Clockwork Twist : Waking (18 page)

“Vane, block him,” Quay said around Twist.

In an instant, the strange young man was on his feet, holding a long, single edged, slightly curved and gleaming silver blade before Twist, with the door to his back.  In his rush, Twist managed to stop only a step away from the end of the sword.

“Now please,” Quay said, stepping beside Twist. “Can we speak now?”

“Call off your dog, and let me pass,” Twist hissed to him.  A wide smile broke onto Vane's face and he laughed lightly under his breath.

“You don't even know where Jonas is,” Quay said, sounding like he was near the end of his patience now.

“He's in that room,” Twist said, pointing past the sword-bearing sentry. “I want to see him this instant.”

“You need to understand something—” Quay said quickly.

“Twist!  In here!” Jonas's voice yelled, muffled by the wooden door.

“Damn it all to hell!” Quay bellowed, all his pleasantness disappearing instantly.

Vane glanced to the door for an instant, and Twist dove past him.  He heard Quay yell Vane's name as he felt a concussion of sliced air fall over him.  He leaped, throwing his body fully at the door.  It burst open onto a room almost identical to the one in which Twist had woken up.  Jonas was dressed in the same sort of silk clothing, though his was a bright lime green, as he stood beside his bed. His right wrist was securely chained to one of the bedposts by a set of silver handcuffs.

“Wow!” he breathed, smiling widely in Twist's direction as he struggled to retain his footing. “I didn't know Vane was out there.  Did you just take on a bloody samurai to save me?” he asked in delighted wonder.  His naked eyes flitted quickly around the edges of the scene, while carefully keeping away from everyone else's eyes.

“Are you all right?” Twist asked him, coming closer.  Behind him, Vane and Quay simply watched from the doorway.  Quay's face showed nothing but frustration.

Jonas shook his chained wrist. “No.  I'm tied to the bed.  That's very rarely a good thing.”

“Please, Twist, let me explain,” Quay was saying, while Twist carefully reached out to touch the cuffs. “Jonas and I have a history, you see,” Quay continued. “I'm not sure where his allegiances lay at the moment, and I don't want him running off until we've had time to talk.”

“You just love to talk, don't you,” Jonas said acidly to Quay.  Vane snickered again.

Twist tapped at one point on the edge of cuffs with a knuckle while the others talked, and then pulled sharply at the bolt that held them closed on Jonas's wrist.  The cuffs unlocked instantly with a bright little click.

“Blimey,” Jonas said, rubbing at his newly freed wrist. “Twist, you're a good man to know,” he added seriously.

“Do you know where the others are?” Twist asked back, careful as well not to look into Jonas's eyes.

“No idea,” Jonas said. “But we're in Hong Kong.  We don't need them to escape.”

“We don't?” Twist asked.

“I know half the city, personally,” Jonas said brightly. “All we need to do is get away from Quay.”

“Now, just a minute!” Quay said, making sure that he was solidly in the way.

“Vane, look!” Jonas said excitedly, pointing down the hallway, “A mouse!  I just saw a mouse!”  Vane's black eyes snapped to the floor, looking after Jonas's indication. “Now,” Jonas said to Twist, lunging forward at Quay.

“Wait!” Quay yelled an instant before Jonas threw his shoulder at him, with his whole body weight behind the blow.  Quay fell back against the other side of the hallway but hung onto Jonas's arm tightly as he struggled to catch his balance. “Jonas, knock it off!”

“Let go!” Jonas snapped, jerking at his grip and kicking.  Twist watched perplexed, utterly unsure about what needed doing.

“Damn it, Vane, there is no mouse!” Quay yelled angrily as the samurai continued to focus on the floor despite the struggle. “Pay attention, will you?”

Vane looked up in the exact instant that Jonas managed to free his arm.  Jonas only had time to turn and take one step away before he came flying back into the room as a black shape—lightning fast and indistinct as a shadow—slammed him down against the floor, face down.  The shadow solidified into the shape of Vane, holding his sword across Jonas's neck as he crouched over him, now wearing a wide grin.  To Twist's renewed shock, there seemed to be a very fluffy, white tipped, black fox tail hanging from under Vane's tunic.

“Down, boy,” Jonas said soothingly, his arms struggling to gain some kind of leverage. “Let me go and I'll scratch your ears like you like...”

“I'll let you go if you give me a mouse,” Vane said to his ear, his voice flavored with an accent that only seemed to affect his vowels and 'L's.

