by S. S. Engle
“Luca! What are you doing here?”
“Looking for Kassidy, hopefully that’s what you were doing. What are you loo-loo…”
“It’s not what you think! I promise!”
“What the hell is she doing?!”
“Trust me this is nothing. She’s just trying to get away from him.”
“Because that’s what we all do when we’re trying to get away from someone!”
“If it makes you feel any better this is nothing compared to what she had to do last time.”
“Last time?!”
“At the Ringer dinner? Oh, she never told you about that, did she?”
“No. She failed to mention that little detail. Seems she had a very hard time adjusting to me being away. That must have been what Blue meant.”
“When did you speak to Blue?”
“When all of this began tonight. I got a hold of him behind a table. He told me she came back to him. I didn’t want to believe it. Mostly, I didn’t want to believe that out of the two of them it was Kassidy who had been lying to me.”
“She’s just trying to get away. Honest.”
“Well she’s doing one hell of a job! How many times has she tried to get away from you like that?”
“Never.”
“One day you should be so lucky.”
“Where are you going? You can’t just leave!”
“Watch me!”
“You’re…wait, why are you walking? Didn’t you fly here?”
“Maybe the cool air will relax me!”
“But she’s coming down! If you leave now, you’ll miss her.”
“I think she’ll manage on her own. You’re more than welcome to wait for her, but I have what’s left of my gang to take care of!”
“It’s her gang too Lucky!”
“She’s chosen what side she wants to be on! And it’s not ours!”
“Lucky stop! You’re acting like an idiot! You have to at least let her explain herself!”
“You’re stalling for her now O’Brien. I won’t have that. What you do is your own business. Let me get back to what I need to take care of. Kassidy’s a big girl. She can do whatever she wants. It’s pretty obvious she already doing that anyways. I don’t need to stand in her way anymore.”
“Lucky you’re making a huge mistake!”
“Wouldn’t be the first time!”
“Ka-Ka-Kassidy!”
“I’m not falling for it O’Brien!”
“Luca!”
“You look out of breath.”
“I’ve been running through the parlour as fast as I could. Why are you and Harlan yelling at each other?”
“Don’t worry yourself about me sweetheart. Not like you ever really did.”
“What’s wrong with you?”
“I’ve got to get what’s left of the Dreadcranks out of this trap. So, excuse me if my hands are a little busy. I don’t have time for your games anymore.”
“Games? What the hell is your problem? You think I planned for this to happen?”
“I don’t know, did you?”
“NO! I can’t believe you’d even accuse me of such a thing! I had no idea the Ringers were going to ambush the party tonight.”
“No idea? No idea?! Well I guess in our cluelessness we are equally matched tonight.”
“Luca, I’m not following. You’ve been angry with me since we got inside. What’s going on with you? What happened? Was it something I did?”
“You don’t even know? Don’t play stupid with me! I know you know what you did. And even now, looking me dead in the eye, you’re not going to come clean, are you?”
“Come clean about what?”
“How many times?”
“How many times what? Luca, you have to give me more to go on. I have no idea what you’re talking about!”
“Then I have no idea why you’re still talking to me.”
“You’re just going to walk away?”
“I have a lot of walking to do. I might as well get started now.”
“Why aren’t you taking the Lydia?”
“Do whatever you want to do sweetheart. I don’t care anymore. Ask your best friend O’Brien if you’re really that lost about why I’m mad. I’m sure he can share some insight on the subject.”
“But I want to talk to you!”
“You have a funny way of showing it.”
“Why are you being such an ass?!”
“Why have you been lying to me?! Until you can answer that, then I have nothing more to say to you.”
“Where are you going?”
“The only place I have to go…for now. Don’t worry about me sweetheart alright? Just let me go my own way, and you can go yours. You owe me nothing.”
“Luca! LUCA!”
“Let h-h-him go K-K-Kass.”
“Why is he acting like this?”
“Why do y-y-you think?”
“Did you say something to him Harlan?”
“I didn’t n-n-need to. He saw wh-wh-what I s-s-saw.”
“I have to go explain myself. He has to know what he saw meant nothing!”
“I don’t think h-h-he wants to talk to y-y-you right now.”
“But he has to know!”
“Frankly, I don’t kn-kn-know if I want to ta-ta-talk to you right now ei-ei-either.”
“Harlan?”
“I told y-y-you to tell h-h-him Kass.”
“So where does that leave me then?”
