by Karen Kincy
Ardis stared openmouthed at the food. “I must be dreaming. It’s so… American.”
“Here,” Wendel said. “Have my plate.”
She pretended to dab her eye with a napkin. “I think I might cry.”
Everyone laughed. Ardis smiled, even though her throat ached as she ate a bite of turkey, and her eyes stung as she swallowed. Because she was closer to tears than she would admit. Today had been, without question, one of the worst days of her life. And yet they willingly flew toward days even more dangerous.
Ardis stared at her plate. Melancholy dragged her down like an anchor.
But her thoughts were rather rudely interrupted. Out of nowhere, Krampus hopped onto the table and strutted toward her plate. Wendel whipped a napkin at him, and the raven flew to the floor with an indignant croak.
“Off, you brat,” Wendel said.
Krampus tilted his head and blinked. He looked dubiously innocent.
Secretly, Ardis tossed the raven a string bean. Krampus caught it and shook it like a worm that needed killing, then swallowed it in several gulps. Ardis hid her smile behind her hand and reached for another bean.
“Don’t be nice to him,” Wendel said. “He’s already evil.”
Ardis laughed. “Hypocrite.”
The others fetched their plates, and they ate dinner together. Sunlight faded into the darkness of evening. The ship’s cook delivered dessert with a flourish—plenty of plum pudding drenched with brandy sauce.
A bittersweet end for a Christmas in the sky.
~
After dinner, Ardis wandered down the gangway to the nose of the airship.
She discovered an observation deck and stopped there, her hands clasped behind her back, her heartbeat paradoxically calm. She watched darkness fall on Vienna as they flew closer to the city, a headwind buffeting the airship. At this altitude, even the cathedral looked small, its tallest spire like a needle pricking the sky.
“Ardis?”
She turned her head and found Wendel there. He looked bedraggled and tired, though he managed to quirk his eyebrow.
“I wondered where you went,” Wendel said.
Ardis looked back out over the city. “I wanted to see Vienna.”
Wendel stood by her side, without touching her, and gazed out the window. The lights of the city glittered in his eyes.
Ardis rubbed his scratchy cheek. “When did you last shave?”
He squinted. “Constantinople.”
“Eleven days ago? Impressive.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, though you might want to shave in Vienna.”
Wendel tilted his head as if considering this. Then he slipped his hand behind her neck and tugged her into a kiss. His lips felt soft on hers, but when he dipped his mouth to her neck, his stubble rasped against her skin.
Ardis sucked in her breath at the surprising pleasure.
“We have the night in Vienna,” Wendel said.
She stepped back and lifted his chin with her finger.
“You can’t possibly be suggesting anything but sleep,” she said.
A devilish smile spread on his face.
Ardis laughed. “I’m sorry, Wendel, but I have ulterior motives.”
“You do?” he said.
“A hot bath and a warm bed.”
He touched his hand to his heart. “Am I invited?”
“Always.”
Wendel stood behind Ardis and slipped his arms around her. She leaned against his chest.
The USS Jupiter moored at Aspern Airfield on the outskirts of Vienna. As they disembarked from the airship, Ardis remembered catching an Orient Express Airways zeppelin from here to Constantinople.
How little time it had taken them to return, and yet how much had changed.
Ardis and Wendel crossed the gangway from the zeppelin to the mooring mast. Wind whistled around the tower and tugged at their clothes. When Wendel glanced at the ground, the color drained from his face.
“Afraid of heights?” Himmel said.
The captain and Konstantin waited on the gangway. Wendel tore his gaze away from the ground long enough to glare at them.
“Only with you lurking behind me like that,” Wendel said.
Ardis prodded him in the back. “Keep walking.”
When they stepped on solid ground, Wendel blew out his breath and stared heavenward. A tattered scrap of black flew from the airship and circled above them—Krampus. The raven disappeared over the rooftops.
Ardis smiled. “I’ll bet you ten koronas Krampus will find his way back.”
