by S. S. Engle
“You may have just saved us all sweetheart! Alright guys, follow us!”
“Luca wait! Are you sure about this?”
“Well it’s not like we have anywhere else to go.”
“What if this just leads to a dead end?”
“You really want to contemplate dead ends right now? With all of the Absynthe Ring racing above our heads?”
“If this ends badly it’ll be all my fault.”
“It’s already bad sweetheart.”
11
There was an entire palace underneath the palace. The Dreadcranks were more than pleased to find themselves in a stone expanse underground that nobody aside from them knew about. It was a well-established space, with stone walls two stories high, grand arches, and chained lighting that still worked with a little effort. After a little searching, there were multiple routes to exit corridors that led out of the city to the lava fields of Mt. Engia, the railroad depot at the southern end of the city, and another expected to lead somewhere around the Brass Bulldogge top security prison. Though that last door was better left alone for a more appropriate time. There was metal crates and storage box filled with canned food that was questionable in nature given its age, but some men didn’t care and dived right in. Kassidy withheld herself because the adrenaline
pumping through her veins was still high enough to suppress her appetite. In some of the rooms underground the dust would fall from the tall ceilings where the Ringers were running around up above. Seeing how terrified Kassidy still was of being chased out Luca gave her the menial task of counting the Dreadcrank members in the basement. It was just the kind of busy work she needed to keep her mind off of the trouble at hand. Harlan watched as his friend suddenly became so task oriented she was back to her usual in control self in a matter of minutes. He had to congratulate Luca on a job well done.
“That was smart of you.”
“Not all of my ideas are bad ones O’Brien.”
“When you left for Rusten Island, she was having a panic attack and I couldn’t do anything to help her. She told me you were the only one who could calm her down. I didn’t want to believe it then, but it’s a little hard to deny now.”
“I highly doubt I’m the only one who can calm her down.”
“You haven’t seen what I have. I don’t know what it is, but you have a way about you. The way you lie to her to make her think everything’s going to be alright, it’s very convincing.”
“Say that again?”
“Say what again?”
“You said the way I lie to her?”
“Yes. It’s brilliant really. She trusts you so much she doesn’t even question what you’re saying.”
“It’s not really lying.”
“It’s not really telling the truth either. You know as well as I do what threat the Ringers are. But a little white lie every now and then doesn’t hurt things. It’s what families do to protect each other.”
“But Kassidy and I aren’t family.”
“You might as well be. You’re all each other has from the original Lydia back when you still had blood relatives. Besides, take it from somebody who isn’t proud of who they’re biologically related to. The family you choose takes up more room in your heart than the family you’re stuck with. Believe what you want to believe Lucky, but if it wasn’t for you she wouldn’t even be down here right now. You know I’m right.”
When Luca turned around to speak to Harlan again he was already gone, mingling with a group of questionably intelligent new recruits for Dreadcrank. They were opening up cans of jellied fruit, but they couldn’t figure out just what fruit it was they were eating. While Luca needed a good laugh right now he had to go and pull Kassidy away from her latest task. They had to make the most of their limited time down here. The treasure was still on his mind, which meant an urn full of ashes had to be hidden away down here somewhere. It was the perfect distraction to kill two birds with one stone and pull Kassidy away from the main group of guys to get a few more of his questions answered. Luca couldn’t fully put things behind him until he heard what he needed to hear. Good, bad, or otherwise he needed the truth. He knew he told Kassidy upstairs that he was willing to let that all go, but he was lying to himself if he thought he could get away with that. In order to move forward they had to step off on the right foot, at the same time. He managed to get a hold of Kassidy fairly easily as she was already double checking her numbers running back and forth from one stone chamber to the next.
“What is it Luca? I’ve almost finished counting.”
“I’ll trust your numbers are correct.”
“But I haven’t even told you what I got yet.”
“Take a walk with me?”
“The last time I took a walk with you it didn’t end up too well for me.”
“I promise you won’t end up in a hospital this time.”
“Where are we walking to?”
“Just away from everyone else. I thought we could try to find the gearmaster’s urn down here.”
“That’s a good idea. I could use some time away.”
“I thought so.”
“So what is it that’s eating away at you?”
“What do you mean?”
“The last time you wanted to take me on a walk you needed to talk without a hundred people listening to you. So, what is it this time?”
“You need to come clean with me about what happened when I was away. What happened with Blue?”
“If I tell you, you have to come clean with me too. Explain what was so important you traded the Lydia away to Asa.”
“Deal. You first.”
