The Underground

by Michelle E Lowe

Joaquin waited by the horses, studying the pocket watch Coira had given him. It helped keep his mind off things. What she had told him about the watch, about it being special, struck him as odd. Curiously, he turned the winding crown, and when he removed his fingers, the clock hands spun on their own until they returned to their original time. The second hand quickly resumed ticking on.

  “Bloody hell,” he whispered, turning them again.

  The same thing happened. The watch, for some reason, had its own time schedule that belonged to another part of the world. But where and why?

  Joaquin raised his chin to see Pierce hurrying over the lawn.

  “Did you find it?”

  “I did,” Pierce said, taking his hat and mounting his horse. “It’s in the master bedroom, locked inside some large glass pyramid. I couldn’t get to it.”

  “You found it, though. No worries, little brother, I think we can find a way.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Under the Lights

  Élie held Durothil by the hand and instantly became a young woman again. Between his touch, her power, and the endearment they shared, her body could become youthful. While on the brink of morning, she had stolen him away deep into the forest and made love to him.

  “You need not hold my hand,” Durothil said, lying beside her upon the soft grass, his fingers laced through hers. “I care not for the form you wear.”

  Breathless, she rotated her head over to look at him.

  “I enjoy the strength of youth. Age puts such a strain on the body.”

  He blinked slowly and grinned.

  “Forgive me. I had not seen it in that perspective.”

  “Never ask for my forgiveness, Durothil. You stood by my side during all those years of illness and kept me alive. Your love for me saved my life.”

  He slid his fingertips down her cheek. “I will always love you.”

  She closed her eyes, savoring his warm, gentle stroke before an icy cold frosted over her soul, stealing the air out of her lungs, which burned from the raw fear caused by the visions flashing before her eyes. Blood poured from gunshot wounds that were puncturing a blouse and a dark brown vest. Élie’s chest felt crushed by the heaviness of her sorrow, as if her heart had been broken. The dread of loss clutched her. Someone she cared for was about to be taken.

  “What is it?” Durothil demanded in alarm.

  Élie opened her sights to a world that was slowly adjusting to normal. She sat up as her vision cleared. The dews of sweat had dried into tiny cold pebbles over her skin.

  He gently grasped her shoulder. “Is it our grandchildren?”

  She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself, trembling. “I fear one of them will soon die.”

  “Death is only a journey into another existence. What concerns me is what that witch has planned for them.”

  “I’ve placed a powerful protective spell over them, yet, with the gears already in motion, it is very difficult to stop her completely. Especially since we have no idea what it is she wants to do. I will do what I can.”

  Durothil stroked her back. His warmth melted the chill clinging to her body. She leaned into his touch, relishing it.

  “Will you tell Joaquin about his daughter?” he asked at length.

  She nodded. “I should have already told him. I was afraid he would want to meet her first before leaving, thereby wasting what precious time he has left. Regardless, he has the right to know in case he . . .”

  Her words fell away. She feared the worst if she so much as uttered them.

  “Stay with me,” Durothil pleaded.

  Élie ran her fingers through his hickory hair, which complemented his smooth, dark skin. Durothil’s beauty had always captivated her.

  “I cannot. My family needs me, and the two of us staying here in the forest isn’t an option, either. Take heart that wherever I am, you can still come to me.”

  She leaned over, her cheeks moistened by tears, and kissed him.

  What he told her about death being another expedition was true enough, yet she would do everything in her power to postpone her vulnerable grandson from taking such a trip too soon.

  * * *

  In the late afternoon, Pierce woke, washed up, and got dressed in his disguise before setting out for Mary King’s Close. In the Black Iron Tavern, he bought empty liquor bottles from the barkeep who sold him a small crate full of them.

  “Och, whatcha be needin’ those for?” Faolan asked, suddenly coming up beside him.

  His abrupt appearance startled Pierce and nearly caused him to drop the crate he was sliding off the counter.

