by Kailin Gow
They did not rear for long though. Cruces whipped them into motion, and then ran them at a furious speed, jolting Scarlett so badly that it was all she could do to keep from cutting herself as she put away her dagger. Cruces drove the cab as though there were demons behind it all the way back to Piccadilly, barely even slowing to avoid the little traffic that was on the streets.
He pulled up outside his house and practically dragged Scarlett from the cab, lifting her as he had back at the caravan then simply carrying her all the way inside. Only once they were in his town house, with the bolt slid shut on the door, did Cruces stop long enough for Scarlett to catch her breath.
“What,” she demanded, “was all that about? What’s going on, Cruces?”
Epilogue
In the hallway of Cruces’ home, Scarlett looked around, trying to make some sense of the speed with which the vampire had taken her away from Rothschild. He had seemed frightened, even terrified. Yet what could possibly frighten something as old and powerful as Cruces? He’d said himself that he was more than capable of defeating Rothschild. Could it be that he was afraid? Of what? Perhaps shortly following Rothschild to Scarlett, many other members of the Order would show up, wanting Scarlett.
“Well?” Scarlett demanded. “I’m waiting for an answer. Are you going to tell me why you just stole some poor cabbie’s livelihood?”
“I’ll return it before dawn,” Cruces promised. “Even if he doesn’t put it down to strong drink, his friends undoubtedly will.”
“That still doesn’t explain why you did it,” Scarlett pointed out.
“Come through to the drawing room…”
“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on.” Scarlett put her hands on her hips for emphasis. “Unless you plan on carrying me again?”
Cruces shook his head. “Forgive me for that. It seemed like the quickest way to get you away from Rothschild. I had to make sure that you were safe, whatever it took, and if that meant running off with you in the only chance there was, so be it.”
Scarlett leaned back against the wall, looking at the vampire and trying to determine if he was telling the truth or not. She wanted to believe him, but Scarlett was not enough of a fool to believe that liking her would make Cruces any less devious than he had been before. In any case, he still had not answered so many of her questions.
“Tell me about the Order,” Scarlett said.
“You know about them,” Cruces replied. “You know what they are…”
Scarlett’s fist thumped into the wall in a way that was probably completely unladylike. Right then, however, she did not care. “Do not try to deflect me, Lord Darthmoor. Rothschild intimated that you were a part of the Order. Is that the truth? If you will not tell me, I am going to turn around and leave right now.”
Cruces stood very still, but he nodded. “A long time ago, I was a member, yes.”
“And by a long time, you mean…”
“Thousands of years,” Cruces replied. “Yes, there was a time when I was one of them. I believed everything they had to tell me, but at that time, even Rome was nothing more than a village. Egypt and the Greek states were the real powers in the human world. That is how long it has been since I was a part of their madness.”
Scarlett tried to think of how long that had been, but she knew that any attempt to truly understand it was hopeless. She had tried sometimes with her parents, when they had unearthed some particularly ancient item. A thousand years was… what? Almost sixty times her lifetime. And Cruces had said thousands. The figures were simply incomprehensible.
“You must have seen so much,” Scarlett said.
Cruces smiled, and there was a hint of the old humor there. “I find that the modern world has one or two things to recommend it. I really did drag you off to keep you safe from Rothschild, you know. He has a tendency, when he cannot have something he wants, to ensure that no one can.”
Scarlett thought back to Rothschild for a moment. “I believe you about that. Thank you for saving me. I believe I will go through to the drawing room now.”
Cruces’ eyes were on her as she moved away from the wall, the intensity of his gaze undisguised. Scarlett did not have time to think about that for long though, because she found her knees buckling as she tried to walk.
Cruces was there at her side in an instant, supporting her. “It seems that the day has finally taken its toll.” He grinned that too irritating grin of his. When he spoke again, his tone was almost mockingly formal. “Will you still object if I carry you, Miss Seely?”
“So long as you’re more careful than last time,” Scarlett countered. “I swear you bumped my head on the frame of that cab.”
“I will be,” Cruces promised with surprising tenderness. He lifted Scarlett easily and carried her through to lay her down on one of the sofas in his drawing room. Right then, it felt so soft that Scarlett could almost have closed her eyes and slept, letting the sofa’s comfort carry her down into dreams, but there were still things she wanted to know. No. Things she needed to know.
“What did Rothschild mean about the case being made up?” she asked, sleepily. “Is this to do with Holmes again? I must admit to being more than a little embarrassed at not guessing what was going on.”
“Don’t be,” Cruces said. “It was expertly done, and it was done specifically with you in mind.”
“So what is the truth about Holmes?” Scarlett asked.
“There never was a case involving him,” Cruces replied. “I know him, because I am as involved in fighting the supernatural crimes of this city as anyone, but this was never his case. The business with the ring… I involved you for the same reason Rothschild did, because I had heard enough about your gifts to know that they were what I required. I doubt that Rothschild truly has Holmes though. As far as I am aware, he is away on another matter instead.”
