Captain and a Corset (27 page)

***

“The prince only gave me half of what it was worth.”

Bion held up a hand to warn her to be silent as the wagon stopped.

“Not even enough to pay for the feed for the horses,” the driver grumbled as he walked away.

Conversation drifted around them and Bion lifted one corner of the cover. They were parked on the outskirts of the morning market, horses and wagons lined up along a fence that was being used as a hitching post.

“The prince will send his men after us, you can bet on it,” Bion warned her.

“Then we’d better hurry.”

Sophia climbed out of the wagon, not caring for the feeling that was churning in her belly—as if everyone around them was watching them.

“We’ll have to try and hire some horses. A cart will be too slow, and stealing anything would give the prince the legal right to imprison us if we were caught,” Bion said as he led her past the delivery wagon.

“With what money?”

He shrugged. “We’ll promise them payment when we arrive.”

“How about I collect payment for you, Captain Donkova?”

Bion whirled around in a savage motion, pushing her behind him as they came face to face with Captain Aetos. He pointed a small pistol at them.

“It seems only fair since it was my Root Ball that transformed you into something of value,” Aetos continued.

Every muscle she had drew tense. Bion snarled softly and stretched his arms out wide.

“Do stay right there,” Aetos warned.

“It’s going to take more than that peashooter to stop me,” Bion assured him.

Aetos never faltered. “But I don’t need to stop you, Captain Donkova. Just burden you enough so that you can’t outrun my men.”

Aetos shifted the gun and understanding dawned on Sophia. Her memory flashed with a vivid picture of Hawaii and Grainger shooting her to keep Janette in line.

Not
again!
She would not let it happen. They’d reached the stalls, and she brutally shoved a table over. Its contents went flying into Aetos as she reached out and grabbed Bion by the waist of his trousers.

“Run!”

Aetos let out a snarl as he tumbled backward. Sophia didn’t wait to see if he fell. Bion turned in a flash and pulled her around the next stall. There was a crack from the pistol and an instant later she felt the bullet bite into her leg.

“Bastard!” she snapped, limping a few more steps before she crumpled. She tried to rise, but her leg refused to hold her weight.

“So you do know some curses.” Bion pulled her behind a stall and lifted a finger to silence her.

Pain snaked along her calf, burning as hot as a fire poker. Bion pulled her behind some crates as she ground her teeth together to keep quiet.

“They can’t be far,” Aetos yelled.

Bion pushed her head down because every instinct she had wanted to fight. It was a sort of desperation and it was trying to take control of her. She fought it, needing her wits since she couldn’t run.

But Bion could.

She looked at him, locking gazes, then she waved him away, motioning emphatically. Surprise flickered in his eyes, then they narrowed and he slowly shook his head. They glared at one another, neither one willing to give in until a soft step landed behind them in the stall.

Sophia lifted her head and shuddered when she saw Mr. Graves. He had a small crate in his hands and his lips were pressed into a hard line.

“Mr. Graves!” Aetos yelled. “Which way did my Navigators go? I hit one, so they can’t be far.”

The market was really bustling now, people crowding its paths. Mr. Graves put the crate down and pointed away from them. “That way, Captain. Saw it plain as day.”

“Get moving!” Aetos barked at his men. There was the sound of people cursing as they were jostled and pushed aside.

But Mr. Graves stood still and looked down at them. “They’re gone.”

Sophia finally drew in a breath. She hadn’t realized just how starved her lungs were for oxygen. She gulped like a freshly caught fish before mastering the urge to keep gasping. Once her need for breath was satisfied, the wound on her leg became excruciating, but she smiled.

“You make it hard to kill you, Mr. Graves.” Bion looked through the crates to ensure that Aetos was gone before standing up to loom over their unexpected savior.

The sailor from the Soiled Dove shrugged, suddenly looking haggard. “I’ve done a fair number of things worthy of having my neck broken,” he said, and ran a hand over his tired features. “All of them in the interest of living another day. I wasn’t but a lad when I first ran afoul of them pirates. Life seemed too dear to give up, even if honor demanded it.”

He closed his mouth, looking resigned to his fate. For the first time, Sophia found something in the man worthy of respect.