“Where do y-y-you want to b-b-be?”
“I don’t know.”
“Go home K-K-Kass.”
“I have no home Harlan. All I’ve got is the palace.”
“Then go th-th-there.”
“Will you come with me?”
“Why?”
“I’m asking, as a friend. Please tell me I haven’t pushed you away too. You’re all I’ve got left.”
9
What was left of the Dreadcranks made it back to the abandoned palace by the early hours of the morning. As the sun began cresting over the horizon the last stragglers were hauling themselves into the back door. Kassidy and Harlan were among the last on the streets. They were lagging behind hoping to catch anybody who might need help, but everybody who could be accounted for was already inside. Kassidy had made the trek without any shoes, so aside from being dirty who feet were also frozen and sore from the cobblestones. It’d been such a long night that the air seemed to leave a layer of disgust on everyone’s faces. What Kassidy felt inside when she reached the palace was exactly what she saw on all of the men’s faces. Disappointment, compiled with years of aggravated losses. Every piece of furniture, and lots of the rugs, were turned into makeshift beds. No room or hallway was spared of physically and/or mentally wounded Dreadcranks. Kassidy had nowhere to turn for solace. Even Harlan was not welcoming, though he remained by her side.
Kassidy decided to take a rest in the library. Climbing up the spiral staircase was pushing her limits right now, but she made it to the top floor before gently collapsing on the floor. Laying down on the hardwood floors was actually comfortable to her at that state she was in, except for the crunching sound in her pocket. She rummaged around for the source of the sound and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. Harlan had hauled himself over to a bookcase for support and noticed the familiar looking paper in Kassidy’s hands. Before he could say anything, she was already unwinding the goggles from around her leg. Harlan didn’t even remember her being able to salvage anything from the Patina Parlour, but he had been awfully distracted trying not to pass out from fear once the shooting began. How she managed to operate in such hostile conditions, he might not ever be able to figure out. Part of him was feeling guilty now for giving her such a hard time in the streets overnight, she’d been through so much he could never understand. But then again, he knew what kind of betrayal and hurt Luca was feeling, and he had every right to be upset. Kassidy hadn’t been truthful, and if she expected honesty in return, she had to change her wa
ys. She wasn’t living alone anymore. She wasn’t the Pyrette Queen. Harlan knew Kassidy von Detten, and he wanted her back.
“What are y-y-you doing Kass?”
“Reading what was actually left to me on this piece of paper.”
“Wh-wh-what are you ta-ta-talking about?”
“Just because Blue forced me to read the clue out loud doesn’t mean I read what was actually on the paper.”
“You li-li-lied?!”
“Apparently, it’s the only thing I’m good at anymore. I managed to convince all of you.”
“So wh-wh-what does it say?”
“I made the whole intersection thing up. And the green lenses show me absolutely nothing. Just a blank piece of paper. But when I use the blue lens on my left eye, and the red lens on my right eye, I get a name. Ulysses Bataille. Why does that sound so familiar?”
“Bataille?”
“Yes. You know him?”
“Isn’t he the ge-ge-gearmaster who built the u-u-utilities for Engia?”
“Yes! That’s why I know the name. Harlan you’re a genius!”
“I tr-tr-try.”
“U. Bataille. It’s carved into all of the pipes in the city connected to the Mt. Engia grid. He planned this whole city from the ground up. Why would my father leave me behind something to do with the gearmaster though? He’s been dead even before I was born.”
“Maybe your fa-fa-father knew him.”
“How could I check that? It’s not like anyone who would know is still alive.”
“There’s one person who might know.”
“You said it yourself Harlan. He doesn’t want to talk to me.”
“He didn’t exac-ac-actly say he didn’t wa-wa-want to talk to y-y-you.”
“No, he just said unless I want to talk to him about what happened with me and Blue that he doesn’t want to talk to me. And I’m not going there if I don’t have to.”
“You’ll ha-ha-have to eventually if y-y-you ever want things t-t-to go back to normal w-w-with Lucky.”
“What is normal for Luca and I anyway?”
“Why can’t y-y-you just admit y-y-you were wrong and g-g-go talk to him?”
“I did admit I was wrong! But I don’t think telling him what I did with Blue is going to help matters any. It’ll just upset him, and I don’t want to do that anymore. I hate it when he’s angry with me.”
“O-o-only you can fix th-th-that.”
“There has to be another way.”
“Y-y-you know there is-is-isn’t. I forgave y-y-you.”
