Over the Night Horizon

by Kacey Ezell

  Immortals. A few short years ago, the secret had cracked wide open, vampires in the midst of society, running the swift, high-flying cargo airships as their crews made a living, working, feeding on mortals. Soon the Sources stepped in; people who’d once plied their bodies at the docks for the sake of mortal crews now saw a better market in selling their blood to hungry NightShip crews. The practice was quietly tolerated, but the better parts of the city voiced some concerns as people found themselves drawn to the lucrative trade and the silver-tongued promises whispered by Immortals.

  Still, as long as it was kept discreet and behind closed doors, no one objected much, as the supply of Sources drew the faster NightShips to the city and bolstered trade and bankrolls. Lucia thought back to the days when the Immortals had stepped out of the shadows and disclosed their interest in conducting themselves amongst regular society. For almost two years, debates had raged in the Council halls and lawyers’ offices, until finally a casual truce settled across the countries, and the NightShips sailed on, bringing riches faster than any ocean-going vessel could dream. The Delsarte fortune had blossomed in that time, with Duke Delsarte’s fearless and smart dealings with the Immortals.

  Though she’d been away at school at the time, Lucia had received regular letters from Edith, her mother. Lady Delsarte was reticent at first about the Immortals, writing only that Duke Delsarte had been working with them for some time. Eventually, however, she confided that Lucia’s cousin Amelia was spending more and more time at the docks. Amelia had a bright future, as she was studying medicine and nursing, but for an agonizing while she’d been lost and struggling with her own demons, while her family wept and worried.

  Abruptly Amelia left the docks and joined the Eventides, taking a yearlong vow of solitude within the Order’s walls, with good reason. Lucia chose to ignore the Immortals and their existence in favor of focusing on her studies. The Delsartes protected Amelia without hesitation. When Amelia finally exited her yearlong solitude, Lucia made a habit of visiting weekly and helping at the Eventide compound, grateful for their assistance to her cousin.

  * * *

  “Lucia, stop staring at the captain, or I’ll have you whisked out of here as soon as the musicians play their last note. Come along.”

  Lucia frowned at her cousin’s well-intentioned admonishment in the performance hall, but obediently stayed close to her chaperones as the women chatted with the other city nobility. Lucia wore her new dress and jewelry as part of her 26th birthday celebration and tried to focus on the suitors and well wishes. But her mind stubbornly wandered back to the handsome, dark-haired Immortal man with the deep, ocean-blue eyes. He certainly cut a fine figure in a deep blue velvet coat that made his eyes seem to glow. Lucia had found her eyes resting on his face more than once during the evening. For his part, he clearly feared the wrath of her chaperones and obviously kept his distance.

  Though he must have felt the sensation of being watched at least once, for midway through the evening he turned from a conversation with a few local businessmen and locked gazes with her. Blue fire tangled with brown smoke in an instantaneous smolder. Then de Graaf broke the spell, smiled a warm and friendly smile, and turned away before Amelia could spot him to chide him anew. Lucia bit her lip to stifle a grin, lest her chaperones begin to scold.

  After the show, as the crowds thinned, Lucia looked up to see the captain watching her once more. De Graaf gave a small wave, pressed two of his fingers to his lips, and bowed. Lucia blushed at his forwardness, but her lips curved in a smile. Her right hand lifted to her breast, fingertips grazing over the center emerald of the necklace. Then she brushed those same fingertips over her lips and lifted them in a subtle wave to the captain. She softly mouthed the words, “Thank you.”

  “Lucia! The carriage is waiting. Come along, please. And don’t think I didn’t see that little goodbye. Your mother didn’t because she was busy chatting up some perfectly acceptable suitors for you. Come along. I have half a mind to enlist her help to commit you to the Eventides for a month,” Amelia admonished.

  “He was just being polite. I’m not running off to join his crew,” Lucia whispered back. She stood clear of the crowds filing out of the Performance House into the dark of the early autumn evening. She pulled her black wool wrap close as they stepped into the crisp night air and waited for the driver to come ‘round. Lucia’s chaperones Amelia and Edith remained close. She spied Captain de Graaf cutting through the crowd to slip away down a side street. The tall, pale man moved as if the masses simply weren’t there, his long black coattails swirling behind him in his wake. In a few long strides, he was gone, without so much as a glance back.

