by Lexi Ostrow
Some deity had decided to bless her with a fantastically handsome and talented dream lover last night. She certainly hadn’t even paused when he’d shown up out of the blue when she’d been fantasizing about being with a man before she fell asleep. Her body missed the attention of a man and she found it hard to find many that her parents would approve of and weren’t intimidated by her smarts.
From the corner of the room the tinny sound of her automaton barking shattered the silence. She walked over to Jessabelle, the metal dog she’d made as one of her first inventions at the guild. Patting the metal dog on the head she smiled, remembering just what she loved about her job. Creating things. She’d had a gift for solving puzzles when she was young. It was only when she’d been shipped off to Oxford that she learned it wasn’t just puzzles she was good at.
Her parents had sent her because they had no male heir to show off to the educated crowd. She hadn’t minded though. Quite the opposite in fact. She’d had a professor, Mr. Shundot, who had been a worker at the guild. He’d seen her skills and hadn’t wasted anytime opening up the world of the clock workers guild to her.
She didn’t think she’d ever forget the day she crossed into the marble foyer of the clock workers guild. It was as grand as her parent’s estate in Halifax. But it was the energy and life that had drawn her in. People bustled everywhere; coming and going at a rapid pace. Then she had been shown the true secrets of the guild. Learning about the Alliance of Silver and Steam had thrown her world upside down. The idea of demons roaming the city streets made her dizzy with fear and excitement all at once. Her whole life she had been sheltered and stuck with nothing but her parents holidays to entertain her.
When the guild masters and the Guildmaster had given her the elusive purple and green crystals and told her to power metal with them she’d looked at them as if they were crazy. She had almost refused; not wanting to be associated with what she assumed was witchcraft. She’d peppered them with questions and they’d ignored every one of them. For weeks she had stared at the pile of cogs and gears before she realized that if she used steam to heat the crystals it would cause them to vibrate and give off a beam of sorts. In a matter of days she had tossed together the ray gun the hunters used to take down the demons. It was safer because it was quiet, offered a more precise aim and just as deadly as bullets. A week later she had disappointed her parents beyond all belief when she accepted a position as a scientist and inventor within the guild. Her parents didn’t understand why a guild would need one, but they were too busy being disappointed to ask too many questions. Almost six years passed before they even spoke to her again; she wasn’t sure if that was any better though.
Sighing, she knew the day was getting late and if she didn’t get to the labs, the clocks they actually sold to the city wouldn’t be produced and neither would any work on her hunting creations be done. They were behind in production which meant anyone skilled had to work on the clocks and watches for a time now. Just until their current Acolytes became full members.
Yawning once more she wondered if her dream lover wasn’t really a curse because she certainly hadn’t felt like she had slept. Her body ached with tiredness and she couldn’t quite keep her eyes open fully. But she needed to get to the labs.
Her favorite part about working in the labs as a woman was also her least favorite. She was treated like one of the intellectuals, one of the men. So while no one belittled her and she got to wear more comfortable fashion, she also couldn’t seem to find a suitor as most of the men in the guild were older than dirt or already happily married to a more feminine woman. She’d had as many dates as times she’d been drunk, which she could count on one hand. Some days she didn’t mind and others she felt as if the guild was the wrong choice for someone who had always dreamed of a family.
Tugging her reflective radiation goggles out of the nightstand drawer she slipped them over her hair and onto the top of her head and opened the door. The living quarter hallways were dank and cold compared to the resplendence of the grand hall. Voices drifted down the barren, concrete floored hallway and Jessabelle was barking again and pushed her way out into the hallway.
“Jessabelle! Jessabelle get back here now!” Eliza’s voice was barely above a raised hiss because she didn’t want to call attention to herself and shouting in a cement hallway was the best way to do it. “Jessabelle! Bloody hell, come here, you tin mutt!” She padded her way down the hallway and almost stubbed her toe on the automaton when it stopped outside the door to a young apprentice’s room.
