Yes, final. That was the feeling that settled over her. Like the ending of a book. The memories were grand and cheery, but reality was where one had to focus their attentions. Yes, reality—where Bion was her Illuminist partner and pirate games became something relegated to the adventures of the past. Tears stung her eyes but she blinked them away. Bion was an Illuminist. He’d promised her nothing, and she needed to remember that he’d not been raised in her world.
You know you want more.
Maybe, but not if it was insincere. She was suddenly grateful for her future among the Illuminists, for it would save her from a marriage of convenience. It hurt to think of Bion offering for her when he had never spoken of love. She’d rather not have him under false circumstances.
But you love him.
Oh, do be quiet now.
Their adventure was over.
***
Lykos wove through the market crowd with his hand tucked beneath his vest—it was comforting to feel the butt of his pistol. There was no way to see every face; there were just too many people. He searched for Decima, finally finding her.
He reached out and hooked her arm. She tensed, snapping her head around to see who had been so bold.
“I found Bion and Sophia—”
Pain exploded in his skull. It was blinding and too bright to escape. His knees buckled and the last thing he saw was Decima’s green eyes filling with terror.
***
Decima tightened her resolve. She fought the urge to test the rope binding her wrists again. It was tight enough to hold, and the sting of broken skin reminded her that she’d already tried to free herself. The room in the prince’s home was lavish and clean, but it was less welcoming than the filthiest prison.
“Where are they?”
Decima simply stared back at Captain Aetos. Two of his men were nursing injuries; one of them wouldn’t find his broken arm healing very soon.
“Do you think I have done my worst?” the captain continued. He walked in a circle around her, enjoying the sight of her nearly bare body. Her clothing was lying at her feet, shredded by the hands of his thugs. There were a few cuts in her chemise from their knives and the rope binding her hands above her head was very tight. The thin muslin undergarment floated freely but she wasn’t going to squirm over modesty.
“Not at all,” she answered calmly. “A man of your caliber is capable of much more.”
Aetos grinned but stopped short of touching her. Something caught his eye and he bent down to sort through her ruined clothing. Her Illuminist pin with its Deep Earth Crystal and crossed sword emblem sparkled in the afternoon sun.
“You’re a Guardian?” Aetos asked softly. “And a female. I’ve never encountered that combination before.”
“Makes sense to me,” one of his men spat out. “The bitch needs a lesson. Let me beat the location of those Navigators out of her.”
“You will not gain what you seek,” Decima responded in an even tone. “I promise you that.”
“Well, I’ve got a promise for you—”
Aetos held up his hand and his man fell silent. He stared into Decima’s eyes for a long moment.
“She doesn’t know—that’s why she’s so certain,” the captain shook his head. “You hit the other one too hard. The doctor tells me he doubts he’ll live.”
“In that case, it would be such a shame to destroy the perfection of this one.”
Decima glanced over at the newcomer. He was a large man with dark hair and eyes. He studied her from head to toe, missing not a single inch of her.
She refused to feel exposed. She would not give into the urge because it would allow helplessness to seep past her defenses.
“I have never seen a female Guardian either.”
Aetos shrugged. “She can’t be any harder to break than any other woman.”
“As I noticed, Captain Aetos, you fail to approach life as an admirer.” The newcomer walked around Decima. “And you have not yet presented me with my gift. Did you tie her up for me? Excellent. I concede that a female Guardian is in fact the rarest of the rare. Adding her to my collection will be an extreme pleasure.”
“If she’ll satisfy our bargain, she’s yours.”
Decima lost some of her control over her emotions as the men shook hands. It shouldn’t surprise her that men such as these would trade her like a commodity, and yet, her emotions came dangerously close to becoming involved. Aetos tossed her Illuminist pin to the other man and left the room, his men following.
“I am Jordon Camden.” He slipped her pin into his pocket. When he locked gazes with her again, a flicker of challenge lit his dark eyes. “And you will be my pet.”
His tone rung with certainty. Her belly tightened just a fraction before she controlled the response. She would give him nothing.
No matter what.
***
“They cannot be far behind us,” Bion insisted. But the captain of the Scarlet Dawn shook his head.
“You know the regulations, Captain Donkova. I must ensure your safety before all other concerns. I have already pushed the limits by waiting for two hours.”
Bion leaned over the rail of the bridge, a pair of binoculars in his grip. The warning bell rang as the Scarlet Dawn made ready to leave the station. The escalator the captain had allowed to remain connected was retracted by large gears powered by steam. The sounds of metal meeting metal echoed through the bridge as the bell rang again and a crewman’s voice came over the intercom.
“Ready to make sail, Captain!”
“Ten knots, Mr. Tailsman,” the captain ordered in a smooth voice.
“Aye, Captain.”
The engines hissed as steam billowed out of the twin smokestacks at the rear of the vessel, after they turned the turbines inside the engines. The airship accelerated smoothly, gaining altitude as the sun set. As much as Bion wanted to delay their departure, he couldn’t ignore how delighted he was to feel the movement of the ship beneath his feet. It was like being home.