“So you used me, the same way Rothschild wants to?”
Cruces nodded. “Yes, although I will say that it was with the best of intentions. And I will say that the real work, of tracking down Rothschild and the Order, finding my ring and retrieving it, that was not feigned. I merely disguised it as a minor matter because I could not risk you steering clear of the danger.”
Scarlett sat, momentarily affronted. “Do you really think that I would do that?”
“I think your parents might not have given you the option,” Cruces pointed out. “Would they really have sent you back alone for something this dangerous? Would they have sent you at all if it had not been for ‘Holmes’ sending a letter? I cannot imagine that a request from a notorious rake and dilettante for their daughter to assist him would have gone down well.”
Scarlett nodded. That made a kind of sense. “What about Gordon?” she asked. “Was Rothschild lying about him as well?”
Cruces shook his head. “We must assume that he was not. Cecilia will tell us the whole story, but for now, we must work on the assumption that Rothschild used his ring to transport the young man beyond this world. It is the only way he would be able to force you to look for the devices, and he would have had to do something to keep Gordon out of the way while Cecilia pretended to be him.”
“You know how fantastical that sounds, of course?”
Cruces raised an eyebrow. “Even to you, who can see things others do not?”
Scarlett nodded. “Even to me. Everyone has their limits.”
Cruces shook his head. “Believe me, Scarlett, you have not found yours yet. You will see so many other things before this is done. You will go so much further. I almost wish I did not have to ask it of you, but I do, and I must admit, there is a part of me that wants, more than anything, to see what you will become.”
Scarlett looked into his eyes, and she knew that the vampire was serious. Whatever lay ahead, it was enough to drive all the taunting from him. Scarlett swallowed. With a quick glance away, she decided to change the subject.
“Rothschild’s ring was similar to yours. I saw both it an
d yours back at his rooms. Now you are suggesting that it can do all that yours is meant to be able to. Why is that, Cruces?”
Cruces sat on the very edge of the sofa. It put him close to Scarlett, but at the same time, so very far away. “The rings were forged together, back in the most ancient days of the vampires. Back when there wasn’t even a word for what we were. The eldest of our kind had them forged and gave them to his… children. Five rings, for five vampires, though time has not been kind to all of them.”
“What happened?” Scarlett asked.
Cruces shrugged. “All that can happen in those thousands of years. In truth, I am not sure that I even know, anymore. I only know that, where once there were five, now there are only three. They belong to myself, my brother Rothschild, and my sister Lucinda.”
“You and Rothschild are brothers?” Scarlett asked, trying to picture the two vampires as such. Somehow, it did not work. There were similarities, certainly, but no, they couldn’t be.
“I mean that we share the same maker,” Cruces said. “The First. He took us all from our lives, and he gave us the gift he bore. After so long, we are the closest thing to family that each of us has left.”
If Scarlett had been unable to comprehend the thousands of years of Cruces’ life before, she was totally lost by the idea of three people who had been treated as family for that kind of time. They would be closer than anyone, whether they wanted to be or not. How much could you learn to love others over that kind of time? Scarlett thought back to Rothschild and shuddered. How much could you hate them?
“So what is between you and Rothschild is not just about the Order?” Scarlett asked.
Cruces shook his head. “It is never that simple with Rothschild. Oh, he will want to improve his position in the Order, I have no doubt of that. You may even have done him a favor in that respect by killing Elder. For him though, there is always another layer, and in this case, it is what lies between he and I.”
“With me caught in the middle,” Scarlett pointed out.
Cruces looked briefly ashamed. “Yes. Please forgive me. If it weren’t for me, Rothschild would probably not have put his mark on you. He would not have kidnapped your friend.”
“But he would still be trying to find the Devices,” Scarlett said, “and for that, he would still need me.”
Cruces nodded. “That much is true. We cannot allow the Order to succeed, Scarlett. Their plans call for chaos and the sacrifice of innocents. I have lived among humans a long time. I have seen their brilliance and their foibles, the best and the worst of them. I do not want to see them hurt in the ways that the Order would hurt them if it were to succeed.”
“Neither do I,” Scarlett agreed.
“And I do not wish to see Rothschild using you like that. Believe me, Scarlett, I would never willingly see any harm come to you. Not from him. Not from anybody. If there were another way to do this that did not involve you…”
Scarlett kissed Cruces then, mainly to shut him up, so she thought. But he immediately wrapped his arms around her, pulling her with a kiss that made her toes curl. She kissed him for long seconds before finally pulling back, cradling his head in her hands. “There isn’t, though. I believe you, Cruces. Let’s stop the Order, and let’s find Gordon.”
****
Steampunk Scarlett’s adventures continues in
Book 2 of Steampunk Scarlett
Immortal Devices
December 2011
Sneak Preview from
Immortal Devices
Steampunk Scarlett Novel #2
Scarlett sat in the dining room of her family’s London home, eating a breakfast that had been brought through by her maid, Frances. The young woman had arrived back from the country just this morning with several of the other staff, and currently seemed to be determined to make up for not having been there when Scarlett arrived by not letting her do anything for herself. Already, she had insisted on helping Scarlett dress in a simple dress of bright blue that went with Scarlett’s eyes, and put her blonde locks up in an elaborate arrangement that Scarlett had barely had the patience to sit there for.