“He was found just laying there when the clock the scientist made just keep on clamoring.” One voice, a male, didn’t even bother lower his volume as he spoke, but his companion had the sense to whisper.
“Jones is really gone? I can’t see anything in there.”
Her heart plummeted at the news. Young death wasn’t obscure in London and certainly not amongst guild workers. But the clock worker guild had access to incredible caregivers due to being funded by the Royals and the inventions they couldn’t share. Those that did die unexpectedly were of demon doing. For the slightest moment fear slinked it’s way around her body and caressed her neck. A demon inside the guild, aside from Greyston, was the most terrifying concept she could imagine. For the first time she wished she actually carried one of the specialized guns she had created.
“Hurry along now. Get to your assigned duties there’s nothing to see here.” The deep timbre of Master Agardawes’ voice echoed off the halls and she flushed deep when his wizened brown eyes landed on her.
“Forgive me, Master Agardawes. My dog, she sensed something and ran down here. I’ll be running to the lab now, after I return her to my quarters.”
“Miss Dorley, I have a new assignment for you. Two actually.”
She stopped walking, shocked the Master was addressing her as she normally flitted under his radar; despite how she always pictured him as a second father.
“First I need you to start working on a steam and crystal powered transport. I want something faster and quieter than the bikes we’ve been using. They attract too much attention in the rare moment of quiet in the London Underground. The Royals aren’t yet ready to make everything we do a public session. Soon they assure me, but for now we must remain quiet with our instruments.” His voice trailed off and for just a moment she wondered how weary the Guildmaster was. “Ahh, but then there is the side project.” His hand gently patted Jessabelle on the head. “Felicia has one of these, one of your originals. But yours appears to have some sort of intelligence behind the eyes.” To punctuate his meaning he actually squatted down on the floor and held the dogs head steady while looking into her eyes and then back at Eliza. “I want to know if what you did can be replicated on a variety of automaton’s - specifically militant ones.”
“Yes, Master Agardawes. I can certainly try. It was merely a tinkering with a crystal, embedding ideas onto it typed out by the-”
He smiled and raised a hand to stop her. “Miss Dorley, I assure you this old brain can’t wrap its head around that. Just see to it please.” He pushed off the ground and walked into the room of the now dead boy.
Her heart raced at the idea. Ordinarily she only was granted real assignments when they required the whole lab, but this one had been specifically directed at her. She had been acknowledged as the best, but most things were done as a team.
Grabbing the dog’s collar she walked alongside as Jessabelle trotted back to the room. Closing the door with her pet safely inside, she walked quickly to the labs and cursed as the goggles slipped off her head and thumped onto her nose.
Rubbing her nose carefully, she pushed open the door to the lab. She was shocked to find it illuminated with a crystal. They had found a form of light could come from them without a candle years ago. It was much like reflecting sun off a mirror to cause a heat trail, but somehow these crystals held onto the light long after they were exposed to the sun. But it quickly depleted the crystal and they were hard to min
e and fear of running out always kept them tinkering with steam elements of powering things as well. But today the brilliance of the purple crystals reflected off the steel and copper piping that ran throughout the labs.
With a nod to Stephano, an Italian who had recently been brought on, she slipped behind her desk and grimaced when she tried to prop up on the stool and the wheels sent it backwards, dropping her on her backside. “Bloody hell. Fucking alarms and chairs, what’s next?” She was rubbing her arse and not paying attention to anything else as she stood up. A chuckle reached her ears and the soft Irish lilt made her spin to see her favorite hunter.
“Cursin’ everything tae dae now are ye, Eliza?” Kellan Doughlas’s voice could swoon the panties right off of her and any other woman, but he was selective and she doubted he’d ever lain with more than the Royals he rubbed elbows with. Not to mention his strong jaw and hard body complimented the grass green eyes and floppy hairstyle he wore. He often replaced the Irish accent for a British one, as the nations still weren’t the best of friends, but never inside the guild.