“I am sure the doctor has your companion patched up.”
Bion bristled at the captain’s words but had to concede defeat as far as Lykos and Decima were concerned. He didn’t like leaving them behind, but the knowledge that Sophia was secure eased his mind. No man had it all, but at the moment, he felt richer than a king. He wove through the passageways, descending three flights of stairs until he found the medical facility.
It was a small cabin, like all those aboard the vessel. The Scarlet Dawn wasn’t a passenger liner. She was built for cargo, precious cargo such as Deep Earth Crystals, and was constructed for maximum speed.
The doctor looked up as Bion entered and pointed to the narrow bunk Sophia lay on. Her eyes were closed, dark rings beneath them. But her chest rose and fell in a steady motion, and after a moment of assuring himself that she was finally safe, he felt fatigue ripping into him. He took off his protective glasses and rubbed his eyes, trying to remove the sting, but it only increased.
“You should join her,” the doctor suggested as he handed Bion a clean compress. “Your eyes are in a delicate state.”
Normally, he would have argued with anyone using the word “delicate” to describe him, but he simply didn’t have the strength. For once, it didn’t matter. Sophia was secure. That was all that mattered.
***
“That one is going to die.” The Russian doctor pointed an elderly woman toward a cot near the door of his clinic. The man’s blond hair was stained with blood and his face was very pale. She motioned her companions forward, and they soon had him on the stretcher they had brought with them. They took him to a wagon and then on to the church at the end of town.
The woman sat down next to the bed they placed him in to wait for his death. It was a shame; he was a young, handsome man. It was her duty to pray for his soul, but she rose and brought back a basin of water. She wrung out a cloth and used it to clean the blood from the gash in his scalp.
“Why are you stitching him? The
doctor said he would die,” a younger woman said from her position next to an old woman who was drawing rattling breaths.
“It is good to practice and better to do so on those that will not live.”
When she was finished, she stuck her needle back into the little book hanging from her belt. It was lined with a piece of felt wool to keep her needles from rusting. As the night hours passed, the man grew restless. She was tempted to use some of their painkillers to ease his thrashing, but it would have been a waste of resources. Her duty was to pray for him and tell the brothers of the religious order when he was ready to be buried. The prince provided a meager allotment to their order for their service to the dying who had no families to see to them. The doctor had more important things to do than care for those who were already lost.
So she gave him water, hoping it might ease his way into the next life. But when he was still drawing breath at sunrise, she gave him some of the weak broth the kitchen kept on hand for those in the next building who were expected to live. It had been a long time since one of her charges survived. If anyone might, it would be this man. There was something about him, something she sensed.
But the odds were not in his favor.
***
London.
“You’re enjoying this too much.”
Bion raised an eyebrow innocently. Sophia glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest. He laughed at her, then adjusted the pillow beneath her leg. The bullet had hit the bone this time, leaving her with a lengthy recovery time.
“And you are not enjoying it enough, dear Miss Stevenson.” He pressed a hand to the center of his chest. “My confidence in my nursing abilities is being cut to ribbons by your disgruntled looks.”
“I doubt it.”
He abandoned his innocent look and smiled at her, a slow twisting of his lips that betrayed just how much he was enjoying himself.
“Don’t doubt it.” He flattened his hands on either side of her. “I take a great deal of satisfaction in knowing exactly where you are and that you are in my bed.”
She poked him in the middle of his chest. “You shouldn’t talk like that. It’s indecent.”
And you like it a lot, missy.
But she really couldn’t afford to. Her heart was already aching. She looked away because his gaze was just as keen as ever. It would be very un-Illuminist of her to inflict her emotions on him.
“It’s honesty—a trait you’ll just have to grow accustomed to.” He cupped her chin and brought her attention back to his face. “Because I promise you, Sophia, I consider you my prize and like any self-respecting pirate, I intend to keep you secure.”
“But—”
He sealed her protest with a kiss. It was hard and insistent, stirring her passion, but she winced when she moved her leg out of instinct.
Bion grumbled as he straightened up. “I suppose I will have to curtail my roguish ways until you heal.”
“You know, I labeled you a pirate as an insult.”
He laid his arm across his middle and bowed formally. “Yet a man of action makes the most of every situation.”
She laughed, unable to resist his charm.
“Now I am wounded,” he announced.
“Why?”
“Because you look surprised to hear me teasing you.” His mocking attitude changed instantly. For a long moment, he watched her through the lenses of his glasses. But he turned back to the dressing mirror and finished buttoning his uniform coat. Every button gleamed from polishing, just like his boots and badge. He was every bit the captain, confirming their return to reality. She felt the tension in the room increasing until she found herself bracing for the moment it snapped.
She didn’t have to wait long.
Bion returned to her bedside, taking a moment to stroke her cheeks. “Thank you for making sure I got the use of that Root Ball.” The words sounded as if they were torn from his soul, but he didn’t appear miserable. “That concludes our unfinished business.”
“Does it?” she inquired sweetly.
