The 7th of London (22 page)

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Authors: Beau Schemery

BOOK: The 7th of London
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“You knew Carrington?” Kettlebent asked. The threads of this tapestry grew ever more complex. If Midnight knew Carrington, did he also know Kildeggan? How well?

“Of course. The man was a genius. It paid to know Carrington. I still hold a few of his secrets,” Midnight explained. “Some of the things he’d uncovered about the L’amureans made even my skin crawl. If Fairgate’s using that knowledge against the queen?” Midnight shook. “I shudder to think.” The shiver must have been contagious because both Sev and Kettlebent were shaken. The villain held a jar of teeth from a man he’d tortured, branded, held prisoner, then murdered, decapitated, and dumped on the steps of the palace, and still he found Fairgate’s behavior disturbing. It was like the devil wincing at another man’s evil. Midnight was totally honest in his depravity. Was that the trivial difference that kept Sev from dashing directly away from Midnight? The villain didn’t lie about his vile nature, didn’t pretend to be something he wasn’t. Was that all it took for Sev to trust him over the men who imprisoned his queen and ruined his family? Sev couldn’t be sure, but he felt some kinship with Midnight, a trust he couldn’t explain. “Anything you need from me,” Midnight addressed Kettlebent, “you need only ask.”

“Thank you, Mr. Midnight,” Kettlebent spoke, the awe evident in his tone. “You must excuse me. I’ve a number of errands to attend to.” Sev wondered how Kettlebent could change his tune so quickly.

“Of course.” Midnight held his hand out to the dark man. Tentatively, Kettlebent accepted the hand and shook it.

“Will you be joining me, Sev?” Kettlebent asked.

“I’ve a few errands for Seven as well, now that he’s returned,” Midnight interjected. “Assuming you’re accepting my offer, Seven?”

“It seems I’ve some work t’do.” Sev stood as well, unaware he’d already decided to work for Midnight.

“Of course. I’ll be in touch.” Kettlebent shook Sev’s hand and clapped him on the shoulder with his other. He tipped his hat and turned, leaving Sev with his employer. Sev watched Kettlebent retreat. He wanted desperately to talk to the other young man. The things that had just transpired with Midnight were strange, disturbing, and possibly enlightening, but he needed someone to discuss them with. Sev supposed there was no reason to dwell on it.

“He fancies you.” Midnight’s voice startled Sev, who jumped.

“What?” Sev didn’t believe it.

“He does. I was watching him.”

“Never mind that,” Sev said. “Ye have errands fer me?”

“I need you to oversee a shipment that’s arriving this evening. A very special shipment.”

“Dangerous?”

“Not for you.” Midnight returned to his tea. “I’ve got a few men set to accept the shipment already. I need you to utilize those powers of stealth to make sure they aren’t ambushed. Just find an effective vantage point and make sure nothing goes wrong. Can you do that?”

“I think I can handle that,” Sev confirmed.

“Good,” Midnight stated. “The carriers are meeting here tonight at ten ’til me.” Midnight smirked at his own “me equals midnight” sarcasm. “You have until then to do what you will.”

13

 

 

S
EV
used his free hours to check in on Henry. He’d stopped at the market and purchased a rope of sausage for his feathered friend. He felt terribly guilty for running off with Kettlebent, having made no provisions for the owl. He’d thought of visiting Waverly, but Henry had to be his top priority, so he went directly to the flat Midnight had given him.

Sev wasn’t surprised to find Rat in his flat when he arrived. The filthy urchin had split his time between following Midnight’s orders as usual and taking care of Henry. Sev was grateful, and when he presented Henry the sausage links, he couldn’t be sure whose mouth watered more, the owl or the urchin. Sev decided to take a shower. While he cleaned himself, he smelled the sausage cooking. He knew Rat was frying it up.

When Sev emerged from the shower, Rat and Henry were both at the small dining table feasting on the sausages. There were eggs and toast as well, and Sev assumed Rat had acquired them. He joined them, and Rat offered him a bit, which he accepted gratefully. The trio ate in companionable silence. When they’d finished, Sev cleared the plates, telling Rat of the evening plans.

“Ye’ll have t’tell me where ye were the last few days as well,” Rat stated.

Sev nodded. “But right now I need ye t’get me somethin’.”