“I’m not taking that bet,” Wendel said. “I’m penniless.”
Konstantin stepped forward and raised a finger.
“Meet tomorrow at the Hall of the Archmages,” he said. “Seven o’clock sharp.”
“We’ll be there,” Ardis said.
Konstantin ducked his head, then reached into the pocket of his jacket. He took out a golden pin in the shape of an edelweiss flower. Seeing it brought a lump to Ardis’s throat. It was a badge of the archmages. Her badge.
“This belongs to you,” Konstantin said.
“Still?” Ardis said.
His smile was lopsided. “I used the present tense, didn’t I?”
Konstantin pinned the edelweiss to Ardis’s lapel. It pricked her skin, but she didn’t flinch. A little pain seemed worth it. She folded her lapel so she could inspect the pin, and she found herself momentarily speechless.
“Thank you,” Ardis said.
Konstantin dipped his head. “And now I will say goodnight.”
“It’s far past the captain’s bedtime,” Wendel said.
Himmel glowered, though he looked groggy with fatigue. Konstantin hesitated, took Himmel’s elbow, then waved farewell. The two of them left the airfield. Ardis hoped the archmage would take care of the captain.
Wendel walked to the road and hailed a taxicab. They climbed into the back.
“Where to, sir?” the driver said.
“Anywhere warm,” Wendel said.
Ardis leaned forward. “Hotel Viktoria, please.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
They drove from Aspern Airfield into Vienna proper. Fields quilted the countryside, yielding to snow-blanketed roofs. The taxicab rumbled across a bridge over the Danube River, then turned onto the Ringstrasse, an old road that circled the heart of the city. Evergreen garlands decorated the lampposts and fences.
“I can’t believe it’s Christmas,” Ardis said.
“How so?” Wendel said.
“We were on the road for so long, running and hiding and barely scraping by. This—” She tapped on the window. “—doesn’t feel real.”
Wendel’s eyebrows angled in a frown.
“This is our reality now,” he said, “as strange as it may seem.”
TEN
Hotel Viktoria overlooked a street shadowed by the winter branches of trees. In the gaslamp glow of the lobby, the busty brunette behind the desk looked Wendel over and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear.
“How can I help you, sir?” the brunette said.
Ardis leaned her elbow on the desk. “A single room, please.”
“Thirty koronas.” The brunette barely glanced at her. “Will you be staying long?”
“Only one night.”
Ardis paid for the room, plucked the key from the brunette’s hand, and climbed the stairs.
“Why was she staring at me like that?” Wendel said.
Ardis rolled her eyes. Because he was handsome beneath the dirt?
“You look like a vagabond,” she said.
“I am a vagabond, thank you.”
With a laugh, Ardis unlocked the door to their room. The bed was all but lost under a quilt flowered with cabbage roses. Lace crawled along the curtains. Her cheeks warmed. She had forgotten how dainty this hotel looked.
As expected, Wendel bent over the bed and poked a pillow in the shape of a pansy.
“What a sad little pillow,” he said.
Ardis flounced into a plump armchair. She peered down at her boots, crusted with indeterminate scum from the lake.
“God, I need a bath,” she said.
Ardis hopped to her feet and entered the bathroom. Wendel followed, closing the door behind them. She leaned over the clawfoot tub and twisted on the tap. Wendel picked up a purple soap bar, sniffed it, and dropped it again.
“Lavender,” he said. “A necromancer should never smell like lavender.”
Ardis kicked off her boots and peeled off her clothes. She climbed into the water and let out a sigh of bliss. Heat soaked her to the bone. She slid to the bottom of the tub and watched her hair swirl on the surface of the water.
Wendel tossed his jacket on the floor and unbuttoned his shirt.
“Hand me the soap,” Ardis said.
He pretended to sneer at the lavender soap and dropped it into the tub. She fumbled to catch it before it sank underwater.
“Thank you,” she said, with the necessary sarcasm.
“You’re welcome.”
Wendel stood over the bathtub, shirtless, and arched an eyebrow.