“Well for starters, Harlan told me you weren’t really planning on coming back to Engia. Was that true?”
“That’s what I told him. At that point I really wasn’t sure.”
“In my defense I braced myself for the worst possible scenario of that being true. Harlan was never fully on board with my plan to use Blue to gain access to the mansion and the Ringers, but he played along because he couldn’t bare me going at it alone. You remember my engagement ring I always carry around with me?”
“It’s kind of hard for me to forget.”
“Well I used it as my bargaining chip. I wore it into the mansion to reconcile with Blue. He told me about what happened the night I caught him with Natasha, and I faked sincerity for a misunderstanding. It was so hard because I could tell he was lying to me. But once I had Blue on my side I knew nobody would question my being at the mansion. I needed to get my hands on information the Ringers undoubtedly had. Luck was on my side because Harlan told me about a dinner they were having for new recruits.”
“The recruits that stormed the parlour.”
“I made that connection a little too late. At the dinner, I had Blue thoroughly convinced we were going to get married soon. And I knew I could only string him along for so long without giving him some sort of…physical confirmation. It was Harlan’s idea that he and I stage this huge fake argument to convince the Ringers as a whole that I could be trusted. Since none of them like Harlan it played right into my hands. But then Natasha butted in, and Asa encouraged her. They wanted proof right then and there. So, I kissed Blue at the dinner, in front of all of them. I had to kiss him pretty good. And then we left the dinner early to go upstairs. That’s when I hit him on the head with the barrel of his own gun. I didn’t know I was going to put him into a coma, but really I wasn’t all that sorry about it either. I ransacked his room, I came away with some important looking papers. When I was trying to get away Silas caught me in the hallway. Still in the manipulative mindset I led him back into his room and once he was convinced he was going to get lucky I slowed him down a bit by cutting his face into that smile he always insists I have.”
“That explains the scars.”
“I ransacked his room as well while he was bleeding out onto the floor. He had stolen the Codex. To this day I still don’t know how. Harlan was supposed to be watching it back at the br
othel for me. But we all make mistakes I suppose. That pretty much catches you up.”
“Blue knows that you toyed with him.”
“He never was the brightest man in the city, but he was far from stupid.”
“He really misses you.”
“I guess it’s progress that he recognizes what he’s lost now.”
“Do you miss him at all?”
“No.”
“You kissed him an awful lot while I was away.”
“It was all a reuse Luca. It meant nothing.”
“Was it what you wanted, to marry him?”
“Not for a very long time.”
“Then why did I see what I saw at the party? The reuse should have been over by then.”
“I was out of options.”
“You had your knife.”
“Enough blood had been spilled already.”
“Do you still love him? Do you still love Blue?”
“No.”
“What about Tommy? Does a part of you still love the man you used to know?”
“That man died when he scarred my face. I assure you, no part of me loves any part of Bloody Blue Eyes, or Thomas Edwards. No part. Not now, or any day from here on out. My past is my own nightmare. There’s nothing I can do to fix what mistakes I’ve made. But I can do better from this day forward. I just ask that you don’t judge me too harshly for manipulating an old friend of yours. I was just trying to help the Dreadcranks.”
“You have no idea how badly I needed to hear you say that.”
“Then hold up your end of the bargain Luca. Our walk isn’t over yet. I came clean with you, now you come clean with me. What could be so important to you that you thought you could justify trading away my father’s airship to the man who killed him.”
“You saw Asa and I in the parlour that night.”
“He had you pinned to the wall at gunpoint.”
“Well he’s always had a weakness for making a deal. So, I made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. I convinced him he’d never be able to win you over if he killed me. So, I actually owe you quite a bit of gratitude. You saved my life without even trying.”
“Where does the airship fit into all of this?”
“He promised to let me go, and take my gang with me. But he knew you were still somewhere in the parlour, and he wasn’t going to let you go. I saw you out on the balcony. I knew he wasn’t bluffing. He asked me what you worth to me. I traded the Lydia to keep you safe. He promised me he’d let you go for the night, but come daylight he was going to attack me with every resource he had at his disposal.”
“That’s why you knew the Ringers were going to attack the palace.”
“He’s a man of his word.”
“I can’t believe you traded the Lydia away for me.”
“Yes. So, try not to be too angry with me. I was just trying to look out for you.”
“How could I be angry with you for trying to protect me? Luca, nobody has ever gone to such great lengths to try and keep me safe.”
“You mean a lot to this gang…and to me. When Harlan told me you were going to offer yourself up to Asa, I just couldn’t let that happen. Not after I worked so hard to get you back the night before.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me that from the beginning?”