  Lucia stifled her disappointment and again reached for the necklace at her throat, a tactile memory of his fingers brushing the back of her neck as he accosted the pickpocket. His was a delicate touch, yet one of strength and speed. It had been enough to send her own heart racing with the grace of his motions. Lucia smiled in the darkness as the crowds spread out around them, heading for carriages or walking away in the darkness.

  “He’s Immortal. Leave him be. I’m warning you,” Amelia chided as she rested a soft blue leather-gloved hand on Lucia’s arm to lead her away to the Delsarte’s private carriage. “You don’t know like we do, like I do, what they’re truly like. The Eventides see what becomes of Immortal Consorts. It’s no life for a noblewoman. They present as well-mannered and clever, but they leave devastation behind in their wake. For my sake, please forget all about him.”

  “Yes, Sister,” Lucia replied. The carriage lurched and rocked as the driver steered them back to the Delsarte gated mansion in the city’s southern end. “It’s just…well, he is quite handsome. Certainly, it seems if he were mortal, you and my mother would be arranging chaperoned encounters between us. He seems perfectly respectable and mannerly; I honestly can’t see the harm in politely meeting for tea. My father wouldn’t conduct business with dishonorable sorts. His reputation speaks well enough for him.”

  Amelia made a wry face and adjusted her habit. “Perhaps. But he’s not mortal, so best to forget him entirely.”

  “Amelia is wise. Remember the Cortez family? Their daughter got drawn into working the docks as a Source. They haven’t seen her in over a year. She had such a promising future,” Lucia’s mother mused. “Miss Cortez’s mother weeps nightly, hoping for her daughter’s return. She last saw Lisette on the docks, pale and sick, and under their thrall.”

  “I managed to speak to Captain de Graaf without swooning in front of him. I’m sure it’s possible for longer conversations. He travels most extensively and sees all the world cultures I’ve only read about in books. We have that in common, unlike most of the suitors I’ve been inflicted with. I think I’m capable of mature conduct befitting my station,” Lucia replied a bit smartly. The looks both Edith and Amelia gave Lucia made her momentarily regret her sharp words.

  “Lucia, darling, you have a future. You have a job at the museum archives. You have responsibilities here, and ties to the community. Go to bed and get your rest; you go with Amelia to the Eventides early tomorrow. You promised you’d help them sort winter clothes and catch up on baking. Keeping your hands and mind busy will make you forget all about that Immortal man. Had I known he’d be in attendance tonight I would have insisted on extra chaperones. Goodness, whatever de Graaf was doing at the Performance Hall tonight is a surprise. Rarely do the crews ever leave the dockyards,” Edith fretted as she bustled Amelia and Lucia into the mansion.

  Lucia bowed her head in deference and kept her thoughts to herself. A nice, proper, quiet life. Yes, as befitting a lady. I know. I hear it all the time.

  She hurried into the family’s palatial house, pausing only to bid Amelia and her mother good night. Inside her suite, Lucia slipped free of the golden silk dress and into her nightwear with the help of her maidservant. She pulled a thick cotton robe on against the evening chill.

  “Thank you, Emme. I’m fine for the evening. Thank you for
waiting up. I won’t need any assistance in the morning; I’ll be out all day at the Order. I hope you have a lovely day off.” Lucia sent the maid away, preferring solitude over Emme’s fussing.

  She busied herself with laying out her work clothes for the next day and climbed into bed after dimming the lamps. Better to forget. He’s probably forgotten all about me. Just a chance meeting. Nothing more. He has liaisons in every port, surely.

  Lucia’s dreams that night betrayed her real feelings, as she dreamed of searching out a ghostly suitor on a crowded dance floor, sipping sweet wine as an unseen quartet played on, and the dancers kept her from ever reaching the person she sought. She woke feeling unrested and strange. Perhaps it was the Immortal’s doing. They had strange ways of getting inside minds, it was rumored, compelling people to submit to them, to do unspeakable things.

