by Becca Andre
“You’d better run, my brother,” Farran called.
“They’re with me.” Grayson rose to his feet.
Farran turned his head and his gaze settled on Briar. “I see.”
Dismissing her, Farran faced the shadows where Perseus must be concealed. With his attention elsewhere, Briar hurried to Grayson who was climbing to his feet.
“I see you, Scourge.” Farran didn’t sound concerned.
“No, you don’t.” Kali dropped from above, landing directly behind Farran. She’d been hiding in the rafters.
Farran spun toward her, turning with that unnatural speed, but she seemed to anticipate that. Springing back, she swung a short wooden cudgel.
To Briar’s surprise, Farran hesitated. “What is that?”
Purple lightning once again lit up the darkness in the shadows behind Farran. He started to turn, but the quarrel thunked into his back before he could move.
“It’s a distraction,” Kali answered Farran. She dropped the cudgel and pulled something from her waist. With a smooth, practiced motion, she threw out a hand and sent what appeared to be a long cord with several attached balls, whirling toward Farran’s legs.
Farran had halted his turn toward Perseus when she spoke, the quarrel in his upper back visible as it ignited the metal around it in gold and violet flames.
Kali’s weapon whipped around Farran’s lower legs just as he attempted to spring toward her. The cord wrapped around his calves multiple times, binding his legs together and tripping him.
Farran landed with a metallic thump, though he immediately rolled to his stomach and pushed himself up on his knees.
Perseus was already moving. He pulled a long dagger—or perhaps a short sword—from the sheath at his waist and an instant later, a nimbus of purple lightning enveloped it. Without sound, he ran at Farran, the violet glow illuminating his attack.
Farran threw out an arm. A clank sounded from the shadows near the mill stones. In the dim light, it took Briar a moment to recognize the heavy chain and thick metal band used to hoist the mill stone for maintenance. The hoist whirled out of the darkness, flying straight for Kali, who was closer.
“Kali!” Perseus skidded to a halt.
She half turned toward the threat and Briar flinched for impact when the hoist veered off course and slammed into the wall with a great concussion.
“I got it,” Grayson said in the momentary silence.
Watching Grayson, Farran reached back and swiped at the braided leather cord binding his lower legs. The cord severed and fell away. Briar thought he held a blade until his arm returned to his side and she could see his hand. Inch long claws curled at his fingertips, but retracted as he rose to his feet.
“I will not let you be a slave, my brother.” Farran lifted a hand and a large iron cog, perhaps a spare part for mill’s mechanics, rose from where it’d been leaning against the wall. A flick of his fingers and the cog shot across the room, flying straight at Briar.
“Briar!” Perseus leapt toward her, but he would never reach her in time—not that he could do anything.
Grayson waved his hand as if shooing a fly and the cog took a new course, though its velocity didn’t slow. It slammed into the wooden wall, ripping a hole in the side of the building and landing with a distant thump on the ground outside.
Farran looked unimpressed. “She holds you tight.” Once again, he lifted a hand, but Grayson sprang forward before he could launch another projectile.
Briar expected him to throw a punch or something, but all Grayson did was press his hand to Farran’s chest. She remembered when he’d done the same to Solon during their fight at the foundry. And like Solon, Farran reacted instantly.
With a shout, Farran backhanded Grayson so hard, that for a moment, he was airborne. Grayson landed on a couple of crates, shattering them on impact.
“Grayson!” Briar took a step toward him, but pulled up short when Farran whirled to face her. He lifted a hand and she froze.
Broken boards clattered to the floor as Grayson struggled to climb out of the wreckage.
Suddenly, Perseus was beside her. He sprang forward, taking a swipe at Farran with his dagger, purple lightning erupting along the blade.
“Cripple him, Perseus,” Kali called. “Slow him down so I can get my hands on him.”
Farran eyed Perseus for a second, then spun away. In two strides, he cleared the space between him and the window on the other side of the mill stone. Glass shattered as he jumped through, and a spilt second later, Perseus’s dagger thunked into the window frame. The lightning immediately winked out.
Kali sprang up on the window ledge, a black shadow silhouetted against the moonlight. “Damn it.” She reached over and jerked the dagger from the frame. In the distance, they could hear the sound of Farran’s retreating footfalls, then that too was gone.
Briar hurried to Grayson, momentarily unconcerned about Farran’s escape. “Grayson?”
“I’m fine.” He waved away her concern and faced Perseus. “Thank you.”
Another muffled scream echoed down from above them.
Briar gasped. “Molly.”
Grayson ran for the corner of the room and Briar followed, but didn’t see the stairs until he started up. By the time they reached the second floor, Perseus and Kali were right behind them.
This room was much darker. Only a single window broke up the far wall, but the large garner bin blocked most of the light. Wheat fell from a chute in the ceiling, dropping into a hopper that funneled it into the bin.
“Molly?” Briar called out.
No one answered, but she thought she heard a thump that wasn’t caused by the machinery. Maybe.
“We’re going to need a lantern,” Briar said, struggling to see into the shadowed corners.