“I don't usually walk around with a mouse in my pocket.”

“Too bad,” Vane said, enjoying the phrase far too much.  He changed his grip on the sword, readying it to strike.  Twist froze, his heart racing and his mind swimming.  He couldn't conceive of a single way to help, or to stop this attack.

“Good boy, Vane,” Quay said, appearing in the doorway. “Don't hurt him, just keep a grip of him.”  He looked to Twist, who still stood in place, thanks to his complete confusion. “I trust you're smart enough to know now that you can't escape.”

Twist didn't respond, but he didn't protest either.  He watched as Vane pulled Jonas up to kneel on the floor, still holding him securely from behind as Quay stood in front of Jonas.  Quay stared at him with a sigh, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Did you seriously think that would work?” he asked flatly.

“Oh, anything to get this close to Vane,” Jonas said with a purr and a luscious expression on his face, his eyes tightly closed now.

“I thought you didn't like me,” Vane said quickly, though his grip loosened as he pulled away slightly to peer around at Jonas's face.  Jonas used the instant of distance to throw his elbow back into Vane's ribs.

“So get off me!” he yelled as Vane jerked to avoid the blow, but didn't release him.

“Excuse me,” Twist asked softly, drawing Quay's attention. “Have I finally lost my mind, or does that man have a tail?”

Quay nodded. “He's a fox.”

“A fox?”

“Yes, a fox,” Jonas answered as if it made some sort of sense.

“Aren't foxes … you know, small woodland creatures?” Twist asked stiffly.  Vane smiled over Jonas's shoulder at Twist, as if enjoying his confusion.

“Not according to Japanese legends,” Quay said, as if it were a reasonable answer.

Jonas's eyes opened wide with a sudden thought. “By the way, never say your own name in front of him,” he said, hooking a thumb back at Vane.

“Don't tell him that!” Vane whined, slapping at Jonas's head from behind.

Twist fell silent rather than spend any more time in such a ridiculous conversation.

“Come on,” Quay said with a heavy breath. “Let's get ourselves back into some sort of civilized situation, shall we?”  He glanced at Twist. “Then, we can continue our conversation.”

“This is hardly necessary,” Jonas said as Vane finished re-cuffing Jonas's wrist to one arm of the chair he was now sitting in, in Twist's room.

“You've just proved that it is,” Quay said.

“Did you not see Twist snap these open?” Jonas asked with a sigh. “It's pointless to try to lock me up.”

“No, it's pointless to lock him up,” Quay said, pointing to Twist, who now sat in the chair beside Jonas with his heavy head in his hands.  The flight to find Jonas had taken up the bright moment of energy that had come from his long rest.  Now, Twist began to feel the weight of his fatigue again.

“If one of you is tied up, it will slow you both down, at least,” Quay explained coolly.

“Then, if you do get away, I can pounce on you again,” Vane said with a happy grin.

“You enjoy that too much,” Jonas said, looking concerned.

“Do I nag at you about your nature?” Vane snapped back.

“Do you think we could get back to the point of this meeting?” Quay asked the room.

“Seriously, you're not talking about an animal, right?” Twist said, looking up to Jonas. “When you say he's a 'fox,' you mean it metaphorically.”

“No, I mean it literally,” Jonas said instantly. “He.  Is.  A.  Fox,” he added, taking extra time for each word. “Well, a kitsune, anyway.”  Vane grinned at Twist.

“Now, Mr. Twist,” Quay began.

“But he looks like a person,” Twist said to Jonas.

“Because he likes to,” Jonas said. “Foxes are shape-shifting spirits.”

“All of them?”

“Can I just ask—“ Quay began again.

“Why is this so hard for you to understand?” Jonas asked Twist.

“I'm sorry,” Twist said, his voice sharp. “I didn't live in a world of magical weirdness until your bloody sister came into my home and handed me a tangible piece of my favorite fairytale.  I've never left London in my life, and now I'm sitting in Hong Kong with a pirate who's hardly even dressed—” Quay looked down at his own attire quickly but didn't seem to find anything amiss, “—a fox that looks like a person, and a man whose eyes I can't look into without exploding!”  The others waited quietly for Twist to get his breath back.

“Feel better?” Jonas asked.

“Marginally,” Twist muttered, holding his head in his hands again.

“So, tell me, Mr. Twist,” Quay said, his voice still smooth and calm as he sat patiently across the small table from Twist. “What is it that you really want?”

