by S. S. Engle
“Y-y-you could have just said y-y-yes.”
“That’s the first time out loud I ever have.”
“So wh-wh-why don’t you tell h-h-him all of that? Why te-te-tell me?”
“I’m scared to death of losing him.”
9
Activity began to pick up in the hallway outside the O’Brien treasury. Harlan helped Kassidy up off of the ground in a hurry and they rushed over to the door to place their ears against it. They assumed meetings had let out for a break. Kassidy wanted to believe it was temporary, but Harlan’s eyes had her convinced it was for the night. Patrols were switching over, Kassidy had missed her window to make a clean getaway. Harlan kept himself glued against the door but Kassidy backed off and went to go sit on the desk. She was tossing the gear back and forth from one hand to the other in a mediocre juggling act. The brass gear shined in the light as it flipped back and forth, casting a glow on the piles of coins in the room. There was enough cash in there to run the city of Engia for the next hundred years. It’d been printed, the coins minted, with not a bit of discretion as to what the long-term effects would be of hoarding such valuable yet useless currency. It wasn’t based on anything substantial, and Engia money was next to useless is their surrounding cities. But inside these walls, if you didn’t have it, you might as well starve. Kassidy was now sitting a room full of wealth to last her a lifetime of luxury, and she couldn’t care less. She was unusually calm, and Harlan frantically came over to her sweating bullets.
“What are w-w-we going to do?!”
“We’re going to have to split up.”
“Won’t that be dan-dan-dangerous?!”
“You stand a far better chance of getting out of here if you’re not seen with me.”
“But…”
“You don’t trust that I’m right?”
“I kn-kn-know you’re ri-ri-right. But y-y-you promised Lucky we’d sta-a-ay together.”
“No, I promised him I’d bring you with me. We never discussed sticking together the whole time and coming back together.”
“Technically, y-y-you’re right. But he d-d-did imply-ply-ply it.”
“Do you want more stitches Harlan?”
“No.”
“Then go without me. Get back to the palace. The Dreadcranks are only going to wait so long.”
“But the man-man-mansion is full of Ri-Ri-Ringers now.”
“And none of them are interested where you’re running to and from. Not once in my memory has Asa ever sent a search party after you. I’m another story. I won’t take you down with me. Here. Take the gear with you.”
“Why?”
“If I get caught I don’t want it falling into the Ringers hands. Start searching for the book in my library.”
“Wh-wh-what about you?”
“I’ll get there when I get there. Don’t worry. I’ve always been a faster runner than you.”
“What am I suppo-po-posed to tell Lucky when I get back and y-y-you’re not with me?”
“The truth. Blame me and it won’t be a lie. Tell him you were just following orders. He can’t be mad at you for being professional.”
“He’ll be so m-m-mad I left y-y-you behind.”
“Maybe at first. But he’ll be happy I gave you the gear. Make him look for the book with you. It’ll keep you both busy.”
“Make h-h-him?”
“Ask him to help you. Do whatever you have to do Harlan. I’ll be right behind you.”
“Pro-pro-promise?”
“Of course.”
“S-s-say you promi-mi-mise.”
“I’ll be right behind you.”
Kassidy was still holding the gear out in her hand for Harlan to take from her. He wouldn’t even break eye contact with her to look down at it. He knew this was a lose-lose situation for him. He was a liability to their return to the palace if they left together. But if he went alone Lucky was going to give him such a tongue lashing. He had to follow her orders though, he didn’t have it in him to see her disappointed. He took the gear slowly and grabbed her hand in the process, refusing to let go. He pulled her off the desk and into his arms. She hugged him back but ended the embrace prematurely. Her face was cold as stone and emotionless. Harlan’s throat was swelling up, and he furrowed his brow at how removed she could be from a situation like this. She lightly pushed on his chest to get him to back up towards the door and leave. She was pleading with her eye sin the silence, and it reminded Harlan of a dog left outside in the rain. She said back at the palace she needed to do this alone. He really should have seen this coming. With a hand on the door handle he turned around and held his back to her. Kassidy turned also, assuming he was leaving. But in one last lunge Harlan let go of the door and ran over to try and kiss Kassidy’s cheek. She dodged it, missing him entirely, and he tripped up over his feet a little bit. Now embarrassed and frustrated Harlan left the treasury and slammed the door behind him.
