Alchemist's Kiss (11 page)

Icarus frowned at the big man as Cora pinked with a blush. Levisque pointed them to two chairs as the airship turned without a sound. They sat and Levisque took the adjoining chair and crossed his long legs.

“Your box, Captain, what does it do?” Cora asked, pointing to the lights on his wrist.

“I am not, by birth, a magic user. This contraption allows me the ability, in a somewhat limited fashion, to become a conduit for the aether, much as wizards are able.”

“Tell me about the scientist you've captured.” Icarus said without preamble. Cora frowned at his brusqueness, but he had little time to worry about the man's feelings or his science.

Levisque didn't seem to notice or mind Icarus' lack of decorum. “We received information that the man was working on some very dangerous experiments that resulted in the deaths of at least two of his assistants.”

“How horrible.” Cora tapped the tip of her parasol on the floor. “The man sounds despicable.”

“On the contrary, he's a well-respected gentleman with ties to much of the London ton. We were quite surprised to find evidence that he's been working with the movement against magic.”

“So he created the Dielectric, then?” Cora's hand moved to Icarus's forearm, squeezing gently.

“He did.” Levisque waved and a young man with a tray handed them each a glass of bubbling Parisian water. He sipped his and then looked at Icarus directly. “He has a particular dislike for you, Adept Kane.”

“I tend to garner that type of attention, or so I've been told.” Icarus quipped, taking a long sip of his own water. The tart lemon tang eased the dryness of his throat. “Who is the man?”

“Sir Robert Croft.” Levisque raised an eyebrow at Icarus' low curse. “You know the man, then?”

“Indeed.” Icarus leaned back in the chair, the pounding in his temples growing. Cora's hand slid around the back of his neck and she began to massage the muscles at the base of his skull. “He was no sort of scientist when I knew him.”

“A childhood meeting?” Levisque narrowed his eyes on Icarus. “Croft holds a singular hatred of magic, and of you in particular.”

“It's no wonder my father's returned to London, if Croft is involved in the war between magic and science.” Icarus closed his eyes as memories briefly overwhelmed him.

“Her Majesty was not informed that your father had returned.” Levisque put his glass on a low table and leaned forward. His brown eyes behind his spectacles were sharp. “What is Victor Kane doing in London?”

“You should ask Croft.” Icarus leaned into the pressure of Cora's fingers. “If Richard is involved, it makes perfect sense why my father has returned.”

“What does Croft have to do with Victor, Icarus?” Cora's voice was soft as she made short work of his headache.

He rubbed his fingers over the bridge of his nose as both Levisque and Cora waited for his answer. He knew he should have confessed his past with his father to Cora long before then, but he'd never been able to bear the thought of the disgust he could imagine seeing in her eyes.

“Percival Croft and my father were friends, of a sort. Robert and I grew up together in Longmoore, in the Gwydir. Croft and my father were obsessed with reenacting the spell that the ancient Druids had performed hundreds of years ago. They were certain the spell went wrong because the Druids were able to strip the barrier between this plane and the aether.”

“Central London.” Cora's voice was faint as she stared in horror at Icarus. “Even after all this time the land there is tainted.”

“My father and Croft devised an experiment, a spell that would repeat the Druid magic. They sacrificed every man, woman and child in Longmoore as a blood offering to the aether.”

Cora covered her mouth with her hand as even the Captain went pale.

“And yet they spared their only sons?” Levisque's voice was gruff with emotion at the thought of the massacre Icarus described.

“They did not.” Icarus looked away from them, watching the fluffy white clouds pass by the windows of the control room.

“But you survived.”

“We were not sacrificed because we participated in the spell.”

Cora's gasp was loud in the silence of the cockpit. Levisque's face flushed red as he slammed back the rest of his sparkling water, as if to drown the taste of the horror from his tongue.

“Icarus, no.” Cora's plea drew his eyes to hers. There wasn't horror in her gaze, he realized, but sorrow. A solitary tear slid from her eyelid to her cheek, and he felt a part of his own heart break for her. He'd warned her, he wasn't worth loving, and now her stubborn regard for him was causing her hurt as she learned the truth of him.

Icarus steeled himself against the breaking of his heart. “It's true. I helped my father slaughter innocent people, and ultimately the spell failed.”

“What of Croft?” Levisque's hands were shaking as he fiddled with the straps of his skullcap.

“Percival was killed in the back blow of the magic. Robert was livid. He accused my father of betraying his, and trying to take the power for himself. He was lucky my father was too weak to strike him down, and he left Gwydir after swearing he would destroy us all someday.”

“So Croft blames magic for his father's death?”

“He never was much of a wizard.” Icarus rubbed the sting of the rune on his palm. “Of course he'd run toward science, where the absence of heart can be expunged by intelligence. He vowed revenge on us, that much is sure.”

“So now your father and Croft are both in London, at exactly the time a war breaks out between magic and science.” Levisque rubbed his chin. “What is it your father hopes to gain?”

“The thing he tried to gain in Longmoore, the stripping of the barrier between us and the aether. I fear Robert, too, has been trying for the same, only using science instead of magic. If my father has gotten word that Robert made a breakthrough he'd tear all of London apart to have its power for himself.”

“Five minutes to landing, Captain.”

Levisque broke Icarus' stare as Nickerson began to turn the dirigible to the south. “Thank you, Nickerson.” He was looking at Icarus and Cora as he called out, “All hands to deck. Five minutes to landing.”

***

The dirigible moved slowly and smoothly through the air, as a whale must move through the oceans. I clutched my glass of water tightly in my hands and stared out the window, watching the Tower come into view. I knew when Icarus moved to stand next to me, even though I didn't turn my head to look at him. Couldn't look at him, really. Bile churned hard in my stomach as I remembered his horrific story.