“What d’ye need?”

“I need a higher tensile string fer my wrist-bow. I think this job will require a longer shot than most.” Sev pondered the assignment. “I’ll also need a set o’goggles and some magnifyin’ lenses.”

“Mmm. I think I know just where t’get them. Be back in a tic, mate.” Rat left Sev and Henry alone in the flat. Sev took his arm-mounted crossbow out of its storage bin, laying it on the workbench. He rifled through a few other drawers until he found some tools.

Henry flapped down to roost on his shoulder as he worked at tweaking the tension on his weapon. He replaced one of the springs before he reassembled the whole thing. By that time, Rat was back with the high-resistance bow wire, the goggles, and an old mariner’s spyglass. “Monty didn’t have no magnifyin’ lenses, but Birtholt had this old spyglass. It ain’t much t’look at, but I figure ye can use them lenses.”

“Well done, Rat. Did Monty point ye t’Birtholt?” Sev gathered up the items and took them to his workbench.

“No. But I seen that spyglass th’other day, and I just figured y’needed glass that made stuff look bigger and well…,” Rat replied, letting the rest of his sentence trail off.

“Well, it was a top-notch idea,” Sev said, smiling. He pried the spyglass apart, laying out the pieces on the bench. Rat cleared his throat as Sev went to work. When the filthy boy cleared his throat a second time, Sev asked, “What?”

“Can I…?” Rat began. “That is, um….”

“Spit it out, Rat.”

“D’ye mind if I watch y’work? I’d kind o’like t’learn a bit o’that.”

Sev laughed. “O’course. Come have a look.” Sev was pleased by his young friend’s interest and was happy to explain what he was doing with his equipment and what he hoped to accomplish. Rat listened intently, studying Sev’s hands as they reassembled the spyglass, integrating it into one of the goggle lenses. Sev was surprised that Rat was willing to drop his tough façade and quietly listen to Sev’s instructions. It was a side of the urchin he’d been unaware of up to this point. Sev let Rat finish screwing the final lens into place while he moved on to his crossbow.

“And this’ll let y’see farther?” Rat asked, holding up the modified goggles and scrutinizing them.

“Put ’em on and have a look,” Sev offered. Rat obeyed, swaying. “Close yer left eye so ye’ve only got one image t’look at.”

Rat jumped back, appearing startled. He lifted the goggles, blinked, and replaced them. “That’s amazin’, Sev.”

“Thanks. Now take ’em off and have a look over here.” Sev pointed to two wheels mounted on the tines of his bow.

“What’re they?” Rat asked, furrowing his brow.

“These flywheels’ll compound the pressure launchin’ the bolt.” Sev pulled back the heavier string he’d just installed and demonstrated how the wheels moved. “It should give me an extra hundred yards or so on my range.”

Rat whistled. “That’s amazin’.”

“Ye think that’s impressive, ye should see the designs I’ve drawn up t’modify the crossbow t’hold more than one bolt. If it could fire more than one bolt after another, I wouldn’t have t’load it as much.”

Rat’s eyes were as wide as saucers, and his mouth was slightly open. “Where’d y’learn all this?”

“I picked it up along the way. I was forced t’work on Fervis’s machines at the factory, and Monty, along with a few others, showed me some things that would help me survive on the streets. Sometimes I traded supplies fer a lesson or two. I was always fascinated by how things work. Any chance I got, I’d take things apart. Getting’ them back together was the challenge.”

Rat laughed at that. “Y’think there’s any chance I could learn some o’that?”

“I don’t see why not,” Sev replied. “If ye’re determined enough. I think ye can do anythin’ ye set yer mind to. Start talking t’the tinkerers and the scrappers. They can show ye a great deal.”

“Y’think?” Rat asked, his face full of childhood wonder. Sev wouldn’t have thought the street-hardened boy would be able to feel such unpolluted joy.

“I know,” Sev stated. “When the madness dies down, maybe I can introduce ye t’Kildeggan. He started out as a master tinkerer’s apprentice, and now he’s the leader of a revolution.”

“Ye’d do that fer me?” Rat asked, skeptically.

“O’course. Why?”

“No one ever does anythin’ fer nothin’,” Rat growled, his hard exterior reemerging.

