City of Light & Steam

by Lexi Ostrow

  His expression softened and was quickly replaced with shame as he cleared his throat. “This is merely a test, and I wanted to give us the most chance of victory. We have several thousand meters of the filament that were made once we left, but to distribute across the world would mean fewer bulbs on the train cars, yes.”

  Which means more chances of the sick learning ways to avoid the beams. “Well, then I hope these lights cast a wide net.”

  “As do I, Raven. As do I.” He nodded to his sister, who stood smirking inside the engine car next to a Steam Guild member. “Stella?” His voice bounced off the empty walls reminding her they were alone in the dead of night, testing out what might be the salvation of humanity.

  “All set big brother.” She even waved through the glass window at them.

  Raven could see the playful smirk on Stella’s lips, and she found herself hoping it worked purely, so Benjamin never had to see his direct family torn asunder as hers was.

  “If you are ready?” He looked to her, the question of permission hanging between them.

  Am I ready? It was foolish he even posited the question, and yet, she was suddenly afraid. So much hung in the single button press that she was not certain she could bear starting the test.

  “Yes.” She squeaked much like a mouse, but Benjamin did not ask if she needed a moment.

  “Go, Stella.”

  “Roger that! One heated chamber coming up!” Stella’s abandonment was infectious, and Raven felt herself smile.

  In a single instant, the station was awash in intense white light. Instinct took over, and Raven squinted even as she raised her right arm to shade her eyes. If one thing came of this, they had invented a sort of super light. Raven was certain that even on its best days, the sun never shone with such a pure, brilliant, white light.

  Somewhere in the depot, someone cursed the brightness, but it had to have been a member of the electric guild as she could not place the voice.

  “Benjamin? What precisely should be happening?”

  “Heat.” He spoke as he stepped forward, not taking his eyes off the train and the lights despite the pain it must have brought to him. He placed his hand on the primary light and pulled it off with a quick hiss. “Heat!” Benjamin turned, a grin larger than any she had ever seen gracing his face. “We did it. Bloody hell, Samuel did it.”

  “Benjamin, are you — ” She was cut off mid thought as the briefest hint of warmth touched her arm, similar to the flicker of heat when she passed to close to a fire. So she took a careful step forward, and then another. She could not ignore the blistering warmth that touched her skin.

  It was every bit as warm as the sun.

  “Benjamin!” Her squeal of delight was genuine as she raced across the area and dared to touch to the light. The searing pain of a burn should have made her cry, but instead, she laughed. “It nearly works.”

  “Nearly? Woman, do you not have the sensation of touch? Feel that heat on your skin.” His elation was a beautiful thing – it danced in his hazel eyes and brought an even fuller smile to her mouth.

  “It needs to be tested on a vampire, and heat might not be enough.”

  He frowned, his face tightening as the notion likely covered out the joy. “You ruined this moment.” He stepped forward and put his hand on the small of her back, pulling her against him. “You’re supposed to say, and it’s brilliant. It works. You’re wonderful.”

  Shaking her head as laughter filled her, she took his face in her hands and kissed his cheek. “You are a wonderful, eccentric man, but you need to learn to leave well enough alone.”

  “You ruined my moment, and I’ll do what I want.”

  “That was childish.” She was smirking at him. “But I am not wrong. Until this has been tested and found to fatal to the ill, we cannot celebrate.”

  “I am in no mood to wait.” He looked at the engine car where his sister was climbing down from. “Your captain, is he any good?”

  “Holden is the very best we have.”

  “Then I propose we take this out of the city and search.”

  “That is madness.”

  “Hear me out. We wear our masks and open all the windows – of course, the passenger car will be useless, but guards can be stationed in every other window with their weapons at the ready.”

  “So you want us to take a steam engine drive out of the city, pray our masks and are not torn off and go on a hunt for the monsters?” It sounded stark-raving mad, and yet, she found herself wanting to join him to know as soon as possible if the device worked, if Samuel’s sacrifice worked.

  “No. I am saying I wish to do that. I will not allow you to be in harm’s way.”

  “That is not your call.” Her arms crossed over her chest. “I am a grown woman who tends to herself and is the head of the Steam Guild. This train will go nowhere without my command.”

  He says he knows me, and yet he thinks I will let any tell me if this works. I will see this with my own eyes.

  “This train will plummet into danger. I cannot risk losing you. You may still be deciding your thoughts on me, but I know my intentions toward you, Raven Nightingale. I need to know that should this train see danger, I have a reason to fight to live.” He kissed her softly. “If you are with me, my thoughts will be only on you and your safety.”

  The premise that he would fight for her life over his was all it took to shatter the snake of anger that had been coiling tightly in her body at his disapproval of her attendance. It was present, but a man willing to die for her was the noblest concept she had ever heard.

  “Benjamin.”

  “Raven, please. It’s more than that, should something happen on that train, should the heat bulbs do nothing more than light the vampire’s path, we cannot leave both our guilds without leaders. Stella can lead in my absence, but you have no living family to inherit the title.”

  He’d thought of her life before his, and even her guild before his. He was every bit the man who had already rescued her once.