  “Bloody hell,” he blurted, dropping his cane to secure his grip on the box. He remembered his Scottish accent and snapped, “Don’t ye ever sleep?”

  “No,” Faolan said, bending over to retrieve the cane from the floor.

  “Smart arse,” Pierce grumbled, sliding the bottles back onto the countertop.

  Faolan snorted, leaned against the bar, and twirled the cane between his fingers. “How did it go with the Hellfire Club last night?”

  “Me brother and Taisia got in. He’s going over there this evening.”

  “Ah, seems my assistance helped, eh?”

  “Aye. Now, we just need to steal the canister. I located it this morning.”

  Faolan leaned off the bar. “Ye found it?”

  Pierce nodded.

  “I snuck into the mansion and found it in the master bedroom. It’s in this glass case, though, and I couldn’t get at it without a key.”

  “But ye saw it, right?”

  His anxious tone made Pierce’s eyebrow rise. “I did.”

  As though afraid that Pierce had noticed his restless behavior, Faolan leaned against the bar and again twirled the cane.

  “That’s good,” he said with a casual sniff.

  “It’s as if ye want the deed just as much as Coira.”

  Faolan’s tilted his head and stared at him with a level expression. “She’s me boss at the moment, and when she’s happy, I’m happy.”

  Pierce snorted. “Sounds like a marriage.”

  Faolan chuckled.

  “Aye, the misery I go through, it makes me feel like it’s a mairitch.”

  Pierce frowned and slid the box off the bar. “I’m off. See ye aroun’, eh?”

  Faolan moved away from the bar. “Where ye off to?”

  “Goin’ to the outskirts of the city for a while.”

  “Mind if I join ye? I can help with anything needed.”

  Pierce thought on that a tick.

  “Sure.” He shrugged. “If ye don’t get into trouble with Coira, Lord of everything Evil.”

  “Och, nah. So long as I’m aoun’ later to hustle.”

  “Fantastic. Erm, do ye know where I can buy candles?”

  “There’s a candle shop on High Street.”

  “Marvelous.” Pierce handed the crate over to him. “Think it’ll be more authentic if the younger man carries these, eh?”

  He grabbed the cane from Faolan and they headed out the door.

  “Tell me, how did ye make that billiards shot yesterday?”

  “Easy,” the Scotsman explained, walking alongside him with bottles clanking inside the box. “The table is rigged.”

  “Ah.”

  * * *

  Taisia opened her eyes to the darkness. She had just awakened from a wonderful dream that had made no sense, yet was full of fun surprises. She’d dreamt she was in an upside-down city and she controlled how everything operated. Tilly Lincoln was there with dozens of cats dressed in top hats and goggles. Pierce appeared in a black velvet jacket with tall feathers sticking out of his hat. He carried her up into the clouds, where they danced as they had in the Netherlands.

  The silly dream vanished as the waking world became more apparent. She got out of bed, still dressed in her nightgown, and threw open the drapes. The sky had turned a deep blue, with bright orange clouds reflecting the setting sun. She checked the clock on the dresser
.

  “Eight-fourteen?”

  She searched for her clothing, and found it wasn’t there, leaving her confused.

  A knock came on the door.

  “Are you awake?” Joaquin asked, cracking the door open.

  “Da,” she called out as he entered. In his hands, he carried neatly folded clothing. “You have my clothes?”

  “I had the hotel wash and press them,” he said, laying them on the bed. “I figured you would want to wear clean clothing after your bath last night.”

  She picked up her clean blouse.

  “That was very thoughtful of you. Thank you.”

  Joaquin nodded and turned to leave.

  “Our horses are out front. I’ll meet you in the lobby.”

  Taisia was giddy with delight. She pressed the blouse to her nose and breathed in the scent of the fabric in. Roses.

  * * *

  The last sliver of sunshine had yielded to the night by the time she had dressed and joined Joaquin in the lobby. Together, they mounted up and left Edinburgh. Although grateful for being in clean clothes and in clean skin again, she felt dirty as they headed toward that disgusting mansion. However, when she had volunteered to join Joaquin, she had made a promise to him—and to Pierce—that she’d do what was needed to keep Joaquin safe.