Bion looked like he was fighting off the urge to strike, but he finally nodded. “You’ll have to face a Marshal.”

Mr. Graves grunted. “You’ll likely doubt me when I tell you I’m right pleased. See, I never held out much hope that I’d find my way onto land alive.”

“That’s a new way to look at it,” Lykos offered as he appeared nearby. “I suppose I’ll have to follow my comrade’s example and decline to put a bullet through you. How very disappointing. After the chase I’ve had, I really want to shoot someone.”

“By all means, go after Captain Aetos if it’s bloodletting you crave,” Sophia exclaimed with a big grin. “In fact, if you’d simply be so kind as to hand me that weapon—”

“We’re getting out of here, Sophia.” Bion stooped to flip her skirt back and inspect her wound, then gently pulled her to her feet. “Even if I agree with you.”

Sweat popped out on her brow from the pain, but she managed to stay on her feet, firmly supported by Bion.

Lykos offered her a smirk. “Do my eyes deceive me? Is this not the second time I have discovered you bleeding from a limb?”

“I wanted matching scars,” she shot back. For just a moment, she enjoyed watching Bion’s eyes narrow at her before she sighed. “Because once I am back in Britain, I plan to have a most normal and predictable life.”

“Now that is something I agree with, Miss Stevenson.” It wasn’t the heartwarming admission she would have liked, but it was Bion Donkova. Her man of action, her pirate. He scooped her up and Lykos motioned them away from where Aetos had headed. He led them around the edge of a stall and back to where two horses were tied.

“The air station is a good day’s ride,” Lykos informed them as Bion helped her into the saddle. He tore a strip from her skirt and bound her leg, then held out a hand to Lykos.

Lykos hesitated before reaching into his vest and pulling out a small metal flask. “It’s the last of my stash.”

Bion unscrewed the cap, sniffed the contents, then took a swig. “High quality as usual. It certainly is nice to be back to normalcy.”

He handed the flask up to Sophia and she took a long drink. When she lowered her chin, she smiled at the two men watching her with stunned expressions.

“Well now, don’t you know an Irish gal can handle her liquor as well as any man? Even if my father insisted I keep that little skill for the kitchen, in the interests of maintaining appearances.” She lifted the flask again because it was going to be a long ride and her leg ached. “But as an Illuminist, I won’t be needing ladylike airs, so if you pass me the whiskey, expect me to enjoy it.”

Bion smiled, his teeth flashing at her, and all he really lacked was a gold hoop dangling from his ear.

Lykos tossed a small purse to Bion. It jingled when he caught it. “Ride. I have to wait for Decima, but you two need to be gone immediately. We’ll see you back in London.”

Bion froze with one foot in the stirrup.

“Go, Captain. I can blend in. You and Miss Stevenson can’t, and I would greatly appreciate you not placing me in the position of having to shoot you both when the prince’s men surround us and we are completely outnumbered. I believe our luck is well and truly depleted.”

“Agreed, but I do not like leaving you here.”

“It is the best course of action with your eyes altered,” Lykos insisted.

Bion’s expression hardened, but he mounted. Lykos slapped Sophia’s horse on the flank and the animal happily headed away from the noise of the market. But she pulled up, looking back at Lykos.

“He’s right. We have to leave.” Bion sounded disgusted as he pulled his purple-tinted glasses out and put them on. “He’ll never leave Decima, and we’re too easy to spot.” He didn’t like it, but he nodded and jerked his head toward the road. “Let’s go home, Sophia.”

She was sure four words had never sounded so sweet and at the same time so final. She gave the horse its freedom and soon they were leaving a trail of dust behind them. Prince Afanasi’s house diminished as they rode hard toward the air station.

Yes, final. That was the feeling that settled over her. Like the ending of a book. The memories were grand and cheery, but reality was where one had to focus their attentions. Yes, reality—where Bion was her Illuminist partner and pirate games became something relegated to the adventures of the past. Tears stung her eyes but she blinked them away. Bion was an Illuminist. He’d promised her nothing, and she needed to remember that he’d not been raised in her world.

You
know
you
want
more.

