, and was pointing down the hallway. Kassidy looked confused but Luca insisted it was nothing. She let it go at that.
“So how’s the envelope coming sweetheart?”
“It’s coming. I figured if I worked all through the night I could probably have it finished by morning.”
“All through the night? You haven’t been listening to anything I’ve told you have you?”
“You may be the leader, but that doesn’t mean you always know what’s best. I’ll rest when this is done, I promise.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
“Well, I highly doubt you only came in here to ask me about the envelope.”
“Guilty as charged.”
“What did you come in here to tell me then?”
“I know about the Patina Parlour.”
“What do you know?”
“Harlan told me about the masquerade party this Saturday. And he also told me about the clue you figured out from the Codex.”
“You two just talk about everything now don’t you?”
“You were the one who wanted us to be friends. Why didn’t you tell me about the parlour?”
“I thought it was obvious.”
“About as obvious as the fact that I know you’re planning on going.”
“I haven’t told anybody I was going!”
“You just told me.”
“That doesn’t count. And I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t going to risk anyone else’s life on account of me.”
“You’re a Dreadcrank, you don’t have the luxury of keeping things to yourself. What you choose effects everyone here whether you like it or not.”
“I know where you’re headed with this, and you’re not going with me Luca. It’s too dangerous.”
“That’s exactly why I’m going with you.”
“Luca you’ll stick out like a sore thumb.”
“My limp will be gone by Saturday.”
“And what about your arm?”
“I’ll wear a suit.”
“You own a suit?”
“I’ll steal one.”
“From where?”
“The closet upstairs where I already found one. And why are you getting so mad at me? You don’t have anything to wear either.”
“I was going to steal something of Natasha’s.”
“You two aren’t the same size.”
“Harlan found a dress for me before. I think I can manage.”
“So you’ll accept a stolen dress from Harlan but you won’t accept a new dress from me?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Like I said, I knew you were going to that party. It’s a masquerade, so you can’t go looking like yourself. And I told you before I still owe you.”
“You owe me nothing.”
“Then what am I going to do with that dress hanging out in the hallway?”
“Is that what he was pointing to?”
“I’m not as good as you are at keeping secrets. Well are you going to go look at it or not? I don’t get gifts for people very often. Don’t make me feel ridiculous for going out on a limb here.”
Kassidy got up and went over to the door and peered out in the hallway. Luca turned around on the couch and stood on his knees, leaning against the back. He wanted to catch her reaction as soon as she saw what he had gotten for her. He knew she wasn’t the most feminine of women he’d ever met
in his life, but a gift was a gift. And he knew Kassidy didn’t ask for much, or expect much. The least he could do was give her something she could use. It matched his black suit he had manipulated already to fit him and his mechanical arm. The only part he was dreading was that the dress fit Kassidy the way it was supposed to. It was a black and white striped corset with black straps that fell off the shoulders. A black fitted skirt gave way to a w
hite relief on the bottom. On the hangar, it looked like a dream, but on Kassidy it’d look even better. She brought the dress in and held it up against her. Turning around to Luca for his opinion he was silently shocked. His mouth hung open for a few seconds before he could even blink. That was answer enough for her. She turned to hang the dress off the spiral staircase and hide the fact that she was blushing uncontrollably. Taking the long way around the room she sat back down on the couch and hugged Luca.
“Thank you.”
“So you like the dress?”
“It’s going to be very difficult for me to go unnoticed at the party.”
“It’d be difficult for you to go anywhere and not be noticed.”
“Why’d you go out of your way to get that dress for me?”
“You deserve it for putting up with all of this. I know it would have been much easier for you to just act on your own and go off and handle things. I mean, you’re the Pyrette Queen. It’s who you are.”
“But Kassidy is a Dreadcrank. And Dreadcranks are family.”
“Thank you for considering us family. And thank you for including us in your search for your father’s treasure.”
“Luca, you were the one looking for the treasure first. I’m just helping you.”
“You’re not helping me. You don’t need me for the clues. You figure them out just fine on your own. Look at the Codex. You did that all on your own.”
“I haven’t done any of this on my own. And I know I can be stubborn, but I can’t do any of this all by myself. I do need you.”
“No, you don’t. But I appreciate that you like keeping me around. I don’t pretend to figure out why. It seems all we ever do is get into trouble when we’re together.”
“You like getting into trouble with me. Think about how dull your life was before I came back. Just business all the time. How did the guys ever put up with you?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to ask them about that one of these days.”
“It’s good to see you smile.”
“It’s hard when you know your life is only going easy because people think you’re dead.”
“This calm won’t last. I assume after the party this Saturday our cover will be fully blown and you can go back to being comfortably on the run.”
“You promise?”
“I promise I’ll screw up enough to bring chaos back to our lives. Yes.”