“Absolutely, Kellan. Which would include you.” She sat successfully on the chair this time and poked him in the chest as she tucked her legs up onto the small ledge on the bottom of the chair. “Now what brings you down here? I can’t remember the last time I saw you down here. Oh wait, yes I can. You’d just broken-”
“My gun?” He raised an utterly smashed gun and offered a lopsided smile.
She laughed and put her head in her hands and shook it while she chuckled. “This looks like a steam bike rolled over it, Kellan.”
Again he offered her a grin that surely had gotten him out of scrapes worse than needing a new gun. “Ye might say that. I donna ken what else could cause such an effect, lass.”
“All right, mister reckless and deadly. Pass it over here.” Eliza made a motion with her hand and he dropped the gun into it. She shook it next to her ear and sighed when she heard the tell tale sound of cracked and broken crystals. “You broke the bloody power source, Kellan. You know how we’re on a budget with these things. Does Master Agardawes know?”
“Eliza, you dinnea ken I could have an accident and not destroy tha bloody crystal did ye? Of course not, I couldnae tell him.”
“But of course you can’t.” She shook her head, in distress this time, and opened the bottom drawer of her desk. She pulled out a tin locked box and grabbed a small key from the other desk drawer and opened the box. She stuck her hand under papers and pulled out a new gun. It was modified from the first and now had a longer barrel and the crystal was visible behind the trigger. The guns worked differently, the pressure from the trigger being squeezed caused a kinetic energy that set the gun off. Hold the trigger, use the laser. “It’s different and break it and I’ll be forced to hurt you, big guy. I can’t make another.” Not until it is approved at least.
He bent down to kiss her cheek when the shrill scream of the demon alarm pierced the lab. She heard the clattering of many objects and cursed herself. But not Kellan, his eyes turned dark and he quickly put the gun in its holster before tugging down his own goggles.
“Thank ye, Eliza. Donna worry, I’ll nae break this one. I must be off!” He didn’t wait for her to respond, but took off toward the lift and the main guildhall.
Forty-seconds passed and the shrill alarm stopped. The alarm was certainly the most important thing they had. It still blew her mind how it had been set up. Crystals were scattered throughout the streets and had been embedded with the blood of humans and when something triggered them, a large magnet would act as a conductor and pull the energy up to the crystal disguised as a bell on the rooftop. It was able to print out coordinates so a team could be dispensed. Ingenious, but she had no clue as to how the blood in and of itself could be read, let alone how the Alliance would have set it up if they’d been acting alone. But humans didn’t do it. Fallen angels had. Back in the beginning, when they first appeared, she’d bet people were shocked. But really, if there could be demons surely there could be angels.
“Someone should tell me why we had to have the fucking thing scream inside the lab? It’s not like we go out and hunt the fuckers.” Eliza grimaced at the language Ambrose used. She wasn’t a prude, used it herself and she was used to the men using it as well. But she still didn’t like hearing it.
“Because sometimes they are in here. How did you miss Kellan?” Her voice was bristled, she hated the alarm as much as they did, but it was essential to their safety, to London’s safety.
“Right because every once and awhile they grace us.” Ambrose went silent, tinkering with whatever it was he was working on and she didn’t feel the need to continue the conversation as she had two projects specially assigned to her now.
“I like the alarms. They’re a blessing in disguise,” she whispered the words under her breath and meant them. They didn’t have a lot of the crystals and they recently learned they didn’t work on lesser demons, but the more violent ones, the ones with real power, it could pick up on them. Which made her feel infinitely better. It meant that there was no way a demon was in the guild last eve. The crystals were all over the guild entrance.
Letting out a breath she relaxed her body, the tension from the morning’s discovery slowly fading. They were safe in the guild after all.