“I didn’t want you to worry about anything else. You had enough on your mind as it was. Back at the Patina Parlour, when the man announced us as Mr. and Mrs. Voss, I guess I got swept up in the moment. I actually felt like we were a real couple. I know what Blue must have felt when he knew he lost you. Part of me actually sympathized with him during that shootout. You’re a treasure in and of yourself sweetheart. And I’m just selfish enough to not want to share you with anyone else.”
“Where does that leave us now? The Ringers still have us trapped down here.”
“I haven’t heard them in nearly half an hour.”
“They wouldn’t leave without taking what they came here for.”
“They might if they thought you really weren’t here. They could have moved their attack to our old headquarters in the middle of the city.”
“You think we could be so lucky?”
“You doubt my namesake?”
“I doubt your confidence.”
“Stay down here and keep looking for those ashes. I’ll take a small group of men back upstairs with me to check things out.”
“You really think that’s wise?”
“How else are we going to know if they’ve left?”
“We could use one of the escape routes and come around the long way.”
“Time is a luxury we don’t have right now sweetheart. Don’t worry, I’ll be right back.”
“Luca wait!”
“What?”
“Be careful.”
Luca leaned in with a huge smile and Kissed Kassidy’s cheek. As he pulled away he watched her bite her bottom lip and trail her arm out after him as he ran away. She stayed back in the stonewalled hallway as he gathered his group together to go upstairs. She hadn’t been fully aware yet, but now she noticed the lack of activity upstairs. Maybe Luca was actually on to something. The Ringers would have left if they couldn’t find her at the palace. Maybe they really did pull off an escape. She could be hopeful. The immense weight of keeping her liaison with Blue a secret was finally gone. Harlan was right. She didn’t know why she didn’t listen to her friend sooner. He would never steer her in the wrong direction. A quiet fell over the Dreadcranks as the mission to investigate upstairs got underway. Kassidy rejoined the group after a while to enlist help in searching for the urn. But she couldn’t find Harlan. After exchanging a peculiar glance with Jasper, she realized he must have gone upstairs too. Kassidy froze as two of the only people she loved volunteered to be in danger.
12
The palace was torn apart, and abandoned once more. As Luca, Harlan, and three other Dreadcranks spread out along the ground floor it was clear the Ringers had moved on. Not a window managed to escape being shattered into a million pieces. The crunch of shards under the men’s boots was an expected sound. Boards had been knocked out of their nearly twenty year resting places. The furniture used to barricade the doors had been shot to oblivion and shoved into the ground in pieces. Cushions looked to have exploded with stuffing scattered around like snow. What doors managed to withstand being knocked to the floor were hanging awkwardly on their door jambs. So many red doors. Even doors to cabinets and closets had been hacked at. It’s like the Ringers just came through the palace like a tornado to wreck anything and everything they could get their hands on just for the sake of being destructive.
Once the ground floor was secured Luca and Harlan broke off to check the top floor, knowing the Ringers had caused more damage up there because they had broken through the roof. The other three Dreadcranks stayed on the ground floor to keep it under control in case they were being watched. Harlan was unarmed, and therefore kept too close to Luca for either of the men’s own liking. Luca himself had two guns at the ready, one with steam and one with bullets, just in case. There was one room in particular he needed to check on because he knew it’d be one of the first places Kassidy would want to go when she came out of the basement. It was relatively untouched, which had both men on edge. The window had been smashed, but the glass was out of the room, meaning it had been done for somebody to get from the inside out. Luca tilted his head to the side as he secured the room. The wind was blowing the curtains and the bedding back and forth. Harlan sat down on top of the desk as Luca crawled around stalking the room like a cat to a mouse. He fiddled with anything in arm’s range, noticing a book that had been hollowed out. Inside there was letter. Before Luca could relax and see what Harlan was doing, Harlan had read the letter in its entirety. His jaw was hanging wide open. It wasn’t until the wind shook the letter back and forth did Luca stop what he was doing and snatch the letter away.
“What are you doing O’Brien?!”
“Have you read this le
tter Lucky?”
“No! why would I? I don’t make a habit out of reading things that don’t belong to me.”
“You know who this belongs to?”
“Kassidy used to keep it in her corset. When we were getting ready for the party she put it in that book. I guess she never took it back when she changed.”
“Lucky, I think you need to read this.”
“I think if I needed to read it she would have given it to me to read.”
“Well I already read it. And if you don’t want to read it then I still think you should know what it says.”