“May I join you?” he said.
Ardis stared up at him and smiled. Wendel needed no further invitation. He stripped naked and stepped into the tub. His feet straddled her calves. She took a moment to stare at him, then tucked her knees against her chest. He lowered himself into the tub, cupped a handful of water, and poured it over his head.
Ardis held her breath and ducked underwater. When she surfaced, Wendel tilted his head back against the tub and watched her through half-closed eyes. She rubbed the soap into a rich lather between her hands and washed her arms, then her breasts. The look in Wendel’s eyes ignited with smoldering intensity.
“Give me the soap,” he said.
Ardis looked innocent. “You changed your mind about lavender?”
Wendel’s smile was wicked. He held out his hand, and she relinquished the soap. He rubbed the soap, then reached across the bath and traced the curve of her breast with his fingers. Her breath caught in her throat. Her back arched out of instinct. His thumb circled her nipple until it hardened under his touch.
“That’s rather distracting,” Ardis said.
Wendel looked her in the eye. “You said you wanted a bath.”
He slid his hand down the hollow of her back. Her muscles felt tight with tension—and he wasn’t helping her relax.
“Wendel,” she said.
His hand moved away. “Should I stop?”
Ardis wasn’t sure what she wanted. It was too silent in the bathroom. The quiet left space for ugly thoughts to crawl through her mind. When she closed her eyes, she saw the flames of the zeppelin, seared into her memory.
“It’s not your fault,” she said.
Wendel gazed across the water between them.
“What do you mean?” he said.
She waved at herself. “There’s a gnawing in the pit of my stomach. Like something bad will happen and I don’t know when or how or why. I don’t know how to make the feeling stop. It’s never been this bad before.”
A crease appeared between Wendel’s eyebrows. He stood, the water rushing off him, and climbed out of the bath. Ardis thought he might be leaving, but he climbed in behind her and pulled her against his chest.
“I know that feeling,” Wendel said, a rasp in his honey-gravel voice.
“How do you make it go away?” Ardis said.
“It never does.”
She was silent. Her eyes burned with tears that threatened to betray her. She held her breath, not wanting him to see her cry. But he brushed her hair from the nape of her neck and massaged her shoulders.
Ardis let the air escape her lungs. A shaky, tentative breath. Her eyes blurred.
Here in the bath, no one could tell the difference between tears and water.
Wendel said nothing, but his silence was all she needed to hear. He washed her back, his fingers strong yet gentle. She inhaled through her mouth, then splashed water in her face to rinse away the last of her tears.
Wendel kissed her neck, and his stubble tickled her skin.
“Are you going to grow a magnificent beard?” Ardis said.
He laughed. “Would I be irresistibly rugged?”
“The jury is still out.”
Wendel climbed out of the tub, toweled himself off, and dragged on his old clothes.
“Where are you going?” Ardis said.
He patted his cheek. “To buy a shaving kit.”
“Come back soon.”
“I will.”
With that, Wendel left the bathroom and shut the door behind him.
Ardis slid lower, all but her face underwater. Her heartbeat whooshed in her ears. She lay like that until the water went cold.
Where was Wendel?
Ardis left the tub and wrapped a towel around herself. The gnawing in her stomach was back, and worse than before. When she stepped out of the bathroom, she heard the click of the key in the lock. The door swung open.
“I return triumphant,” Wendel said.
He unpacked a shaving kit in the bathroom and flipped open a straight razor. The blade gleamed with a glossy polish.
“Solingen steel,” Wendel said. “The only manliness in this hotel.”
Ardis laughed and twisted her hair in the towel. Wendel dropped his coat on the floor and unbuttoned his shirt. He filled a little bowl with shaving cream, whipped the cream with a badger hair brush, and spread the lather over his face. Wendel tilted his head, frowning in the mirror, and scraped the razor over his cheek.
“Ah, damn,” he said.
“Did you cut yourself?” Ardis said.