The breakfast almost made up for it, though it was ludicrous, having to put up with the formality of a fully set dinner table even when breakfasting alone. Still, at least the tea was well made, the servants having long since learned how important it was to Scarlett. She sat there and sipped it, working her way through the food on the table methodically.
One of the broadsheets sat to one side, but there was little in it to catch Scarlett’s interest after the events of the previous evening. In a world full of secret orders and magical Devices, not to mention vampires bent on exploiting those Devices for their own ends, the news that the Empire was in discussions with Germany about reorganizing some of their African territories hardly seemed that important.
Scarlett sighed. She supposed most young women her age in London society would have been happy for an adventure like the one of the last few days to be over. They would have at least welcomed the opportunity to sit down and relax after days and nights spent investigating. They would not have been sitting there, tapping out an irritated pattern on the tablecloth with their fingertips in a way that would almost certainly have drawn a sharp word from her mother had she been there.
Of course, they presumably would not have felt quite so hemmed in by what passed for normal life. They would not have felt, as Scarlett had felt when Frances helped her to prepare for the day, that they were somehow being readied for a part playing the role of the dutiful young woman. What would her day include today? Visiting one of the families she knew in London? Reading some “improving” book or other? After yesterday, it hardly seemed like enough to fill the time.
Scarlett was still sitting there contemplating that when a knock came at the door. She resisted the urge to leap up and see who it was out of sheer boredom. After all, it was not done for well off young ladies to answer their own doors. Instead, she waited as patiently as she could while Frances hurried off to answer it, muttering darkly about people who called on others so early in the day, rather than at the usual hours for visiting.
It did not take long for Scarlett to detect the sounds of an argument, and less than a minute after that, a figure came barging into the room, pursued by Frances. He was a more than familiar figure, from his long, dark hair to the slightly tanned skin and strong features that made him more than handsome. Scarlett had looked into those Kohl lined green eyes just yesterday, after all. She had stared into them, and even kissed their owner, getting a vision from doing so in a way that she still wasn’t sure she fully understood. It had been a good kiss, too. Perhaps a day ago, that thought might have made Scarlett blush. She did not now.
“Tavian.”
“You know this gypsy, Miss Scarlett?” Frances asked with obvious concern. “He pushed his way right past me, demanding to see you.”
“Thank you, Frances,” Scarlett said with careful restraint as she stood. Would it make any difference to the maid if she knew that Tavian was not just a passing gypsy, but also one of the magical fey, left as a changeling after birth? No, probably not. “That will be all for now.”
“You want me to leave you alone in the room with this young man?” Frances sounded almost incredulous.
“That will be all, thank you, Frances.”
The maid hurried out, and for a moment, Tavian and Scarlett stood there looking at one another.
“Tavian,” Scarlett asked, “is everything all right? Please tell me you did not come over just to scandalize the servants.”
“No, I… it is better if I show you.”
Perhaps Scarlett should have guessed what Tavian meant before he rushed over and swept her into his arms. The kiss that followed was brief, but passionate. More than that, it brought with it images, exactly the same way that his kiss had let her see so much before. Only this time, it wasn’t the long distant past that Scarlett saw.
She found herself standing by Tavian’s caravan in t
he moments after Cruces had whisked her away the night before. How she knew that, Scarlett wasn’t entirely sure, but she did know it. She could see the almost unnatural good looks of the vampire Rothschild across from her, as well as Tavian’s sister Cecilia. Together they looked so similar, with the same dark hair, sharply elegant features and piercing eyes.
She and Tavian were attacking Rothschild in concert. Tavian was lashing out with Cruces’ fey spear, which could freeze a vampire in place with a wound, while Cecilia was using a knife that, even if not magical, still looked wickedly sharp. Between the two, Rothschild was having to keep his distance.
Cecilia was talking as she attacked. “You’re going to regret using me,” she promised, in tones that made Scarlett almost glad that the girl had no reason to hate her too. “First, my brother is going to freeze you, and we’ll kill you like the vermin you are. Then, I’m going to make sure that your Order doesn’t achieve anything, because I’m going to tell Miss Seely exactly how to find her friend Gordon.”
Gordon. Scarlett’s longtime friend and fencing teacher, whom she had believed had been helping with the case. It had turned out, however, that Cecilia had been impersonating him using the magic of the fey. The real Gordon had been moved to another world by Rothschild, using one of the magical rings created for the first vampire’s “children”. The idea had been to force Scarlett into tracking down the magical Devices for him as part of the search for her friend. If Cecilia knew of an easier way to find Gordon…
It was clear though that things were not going to be that simple. Even as Scarlett watched, Rothschild reached out to grab Cecilia, ignoring a thrust of the knife she held and then twisting it from her grip.
