Cogs in Time Anthology (The Steamworks Series) (35 page)

“You must go, please. The entire town will die if you don’t stop the water.” Luca took her hand and turned to exit. As they reached the door, Astrid shrieked. “Draegan!”

Draegan’s body filled the opening to the side room. Luca turned around to see his brother, his face twisted in malevolent hatred. Teeth bared, his right hand wielded an arm long pneumatic gas injector. A sharp brass bayonet topped his weapon. Its engraved handle sat like a clarinet in Draegan’s hand, but unlike the instrument, from the opening at the top, a long titanium injector pointed at Luca. An attached glass container held a chartreuse vapor, a molecular blend of gases that Draegan had worked on during his imprisonment in the sphere. When used on a vampire, the gas separated the vampire from his own cognition, permanently debilitating his mental capacity.

Draegan began to laugh. “Clinging to one another, young lovers? Shall you each try to save the other?” He walked around them, in a circle. “You have already lost, dear brother.” Draegan’s voice dripped with vengeance and hatred. Every venomous word spat forth with abhorrence. “You are both as good as dead.”

Yet, Luca refused to flinch. “No, Draegan. You have lost.”

Their calmness enraged Draegan further. His finger hung over the activator's switch on the injector. Shaking with rage, he closed his eyes and pulled back the button. The spurting sound of the gas shooting through the injector filled him with a giddy joy. However, in a moment of horror, he felt numbness crawl down his body. His neck tingled, and then his arms fell loose and flaccid by his sides. The injector fell to the ground as his breathing halted in his chest and his legs collapsed. Luca and Astrid stood, watching him fall.

As Draegan lay on the ground, a small, burnt shape singed the ground next to his eyes. Paper-thin particles flew over his face, landing on his lips. Tiny little flakes fell like snow, almost imperceptible.

“The butterfly…” whispered Astrid in amazement. “ It was the butterfly.”

Luca bent to gently gather the immolated wings. “Yes, it is. It made the ultimate sacrifice and projected the gas back to you, Draegan. It gave itself up. It would rather die than have you live.”

***

Luca and Astrid ran through the underground system. Both relieved, yet afraid that Draegan would find his way back into the world.

“I will not leave your side until this ends,” he swore.

Her breath was haggard as if a new storm was entering her life. Her hands shook as she reached for his, holding tightly, fearing to let go.

Luca bent down and kissed her on the lips. He drank her being into his. He felt the touch of her skin, the smell of her, everything. Luca smiled at her, even in the face of destruction.

“He’s infected all of Gravesend, hasn’t he?”

Luca didn’t answer. Destruction on such a scale was hard to fathom. He knew she was thinking of her sister, mother, and father, as well as the plight of all the people she had cared for and helped. Their faces swam in her mind.

“Luca? I must go and see.”

But Luca did not want Astrid to leave. She had a different destiny now.

Chapter Fourteen

Ashes to Ashes

Mordecai sat alone in his office. The warm glow and the sputtering of the fire in the fireplace only broke the darkness and silence around him. All the other High Table members had been quarantined to quarters. Mordecai sat alone, his mind as sharp as a knife’s edge, waiting, ready for the moment, for the signal.

Then it came. A voice in his mind.

“Mordecai, it is time.”

The voice and the person were dear to him. It was his pillar of pragmatism, his perfect son. The one he missed. And now he was back. But where?

Mordecai sprang from his ornately carved cherry wood chair, his speed unmatched and his mind resolved. He ran to the corner of the room where Ivy waited.

“How did you know, Ivy?” Mordecai asked as she handed him a rucksack.

“Because a woman can see the same things as a man, but we see them differently. Where you see destruction, we see hope. But be careful, Mordecai. It is the beginning.”

He took it from her, surprised by its weight. As he left the room, he looked back; his eyes suddenly grew old and weary. Then, as if tearing himself away from something dear, he ran to the window and jumped to the ground. His robes floated outward as gravity pulled him.

