by Becca Andre
“And that was the impression you were trying to give them at the farm?” When he had openly kissed her cheek in front of everyone. “That you and I…” She blushed, unable to finish.
“I wasn’t trying to slander you,” he added quickly. “But if you were truly ferra, you would not have a fully cast ferromancer out of his cage for any other reason.”
She crossed her arms, angry and humiliated that he would give them that impression of her—even though she understood his logic. She couldn’t help but remember Kali’s and Perseus’s reactions. They hadn’t been remotely suspicious. Clearly, they had believed that Grayson was her captive and her lover, and they hadn’t once questioned his loyalty or his embarrassingly evident affection for her. God, what did that mean? Did ferromancers accept their lot in life?
“Briar?” Grayson touched her arm, encouraging her to look at him. “I’m sorry.”
She wanted to be angry, but she couldn’t sustain the emotion. Here he was apologizing to her when this was his world. An awful, twisted world that he had once tried to escape, but would be returning to soon. And there was nothing she could do to help him.
“Don’t be angry with me,” he continued, misreading her reaction. “Who cares what those Scourge think of you. Once this is over and you get back to your life on your boat, it won’t matter.”
“Once this is over,” she repeated, her voice finding strength in anger. “You mean once you give yourself up. I thought this trip was about your freedom.” Freedom from her, yes, but also freedom to choose the life he wanted.
“That was a foolish dream I concocted before I was fully cast. I now know what I am. I’ve seen it in Farran’s face…and yours.” He smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “Don’t make this harder by telling me that dream is still possible. If you believe that, then you truly don’t understand.”
“Maybe, but I can’t—”
Grayson gripped her arm, silencing her. “Farran,” he whispered.
It took Briar a moment to make the logic leap. “You sense him again?” Kali had made her so angry that she’d momentarily forgotten why she and Grayson had left the boat.
Grayson didn’t answer. He jogged across the street before them, crossing at an angle as he moved toward the mouth of a narrow alley. Briar hurried after him, not certain what they’d do if they came face to face with Farran.
With his longer legs, Grayson pulled a little ahead of her, turning down the alley first. She picked up her pace, then almost ran into him as he skidded to an abrupt stop. Zach lay on the packed dirt of the alley. He thrashed against the ground, holding his throat.
Briar pressed a hand to her mouth. She’d been right? Farran had targeted him?
“Easy,” Grayson told him dropping to a knee. “I’ve got you.”
She didn’t see any blood. “What—” Briar didn’t get to finish her question as Grayson seized Zach by the throat.
Zach grabbed Grayson’s wrist as if he was trying to pull his hand away.
“Grayson?” Briar prompted.
Zach arched his back and gagged, his knuckles whitening as his grip tightened on Grayson’s wrist.
Briar was about to demand Grayson tell her what was happening when Zach gasped. Grayson released him, and Zach rolled onto his side, taking several deep wheezing breaths.
Grayson rose to his feet. “Farran crushed his larynx.”
“His what?” Briar asked.
“Voice box,” Grayson clarified. “He couldn’t breathe.”
“Oh.” That explained the thrashing. “Zach, are you all right?” She glanced around. “Where’s Molly?”
Zach shoved himself to his feet. He took another deep breath that ended in a cough, but he was able to force out a few words. “He…took her.”
Chapter 8
Briar stared at Zach, trying to process what he was telling them. “Farran took Molly? Why? She has nothing to do with any of this. Hell, she may not have heard of ferromancers.”
Zach cleared his throat, laying a hand on his upper chest as if things still weren’t quite back to normal. “He thinks she’s why Grayson is staying with us.” He stopped to clear his throat again. “Solon told him there was a woman. Farran thinks I’m Grayson’s soulless.” He frowned at Grayson on that. “When he saw her with me, he thought she was the one.”
Briar swallowed. Farran had meant to take her, not Molly.
Grayson didn’t comment. He took a few steps away from them and closed his eyes. Briar assumed he was trying to sense Farran.
“Which way did they go?” she asked Zach.
“That way.” He waved a hand toward the opposite end of the alley.
Grayson had opened his eyes, but instead of taking a step in the direction Zach indicated, he spun to face the way they had come. Then Briar heard the thump of rapid footfalls.
She gripped Grayson’s arm. “Wh—”
Perseus and Kali rounded the corner and skidded to a stop before them.
“I sensed him,” Kali said, her eyes on Grayson. “Did you see him?”
“He attacked Zach and took Molly.” Briar gestured at Zach in case they hadn’t yet caught his name.
“Who’s Molly?” Kali asked.
“A human woman,” Grayson answered.
“Why take her?”
“To get me to do what he wants.”
“And that is…”
“To join his merry band of ferromancers.”
“Merry?” Kali demanded.
“A reference to the story of Robin Hood,” Perseus clarified. A glint in his blue eyes suggested amusement, but Briar didn’t know him well enough to judge for certain.
Kali rolled her eyes and turned away, her attention on the ground.
“He couldn’t have gotten far if you both just sensed him,” Briar said.