In the hallway, the activity had died down to its usual casual passerby again. Harlan tucked the gear into his back pocket and walked with a purpose to the back alley exit of the mansion. On his way, he must have passed over half a dozen Ringers he’d never seen before in his life, but they didn’t even give him the time of day. It was like he was a ghost. He felt invincible, filled with shame for trying to make Kassidy feel something just turned him bitter. He slammed the door out into the alley and didn’t care who heard him. He could be followed for all he cared, but no one was crazy enough to want anything to do outside. He wasn’t worth the trouble. The fact that he was so easily ignored didn’t hit him until he was crossing the railroad depot. Nobody cared to follow him. Nobody cared if he was alive or dead. It didn’t matter one way or the other. If not for the gear burning a hole in his pocket, he was seriously considering just jumping into the ocean right now and drowning himself. Maybe he still would after he went back to the palace. He was in no mood to argue with Luca of all people right now. The man who had taken everything Harlan had ever wanted since he was a boy, and he didn’t even have to try. Without putting the exact three words together in succession Kassidy had just confessed she loved Luca, in all the ways Harlan had wanted her to love him. It stung, and it stung deep. His chest hurt, his head hurt, it physically hurt. He heard himself gasping for air and realized he’d been crying, wiping tears of his face with a confused scowl. He couldn’t return to Luca like this, but he had no choice, he was already back.
Before walking inside, Harlan turned around and stared down at the streets for signs Kassidy was right behind him as he tried to make her promise. Of course she wasn’t. The ocean was looking so tempting, but he had to turn the gear over first. He took it out of his pocket and tried to flip it in his hand like Kassidy was doing earlier but he dropped it. The sound of the gear clanging on the concrete outside alerted the Dreadcranks they had a visitor. By the time Harlan managed to pick up the gear and stand upright he had the barrel of a steam gun planted against his cheek. He put his hand up in the air and let out an exasperated sigh. He wasn’t even afraid of the threat of death anymore, he was just annoyed. At this point, they’d be doing him a favor. The man behind the gun didn’t recognize Harlan at all, so no amount of words were going to do any good. Harlan actually owed his saving to the man’s wife. A woman who Harlan had run into at the harbor earlier in the day. She told her husband who Harlan was, describing him as Kassidy’s best friend. To which Harlan could only roll his eyes at. But the further explanation that got the man to lower his gun off of Harlan’s face was the fact that Lucky would be furious if anything happened to Harlan. To that Harlan felt a bit of joy for the first time in hours.
As he was ushered inside he rubbed the mark on his cheek and went straight for the library hoping he could still find Luca there. Harlan knocked on the crooked door hanging off its hinges before stepping inside. He held the gear up as a peace offering for coming back alone. Luca was meeting with a handful of men but dismissed them with a huge and relieved grin on his face. He took th
e gear from Harlan, patted him on the back with a friendly sense of approval, and then looked aimlessly behind Harlan for Kassidy. But she wasn’t coming. Harlan didn’t face Luca for a response, instead Luca gripped hard on Harlan’s shoulder and forcefully shoved him around so they were face to face. Harlan already knew what was coming.
“Where the hell is she O’Brien?!”
“Trust me, she’s where she needs to be.”
“Bullshit! She needs to be here with me!”
“You think I don’t know that?! You think I didn’t try?!”
“Obviously not hard enough!”
“You try and get her to do something she doesn’t want to do! Let me know how that works out for you.”
“I can’t believe you left without her.”
“She told me to. I was just doing what she wanted me to do. If we tried to get out of there together it would have been way too hard. She wanted to get the gear back to you so we could start looking for the book.”
“We?”
“She said it’d be good for you to look for it with me. It’d keep you busy.”
“What book?”
“I have no idea. With everything scattered on the floors I’m not sure it matters. The gear has a code on it. AA666.”
“Why does she have to put everything ahead of her own safety? I told her I didn’t care about this damn treasure anymore.”
“Maybe you should try a little harder next time.”
“Your point is made O’Brien. So, what did she say her grand escape plan was?”
“She didn’t tell me.”
“Of course she didn’t”
“Where are you going?”
“Where do you think?”
“You can’t go after her! What about the gang?”
“The palace is secure. She’s not. The last time I rescued her from that mansion it was almost too late. I’m not pressing my luck that close again. I’m going to go bring her back.”
“What if something goes wrong?”
“Jasper knows what to do.”
“What am I supposed to tell the others when they come looking for you?”
“I don’t care. Just cover me.”
“But…”
“Prove to me you’re as useful as Kassidy’s always told me you were. You wouldn’t want to let her down, would you?”
“That’s not fair.”
“What’s not?”
