Obsidian Eyes (15 page)

Thursday, 4
^th
August

Allie found Marshall at his desk in the mezzanine office. One look at her face and he reached for the sonic emitter and pushed the stalk. She waited until the buzz prickled her skin before approaching.

He took the slim piece of paper, glanced down then raised his gaze to her. “This isn’t aethertape. How are you communicating?”

A small smile flitted over her face. “You were supposed to be teaching Jared subtlety but that’s as blunt a question as he would ask.”

Marshall gave a huff of laughter. He placed the tape on the desk and used two large fingers to reveal the message. He studied the few words for a moment and then released the ends. The tape rolled back upon itself and he leaned back in his chair.

“You’re aligned to the Whisperers.” A statement this time, no question.

“You sound so sure.”

“The message is subtle and speaks of knowledge; the Whisperers are the only guild with those attributes.”

Cold water ran down Allie’s spine. Her actions crossed a line, violated guild code and now Marshall knew who pulled her strings.

“As we feared, the guilds know of Zeb’s work. I know the risk you make sharing this and I have kept my end of the bargain. There is a space available for Eloise.”

Later that afternoon Allie dragged Eloise along an empty corridor. They were in the disused wing of the school. Far below their feet Zeb kept his laboratory. Instead of heading down, Allie took the darkened entrance opposite and they climbed up a spiral staircase. The worn stone steps wound round and round the central axis.

“Where are we going?” Eloise said, her breath coming short from the exertion.

“You’ll see,” the only clue Allie gave her friend.

The base of the stairwell had no external openings. Only as they climbed higher did small arrow slits start to appear and shed light on the gloomy oubliette. They stopped at a door at the top and Allie pushed it open to reveal the tower chamber. Sunlight streamed in through enormous windows and highlighted the dust-covered floor.

Eloise walked to the thick hand spun glass and pressed a palm to the grimy surface.

“The school is letting you have this space as a laboratory,” Allie said.

Her friend spun from the window, her eyes wide.

“You won’t be interrupted up here. There is plenty of light, the tower is the highest point and I’m told it’s frequently struck by lightning.”

Rapture spread over Eloise’s face at the mention of lightning. A shimmer crept into her eyes and a single tear raced over her cheek. “This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

“Don’t thank me yet. Zeb is under your feet and if he blows himself up, he’ll topple the tower as well.”

The girls laughed and explored the small room. A circular workbench hugged the stone and ran halfway around the space. Although coated in decades of dust, the wood appeared sound. One window opened and gave access to the flat roof of the turret via a rusted iron ladder.

Allie reached out one hand and yanked at a rung. The ladder held and she hoped it took her weight; she didn’t want to take a tumble several stories to the cobbles below. “I’m sure Duncan and Jared will help carry up whatever equipment you need. And once it’s dark I’ll go out and move your turbines.”

Friday, 5
^th
August

Weasel chased the castor wheels on the library trolley, batting at them and jumping back as though expecting retaliation. Allie laughed watching his antics, so similar to a live kitten, if it were merged with a weasel, skeletal and covered in vicious spikes.

I hope Eloise doesn’t get any ideas and try to replicate it in flesh.

Allie shelved books for her grandfather after classes with Weasel keeping her company. She picked up a thick tome from the top of the three-layered trolley, her eyes scanning the shelf, looking for the right spot.

A low hiss came from by her ankles and then Weasel shot between two books on the bottom row, peering out from his hiding hole at the approaching intruder.

Edward Hamilton walked down between the shelves, his hand trailed over book spines and then he stopped between Allie and the cart. “Well, look what I have found between the pages, a pressed flower.” He pushed her back against the stack.

Allie took a deep breath. “Did you get lost? This is the library, in case you can’t read the sign over the door.”

He gave a sneer and caged her with his outstretched arms. “I hear you have taken to hanging around the gymnasium, are you helping that cripple polish his sword?” He laughed and sniggering came from the other row, giving away the presence of his toadies.

She turned her head and bit back the retort on her tongue as she tightened her grip on the book. Looking up she gave him a smile, before shoving the corner of the heavy volume into his stomach. He gave a grunt and staggered backwards.

“I don’t just polish swords, I shove them into soft squishy things. You might want to keep that in mind next time you try and touch me. I just might bite.” Throwing the book on the trolley, she pushed the laden cart along the row and out into the open walkway.

Alfred looked up from his desk. “Everything all right?”

“Fine,” she called back. “Lord Hamilton and his friends were lost.”

The three youths exited the stacks, threw glances to Allie and her grandfather and then hit the swing doors. Weasel trotted behind hissing and spitting with the spikes along his back raised. He didn’t lower his defences until the door closed behind the trio.

Collecting more returns, she pushed the trolley to the history aisle. She stood amongst the old books with several waiting in her left arm and balanced on her hip while she worked. She stretched upward with her right arm toward a high shelf and swore under her breath as the muscle in her shoulder screeched in protest. The jab of pain shot down her arm and forced her to drop the limb.

She pulled the muscle sparring with Duncan. During hand to hand the previous week she attempted to take him down to the mat and miscalculated her position. She wrenched her shoulder trying to manoeuvre his bulk the wrong way.

