by S. S. Engle
“To the city?”
“To you. The guys told me Blue and the Fox were the ones who blew up the caves that night. It wasn’t to hurt you, it was to kill me. He thinks I’m in love with you. He’s scared because he knows between the two of us, you won’t pick him. You haven’t picked him.”
Kassidy tried to let the conversation sink in piece by piece. It was a grappling task. Luca was staring at her for a response, for what she thought about all this. She didn’t have anything to say. She didn’t know what to say. Right now, she felt that engagement ring in her corset like a knife to the chest. The only sound in the room was the constant ticking of the gears on Luca’s arm. Had she somehow been indirectly responsible for that injury now too? She traced her fingers along the gears, avoiding any and all eye contact. The dress that Luca gave her was still hanging on the staircase. He watched her face harden as she scrunched her eyebrows close together. It wasn’t his intention to make her angry with anything he had told her. But he did think it was important that she knew.
Luca was beginning to regret even walking into the library when Kassidy had a sudden change of heart and cuddled up to him, tucking her arms in around his waist, careful to avoid his still healing side. She placed her head on his chest and focused on the steady beat of his heart and began breathing along with it. The technique he had showed her in the library upstairs was proving useful again. He brought his hand up and intertwined his fingers with hers on his chest and just held her. It was what they both needed. The silence. The time alone together to just accept what had happened through the years. To realize how many close encounters they probably had and never knew about. Kassidy was thinking about what else was lying hidden in her corset now, the letter she had written weeks earlier. Before she had the chance to pull it out though a knock came to the door. It was Harlan. The letter was going to have to wait.
3
The Lydia was almost ready for a test flight. All that was needed was for the envelope to be attached. That’s why Harlan had come to the library. He felt ashamed for interrupting what looked to be an important moment between Kassidy and Luca, but only to a point. While he recognized where his place was in the grand scheme of things, he still wasn’t entirely alright with it. Walking in to help move the envelope Harlan passed the dress hanging on the staircase and realized Luca was going to take Kassidy to the Ringer’s party on Saturday, despite how dangerous and mentally painful it was going to be. Physically painful as well. Harlan winced and Kassidy caught sight of her friend’s face. She assumed it was because of the awkward weight of the envelope and thought nothing of it. The envelope had to be drug down to the basement of the palace, and from there it had to be taken outside the city to be attached to the main hull of the airship. All hands were on deck to make this happen as quickly as possible.
There was a storm forming up over the ocean. It looked to provide some rough weather but Luca insisted he’d flown in far worse and gotten away with it. His confidence was all anyone needed to continue preparing the airship for a test flight. Since it was night and the clouds were blocking the moon, the gang worked by lantern and candlelight where possible. With the winds picking up it was going to make for an easy takeoff but a difficult landing. Without a single parachute on board the risk was all too great. All but three men prepared themselves to board the airship when the final call went out. Kassidy stuck close to Luca, recognizing his pain was still a hindrance. She’d caught him sidestepping once or twice already and he just tried to play it off that he was leaning onto the rigging that gave way in a gust of wind. But she knew better. She wouldn’t call him out in front of his men, unless he forced her to. Luca recognized what she was doing and then assigned her the menial task of going downstairs to do inventory on the steam system and make sure nothing was malfunctioning. It was time consuming enough to keep her busy for a few minutes until they were safely up in the air and the ship practically could steer itself. Harlan followed Kassidy below deck to try and speak with her.
“What is it Harlan? If you haven’t noticed I’m a little bit busy right now.”
“Y-y-you didn’t tell me y-y-you were coming to the party.”
“Don’t feel left out. I didn’t tell anyone.”
“Then what’s w-w-with the dress I saw in the li-li-library?”
“It was a gift from Luca.”
“So he’s ta-ta-taking you then?”
“I couldn’t talk him out of it. And believe me, I tried.”
“It’s su-su-suicide to go to th-th-that party! Don’t y-y-you know that?!”
“I’ve been in far worse company than I will be on Saturday. It’s not suicide. Besides, how else am I supposed to get my hands on that brick in the south wall?”
“I can g-g-get it for you.”
“I need you to be my distraction.”
“So I ha-ha-have to be the distraction ag-g-gain and Lucky ge-ge-gets to be y-y-your date? That’s not f-f-fair.”
“Life’s not fair. And Luca’s not going to be my date. We’re just going together.”
“That’s a d-d-date Kass.”
“It is not. Our fathers were killed in the Patina Parlour. I hardly call that place a destination for a date. This is about getting our hands on that brick in the south wall to read whatever it is my father left for us on page 666. Alright?”
“So Saturday is just bus-bus-business for you th-th-then?”
“Business as usual. Yes.”
“Then what’s w-w-with the fancy dr-dr-dress?”