Kali spared her a frown. “You don’t get out much, do you?”
Briar crossed her arms, but Grayson spoke before she could. “She is new to this.” He gripped her shoulder, then continued to Kali. “You’re a Tracker, aren’t you?” He spoke the word as if it were a title.
“An untrained one,” Perseus said, earning himself a frown from Kali—which he ignored.
“Whatever.” Kali lifted her chin before addressing Grayson. “How did you know?” Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“You’ve followed his trail without error. It seemed the obvious conclusion.”
Briar started to ask for clarification, then stopped herself. This was so frustrating.
Perseus removed the pack from his shoulder. Without comment, he opened a side pocket and pulled out an acorn-sized tangle of silver wires. Soul iron. Briar was getting good at recognizing the subtle difference between it and pure silver.
“You removed that from one of his soulless?” Grayson asked.
“Of course.” Kali gave him a look that suggested that should have been obvious. Briar realized that he’d asked the question for her benefit.
“Unfortunately, this is the last of it,” Perseus said.
“Let’s see where the bastard went.” Kali reached out and took the bit of wire between her finger and thumb. For a moment, nothing changed, then a crackle of purple lightning suddenly erupted around her digits. It looked identical to Perseus’s crossbow bolt, though on a smaller scale. The wire she held vanished in a puff of gray powder and violet light.
Kali fisted her hand and closed her eyes. A pause, then she bent to grip her knees, releasing a breath that almost sounded pained.
Perseus stepped up and laid a hand on her back. “Take a smaller piece next time.”
She shook her head and straightened. “I can handle it.” She sounded angry, as always. “I just don’t like it.” She rolled her shoulders. “You wouldn’t like seeing into the mind of th
at thing, either.”
“Anything?” Grayson cut in, his tone cool.
“He’s heading north, following the canal,” Kali answered. “He believes you are traveling by boat and intends to wait for you in the next town.”
“He thinks we’ll just keep traveling along after he’s taken Molly?” Briar asked. “Doesn’t he realize that we’d look for her?”
“He doesn’t think like a human,” Grayson said, his voice soft.
“He might have other plans for her,” Perseus said, his words as quiet as Grayson’s.
“Then why are we standing here?” Briar demanded. “Let’s head back to the boat.”
“Overland is quicker,” Kali said. “We can take a carriage.”
“Is that how you’ve been following us?” Briar asked.
“One of the ways.”
“Whatever gets us there quickest,” Grayson spoke up, his words taking the argument out of Briar.
She turned to Zach. “Head back to the boat and instruct the crew to travel on to Roscoe. We can meet up there.”
Zach frowned. “The crew won’t like this.”
“I know, but we must retrieve Molly as quickly as possible.”
He looked like he wanted to argue, but nodded instead. His gaze moved to Grayson. “You two take care of each other.”
“You have my word,” Grayson answered, his tone solemn.
With one last worried glance, Zach hurried away.
Briar wanted to roll her eyes, but turned to see Kali frowning after Zach.
“He’s really not your mate’s soulless slave,” Kali said before Briar could question her.
“I told you he wasn’t.” Briar turned and headed back toward the mouth of the alley. Now if she could only convince her that Grayson wasn’t her mate—but that would put Grayson in danger. She’d just have to put up with Kali’s comments for the remainder of this excursion.
The carriage trip was a bumpy, dusty drive, and Briar spent most of it gripping the armrest so an unexpected pothole didn’t toss her onto the floor—or into Grayson’s lap. They shared one seat while Kali and Perseus sat across from them. The carriage rattled so loudly that they had to shout to be heard. It gave Briar a sense of privacy on their side of the space.
“I’ve softened the springs,” Grayson said after a particularly violent bump, “but that’s all I can do from here.”
She glanced up at him. “Canal travel is looking rather attractive at the moment, isn’t it?”
The corner of his mouth rose. “It’s certainly smoother. As is the railroad.” He gave her a teasing look as if daring her to argue. “But travel is only as smooth as the road the conveyance travels on. Before I settled on the railroad, I had considered some ideas for other modes of overland travel, but they wouldn’t have been much smoother than this.”
“Like a horseless carriage? I once read a newspaper article about them. It sounded like a steam locomotive without tracks.”
“That’s an accurate description. Steam power has moved us out of the dark ages, but it’s too limiting to take us far.” He warmed to his topic, and she fought back a smile at his enthusiasm. “Steam is slow, cumbersome, and inherently dangerous.”
“But you have an alternative?” she prompted.
He leaned toward her. “Yes, I do.” That light was back in his eyes. “I thought I could adapt the technology of my locomotive and—” He noticed the smile she could no longer hide. “What?”
“You. When you talk about your ideas and inventions, you’re like a little boy with a new toy.”
His brow wrinkled. “Is that a…bad thing?”
She laughed. “No. When you get excited over an invention, that’s when you let me see the real Grayson Martel.”
He still looked uncertain.