Maybe, but not if it was insincere. She was suddenly grateful for her future among the Illuminists, for it would save her from a marriage of convenience. It hurt to think of Bion offering for her when he had never spoken of love. She’d rather not have him under false circumstances.

But
you
love
him.

Oh, do be quiet now.

Their adventure was over.

***

Lykos wove through the market crowd with his hand tucked beneath his vest—it was comforting to feel the butt of his pistol. There was no way to see every face; there were just too many people. He searched for Decima, finally finding her.

He reached out and hooked her arm. She tensed, snapping her head around to see who had been so bold.

“I found Bion and Sophia—”

Pain exploded in his skull. It was blinding and too bright to escape. His knees buckled and the last thing he saw was Decima’s green eyes filling with terror.

***

Decima tightened her resolve. She fought the urge to test the rope binding her wrists again. It was tight enough to hold, and the sting of broken skin reminded her that she’d already tried to free herself. The room in the prince’s home was lavish and clean, but it was less welcoming than the filthiest prison.

“Where are they?”

Decima simply stared back at Captain Aetos. Two of his men were nursing injuries; one of them wouldn’t find his broken arm healing very soon.

“Do you think I have done my worst?” the captain continued. He walked in a circle around her, enjoying the sight of her nearly bare body. Her clothing was lying at her feet, shredded by the hands of his thugs. There were a few cuts in her chemise from their knives and the rope binding her hands above her head was very tight. The thin muslin undergarment floated freely but she wasn’t going to squirm over modesty.

“Not at all,” she answered calmly. “A man of your caliber is capable of much more.”

Aetos grinned but stopped short of touching her. Something caught his eye and he bent down to sort through her ruined clothing. Her Illuminist pin with its Deep Earth Crystal and crossed sword emblem sparkled in the afternoon sun.

“You’re a Guardian?” Aetos asked softly. “And a female. I’ve never encountered that combination before.”

“Makes sense to me,” one of his men spat out. “The bitch needs a lesson. Let me beat the location of those Navigators out of her.”

“You will not gain what you seek,” Decima responded in an even tone. “I promise you that.”

“Well, I’ve got a promise for you—”

Aetos held up his hand and his man fell silent. He stared into Decima’s eyes for a long moment.

“She doesn’t know—that’s why she’s so certain,” the captain shook his head. “You hit the other one too hard. The doctor tells me he doubts he’ll live.”

“In that case, it would be such a shame to destroy the perfection of this one.”

Decima glanced over at the newcomer. He was a large man with dark hair and eyes. He studied her from head to toe, missing not a single inch of her.

She refused to feel exposed. She would not give into the urge because it would allow helplessness to seep past her defenses.

“I have never seen a female Guardian either.”

Aetos shrugged. “She can’t be any harder to break than any other woman.”

“As I noticed, Captain Aetos, you fail to approach life as an admirer.” The newcomer walked around Decima. “And you have not yet presented me with my gift. Did you tie her up for me? Excellent. I concede that a female Guardian is in fact the rarest of the rare. Adding her to my collection will be an extreme pleasure.”

“If she’ll satisfy our bargain, she’s yours.”

Decima lost some of her control over her emotions as the men shook hands. It shouldn’t surprise her that men such as these would trade her like a commodity, and yet, her emotions came dangerously close to becoming involved. Aetos tossed her Illuminist pin to the other man and left the room, his men following.

“I am Jordon Camden.” He slipped her pin into his pocket. When he locked gazes with her again, a flicker of challenge lit his dark eyes. “And you will be my pet.”

His tone rung with certainty. Her belly tightened just a fraction before she controlled the response. She would give him nothing.

No matter what.

***

“They cannot be far behind us,” Bion insisted. But the captain of the Scarlet Dawn shook his head.

“You know the regulations, Captain Donkova. I must ensure your safety before all other concerns. I have already pushed the limits by waiting for two hours.”

Bion leaned over the rail of the bridge, a pair of binoculars in his grip. The warning bell rang as the Scarlet Dawn made ready to leave the station. The escalator the captain had allowed to remain connected was retracted by large gears powered by steam. The sounds of metal meeting metal echoed through the bridge as the bell rang again and a crewman’s voice came over the intercom.