Chapter 3
The burn of the whiskey as it slid down his throat felt like heaven. It had been months since Lucius had sought out the comfort of a pub. He’d been in way over his head when the fucking mating mark showed up on his arse. Hadn’t believed it actually. He thought back to the sting he’d had on his arse for the past two weeks. Failed attempts at removing the fucker had left him out of commission. He’d tried it all; rubbing it off, scraping it off, acid removal - not a damn thing worked and sure enough when the skin regrew the circular mark with heart in the middle remained. It branded him.
Branded him as a sissy and branded him as mated. Both of which had set his nerves on edge. But really, the biggest issue was the pain level from each pathetically useless attempt to free himself from the damn thing. He leaned back in the chair and relished the feel of no pain on his arse as he did so. Lucius slid the empty shot glass down the counter top. Comically it didn’t make it all the way to the drink tender, but rather toppled over and smashed into the floor.
“My bad.” He shrugged at the drink tender and placed ten pence on the top. “This should cover it. Make my next one a double while you’re at it.” Lucius leaned back in the seat and started breathing in the cigar smoke that laced the air around him. The air was so thick with it he was almost amazed he could see through it.
The shot was slammed down in front of him and the pence and the new payment snatched up as he leaned forward and wrapped his hands around the bigger glass. He had just lifted it to his lips when his eyes landed on the pair of men coming through the doorway. Dean and Arial. They were Seraphina’s enforcers and the ones who traditionally kicked the shit out of people who betrayed or annoyed her. Both looked like the hired muscles they were. Long black hair, grey eyes and enough muscle to pop someone’s head off their bodies if they wanted too. “Shit, bottoms up.” He sloshed the brown liquid back and smacked his lips before setting the glass down and jumping off the stool.
He was doing his best to shoulder his way out of the pub, but it was so crowded with gentlemen and their stupid top hats and polished leather shoes, he was afraid he was going to have to resort to unleashing his power on them. While he functioned when people were asleep normally, he could still plant ideas into their head while awake, hallucinations of a sort. But he didn’t get a chance.
Hands wrapped around both of his arms and he felt the sharp bite of demon claws slashing the shirt he was wearing and sending small rivers of blood trickling down. He bit his tongue to not cry out and struggled to get out of their hold. Using his abilities on them would be a waste because he had to go all trance like and they sure as hell could carry him off then. He hadn’t stolen someone’s soul en
ergy since he met Eliza, which meant he was weak and definitely not a match for two trained killers.
“If you expose us, we’ll take you to Seraphina. Right now.” Dean’s voice was raspy. He may be able to look human, but it was barely surface deep. They were the top rung of the useless lesser demons. Stranglehold Demons, named because with their incredible nails and strength if they got hold of someone’s neck they didn’t stand a chance at anything except struggling and ripping their carotid right out. The threat was real though. Demons were existing topside only because humans knew nothing about them. If they ever found out most of the demons wouldn’t stand a chance. They were limited in number because of their long lives and they didn’t reproduce often. Not to mention for many species it was a vicious and violent coupling that left many dead in its wake. So for now, until Seraphina could figure out the best way to make all of the angels fall and give their side more power, the humans weren’t allowed to know a damn thing.
He launched his elbow into Dean’s stomach and the oomph the demon made satisfied Lucius enough so he let them walk him through the pub. No one even gave them a second glance and when they were through the doorway Arial sank his nails deeper into Lucius’s arm. The pain was like a hot poker and he grimaced. The pain subsided just as one of the brother’s rounded a corner to a back alleyway that smelled like something the drunkards spit up and Arial threw him backwards into the building’s brick wall.
His shoulder blades crashed into the brick facade and his vision whited out for a second with the pain. It seemed this year of his life was going to be all about pain, he was getting worse and worse at running away. But the pair didn’t back off. Repetitive punches landed in his stomach, leaving him breathless and dizzy with pain. With each punch the pair sunk their claw-like nails into him. He was going to be dripping blood so quickly he would easily lose consciousness.