“She’s not even here. You can’t use her against me.”
“Then don’t cover for me. You’re the one that’ll have to look at her face when she’s disappointed in you for not handling things. Look for that book. It’ll keep you busy.”
“Bring her back soon Lucky.”
“I will.”
Kassidy was still biding her time in the treasury. She’d peeked her head out multiple times but had never caught a break. With the city in ruins there was more activity than usual in the mansion at such a late time of night. Trying to make her unique situation fruitful she began digging more thoroughly through the wooden desk and its contents. Some of the contracts went back all the way to Asa and Harlan’s father when he took the city over from royal command. Crooked deals with businesses that the O’Brien’s blackmailed into submission. She found bank records where Asa just pulled out huge sums of cash for personal endeavors. Vague explanations or none at all in the reasons for loan approvals and debt collection notices. Most times Asa jailed people, they were even in default, they just weren’t on his side. Kassidy knew Asa was a corrupt and evil man, but until now she’d never seen anything but the human toll. The paper trail was extensive. No wonder he kept it under lock and key in his treasury. If the neighboring cities knew what was going on, she shook her head, they washed their hands of this place years ago. The door handle began twitching and Kassidy dumped the files off her lap and ducked under the desk, gripping her knife in the process. She hoped she was just overreacting and it was Harlan coming back, unable to make his escape. But the heels clicking on the ground made her think otherwise. Natasha had sloshed into the room, at first confused where she was. Kassidy stood up and sat back down behind the desk, unafraid of her rival. Natasha was hugging a nearly empty bottle of wine in her arm like a small child, and sat down across the desk form Kassidy, with some difficulty.
“Long time no see, Pyrette Queen.”
“I could go a lifetime and never miss you. What are you doing here Natasha?”
“What are you doing here?”
“Business.”
“Me too.”
“You’ve got no business here!”
“I’ve got more right to be here than you!”
“You’re just drunk!”
“And you’re just stupid!”
“Nice comeback.”
“I thought so.”
“You should leave before somebody comes looking for you.”
“That’s funny.”
“What is?”
“That you think anybody would bother coming to look for me.”
“What about Asa?”
“What about him? Ever since that grand rescue of yours, you’re all he ever talks about. Makes me sick. But the wine helps.”
“I’m sure it does. Why does he talk about me?”
“You haven’t heard? You’re his latest conquest.”
“Conquest?”
“He’s decided he’s to have you. So it must be.”
“Don’t I get a say in any of this?”
“No. If it’s one thing I’ve learned in my life, it’s that a woman gets almost no say in how the world uses her. You and I, we are more alike than we are different.”
“I can’t wait for this explanation. You know in my experience; no person is ever more truthful than a child or a drunk.”
“Words to live by. What was I saying again?”
“You were about to tell me why we’re so much alike.”
“Oh yes! See, a pyrette and a harlot, we use what we can get our hands on. We take what we need, give nothing back. Men love to love us, or love to hate us. Either way, they need us like a drug. They’re addicted for a lifetime, and we rarely have to give them much in return for hanging on. We use them for what we can get, then find somebody else with better connections.”
“You make us sound incredibly shallow.”
“We are!”
“I’m not!”
“No shame Kassidy. No shame. It is what it is. We are who we are. The quicker you learn to accept that; the easier life will be. You can’t fight it. It’s not worth the struggle.”
“You’ve given up a long time ago, haven’t you Natasha?”
“Do you know how many times Asa has teased me with marriage since we’ve been together?”
“How many times?”
“I lost count at seventeen.”
“And how long ago did you lose count?”
“When Lucky plucked you from the side of the mansion. You know what I got when I crawled myself back inside without anybody’s help?”
“What?”
“I got drunk Kassidy. That’s all I got. I took a bottle of wine into my room and cried myself to sleep for the next three days. I didn’t eat, I didn’t talk to a soul, I didn’t even wash the blood off of my hands. I just got drunk, and I’ve been drinking as much as I could get my hands on ever since.”
“You think the wine is going to solve all that’s wrong in your life?”
“I don’t even care. Life is easier to live when you’re drunk.”
“It dulls the pain. Dulls the mind. Dulls the senses.”
“It gets me by.”
“Why don’t you leave if Asa doesn’t love you?”
“Why don’t you leave?”
“I have things I have to do first.”
“Like what?”
“Things that don’t concern you.”
“Engia will be wiped off of the map for you. And I can’t even get a man to open a door for me.”
“You don’t need a man to open
a door for you.”