“A bloody quiet day,” he said flatly, not moving.

“Jonas wants something like that,” he said, looking to Jonas. “Don't you?”

“At the moment, I'd really like my goggles back, actually,” Jonas said, staring pointedly at his own feet.  Vane smiled silently, pulling the black-lensed goggles off his brow and over his own eyes.  He then waved his hand in front of the opaque lenses with an amazed expression.  Quay rolled his eyes and looked away from Vane.

“Win back my trust, and I'll give them to you, gladly,” Quay said pleasantly.

“Where's my pocket watch?” Twist asked, looking up suddenly.

“Your what?” Quay asked.

“I had a watch with me,” Twist said. “Where is it?”

“I assume it’s with your things,” Quay said, gesturing to the wardrobe.  Twist got to his feet instantly, heading for it. “But honestly, you and I need to have an undisturbed conversation,” Quay said imploringly.

Twist opened the wardrobe and found a small collection of clothes that he'd never seen before hanging neatly inside.  A small shelf held the key to his home which had been in his pocket, along with his small brass watch.  The instant his fingers touched the watch, the gentle echo of London rain whispered to his ears.  He took hold of it tightly as he turned back.

Vane was sitting on the end of the long couch, his feet folded under him, as he continued to entertain himself by trying to see through Jonas's goggles.  Twist walked up to him and reached out quickly, plucking the goggles off his eyes and over his head without touching him.  Vane blinked in the sudden light just long enough for Twist to jump out of reach.

“Now, come on,” Quay said to him, grinning imploringly. “Just let me—“

Twist sat down beside Jonas again and held the goggles out to him while Quay bit his lip with obvious effort not to let his anger overrun him.

“Sweet heavens above!” Jonas gasped in sudden joy.  He took the goggles and instantly placed them over his eyes as he took in a deep, relaxing breath. “You're a good man, Twist.”  Vane glared at Twist darkly, while Quay rubbed at his temple and sighed.

“Vane was playing with them,” Twist said as he wrapped the chain of his pocket watch around his hand.

“I'm going to skin you alive and use your pelt for a throw rug!” Jonas said savagely in Vane's direction.

When Twist glanced at Vane, he was wholly astonished to see a second Jonas sitting exactly where Vane had been.  He was wearing the same clothes that Jonas was now, though without the goggles, and was otherwise a perfect copy in every aspect save one: this new Jonas had a fluffy black fox tail curled up on the couch beside him.

“
I'm gonna kill you dead
,” the new Jonas said in Jonas's voice, but with a childish, over exaggerated sneer. “You’re such an angry person,” he sighed, in Jonas's normal voice.

“Knock that off!” Jonas yelled at himself from behind his goggles.

The new Jonas laughed back at him with Jonas's laugh, but through a grin that looked somehow predatory and very alien on his face.

“What the blazes is going on?” Twist asked on a hollow voice as he looked quickly between the identical twins.

“I've surrounded myself with silly fools, apparently,” Quay muttered.

“This is exactly why you never say your own name in front of a fox,” Jonas said, looking towards Twist from behind his goggles. “If they hear your name from your mouth, they can put on your face.  Disturbing as hell, if you ask me,” Jonas added with a shiver. “Just knowing your name will let them track you down, too.”

Vane smiled wickedly at Twist with Jonas's face.  Twist twitched his vision off of Vane's eyes, but Vane didn't flinch at all.  Twist looked back, and for the first time, saw Jonas's full face, unobscured.  His eyes were bright and green, round and keen, set in his sun kissed features like gleaming, precious jewels.  In his wonder at this forbidden image, Twist stared for a moment too long.

“Do you see something you like?” Vane asked in Jonas's voice, with a wicked smile and a playful wink.

“Vane, will you stop it?” Quay sighed.

Vane clicked his tongue disapprovingly, but then gave his body a shake.  For an instant, his form blurred into a shadow, but then just as quickly returned to the form he had worn before.  Twist watched the transformation, not believing an instant of it.

“Now, please, can I have your attention for a little longer than the merest moment?” Quay asked Twist.

“So that you can get me to agree to sell you something I can't afford to lose?” Twist asked him back instantly.  Jonas and Vane both looked to Quay silently.

“Whatever do you mean?” Quay asked, looking honestly astonished.

“You have her, you've made that clear,” Twist said. “But she isn't yet finished.  You want me to complete the repairs.”