  “Under one condition,” her hands were firmly on her hips. “You return here straight away. You make certain everyone has their backs watched, and no one dies.”

  She watched emotion and logic war in his eyes and was intrigued to hear his answer. It was a silent battle but not an invisible one.

  “I will return straight back. I will ensure everyone is well watched and covered. I cannot make a promise none will lose their life, or I would not fear for your presence.”

  “Honesty,” she whispered the word as she looked into his eyes. “That is what I wanted.” Looping her arms around his neck, she pressed her mouth to his, pressing her body against hist.

  The familiar heat of his touch warmed her more than the magical flare of Samuel’s filament. She could lose herself in his kiss forever, and perhaps one night she would. This night was for putting demons to bed and making the world safer.

  “Go. Go and come back, or I promise I will be furious with you.”

  Chuckling, he kissed her forehead. “I will come back and with wondrous news to shout across the land!”

  As her hands slipped from around his neck, he caught them, bringing them together and dropping a kiss where they met.

  “Go,” she tried her best to not show him the worry that was slowly seeping into her mind.

  If this were going to be the final time she saw him, she would not send him off with her womanly fears in his mind.

  With one last smile, he turned and cupped his hands to his mouth. “All guards, secure your masks and climb on the train. We have vampires to kill!”

  The clamor that stormed through the building did little to ease the image of his body being lowered into the London soil. Her teeth cut into her lower lip as she forced herself not to tremble, but instead turned and sucked in a deep breath so none of would see.

  “Stella?” She called as she turned, some of the emotion under control. “Would you join me for tea in the hall? I have delicious cakes as well.”

&n
bsp; Stella let go of Benjamin and smiled. “I think that is a wonderful idea since I have no intention of joining my brother.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “If there was ever a time for fear, it is most certainly now.” He’d meant the sentiment as a jest, but his stomach was heavy with trepidation. He was not a hero, and he was at home with his books and his tools. And yet, here you are.

  “Do you wish us to return you to the station?” Holden, Steam Guild engineer, and his current Captain asked without a trace of disgust in his voice.

  “No. I know your leader, and if one of us does not bear witness, she is like to believe none of it occurred and demand we do it again.” Thinking about Raven brought a smile to lips. “I am not the one in immediate danger.” His mask felt heavy on his face as he was unused to wearing it for such long bouts, but it was necessary as the train windows were down. It felt heavy because he was too nervous to focus on anything but the weight on his face.

  Holden shrugged and drew the train to a slow stop, purposefully admitting a loud burst of steam to draw attention to their location. “Do not worry. It will be impossible for eight armed men to be overcome when they have an additional seven in the windows with their weapons drawn.”

  It did not matter how well thought out Raven had been, shouting her commands with a teacup in her hand. He knew it would destroy her if anything, even a broken limb, befell any of the guards risking their lives for the cause. “Do you believe we’re far enough from the city that they may not run to it for safety?”

  Holden patted the wheel and pointed out the window. “We’re a good three thousand meters. Even if they could run it, my baby can go faster.”

  The thought was unsettling. “So, we wait.”

  “Vampires, three o'clock.” A guard whose voice he did not recognize shouted from the train car behind where Benjamin stood within the minute.

  “How in the bloody hell?”

  “I drove us nice and slow, and there were little bloodsuckers following in the shadows just waiting to break a window. Pair that with the steam burst, and I’d bet they’ll notice the windows are ajar.”

  “So as Raven hopes, they’ll have confidence we abandoned it.”

  Holden nodded, his hand slipping from the wheel to the pistol on the console. “Unless they have a military man in their midst, they’ll never presume this is an attack.”

  “They’re approaching, hit your fucking bulb!” The same guard shouted.

  His hands trembled as he threw the switch, lighting up the small area with brilliant light. All around the train car, light as bright as the sun seemed to be growing in magnitude, ready to swallow the transport in a brilliance of sparkle. A shot rang out, and Benjamin had to force himself to stay put and not run to the window. The heat took moments to occur, and a guard may have felt frightened.

  Leaving his hand on the switch, he realized they would need to create a more permanent triggered-on situation. The city of London would become accustomed to a brighter night if it meant they would be safer.

  “Dear God!” A female guard shouted, the words slightly muffled from her mask. “Guild Master Abbott, come quick!”

  “Holden?” he looked at his index finger.

  “Go.” Holden shifted his finger onto the button before Benjamin even moved his.

  He was uncertain of what he would find, but he heard no gunshots, and that was rewarding. Slowly, he peered out the first window.

  “My stars,” he whispered, unable to bring himself to a higher level of celebration.

  Before him, the guards out in the open had lowered their weapons and were staring. Two of the sick were literally on fire, flames engulfing their bodies. The light threatened to burn his eyes, and he had on the dark-lensed goggles, he knew they would need to work on a darker glass as well.

  While two once human bodies flailed soundlessly in the night, three others lay in the grassy field, still blazing but unmoving. His body shook, and if not for his hand braced on the window frame, he would have landed on his arse.