  Not long into the journey, she noticed they weren’t riding in the right direction.

  “Where are we going? This isn’t the way to Gilmerton.”

  “Pierce wants to meet up first.”

  “Really? Why not do so at the hotel?”

  “He thought it would be too dangerous. You know how he is.”

  She saw his point.

  As the city fell away behind them, Joaquin said, “Can I ask you something personal?”

  She turned to him, his face glowing in the low light coming from the lantern he held. “I suppose.”

  Joaquin stayed quiet for a bit and then asked, “Do you love my brother? I mean, truly love him?”

  She thought maybe he was joking, but the seriousness in his expression told her otherwise.

  “I do,” she answered with passion. “More than anything in this world. I . . . I even killed for him once.”

  Joaquin’s jaw dropped and his eyes widened. “You did?”

  “Da,” she confessed gravely. “In the Netherlands. This man was about to shoot Pierce dead when I got there just in time. I shot the man in the back.”

  That day haunted her still. She remembered seeing Christopher Ainsworth standing over Pierce with his pistol pointed at him. She hadn’t even stopped to think. She’d just lifted the rifle and pulled her trigger. The amount of blood that had exploded out of his spine had shocked her more than her actions.

  “I never took another life before then. It still makes my stomach ill.”

  “Oh, aye. Killing isn’t easy. Not at first, anyhow.”

  “How did you react when you first killed?”

  “I cried.”

  “You cried?”

  “Aye. But in my defense, I was only fourteen at the time.”

  “I see.”

  “Do you regret it?” Joaquin said. “Killing this man?”

  Without giving it a second thought, she answered, “No. He threatened someone I care for. Someone I love so much it hurts, at times. If I have to kill a hundred people to keep Pierce safe, I will.”

  The corners of Joaquin’s lips rose. “He’s a very lucky man.”

  Her cheeks flushed and she shied away. She didn’t know what to say.

  Minutes later, Joaquin steered them off the road and into a field of tall grass. Dots of light flickered like large fireflies within the trees. As they drew closer, Taisia saw that the lights were coming from dozens of bottles of all different shapes, sizes, and colors. The bottles hung by thin ropes from tree branches and had lit candles inside them.

  “What is this?” Taisia asked, gazing at the dazzling sight before her.

  “’Ello,” came Pierce’s voice.

  She searched before noticing him up in a tree.

  “Just finishing up,” he said, tying a rope to the branch he sat on.

  He tightened the knot and climbed down. Taisia dismounted and stepped underneath the lighted trees.

  “You did all this?”

  Pierce reached halfway down the tree trunk before jumping.

  “Aye,” he said, pulling leaves out of his long hair. “I had some help, though.”

  “Top o’ the evening to ye, me bonnie lass,” Faolan greeted from another branch.

  He swung down from the branch as graceful as any acrobat. He dropped to the ground and bowed deeply to her in a theatrical manner. Taisia smiled graciously at him.

  “This is so lovely,” she cooed. “Why did you do this, Pierce?”

  He rubbed the back of his neck as he always did when he got nervous. He switched his sights over to the men. “Uh . . . gents?”

  Joaquin snorted. “C’mon, Faolan. I’ll give you a lift into town.”

  The anticipation she had felt in the moment left her. “Wait. We’re going to the Hellfire Club. They’re expecting us both.”

  “No worries,” Joaquin said as he helped Faolan onto his mount. “I’ll tell them you fell ill.”

  “Joaquin,” she argued, taking a step forward as he steered his horse toward the road.

  A gentle grasp enfolded her wrist. She turned to look over at Pierce’s smiling face.

  “It’s all right. He’ll be fine,” he told her.

  She twisted around to Joaquin as he vanished into the darkness. Faolan tipped his hat to her as they slipped completely out of the light’s reach. Although she wanted nothing more than to stay with Pierce, she had an obligation to uphold.