“Hang on.” Grayson reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his pocket lantern. He twisted it, and a golden light shined from one end.
“What on earth…” Kali began.
“Molly?” Grayson called.
They all stopped to listen, but the rumble of the mill made it difficult to locate the source of the sounds. What if Molly was unable to scream again?
“We need to close the sluice gate and stop the wheel,” Briar said. “I can’t determine if a thump is her or the machinery.”
Perseus wordlessly turned back toward the stairs.
“I’ll take care it,” Grayson said, then simply stood there.
“Um, Grayson?” Briar prompted. She waited, but he said nothing else. She was about to prompt him again when the steady thump of the machinery changed. It was slowing.
“You closed the sluice gate?” she asked, stunned.
“The control wheel is directly below us—and made of iron.” He stepped away from her, shining his light around the corners of the room.
“Why did Farran start up the mill?” Briar asked.
“He’s put her in a place where the machinery would prove a threat,” Grayson answered.
“Oh God, do you think he tied her to the water wheel?” Kali asked.
“No,” Grayson answered. “An object blocking the buckets would interfere with the wheel’s operation. I heard no change in the machinery’s rhythm, so I ruled out—”
A thump sounded from close by.
“The garner bin,” Briar said at the same moment Grayson turned toward it. She remembered the empty grain sacks on the floor below and the brimming hopper. The grain elevator carried the unprocessed wheat to this bin.
“Molly?” Briar called out.
A muffled shout answered her.
“Bloody hell,” Grayson whispered.
“What was the devolved freak doing?” Kali asked. “Trying to suffocate her?”
“Briar, hold this,” Grayso
n handed her his light. “Perseus, duck.”
“What?” Perseus frowned.
“There’s a shovel leaning against the wall behind you. Duck down.”
Perseus immediately dropped into a squat, and a shovel flew out of the darkness behind him. Grayson snatched it out of the air.
Briar expected him to use the shovel to bust through the boards that made up the bin, but he rotated the tool in his hands until he held the blade. An instant later, the wooden handle clattered to the floor.
She moved closer, shining the light on the shovel blade Grayson still held. The metal changed. The rusty surface became a more uniform gray, and the wide blade curled in on itself. A moment later, Grayson held a long crowbar.
“Huh,” she said. “You’re getting better at that.”
He didn’t acknowledge her comment, tapping the side of the bin with his new crowbar. “Shine the light here.”
She did as instructed and watched him slip the chiseled end of the bar between two boards. He shoved it forward and grain trickled through the hole he’d made.
He hooked the end of the crowbar into the hole, then stepped back to grip the other end for better leverage.
“Need help?” Perseus asked.
“No.” Grayson adjusted his grip. “Thanks.” He pulled, and with a loud crack, the board separated from the bin. Grain poured out in a rush as the hole grew. Dust and chaff rose in the air, tickling Briar’s nose.
Grayson moved to the next board and repeated the process. Grain continued to pour out, and he had to keep lifting his feet to remain on top of the growing mound rather than letting it cover his lower legs.
After ripping a third board free, he climbed into the bin, now only half full of grain.
Briar stepped up to the hole, sliding a little on the unstable mound, and shined her light inside. Molly lay half submerged in the loose grain. Her hair and clothing were covered in dust, chaff, and wheat seeds, but she was alive—and coughing.
“Molly!” Climbing through the hole after Grayson, Briar dropped to her knees beside her. “Here.” She handed Grayson his light.
“Molly?” Briar gripped her shoulder. “Are you—”
Molly lifted her head and blinked her eyes. Even her lashes were coated with a fine layer of dust. “Briar!” Her cry turned into a cough, but that didn’t stop her from wrapping Briar in a fierce hug. “It was a monster. I swear, it was—”
“Shh. It’s okay. You’re safe now.” Briar held her tighter, aware of how she was shaking. “He’s gone.”
“You saw him, right?” Molly paused to cough. “You saw that he wasn’t made of flesh and bone?”
“I saw.”
“Was he a demon?” Molly whispered.
“No. Ferromancer.”
Molly lifted her head, and in the dim light, Briar could see the tear tracks on her dust-coated cheeks. “They’re real?”
“Yes.” Briar stopped to cough, trying to dispel the growing tickle in her throat.
“Come,” Grayson said from above them. “Let’s move to some fresh air.” He held out a hand to Molly.
Molly gripped Briar’s arm, her eyes on Grayson. “He said you were his brother.”
“That’s what he calls me,” Grayson agreed.
“But…”
Grayson pressed his lips together, then answered her. “I’m a ferromancer.”
“No. You’re human.”
“Actually, I’m not.”
“I can explain it to you later,” Briar offered, not wanting to go into the whole devolvement thing right now. She gripped Molly’s arm. “Grayson’s right. We need to get out of this dust.”
Molly relented and let them help her from the bin. With Briar’s support, Molly made it down the stairs and out of the building. Molly seemed okay, though she continued to cough.
Briar encouraged her to take a seat on a bench not far from the mill’s front door.