“And so the tale of Icarus and Cora must end.” he said softly.

I mashed my lips together, holding back the words that immediately flew to my tongue. I put the glass to my mouth instead, and sipped. The bubbles tickled my nose.

“I am sorry, Cora.” He leaned against the window ledge and looked out toward the expanse of London that lay below us. “I should have told you and Archimedes the extent of the stain on my soul, but I'd hoped....”

He trailed off and I did look at him then. His eyes were narrowed with pain, his mouth taunt with a frown. His grip on the windowsill left his knuckles white, and I could see the pulse beating in his throat.

“You are undeniably the most intelligent man I've ever known, and yet sometimes I would swear you haven't a lick of sense in your brain.”

His frown grew as his eyes met mine. I resisted the urge to douse him with the remainder of my water. “Do you really believe that your soul is forever damned? That the actions of a child at the direction of his father could so tarnish the man? Undo every bit of good the man ever did?”

“Cora, I won't make excuses–”

I cut him off. “You don't need to make excuses, Icarus. There are no excuses. Only the proof of what I've witnessed with my own eyes.” I stepped closer to him, and I touched his cheek softly with my hand. “What I feel with my heart. That is all the proof I could ever need about the kind of man you are.”

“I have killed, Cora. Mercilessly and without impunity. The fact remains that when I die I will surely go to hell. I am damned.”

He blinked when the water splashed into his face. I bit my lip to curtail my laughter. A droplet of water ran over his forehead and dripped off the end of his nose.

“If we're ready,” Levisque appeared behind Icarus with a towel and a grin, “we've been cleared to land.”

I held Icarus' arm as the gangplank dropped and we were escorted off the Captain's balloon. He grinned mischievously as Icarus handed him back the towel.

“I see you're much...drier...now, Grand Adept. Welcome to the Tower of London.”

“Thank you.” Icarus said with a glare. “Now that I've had my daily dousing I believe we're ready to continue with our mission.”

I hid my smile behind my hand as the Captain led us toward the Tower. We were met at the door by a man in proper military dress, who saluted to the Captain before allowing us entrance.

“I had no idea that Her Majesty's Royal Air Corps had grown so much.” I said to Levisque as we climbed a long and winding set of crumbling stairs toward the uppermost portion of the Tower.

The Captain walked with his hands clasped behind his back, his eyes clouded as he seemed lost in thought. He glanced up as I spoke. “It has taken nearly five years to hire and train the men who fly beside me. But we've proven ourselves invaluable to Her Majesty's war efforts.”

I saw Icarus' lips twist at the mention of war, and knew he was holding back some scathing diatribe about the necessity of battle and killing. I tightened my fingers on his arm and he covered my hand with his as we continued to climb even higher into the Tower.

“Professor Croft has been detained for a week, and despite our best efforts he continues to keep his secrets.” Levisque brought us to a door warded heavily with magical runes. Icarus studied them with a frown.

“Who put these up?”

“We have a contingent of wizards who maintain the wards around the clock.”

“Shoddy work.” Icarus raised a hand and slashed through the magical barrier with one word. The door opened and he glanced over his shoulder at Levisque. “My father could have done that from three miles away.”

“I'll see to it that we increase our guard.”

“No need.” Icarus pulled away from me and moved into the room, shaking his head. “Croft is gone.”

Levisque pushed past me and looked around the room with a curse. “How?”

I felt a jolt from The Hand and tugged it from my bodice. The aether swirled around me, and I blinked as my vision fogged. The present time faded away, and the past spread out before me like a map, unrolling at the edges.
I saw a haggard man with a shaggy crop of black hair struggling in chains. The chains glowed with magical power as the man tried to escape them. Then, they shattered as if made of glass. The man appeared stunned at first, but wasted no time running for the door. The shock of the magical runes sent him reeling back, but the door opened for him and he disappeared into the dark.

I blinked and the fog lifted, revealing Icarus' blue eyes at level with mine. He breathed out a harsh sigh of relief as he squeezed my shoulders.

“Are you all right, Cora?”

I nodded. “Yes, I'm fine. The aether showed me what happened to Croft.”

Levisque moved forward then, crowding us. “How did the bastard escape, Adept Jenkins? I must recover him before he can cause any more harm to the magical community.”

I shook my head. “I don't think he'll be going far.” I looked at Icarus. “Your father, or one of his goons, released Croft.”

“They'll want to follow him to his lab.” Levisque said, pushing past us and calling for a guard from the doorway. “We've been trying to force him to tell us its location for days.”

“Good work, Cora.” Icarus pulled me close to his side as Levisque's guards came running. The Captain made short work of orders to prepare the dirigible.

“How did Croft escape?” Icarus asked softly.

“The chains shattered like ice. They were glowing with magical wards but they broke fairly easily.”

“And he just ran out the door?”

“The magic knocked him back at first, then the door swung open and he ran out.”

“So my father is most likely cloaking him from others. The dumb bastard has no idea he just left a bad place for a place much, much worse.”

I pushed The Hand back into my bodice and leaned into Icarus as Levisque turned back to us.

“We fly. Will you come?”

“We will.” Icarus looked at me and I nodded.  “I may have just the spell we need to locate Croft.”

Levisque waved us on. “We're off, then. I trust my wizard will have all the ingredients you'll need.”

“I have need of only one.” Icarus reached into his pocket and removed a shiny black raven's feather. Levisque and I both turned wide-eyed stares to him.

“Machiavelli gave you a feather?” I brushed the glossy black with the tip of my finger. There was enough residual magic in just that touch to send shivers up my spine.

“Grand Master Orrin must think highly of you, Adept Kane.” Levisque raised an eyebrow at Icarus.