“Well, yes,” Quay said, watching him carefully.  Twist pulled himself still once again, staring at Quay with all the unnerving energy that he could muster, beaming out of his steel-blue eyes.  This time, Quay didn't look away, but held his gaze steady, albeit uncomfortably.

“To what end?” Twist asked coolly. “Why would you go to any trouble for some strange old clockwork toy, left forgotten for so long?”  To Twist's amazement, he managed to make it sound like he might have actually believed a word of it.

“A walking, talking, self-aware mechanical woman would be amazing to anyone,” Quay answered. “Amazing things are always worth something.”

“So you would sell her?” Twist asked, holding his voice even.

“Of course,” Quay said. “Royals tend to like toys like this one.  I'm sure I could find a prince somewhere who might want it.  And royals are never careful with their money.  Then there are the Rooks, of course.  I could offer you a large percentage of the takings if—“

“No,” Twist said, as solidly as any other undeniable fact.

“But—”

“No amount of money is worth that girl's soul,” Twist said before Quay could say anything else. “You forget, she is still very much alive.  You can't expect to sell a human being for money.”

“I think you forget,” Quay said quickly, leaning forward, “people have been selling each other as slaves since the beginning of time.  My own father was born a slave in Kingston.”

“Then you should know better!” Twist cut in quickly. “Do you now honestly mean to sell an immortal princess into slavery?”

“I mean to make a living,” Quay said flatly. “We do what we have to do to survive.”

“You could always get a normal job, you know,” Twist said. “I have a nice little clock fixing business back in London and I never want for money.”

“You are squandering your talent!” Quay snapped, his anger showing on his face now.

“I'm using it as I see fit,” Twist answered evenly.

“With the Sight you have, you could be one of the most powerful men in this world,” Quay said, his words biting. “But instead, you lock yourself up in a tiny little shop, never even touching anything but ruddy clocks!  Touch the right people, learn the right secrets, and your Sight could be used to rule nations!”

“Is it just me, or does he sound jealous to you?” Twist asked Jonas lightly.

“Don't get me into this,” Jonas said back quickly. “I've never seen him actually show anger before.”  Vane was also watching Quay with an alarmed expression.

Quay sat back in his seat, taking a moment to breathe slowly and calm himself. “I'm sorry,” he said, his voice smooth once again. “I just hate to see something so valuable wasted.”

“I'm happy, thank you,” Twist said. “I wouldn't want to rule anything.”

“Everyone wants power,” Quay said, shaking his head.

“I don't.”

“Of course you do,” Quay protested. “You just don't see it that way.”

“All I want is to spend the rest of my life tending to the needs of the clockwork princess,” Twist said, silently amazed by the ease by with which the words flew from his lips. “She is a beautiful and impossible myth become real.  Nothing in this world could ever be more valuable to me than she is.  And I'll never give her up to something like you.”

Quay stared back at Twist with frustration smoldering in his eyes. “The
Vimana
is in pieces, hanging off the side of a mountain top more than two days flights from here,” he said, his voice smooth as silk, curling into the vowels on the gentle Caribbean colored accent. “You are now half of the way around the world from anyone else you might know, and last I checked your pockets were empty except for one old, uninteresting watch that isn't even telling the right time.  If you leave me now, you'll be lost, alone, and destitute.  Instantly.

“Now,” he said, smiling slightly. “I, on the other hand, have a ship, a crew, and most of my not inconsiderable wealth stockpiled in banks here in Hong Kong.  I also have your precious clockwork toy and her crystal heart.  If you agree to work with me, I'm willing to not only make sure that you are fed well, paid for your work, and made very comfortable, but I'm also ready to make sure that you are able to finish repairing that toy.  You're a clever boy,” Quay said, his dark eyes gleaming in his wicked grin, “so you tell me, Mr. Twist.  Which path suits you better?”

Twist's eyes slid away, into the reality of the situation.  His watch ticked softly in his hand, echoing the silence, simplicity, and comfort of the life he'd left behind in London.  It hadn't felt final when he'd shut the door to his shop.  It hadn't felt like an ending when the
Vimana
had carried him up out of the London rain, and into the painfully bright sunlight.  For the first time in his life, Twist truly didn't know if he would ever see his home again.

The ground seemed to dissolve under his feet, falling away to leave him hanging by the tiniest possible thread; the fickle whim of a man he didn't trust.  All he could do now was try to buy himself some time.