“I believe there’s a rain barrel at the far end of the building,” Grayson said. “I’ll get her a cup of water.”
Briar didn’t ask how he knew that—or what he’d use as a cup. She just nodded, and he hurried away.
“You knew that Mr. Martel was a ferromancer?” Molly asked her.
“Yes,” Briar answered, aware that Kali and Perseus stood a short distance away.
“Did Andrew know?” Molly asked.
“He does now, and he threw his lot in with them.” She dreaded having to explain Andrew’s horrific choice to her, but with Kali and Perseus present, that would have to wait.
“Dear God,” Molly whispered, then lapsed into another coughing fit.
Grayson returned a moment later with an iron cup of water. Briar suspected the crow bar had found yet another use.
“Better?” Briar asked once Molly drank her fill.
“I think so, yes.”
“Then let’s get out of here.” Briar helped Molly to her feet. “We’ll head back to the docks. Hopefully, the boat is waiting on us.”
“If not, we can take rooms at the hotel,” Grayson said. “I for one would love a night in a proper bed.”
“I don’t think we should stick around,” Briar told him.
“Farran won’t be back.”
“What makes you so certain?”
“He’s seen the company I keep.”
Briar glanced at Perseus and Kali. Did they think they were part of this now? Briar remembered the way Lock had reacted when Perseus gripped her hand. She didn’t want any Scourge near him, but she didn’t want to go into that in front of Molly.
“Let’s go to the docks,” Briar said. “We can decide what to do once we get there.”
Chapter 10
To Briar’s immense relief, the Briar Rose was tied up along the docks with half a dozen other boats. She didn’t see Darby’s boat among them.
“Captain!” Jimmy called, hurrying across the gangplank to greet her.
“Captain?” Kali muttered.
Briar ignored her. It was too late to do anything about it now.
“And Mrs. Rose.” Jimmy nodded at Molly when he reached them. “Thank God you’re all safe.”
“Yes,” Briar reassured him. “But we need to—”
“Miss Briar.” Eli was crossing the gangplank, Zach and Benji on his heels.
“I thought Eli was going to pummel Zach when he told us where you’d gone,” Jimmy said under his breath.
Eli rushed over to her, and for an instant, she thought he meant to embrace her, but he seemed to catch himself and gave her a wide grin instead.
“Ha,” Benji said as he and Zach joined them. “I told you the captain and Mr. Grayson would get her back.”
“That you did,” Zach agreed, glancing at Perseus and Kali.
“Did you melt down the metal guy?” Benji continued, his excitement momentarily overcoming his usual shyness.
“Alas, only a little part of him,” Grayson answered.
“Story time will have to wait,” Briar cut in. “We’re not in the clear yet, and if our ferromancer troubles weren’t enough, I saw Dale Darby in town earlier.”
“Why do we care about Darby?” Jimmy asked. “Is his crew looking for another thumping?”
“I saw him showing a paper to the tavern keeper. I suspect it was the wanted poster. I’m sorry boys, but we need to cast off and put some miles between us and our troubles.”
“We’re running through the night?” Jimmy asked, his shoulders slumping. It had been a long day for all of them.
“Just a few miles, then we’ll tie up and get some shut eye.”
“Aye, Captain,” Jimmy agreed.
“Once we’re underway, get the tub and water boiler. I’m sure Molly would enjoy a bath after her ordeal.”
“Please don’t go to any special trouble for me,” Molly spoke up.
“It’s no trouble, Mrs. Rose,” Eli spoke up. “We’d be glad to offer you a little comfort after your mistreatment by that monster.”
“Eli’s right.” Jimmy offered Molly an arm. “I already got the kettle on. How about something warm to drink while we get things set up?”
“I’d like that,” Molly agreed, taking his arm. “And call me Molly.”
Briar watched Jimmy lead Molly away. Zach and Benji followed, heading to the stable cabin to ready the team. But Eli remained.
He crossed his large arms and frowned at them. “I thought these Scourge people were supposed to be lethal against ferromancers.”
“Don’t look at me,” Kali protested. “If she hadn’t taken my disruptor, the problem would be no more.” She waved a hand at Briar.
“I have another,” Briar said before Eli gave anything away. She needed to call her crew together and explain the situation.
Kali’s expression turned eager. “Are you offering?”
“There’s a price,” Grayson spoke up before Briar could answer. “If you’re unaware, I’m sure your partner can fill you in.” He nodded at Perseus who had stepped up behind Kali when Eli turned his frown on them.
Kali’s brow darkened, but she didn’t look back at Perseus for clarification. “I swore I wouldn’t.”
“Then where did you get the first disruptor?” Grayson asked.
“It was mine,” Perseus answered for her. “My coven was destroyed, relieving me of all obligation.”
Grayson studied him. “Which coven was that?”
“I doubt you’d know it.” Perseus waved away any further questions. “What do you have in mind?”
“How about a temporary agreement?” Grayson offered.
“The terms?” Perseus asked.
“A trip to Cleveland. He will follow, and he now understands the truth of the situation.”