“Like I said, it was a gift. I didn’t know Luca was going to go all out for me and give me that. But since he did I’m going to take advantage of it.”
“Everyone will kn-kn-know it’s you.”
“I’ll be wearing a mask just like everybody else. Besides, the Ringers weren’t going to believe I was dead forever.”
“Blue’s be-be-been asking about y-y-you.”
“He has?”
“He’ll see y-y-you at the party. Have y-y-you told Luca…”
“No! I haven’t told Luca what I did with Blue when he was away.”
“What happens if they mee-mee-meet up on Sa-Sa-Saturday?”
“I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it alright? It’s not exactly like they were on friendly terms as it was. They hate each other. I can use that to my advantage.”
“So you’re go-go-going to lie?”
“It’s what I do.”
“You’d l-l-lie to Luca?”
“I’d lie to anybody if it meant protecting them.”
“Y-y-you shouldn’t lie to h-h-him Kass.”
“I lie to everybody Harlan. What makes Luca so damn special? I realize you two are like best friends now but still.”
“He’s the lea-lea-leader of the Dreadcranks.”
“I’m well aware.”
“He could ha-ha-have any girl he wanted. Any girl in th-th-the city. Hell, any girl in an-an-any city. But he cho-cho-chose you.”
“God knows why.”
“Y-y-you have to te-te-tell him about Blue.”
“And just how am I supposed to do that? How am I supposed to look him in the eyes and tear him apart like that? Telling him I pretended to be in love with Blue again, after everything I know he’s done. How could you think that’s worse than lying to him that it ever happened at all?”
“I’m not tell-tell-telling you what to d-d-do. I’m just gi-gi-giving you my opinion. If it w-w-was me, I’d want to kn-kn-know the truth.”
“Even if it broke you?”
“Even th-th-then.”
“Well you’re not Luca. And I won’t do that to him. Now why don’t you go back up on deck and make sure everything’s alright. I have a lot of pipes to check.”
“Kass?”
“What?!”
“Nevermi-mi-mind.”
Harlan went back up on deck as he was told, feeling utterly dejected. The way he was moping back and forth caused him to become an obstacle to the Dreadcranks that were trying to avoid anot
her crash landing. Luca was having difficulty steering as the airship took lift, but wouldn’t admit it to himself. A few men noticed their fearless leader struggling, and eyed each other cautiously but said nothing. If it got too bad they’d have to takeover, but nobody wanted to be the one to do that. Luca was not so oblivious he didn’t see the men eyeing each other. His hand was shaking as it gripped the wheel, and if it wasn’t for his mechanical arm, he knew he’d be completely out of commission right now. To keep himself distracted from the strengthening winds and ominous black clouds he called for Harlan to come over and talk. Harlan did as he was told again, dragging his feet as he did it. He sat behind Luca and got smacked in the face as a line of rigging came lose. It hit his nose and the familiar cracking sound has Luca laughing while Harlan was clutching his face in awestruck horror.
“It isn’t funny!”
“Why is it every other time I look at you O’Brien you’re covered in blood?”
“I guess I’m just that lucky.”
“The best part of me is rubbing off on you.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
“It’s great! It’d do you some good to be more like me.”
“That’s still up for debate. But I bet Kassidy wouldn’t mind.”
“How’s she’s doing with the pipes?”
“She’ not stupid. She knows you put her down there as busywork.”
“But?”
“But she needs that right now. That’s why she sent me away.”
“Is she upset with me?”
“No. But she hates me right now.”
“She could never hate you.”
“Then she strongly dislikes me. And this bloody nose won’t help my case any. I know she’s just going to yell at me for not being more careful. It’s not my fault you decided to take us up in a windstorm! Could this day get any worse?”
“It’s raining now.”
“I was being dramatic!”
“I’ll say. Yelling at the sky won’t get you anywhere O’Brien.”
“You’re just so clever, aren’t you? Maybe that’s why Kassidy likes you so much. You two can be sarcastic together.”
“You can’t read too much into her feelings for me. They’re as changing as the wind.”
“No they’re not. Your acceptance of her feelings for you are as changing as the wind.”
“I’m pathetic, aren’t I?”
“What?”
“I used to make fun of you for being so hung up on her. So stuck to her every move. So eager to find out what she said about you. So nervous to see her next and wonder if when she looked at you that she was thinking the same thing about you that you were thinking about her. And now look at me. I’m a wreck!”
“You’re not a wreck. You’re just in love.”
“I’d walk through fire for her.”
“Luckily in this storm you won’t have to worry about that.”
“See? You can be clever.”
“What does it matter? She wasn’t around to hear it.”
“That right there! That kind of pathetic. I’m no better than you are now.”
“You’re leaps and bounds better than me. You got the girl. All I got was more blood on my hands.”