“Don’t look so worried. I like the real you. You’re so full of passion and energy. You’re not…cold.” She stopped, reminded anew of why she was subjecting herself to this miserable mode of travel.
“We’ll get her back,” Grayson reassured her, following her line of thought.
“Of course we will. That damn ferromancer will—” She looked up and found him watching her with a cool intensity. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I know he was your friend.”
“That’s long past. He’s no longer the man I knew.” As Grayson himself would one day no longer be the man she knew. A day when that boyish twinkle no longer lit his eyes when he discussed a new invention. A day when he would no longer have a desire to create new things.
She turned her gaze to the rolling farmland outside her window.
“Briar.” He touched her cheek, encouraging her to look at him once more.
“Hey,” Kali called to them. “I wouldn’t recommend a lip lock. You could chip a tooth.”
“Thank you for your kind concern regarding our dental health,” Grayson told her, his tone cool.
Something about the whole exchange tickled Briar, and she laughed. Once she got going, she couldn’t seem to stop. Grayson watched her, a smirk becoming a grin, and before long, he was laughing with her.
Kali glared at them, which just added to Briar’s amusement.
The carriage hit a deep rut and bounced Briar so high, she was momentarily airborne. The moment her backside touched down, she gripped the edge of the seat to keep her balance. Grayson slipped an arm around her shoulders to steady her, but after she had righted herself, he didn’t take his arm away. Did he fear another bounce would send her to the floor, or was he taunting Kali?
She didn’t ask. Her fit of giggles had left her drained. Maybe it hadn’t been mirth, but some form of hysterics. After all, here she was, suffering through a miserable carriage ride with a couple of Scourge as they raced to save Molly from a mad ferromancer. If that wasn’t a reason for hysterics, then what was?
She slumped against Grayson, momentarily grateful he was here with her. She didn’t analyze the feeling any deeper than that.
The carriage rattled to a stop, lifting one last cloud of dust to drift through the open windows and attempt to choke them. Briar couldn’t climb out fast enough, and only through a force of will did she resist the urge to drop to her knees and kiss the ground.
“That was torturous,” Briar complained rubbing her bruised tailbone.
“Indeed,” Grayson rubbed his ribs. “Your shoulder is bonier then I realized.”
“Behave, or I’ll give you a taste of my elbow.”
Grayson took a hasty step to the side, though he continued to grin.
“If you two are finished flirting,” Kali cut in, “we have a hunt to resume.”
“Flirting?” Briar demanded. “I just threatened to elbow him. Your concept of affection could use some work.”
That earned her a dark glare. Had she found a sore spot?
“Does anything look familiar?” Perseus asked Kali before the conversation could devolve into a full-blown argument.
“No,” she answered immediately. “He was in a wooded area when I saw his intentions.”
“So, he could have changed his mind?” Briar asked. “He might have gone elsewhere?”
“That’s always a possibility.”
“Maybe you should have waited.”
“Then we’d still be searching that last town,” Kali said with heat. “We’re here because this was where he intended to go. Waiting would have only given him more time to make her soulless.”
Briar remembered how quickly Andrew made the conversion. “But he’s had enough time, right?”
“Not if he’s busy traveling here,” Grayson said.
“Once he arrives?”
“He gains nothing by making her soulless. He cannot stave off his devolvement, and if he’s using her as leverage against me, then he loses that if he
kills her.”
“There you go,” Kali said to Briar. “If anyone understands what this fiend is thinking, it would be your lover.”
“His name is Grayson, or Mr. Martel if you’d prefer to keep it formal.”
Kali glared at Grayson. “Martel? I’ve never heard that ferromancer name.” Perseus was eyeing Grayson, as well.
“It means hammer in French,” Grayson answered. “I took it from a human I greatly admired.”
“A human?” Kali looked shocked, and even Perseus appeared interested.
“He was a master watchmaker and a mechanical genius.” Grayson smiled at the memory of his mentor. “And a very good man.”
“Huh.” Kali continued to study him, though for once, it didn’t seem to be with animosity. “So, what is your ferromancer name?”
Grayson winked. “It’s a secret.”
That returned Kali’s frown. “If you’re running from a lion and a wolf, then you must be one of the lesser talents.”
Grayson shrugged, but didn’t comment.
“Perseus says the amount of soul iron within you suggests you’ve been fully cast for years, but the lack of devolvement suggests the slower change of a weaker ability.”
“It seems you have me figured out,” Grayson agreed.
Briar glanced at Perseus who was quietly watching the exchange. He had seen all that—and discussed it with Kali? Had they been deciding whether Grayson needed killing?
But more disturbing was what Perseus had seen. Grayson had enough soul iron within him that he appeared to have been fully cast years ago, instead of days? It seemed Liam had told her the truth. Grayson would devolve quickly. Dear God, was his body converting even now? She wanted to scream at him to stop.
“Not completely figured out,” Kali said. “How did you survive a direct hit of soul fire?”
“Maybe I got a little help from my girlfriend,” Grayson answered.
Briar elbowed him. “Can we get back to the task at hand? It’ll be dark soon.”