“But it took you a while. And that’s only because you’ve known me for so long. And you know I could never have a happy life with Blue.”
“Lucky’s known y-y-you just as long, if n-n-not longer than I ha-ha-have.”
“But in a different way.”
“He knows y-y-you better. Just s-s-say it. If I can, y-y-you can. He’s the o-o-only person y-y-you ever allowed to g-g-get so clo-clo-close to you. You nee-nee-need to talk to him.”
“I know I do. But it’s easier said than done.”
“When have y-y-you ever done things th-th-the easy way?”
“Never.”
“He needs to ta-ta-talk to y-y-you too.”
“He does?!”
“See how y-y-you light up? He br-br-brought excitement back to y-y-your life li-li-like nobody else could. You owe him the tru-tru-truth. He’s not ask-ask-asking for that much.”
“I don’t even know where I’d begin to go looking for him. He’s probably so busy checking on the guys.”
“You know wh-wh-where to find him. You two al-al-always find each other.”
“But…”
“But no-no-nothing Kass. Go fi-fi-find him.”
“You really are my best friend Harlan.”
“I know.”
Kassidy left the page from the Codex, the goggles, and Blue’s black duster behind with Harlan. He was just as exhausted as anybody else in that palace, and not picky on what he used to sleep with. He curled up at the base of the bookshelf and used Blue’s coat as a much-needed blanket. While Kassidy was war torn from the night she still sprinted down the stairs with her ragged feet and tattered dress. As she pooled through the Dreadcranks she passed that were still awake they all managed to point in different directions as to where Luca was seen last. She found herself going in circles with no end in sight. She knew there had to be a better way to pin Luca down. The palace was only so big. They did have an uncanny ability to find each other, so she thought she’d place some faith in that. She had no other brilliant ideas coming to her at the moment. She figured she’d go to the last place where they were together, before the night shredded apart the trust that had for each other. He went upstairs and walked down the hallway to where she had gotten dressed for the party. The door was nearly closed, so all she had to do was push it open. She lightly knocked on the door with the back of her hand as she waited for a response. But nothing was inside to greet her as she peeked her head inside.
She was deflated. Kassidy thought for sure she was listening to what her instincts were telling her. Maybe those were wrong too. Or maybe Luca just really didn’t want to be found right now. She didn’t blame him. He had every right to be mad, but he was not alone in that feeling. Luca said something to save his skin back there in the parlour with Asa. And she wanted to know what was so enticing that Asa would just let go of his years long rival. There was more than just her lack of honesty that was fueling his tirade in the streets. That had to be the real source of his resentment towards her, it was the resentment towards himself that he masked to make her feel guilty. It worked. But it had to be fixed. Harlan told her she was the only one who could fix this, but he was wrong. She needed Luca to cooperate or they were going to get nowhere fast. She knew where Luca was now. After getting changed back into her regular clothes and boots she checked her book in her desk and took the contents out. The letter she left in the book for now, but the ring she tucked back into her striped corset. It truly was just the bargaining chip she had used it for. She kept the book out this time, in plain sight rather than hiding it. She wasn’t afraid of it being found anymore. Then she left the room and headed down to the basement. After a stop off in the kitchen for a glass of water she went downstairs and headed for the machine where all the steam was produced for the palace. But she slipped on the stairs and dropped the glass of water, spraying and splashing Luca in the dark, extinguishing the candle he had been using. He swung out and caught her before she hit the ground, but was quick to let her go as soon as she was stable again.
“Thanks for catching me.”
“Thanks for making another mess for me to clean up. What are you doing down here?”
“I wanted to talk to you.”
“About?”
“What happened last night.”
“I’m listening.”
“It wasn’t what you thought it was.”
“If you only came down here to try and convince me that I didn’t see you kissing Blue up on that balcony then you’re wasting your breath sweetheart.”
“You deserve an explanation. I know that. But I don’t have the best answer.”
“Why am I not surprised? You love asking questions, but you hate answering them.”
“That’s only because this is complicated. And it’s not like I’m the only one withholding information here.”
“Don’t try and turn your lies around on me! I didn’t do anything wrong!”
“I saw you and Asa last night.”
“What?”
“He had you by the collar of your jacket. Luca, he had a gun pressed up into the bottom of your chin.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You must be mistaken.”
“You looked right at me!”
“Then you saw what happened!”
“Why did he let you go?”
“It’s complicated.”