  * * *

  Amelia waited at the ready, looking utterly chipper and well rested. She stood tall, arms folded in front of her. Her habit and veil stood out against the dark wood and creamy marble of the house’s foyer as Lucia came down the curved stairway the next morning. Lucia’s work boots clacked on the stone floor despite her attempts to walk softly. The noise echoed in her head, exhaustion clinging to her like a spectre. Sweet dreams shattered by the harsh light of day. Had de Graaf really stuck in her mind so thoroughly?

  “Did you sleep well?” Amelia asked. “Your mother insisted I let you sleep in, lazybones. I thought you might sleep till noon. There’s breakfast on the table to take with you.”

  “I didn’t have a restful night, but I can manage,” Lucia lied as her head ached. “I think the wine went right to my head. A day of work and fresh air will do me good. You look well rested. I wish I felt that way.” The dreams of shimmering oceans and soaring ships, of a suitor with a pale smile and sharp teeth, and eyes like the night lingered at the edge of Lucia’s fatigued mind.

  In the coach, Lucia sat silent, lost in memories.

  “Your mother is right; put that captain from your mind. Come and do some good hard work. I don’t want to worry about you while he’s in port. For me, please?” Amelia said to break her cousin’s uncharacteristic silence.

  “I just need a few days. I’ll be too tired to think by day’s end. It’ll all be forgotten. He did save me from being pickpocketed, though. That deserves a thank you over tea.”

  “Absolutely not. He’s forgotten all about that incident, I’m sure.” Amelia sighed heavily at her cousin’s persistence. “You’re mighty stubborn, which is a virtue and a curse with you. I know you’re still thinking of him.”

  The carriage passed by the dockyards where the Leeuwin hovered in its repair cradle. Lucia watched the workers scurrying over the large ship, hefting planks, repairing the torn air sac, and the scorched hole in the hull. The hole gaped so large that two men could easily step through it together, arm in arm. Lucia caught a glimpse of the interior cabin, where more workers passed by the corridor.

  “That’s an astounding mess. It’s a wonder they sailed safely to harbor,” Lucia remarked.

  “I’ve heard Johannes de Graaf is one of the top-notch captains of the NightShips. His reputation for running a solid crew and ship are second to none. I’ll grant the man that much; in all things nautical and business, there’s none better,” Amelia replied. “They all talk, though. I’ve heard rumors, good and bad.”

  “By his personal proclivities and his immortality, I know you don’t approve of him,” Lucia added. “Though father trusts him in business matters.”

  “Indeed, I don’t hold any of the Immortals in high regard. I’m wary for your safety and fear for your parents and me if you fell in with an Immortal. Just be careful, please. I’ll try to give him some allowances to earn my trust, but it goes against everything I’ve ever seen of them.” Amelia frowned, her smooth brow now furrowed and tense.

  * * *

  At the Eventide compound’s tall wrought-iron front gate, Amelia handed Lucia a simple head cover, robe, and apron and helped Lucia tuck her dark, wavy hair up under the head cover. “Sorry, you know the rules. Have you ever given thought to joining?”

  Lucia laughed softly at her cousin. “You had the calling. I’m afraid I’m not suited for this life.”

  “You’re here every weekend, Luce. It wouldn’t be unexpected of you to join, even for a year or two,” Amelia pointed out as they walked up the driveway to the brownstone mansion housing the Sisters. Next to it stood the gray stone house where the Eventide Brothers lived. Around the compound, the Brothers in their gray and blue robes, and the Sisters in yellow and blue habits, went about their duties. The compound included a massive garden of flowers, vegetables, and fruit, a small clinic, an orphanage, a school, a bakery, and a small farm for animals. The Eventide Compound functioned as a small, self-contained village, a hub of productive and dutiful labor.

  “Working here gets me out from under the watchful eyes of everyone else. They trust you to keep me from straying off the path. As if I’ve ever had a chance,” Lucia replied, adjusting the blue scarf she wore.