  “Pierce,” she pleaded, “he may need me.”

  “He’s fine. He isn’t sick or weak after he attacked those sods at the mansion.”

  She thought on that and realized he was right. In fact, since the incident, Joaquin not only seemed better, but had also gained additional physical strength. If any problems did arise, his curse would only come out in him again. After what happened last night, she doubted the Hellfire Club would give him any trouble, anyway. It made her feel a little better about letting him go alone.

  “Besides,” Pierce continued, “last night, Joaquin and I discussed it.”

  “Discussed what?”

  Pierce threw his hands up, gesturing toward their surroundings. “This. I spotted this grove on our way to Edinburgh.”

  “You and your brother talked about the grove?”

  “Sorry? No. Not the grove, but bringing you to the grove. In fact, when I told him about this place, he insisted on it.”

  “He did?”

  He reached out to her. “Care for a dance?”

  She stared at him a beat before accepting. They took each other’s hands and her feet moved with his in a slow dance. A piece of her dream had become a reality.

  “Did you set this up to keep me from returning to the mansion?”

  “Erm, I won’t lie. It was part of the reason, yeah.”

  “What is the other reason?”

  They stopped dancing and he looked her in the eye. Her heart fluttered when she gazed into those bright emerald irises of his. She became so lost in them, she nearly failed to hear him speak.

  “I understand we’ve only known each other for a short period of time.” He paused and swallowed thickly. “But I can imagine a lifelong future together. I can predict what our children will look like when I look at you. I envision you and me old and sitting together, simply enjoying each other’s company.”

  Her breath felt heavy. She, too, had imagined such things with him.

  Pierce sighed deeply and kept her hands in his as he fell to one knee. “I want you by my side for the rest of my days. Taisia Kuzentsov, will you be my wife?”

  Taisia gasped when she felt a lump wedge itself in her throat. Her lips quivered and her eyes swam with tears. What he had said was true; it wasn’t far from ye
sterday that they had met, but it made little difference to her, for they had already shared a hundred years’ worth of life experiences together.

  “Pierce,” she said, stroking his cheek, “when I look at you, I envision us together in this life and beyond.” She slowly ran both her hands through his hair, and then held his head in her gentle, loving hands. “Pierce Landcross, I want nothing more than to be your wife.”

  Firelight glistened in his green eyes, brought on by his developing tears.

  “Aye?”

  “Da.”

  She kissed him. A long kiss that ignited every inch of her body with passion. It was the kind of kiss she could only share with him—the love of her life and beyond.

  * * *

  Tavish and Ruairi had followed Franklin Marsh and his wife into the countryside. When Franklin left the grove after meeting with some other feller, Ruairi left to tail him. Surprisingly, Faolan was there, as well. Tavish stayed hidden within the tall grass with his spyglass and watched as some other feller proposed to Franklin’s “wife.”

  He lowered the spyglass and snorted.

  Coira is gonna be very interested in hearing about this.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Special Diamonds

  “Thanks for the lift, lad,” Faolan said to Joaquin after dismounting in front of the entrance of Mary King’s Close.

  “No worries.”

  Faolan took a nervous breath, as he had an important request to make.

  “Listen, there’s something I need to tell ye,” he stated with a hint of urgency. “If ye do manage to steal the canister, don’t take it straight to Coira. Bring it to me and I’ll give it to her.”

  “Oh? Why?”

  “She isn’t trustworthy. Your brother pointed that out himself. If ye simply hand it over, she may just kill ye. Coira’s lived this long based on being suspicious of strangers. If I have it, we can threaten to hold it past Thursday. Then, she’ll be more inclined to stick to the agreement.”

  “Why Thursday? What happens?”

  “The contract to the Vaults expires. She won’t own them anymore.”

  “But she can’t take the deed out of the canister, right?” Joaquin said. “How can she prove the title is legit?”