“Just promise me you’re going to make it count this Saturday. I’m not exactly thrilled about stepping foot back into that place.”
“Me neither, but it has to be done. The next clue is somewhere on that south wall.”
“And how did you plan on getting to that wall?”
“I don’t know. That place is going to be crawling with Ringers. I’d have to get to the roof somehow.”
“You’d never be able to get through a room full of Ringers unscathed.”
“Well that’s what you can be for then. Keep them away from me long enough to go missing.”
“Every man there is going to be staring at you. How am I supposed to keep Blue away from his fiancé?”
“Something tells me he’ll be keeping his distance from now on.”
“Why? Did I miss something?”
“You missed a few somethings. I’ll catch you up sometime.”
“Sometime when?”
“I don’t know.”
“Now seems like a pretty good time.”
“I’d rather not.”
“Then I’ll do some catching up. Did anyone ever tell you how I lost my arm?”
“No. I didn’t want to push it. I still don’t.”
“It’s not pushing if I’m willing. I haven’t told this to many people. Even the ones that did know, well, they aren’t around anymore. It was seven years ago. I’d just gotten back to Engia and I was trying to call on anybody I used to know for help. I reached out to old friends. Childhood friends. People I knew I could trust.”
“Blue?”
“He was still Tom back then. He hadn’t joined the Ringers until a few years later. But the Ringers were already running rampant in the streets. When I mentioned I wanted to bring the Dreadcranks back into a force to be reckoned with he acted funny. He mumbled about how the past was better left in the past. He didn’t think what was happening to Engia was as bad as I thought it was. He thought I was mistaken, confused by my time away. I thought maybe he was right. We used to be close when we were younger. He’d never done wrong by me. And I knew I hurt him when I left years before. But I had changed, and he had changed. People change in time, it was normal, or so I thought. I don’t even remember how but you were brought up.”
“Me? Seven years ago?”
“He asked me about you. And I was honest. I hadn’t seen you since the shootout and the fire when we were kids. He said he’d heard stories from nearby towns where I mentioned I had been.”
“What towns?”
“Myrell, Point Clark, Quinn City.”
“I had no idea anybody in Engia knew about me being in any of those places. I was moving around a lot back then.”
“So was I. But he had sources on you, and he wouldn’t tell me who they were. Said they were none of my business. I was worried how defensive he was over them. It sounded like he was stalking you and I didn’t like that. I tried to follow up on some of his leads in those towns, and ran into some trouble with the Ringers. They beat me up pretty good, and turned me over to Blue. I didn’t think an old friend would do anything to me. I was just trying to find you, no different than he was. I think I got closer to you faster than he thought I could. He was jealous. And he’d never been that way with me before. I had heard of the house you were supposed to be staying at in Point Clark, and I was planning on trying to meet you there.”
“Which house?”
“It belonged to some guy named Russel I think.”
“James Russel. You did find me.”
“When I’m good, I’m good.”
“So what happened?”
“I told Blue he couldn’t come with me when I was going to see you. And then he threatened me. I laughed because it was so out of place for him to do. We’d scrapped as kids and he’d never beaten me. But I didn’t know I wasn’t going to be fighting him. Next thing I know I’m thrown into a dark room with men attacking me from all sides and my arm gets broken. As if the pain wasn’t bad enough Asa was there, he’d brought some quack of a doctor with him, and they amputated my arm while I was still awake. Well, partially. I kept coming in and out of consciousness what between the pain and blood loss. When I finally did come to long enough to realize what had happened I was left with a numb stump for an arm. If it wasn’t for a fisherman’s wife at the harbor I never would have gotten this. I traded all my stolen gold I’d been saving up. And I’ve had it ever since.”
“Blue never told me he did this to you.”
“Why would he? It’d cast him out to be the monster he really is.”
“What night were you going to come visit me at the Russel House?”
“It was in the middle of the week. I think, a Wednesday? But by the time all of this happened and I got back to the house, you were gone.”
“The word on the street was that a man had been killed by the Ringers. Asa O’Brien was in town. Russel sold weapons to Asa on occasion. So naturally when I heard Asa was close I panicked. I took my dagger to Russel’s throat that very night and left the city for good. To this day I’ve never been back. You only missed me by a matter of hours. Had Blue not gotten to you, you would have found me right where you thought I was.”
“I never was known for having good timing.”
“So you and Blue’s feud goes way back. I can’t imagine how you’ve kept that much hate inside for so long without blowing a fuse.”
“When I finally do blow, I want to make sure it hits him good, and I want him to know who it came from. That’s why when I found out you were engaged to him, it hit me all kinds of wrong.”
�
�I bet it did. It’s hitting me all kinds of wrong right now just piecing it all together. It makes sense though.”
“Doesn’t it? That’s why he has it out for me. I’m a threat. The only real threat he’s got.”