  Amelia gave her cousin a penetrating look. Lucia was, in so many ways, closer than a sister to her. They’d grown up together, and while Amelia was the elder by a few years, they’d been inseparable as children. Consequently, she knew her Cousin Lucia better than anyone else alive. Which meant, at this moment, Amelia was dead certain she knew the reason for the wistful, yet determined, look in her cousin’s eyes.

  “That handsome sir, the accountant at the Performance Hall, wasn’t the only gentleman to slip your chaperones their calling card,” Amelia whispered resignedly as the two walked up to the House to receive their work assignments.

  Lucia stopped and grabbed her cousin’s arm gently, with a small hop of glee.

  “Tell me you have Captain de Graaf’s card. I don’t care about the rest. Just give them to my mother—-no, wait, don’t you dare. I have no interest in another of her boring chaperoned lunches with potential suitors. Please, for the sake of my mind, no more long, drawn-out social dates with the proper men of Marinport.”

  Amelia pressed her lips together, then nodded and withdrew from her habit pocket several slips of parchment. Names, occupations, and message box numbers lay beautifully calligraphed on each one.

  Lucia scooped them from Amelia’s hand and flipped through the calling cards, flicking the rejected ones to the ground, which Amelia hastily picked up.

  “Ah. Yes! The Leeuwin. Captain de Graaf. Message box 279, at the dockyard letter office. Don’t tell my mother. I’ll do extra shifts here if you stay silent. Let me have fun before I settle. Please! I’ll be completely discreet, and it’s just tea. Nothing more.”

  “Lucia, he’s Immortal. Even if he had a fortune, a mansion, and the references of several high-ranking officials and possibly the Deity himself, your parents would never allow you to have much more than a chaste dance and tea with the sir. They envision more for you than what happened to me,” Amelia said gently. “And they’d be right. You’ve too much of a future to risk becoming enslaved as a Source.”

  Lucia made a pleading face, and Amelia’s heart sank just a little bit. She recognized that look as well. The gates of Hell itself wouldn’t stand against Lucia Delsarte when she’d made up her mind. With an internal sigh of defeat, Amelia gave up.

  “Lucia, you know I’m right, but I won’t tell as long as you keep it discreet. I’ll be there to box his ears if he so much as oversteps the line, and I’ll hand all these cards to your mother if you even wink at him one too many times.”

  “Not even a kiss. I promise,” Lucia replied with a squeal of happiness. “I’d like to at least thank him nicely for the necklace and have tea. It seems reasonable. The man, by all measure, is perfectly upstanding.”

  “Immortals live among us, but that doesn’t mean you should be dallying with them, and that’s that. They defy our human nature and society’s rules. By all means, dine with him and make up your mind. We see their Consorts in our clinic, you know, pale
and sickly, drained of vitality. Their Sources don’t always survive. The patients we see are addicted to their lovers, craving and crying for their bite. We feed them sleeping remedies to allow them rest. You have a future, and a reputation, yours and your family name. The Immortals’ indulgences are tolerated because the Sources give the NightCrew reason to sail into port, and we’re used to their services in trade and business. You know it doesn’t end well for mortals on the docks. It won’t suit your future to become entangled with an Immortal. Your father deals with them, with some caution. He knows as well as I do what they are, what they can be. Think of your future.”

  Lucia snorted softly. “You mean the future where I’ve studied history and art just to get married off to some nobleman to simply raise his brood. I envisioned so much more for my life. I don’t want to be holed up at some dreary estate far out of town. I’d go simply mad, being boxed in so cruelly.”

  Amelia nodded as they walked up to the Sister’s Hall. “I empathize with you, but there’s no future aboard a NightShip. Trust my words. I speak from experience.”

  “I’m just going to thank him,” Lucia replied, her tone one of pleading. “I’ll leave a message on the way home, and you’ll say nothing about it to anyone.”

  Amelia nodded. “Fine, one meeting, if only to get your mind off him. Now, we’ve a choice: working in the greenhouses and the bakery today, or laundry and mopping floors. Later on, we’re bringing the children their dinner. They’ll be delighted to see you. Elise has been asking about you. She misses you.”