Marshall drilled her in the correct holds daily to ensure they became second nature. A guild master would have beaten her for such an error.

Sparring with the more powerful youths put extra pressure on her body. She swivelled her head and tried to rotate the joint to ease the pressure, when a voice came from behind.

“Why didn’t you say you were hurt?” Jared stalked down the stacks on silent feet and arrived in time to catch both the exclamation and the contracted movement.

“Some watch dog you are,” she whispered to Weasel.

The critter cocked its head. The ears rotated to Jared and back again without so much as a twitch, indicating he saw no threat to Allie.

“It’s nothing.” She tried to wave it off and continue with the job at hand. However life conspired against her, the next book also resided on a top shelf. She glared at it as though it jumped the pile just to torment her. She was unwilling to stretch her arm again in front of Jared.

“I swear you’re as stubborn as a mule,” he muttered under his breath. “Let’s have a look at it.”

Before Allie could question what he meant, his warm, firm hands were on her right shoulder. He probed the muscle with his fingers and she winced when he found the sore spot.

“Sorry.” His hands massaged along her neck and the top of her shoulder. A part of her mind cursed her clothing choice that morning. The slashed neckline of the shirt left her whole collarbone and neck exposed to his touch. Her body betrayed her when she leaned into his strong fingers and against his warm chest.

“A-ha.” He found the worst knot and put pressure on it, until it dissipated. He massaged her shoulder for a few more minutes and Allie closed her eyes, giving a small sigh of relief as the pain started to fade.

It took her a moment to notice he had stopped and she still leaned against him, lulled by the warmth and the steady beat of his heart through her back. She wondered why he hadn’t said anything and kicked herself for letting her defences drop.

“Thank you,” she said, standing upright, glad he was behind and couldn’t see the colour rise in her cheeks. She rotated the joint to see how it felt. The twinge was still there but the tightness had gone.

“You’re welcome,” he replied. “Marshall has a liniment which is great for sore muscles, ask him for a jar.”

Having composed herself, Allie turned and noted that for once he wasn’t scowling at her. He wore a strange expression on his partly hidden face. She caught herself before she reached out a hand to brush his hair back, to see his face more fully.

“You should have said you had pulled a muscle, Marshall would have understood.”

“And be labelled a girl?” Allie smiled when Jared smirked at the obviousness of her statement. “Are you here for a particular reason?” she asked in order to break the tension that developed since the spontaneous massage. She clutched the remaining books to her chest, using them as an impromptu barrier to keep the butterflies in her stomach from bursting forth.

“Zeb has finished reassembling Thumper. He wants to activate the thing and send it out for a run. I was wondering if you wanted to come for a ride with us? Duncan and I are taking the horses out, to make sure his invention doesn’t go on a rampage through the countryside.”

Allie itched for a hard ride after weeks at the school full of different experiences and emotions. Her brain ran at overdrive trying to sort through everything. She could do with an activity that would halt conscious thought, if only for a while.

“It will be a fast ride though, so only if you think you can keep up.” Jared coloured his words with the faintest challenge. “Zeb reckons it can outpace the horses.”

There was no way she would to miss seeing Zeb activate his creature. The adrenaline rush of the run was an added bonus. “I have to finish up here first. Can I meet you in half an hour?”

Jared nodded. “We’ll have Soiron ready for you. See you in the barn courtyard.”

Allie finished putting away the remainder of the books on the trolley, gave Weasel a pat on the head and then told her grandfather she was heading out for a ride. She ran back to her room for a swallowtail coat. Even though late summer dominated the countryside, it was still far colder out than she liked. With the dark green jacket around her shoulders, she did up the three silver buttons as she darted down to the stables courtyard.

Allie rocked back on her heels at the strange sight in the middle of the cobbled yard. The creature taking up the largest portion of space looked like the love child of a reptile and a chicken with short stumpy front legs dangling in the air and the massive tail acting as a counterweight, allowing it to stand on two legs. Overall, it towered over the horses, but was smaller than a full grown elephant.

A curious group of students stood around the edge of the courtyard, keeping clear of the mechanical nightmare. Nervous chatter and laughter floated on the air. Duncan and a groom held three horses between them, while Jared leaned against Thumper talking to Zeb.

Seeing the creature unfurled, recognition nagged at Allie. “Is that a dinosaur?” she asked as she neared the beast.

Zeb flicked a glance in her direction, before opening a side panel. “Yes, an allosaurus to be exact. It’s a superior and faster method of transportation than the horse, with defensive capabilities.”

“It doesn’t look very fast.” Allie stared at the giant reptile feet.

“It will out run a horse.” Zeb stuck his head inside the contraption, to fiddle with something within.

“With those feet?”

He pulled his head back out, a frown on his face. “What’s wrong with its feet?”

Allie balled her hand into a fist and rolled it along her palm. “Very long break over point. Did you not study equine biomechanics before you dismissed the horse as a starting point?”

“Well—” His gaze flicked from Thumper’s feet to Allie’s fist, impersonating a much shorter horse hoof.

“You need to talk to Eloise more. She’s a walking biomechanical encyclopaedia.”