“That might be true in general, Rat, but I like ye. Lord knows why, but I do, and I’d like t’see ye make somethin’ happen.”

“Ye’re an odd duck, Seven.”

“Thank you, Rat.”

“Shall we head back t’Midnight’s? It’s almost time.” Rat didn’t look at a watch when he said it. Sev nodded, and the pair left the flat.

 

 

S
EV
and Midnight’s pickup men were introduced at the Black Chapel. Sev maintained that they shouldn’t travel together. He would go first and make sure the meeting place was secure. If it wasn’t, he’d hang his red tie where the bag men would see it.

Now Sev sat on a roof overlooking the meeting spot. He was alone despite Rat’s pleas to join him. Midnight’s men appeared with a carpetbag full of pound notes. The two men stood in the midnight fog, bathed in a misty ring of light cast from a gaslight. They smoked as they awaited the shipment.

Sev heard the muffled clip-clop of hooves before he saw the carriage emerge from the fog. Something moved in his peripheral vision. He looked to the roof to his left but couldn’t see anything. This could be very bad. Sev slipped on the magnifying goggles and scanned the adjacent rooftop. What he saw stole his breath. A man was aiming a modified rifle at the pool of light where Midnight’s men watched the carriage approach. Sev swept his enhanced gaze over the bordering roofs. He saw two more men with rifles similar to the first.

Sev needed to warn his associates, but how? Thinking quickly, he slipped his tie off and lashed it to a crossbow bolt. He fired the shot, impaling the bag of money. When the men saw the tie, they began to search the rooftops as they drew their sidearms. Sev reloaded his weapon and fired a shot into the shoulder of the nearest gunman. The man yelped ferociously and dropped his gun. Fluidly, Sev slid another bolt onto his crossbow and fired at the man on the roof directly across. He’d aimed for the man’s eye, but the gunman raised the barrel of his rifle to fire at Sev. Instead of blinding the man, the bolt lodged in the barrel of the rifle. It was a one-in-a-million shot that Sev was sure he couldn’t have made again if he tried. The man pulled the trigger, and the barrel of his weapon exploded in a shower of shrapnel. As much as Sev wanted to watch, he turned his attention to the third gunman, who had already started firing at the bag men.

The horses reared, spooked by the gunfire. Sev loosed another bolt at the third man, skewering his throat. The man was spitting blood when Sev turned his attention back to the cobblestone street. Midnight’s men had dispatched the driver, and they dragged another man from within, firing two shots at him when he hit the ground. Both of Midnight’s men climbed onto the driver’s seat of the carriage, secured the shipment, and transported it to one of Midnight’s warehouses.

When Sev was satisfied his associates were safe, he gathered his things. He’d been lying on his belly on the roof, and when he pushed himself up he felt a disturbing pressure at the base of his skull. “Don’t move,” a man spoke with a thick German accent. “I am quite certain you saw the rifles of my companions?” Sev stayed silent but nodded his head in response. “Then you can imagine what it would do to your skull at this range.” Sev shuddered and nodded. “Good. Do you realize what you have done here tonight?” Sev shook his head once. His mind raced through his options, but everything he might be able to manage wouldn’t be fast enough to avoid being pasted by the rifle aimed at his skull. “No. Of course you don’t. We tracked them all the way from Austria.” Based on the level of emotion in the man’s voice, Sev imagined his features twisted with anger.

“Then why are ye wastin’ yer time talking t’me? Ye’re goin’ t’lose them,” Sev growled.

“You make a good point.” To Sev it sounded like
goot point
, before he heard the hammer of the rifle click back. Sev winced, waiting for the bullet to tear into his brain. To his surprise, he heard a sharp whistle, and the pressure of the gun barrel disappeared, just before his assailant grunted and dropped to the roof. Sev turned to regard his now unconscious assailant.

“You’re welcome,” a familiar metallic voice stated above Sev.

“Kettlebent?” Sev rolled to his back. “What the hell’re ye doin’ here?”

“Sutherland sent me. Midnight wouldn’t tell the duke what was being purchased tonight.”

“Did ye follow me?”

“No. Rat told me where to find you. He was rather upset that he wasn’t allowed to join you,” Kettlebent explained, offering Sev a hand. He hauled Sev to his feet.

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