“I don’t have the girl.”
“If there’s any man in the world that has Kassidy, you’d be it.”
“You really think so?”
“You are a mess. Fly the damn airship, she’s coming back. I’ve got to go get cleaned up.”
“Don’t hurry back.”
As Kassidy came back up she was fighting against a torrent of wind and rain. Most of the men were seeking shelter anywhere they could find inside. But Luca couldn’t go anywhere. He was stuck to the wheel, and struggling. She was so frustrated with him putting himself through this. What with his injuries still healing the last thing he needed right now was to pull something and make it worse, or get a cold. She saw his hands slip on the wheel and the airship took a sharp jutting turn to the right. Her body pounded against the wall and knocked the air out of her lungs. That was it! She had to go help him. She wasn’t about to take no for an answer as she threw a jacket on over herself and braved the storm one more time. She managed to shove herself in-between Luca and the wheel, but he refused to let go. When she tried to get a grip on his hands and remove him he just turned the table son her, and gripped her hands between his own and the wheel. He shielded her from the rain with his body, and the warmth he provided was greatly appreciated. She stopped shivering, and her teeth stopped chattering. He pulled in close, with Kassidy’s added strength he was able to steady the airship for the first time since they went up. He had his chest pressed up so tightly against her back that she could feel every time he took a breath, and how he was holding it when they came up to a rough patch of the storm. They had to land back into the caves on the outside of the city. No further mission could be accomplished today.
It took a little miracle to get the Dreadcranks safely back on the ground, but when they departed the airship it was clear that the gang wasn’t about to give up on this city. They still had too much left to do. And too much fight left in them. Luca and Kassidy were the last ones off the airship. Thinking they were alone on the deck they lingered in each other’s arms at the helm. Luca unwilling to release Kassidy, and her unwilling to force him. What they didn’t know was that Harlan was still on board as well. He was staring at them from the Captain’s quarters with a wad of torn canvas shoved up his nose, and blood stained hands. They both had the cheesiest grins on their faces, rocking back and forth together. They were soaked to the bone from the storm, and it didn’t matter. Luca had to be in horrendous pain right now, and it didn’t matter. They had each other, nothing else mattered. Harlan knew he’d made the right decision in that moment to let her go. He could never make her smile the way Luca did. And what hurt the most, was that as jealous as Harlan wanted to be of Luca, he couldn’t be. Above all else it made Harlan happy so see Kassidy happy. And even if he couldn’t be the reason to make her that way, he was glad she finally had somebody in her life that did. This party on Saturday was going to test all of that happiness. Between his brother, Natasha, and Blue, Harlan was going to have to do everything in his power to make sure nobody ruined Kassidy’s happiness. And if that meant protecting Luca now, then so be it.
4
The time had come. It was late in the afternoon on Saturday. The Dreadcranks had scoured the palace and the city for anything nice to wear to the masquerade party this evening. Luca’s plan was for the gang to crash the Ringer’s celebration. No stripes were to be in sight with the exception of Kassidy. There wasn’t much they could do about trying to disguise her. But since Luca got his foot in the door with presenting her with a knockout dress, Harlan’s latest gift was the cherry on top. Before he left the Dreadcranks for the night he left Kassidy a box in her library not to be opened until tonight. But Harlan had to leave early in the afternoon to get back to the mansion to travel to the parlour with his brother and Natasha. Kassidy had also entrusted him to bring the Clockwork Codex with him so they could find the next clue. But it was imperative they keep separate so that way if they were caught, the ringers would only ever have half the information they needed.
Luca found the box on Kassidy’s desk before she had the chance to calm down and get ready for the night. She’d been slow to step back from her leadership role within the Dreadcranks, and was making herself personally responsible for how tonight was going to go. Luca was still limping, though far less obvious than he was earlier in the week. All the stairs in the palace weren’t doing him any favors so he let Kassidy handle the constant running back and forth tending to the men. Most of them couldn’t tie their own ties, or knew what parts of the suit to put together first. All of their stripes were carefully hidden underneath stolen dress shirts, and ill-fitting jackets. They were doing the best they could with limited resources. Most men had a top hat to wear and Kassidy instructed them t
o keep it drawn low over their faces to avoid being recognized by a Ringer too early in the night. Everyone had a mask, though some were better crafted than others. On one of her many passes through the library to follow another call to her name Kassidy crossed paths with Luca. He was all done up in his suit and tie, his jacket hanging casually off his shoulder, top hat in hand, mask on the table in front of him, and a box.
“Wow Luca…you look…”
“Amazing I know. I clean up nice. What about you sweetheart? The sun is almost all the way down. You wanted to board the airship at seven.”
“I know I know.”
“It’s six thirty. When are you going to get ready? You’re our piece de resistance.”