A thin line of blood welled above his cheekbone. He set down the straight razor and held out his hands—they were trembling.
“Laudanum,” he said. “I had forgotten.”
She bit her lip, afraid to ask what he remembered.
“Ardis.” Wendel offered the straight razor to her. “I trust you with a blade.”
“You want me to shave you?”
“Please.”
Wendel dragged a chair into the bathroom. He sat and dabbed the cut on his cheekbone with a towel. Ardis blew out her breath and took the straight razor. The infinitesimal edge of the blade looked sharper than her sword.
“Are you sure?” Ardis said.
Wendel met her gaze. In this light, his eyes looked darker, like jade. He let her angle his head and bring the razor to his face.
“I trust you,” he said.
Ardis touched the razor to Wendel’s skin. It slid down his cheek with only the slightest resistance and subtle rasp of steel cutting stubble. She shaved his cheek and started on the other. He remained quiet and still.
“Look up,” Ardis said.
Wendel tilted his head. Ardis pressed her thumb to his lower lip to tauten his skin, then shaved beneath his mouth. Her thumb lingered for a second. She shaved his chin and brought the straight razor to his neck.
“Don’t move,” Ardis said.
Wendel raised his eyebrows. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
Ardis touched his throat, his heartbeat throbbing under her fingertips. It felt wrong to hold steel to his neck, where a single cut could kill. But this was a straight razor, not a sword, and a bathroom, not a battlefield.
Her hand steady, she slid the blade over his throat in short strokes.
When she finished, Wendel bent over the sink to wash his face, then dipped the badger brush into the bowl of cream.
“Once more,” Wendel said.
Still holding the straight razor, Ardis stared at him.
“Again?” she said.
“Against the grain,” he said, “for a smoother shave. I always do.”
“You look shaved enough to me.” Ardis set the straight razor on the counter. “We could always test this theory.”
Wendel squinted. “How—?”
Ardis silenced him wi
th a kiss. An instant later, Wendel slipped his hand behind her neck. His other hand cradled the hollow of her back. She leaned against him, his clothes rough against her naked skin, and breathed in his scent.
Ardis smiled. “You do smell like lavender.”
Wendel growled low in his throat.
“I would rather be dirty,” he said.
His look was anything but gentlemanly. His kiss was anything but gentle.
He brought his lips to hers and backed her against the wall. His hands gripped her hips and held her there, as if the weight of his body wasn’t enough. The hint of stubble on his jaw rasped her cheek. She sucked in a shaky breath, her breasts trapped against his chest, and ran her hands over the breadth of his shoulders.
“I want you in bed,” Wendel said.
He brushed his lips down her neck, the tip of his tongue tasting her skin, then dipped lower and licked her nipple.
Ardis inhaled sharply. “Wendel.”
He leaned back and met her gaze. Lust smoldered in his eyes.
“There’s a slight problem,” she said. “We have no—”
“Preventives?” he said.
Wendel lifted his jacket from the floor. He retrieved a tin of preventives from the pocket and balanced it in his hand.
“I’m a fortuneteller,” he said.
Ardis wrinkled her nose. “Why?”
“I predicted the future,” he said, struggling not to grin.
She laughed. “The future might end badly if you act that arrogant.”
“So far, so good.”
Wendel tried to push her against the wall, but Ardis ducked under his arm and escaped. She ran from the bathroom and dove under the covers of the bed. Breathless, trying not to laugh, she tucked the quilt down tight.
“Good night,” Ardis said.
Wendel stalked into the bedroom with pantomimed stealth. He dropped to a crouch and crawled along the wall in the shadows. After a second of silence, he pounced onto the bed and pinned her arms to the mattress.
Ardis laughed, and Wendel pretended to glare at her.
“No laughing,” he said.
She couldn’t stop smiling at him. “Is this serious?”
“Very.”
Wendel held himself over her and kissed her on the mouth. Softly, this time, but with an undercurrent of urgency. Tension tightened his muscles. He released one of her wrists and touched his fingertips to her cheek.