“Yes, Miss Stevenson, it does. Which leaves us the opportunity to move on to new business.” He reached into the front pocket of his uniform jacket and pulled something out. She didn’t get a good look at it because he moved, shifting until he was poised on one knee next to the bed. Clasped tightly between his index finger and thumb was a gold band with a ruby set into it.
“Will you do me the extreme honor of becoming my wife?”
Once again, he flattened a hand over his heart, looking for all the world like a devoted suitor. But it was the torment in his eyes that drew her attention. There was a need there that mirrored her own and she blinked several times before daring to believe that it was real.
“But… well… I mean… why?”
His eyes narrowed. “Because I love you, Sophia Stevenson, and I think you love me, in spite of your efforts to conceal it.”
“Well, you needn’t act as if that’s wrong of me,” she sputtered.
One of his dark eyebrows rose. “At this moment, I consider it a travesty that you are not taking notice of just how gallant I am, sweetheart.”
Her cheeks heated, and he gently wiggled the ring so that the light flashed on the facets of the stone.
“There is no one I’ve ever allowed to rescue me or anyone I’ve ever wanted to chain to my bed, and I promise you, Sophia Grace O’Malley, you are the only woman I have ever respected enough to call my counterpart. You are going to be my wife.”
“Am I now?”
He nodded, challenge flickering in his eyes. She laughed, unable to resist being amused by his arrogance while he was poised on his knee.
She nodded, her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. Bion blew out a long sigh and smiled as he pushed the ring onto her finger.
“I cannot believe you are on your knee,” she confessed.
“Am I not gallant enough to shame even the aforementioned Jonathon Saddler?”
She laughed. “You are nothing like Jonathon Saddler, thank goodness. He bored me to tears and that’s the honest truth.” She sat up, reaching for him. “Yes, I do love you, Bion Donkova.”
His face lit, joy mixing with the amber streaks in his eyes. He rose from his knee and flopped onto the foot of her bed, looking as if he’d just fought the fight of his life. Relief appeared on his face next, vexing her with just how tormented the man really was about making the proposal.
Honestly, she doubted she’d ever understand him. But that wouldn’t stop her from doing her best to keep him guessing.
“Now you must go and ask my father for his blessing.”
Bion raised his head, his forehead furrowed. Sophia crossed her arms over her chest.
“And don’t think I will listen to a single word of argument, you rogue. Why, it’s shameful, really, this rule that has prevented me from walking across the street to let my father know I am alive. He’s suffered seven months of not knowing what’s become of me. Well, since he is going to be your father-in-law, you can go and tell him what I cannot until I take my Oath of Allegiance.”
“An excellent idea.” Janette Lawley spoke from the doorway. Her husband was behind her and Bion groaned.
“You would pick now to visit.”
Darius pushed the door wide for his wife and inclined his head toward Bion. “Of course, it took precise planning.”
Janette sat on the side of Sophia’s bed, peering at her new ring. Bion rolled over and onto his feet. He offered them a half bow before he retrieved his hat from the hat stand in the corner of the room.
“I can deny you nothing,” he groused.
“A difficulty I know all too well,” Darius commiserated.
Janette looked up, fixing her husband with a hard look. He laughed on his way out the door. Sophia listened to their footfalls in the outer room and simply couldn’t keep from smiling. Everything was suddenly far better than perfect. Bion Donkova loved her and she intended to enjoy every second of their future together.
; Read on for an excerpt from
A Lady Can Never Be Too Curious
Mary Wine
Within moments, Janette stood on the opposite side of the street. The columns looked taller now. She climbed the steps, tipping her head back to investigate the construction of the roof. The portico was covered in brilliant paintings—perfect images of the solar system and other things she’d never seen before. But were the paintings of fact or fiction? Fact. She knew she was in the place of facts. Satisfaction filled her and left goose bumps along her arms because it was so intense.
Someone cleared his throat.
Janette jerked her attention down to discover a doorman standing inside the building with the door open for her.
“Good afternoon.”
The doorman didn’t even blink but remained at his post. He looked straight ahead, never focusing on her. Excitement renewed its grip on her. Janette wasn’t sure if she forgot to draw breath or not, but she walked through the forbidden doorway.
The doorman shut the door behind her and walked to a small booth. He stood there, facing the wall, but when she peered closer, she could see he was watching through some sort of window. It wasn’t transparent, but she could clearly see outside.
Fascinating…
“The experiments have already begun.”
She straightened abruptly as he spoke without looking at her.
“Yes, thank you.”
It was difficult to turn her back on the window set into solid stone. She wanted to look through it and discover its secrets, but the doorman’s words tempted her to see how much further she might go.
The hallway was lit, but instead of the green glow of gaslights, a muted white light glowed from behind frosted panes of glass. She reached out and touched one gently and found it cool. There was no smoke or soot either.
Astounding.
Voices drifted into the hallway from a large archway ahead. A few more steps and she could make sense of the conversation.
“So we know the conductive capabilities of Deep Earth Crystals…”
Janette entered under the arch and froze.
Mary Wine Page 24