  “It worked.” A smile lit up his face nearly as brilliantly as the display out. “It works!” He found his voice then, his cry of triumph echoing in the car and being met with a rambunctious cheer from those both in and out of the train.

  The cacophony seemed to continue even as he raced to the side door and threw it open. The smell of decaying flesh made his nose burn, but it didn’t matter. He would give up his sense of smell if it meant burning every disgusting vampire from here to the Americas. Cautiously, he took a step down, his boot digging into the wet earth as he did so.

  He half expected the sick to jump up and attack, but none moved. The flames continued to flicker and burn in the night, the wisps of orange nearly vanishing in the bright light from the train. There was no wind, and yet the fire still moved with a life of its own. A part of him worried about fire from this, but a few burned roofs in the city would be a welcome price to pay.

  “Guild Master Abbott, it is unwise to have ventured out.” Gerard, his Captain of the Guard, motioned for him to return to the train.

  “I see no harm. I merely wished to see myself.” A part of him wished to step closer to the creatures, but he dared not risk it. The bulb at his back was warmer than he had realized in the small confines of the train depot tunnel. Sweat began to bead under his waistcoat, and the fitted shirt already wet with it.

  “Sir, please, we’ll all wait inside. There is no telling what could occur.” Gerard had his hand on his shoulder, a very inappropriate action, but given the situation, Benjamin ignored it.

  “We will all return to the train and wait a handful of minutes to ensure they will not rise. Their bodies have been dead without proper blood flow, and we can only hope this truly puts them in their grave.”

  Turning, he put his foot on the first step of the small set of stairs and looked back into the night.

  “Why did we never utilize fire?”

  “I believe the goal is not to set the city of London ablaze.” Gerard nodded at the burning piles. “This could be hazardous.”

  “Yes, yes, it could.” As he spoke, as if a mage had granted them another spell, the flames vanished as the bodies turned to ash. He quirked a brow. “It is a shame none tested to see if the bodies ceased to burn when they turned to the dead ash the disease left them in.”

  Continuing back onto the train car, he stayed in the passenger car, his eyes never leaving the window. He did not understand what had doused the flames unless it was merely the rapid way the sick burned away. Five piles of dust were all that remained. They had done what they had set out to do.

  “Thank you, Samuel. My friend, you may have begun the journey to save the world.”

  He stood, staring out into the blistering white light as the minutes ticked by. No other monsters appeared from the shadows. All was quiet and still. Either not many had followed, or others had seen the fire, what was it was and stayed away.

  “Both are fine by me. If they can’t come out, they’ll perish, and if they do come out, well, they’ll still perish.”

  “Lord Abbott?” Holden appeared, his hand curling around the doorframe. “Might I take us back?”

  “Yes, leave the bulbs burning if you can. I’d like to ride this into the city.”

  Holden’s grin was a beautiful sight. “I’ve already put a mug on it, Sir.” He nodded his head and disappeared into the cabin.

  A small screech sounded before the train peeled away back toward the city. The light followed them where they went, and he saw nor heard any sightings from the crew. The train itself would be decommissioned for a period. It would be sealed airtight and left for days to kill the toxins, perhaps months, and there was no use taking an unnecessary risk.

  “Benjamin Abbott?” A man had crouched next to him, a grin on his face. “Apologies, Lord Abbott, might I have a word?”

  “That is fine, and there is time on our hands. Please, tell me your name.”

  “Colonel Arthur Reginald.”

>   At the title, Benjamin let his eyes travel over the man. There were no flecks of gray in his blond hair, not any wrinkles on his face. He had sharp brown eyes and stick-straight teeth. The British Royal Army required years of service before such a title.

  “You are American?”

  “Correct.” The British accent slipped away. “I have been in Britain for some time as a guard for the Steam Guild. I adopted a British accent so as to best fill my post, as you know, there is no fondness for Americans.”

  “Yes, well, your country did nearly destroy ours in a battle for independence. Is Raven aware of your allegiance?”

  The man’s eyes shifted side-to-side. “Her father was. I am uncertain if she had been made aware.”

  Very well, that will be done when we return.

  “Call it a stalemate. Please, that word I’d like to have?” Urgency was present in his tone, and Arthur’s eyes darted to and fro as if seeing if he were being listened too.

  “Yes, carry on.” Benjamin was intrigued why a member of the American military would pose a mere guard.

  “In America, there are mages, quite a lot more as many were not fond of the European Nations I’ve been told. There are no less than five living unknown in our capital city. There is a secret organization, employed by our president that has made progress with a sanitation device that could cure the air as well as a handful of knowledge about what occurred that set this whole catastrophe in motion. The mages have already granted one spell cast to them, and I believe they would greatly like an audience with your and Lady Raven.”

  “What proof of this do you have?”

  “I was sent here as an ambassador to try to bring the countries together. When I saw the rift betwixt guilds, I gave up hope. I was informed I must stay should something arise.”

  “So you’ve been spying on us.” His voice rose, and he saw two guards look their way.

  “I have been waiting for the proper moment. Our countries do not work well together, and there has been no movement for collaboration.”