He ran like a shadow through a town of uncontrollable and dying people. He knew it was the end, he knew it was his to finish. He watched the streets and its people disintegrate into something he couldn’t bear.

“Follow my voice, Mordecai.” In his mind, he saw a pattern of arrows, a map to follow sent by Luca. The River Thames, the source of life and the source of death. He passed the large iron gates to the underground aquifers and looked around the deserted premises. He came to the opening in the ground where Luca and Astrid stood. A large grate separated them.

“Will you come out?” asked Mordecai.

“Soon,” answered Luca. Astrid looked at him with confusion.

“We must leave. I must see my family!”

Luca pointed to the bag, gesturing for it. Mordecai slipped the rucksack through the bars of the grate, gently into Luca’s arms. Mordecai followed, his body crouched through the darkness as he made his way through the tunnel. As he held the bag, in his mind he saw the flames. Fires burned everywhere. Powerful and cleansing flames, destroying the infection. Mordecai saw this too; their eyes locked while both of them envisioned the same as the other. Ashes. Dust. Blood. Fire.

The images flew between the minds of the two vampires. Fire burning so powerfully that it destroyed all in its wake, erasing all to give way to a new beginning.

They pulled away from each other and back to the present. Slowly walking, they both breathed deeply to focus on what must be done. Luca stole a glance at Astrid, though his destiny stood not too far away. He could taste the end, and he could not bear to look at her piercing eyes, craving her, but he could not afford to be weak. The end called for strength, the strength to bring a new day.

Luca carried the rucksack, the contents shifting inside and squirming within the bag. Mordecai walked ahead of them like a distant shadow. Astrid stared at the bag; concern filled her mind and voice. “What is in there? Is it moving? Is it alive?”

Mordecai walked back to her and placed his hand on her forehead. He reached for the sack again, and passed it into her arms. She cradled the bag instinctively as if it were always hers to hold. Luca put his hands on her shoulders, untying the bag as he stared into her eyes.

“Your dream…this is the child.” Astrid looked at the contented face of a chubby infant. “It is now ours. It is yours to care for.” Luca’s voice was gentle and calm. He smiled at her, kissing her deeply. He bent to kiss the infant girl on the forehead. The little girl cooed and giggled, making sucking noises as she grasped for Luca with chubby fists.

“She has your gray eyes, Luca,” said Astrid. “She has a look that is yours.”

“You must guard her,” instructed Mordecai. Astrid’s eyes opened wide as she understood him. “Take care of her. You carry with you a new world.” Mordecai turned and ran towards the river.

“Luca?” Astrid knew something was going to take him from her. He smiled, and then hung his head. He turned with a sad gesture of goodbye, and ran behind Mordecai. “No!” she cried, but Luca didn’t answer or turn back to her again. He vanished, as did Mordecai, leaving a wall of fire where they stood.

A tear rolled down Astrid’s cheek, but she wiped it away. Her cheeks were smeared with mud and tears as the baby in her arms squirmed, demanding attention. She nestled the girl’s warm face in her neck.

She sat and rocked with the child as the sound of a furnace blowing madly consumed the city, and with it all the madness, the differences, and the pain that had possessed it.

Astrid unwrapped the orphaned, baby girl vampire from the rucksack and emptied the bag, inside were provisions of food and money. Also, clipped inside the money, was a small picture of Luca. On the back, in a black cursive script, were the words “
I give you my life and a new world to make.” 
She slowly took out an apple from the bag and bit into it, one hand still on the baby. “All for you, my love,” she whispered. “All for you.”

Amanda Gatton
-
Amanda Gatton is an Ohio wife to Adam and mom to Jacob and Shiny. Amanda has loved to draw and write all her life. In her former life she was a waitress and now she gets to spend her days with her babies and making art. In addition to her creativity, Amanda is a hedgewitch and fortuneteller! Follow Amanda's blog, Under the Sun!
 
www.amandadgatton.com

Catherine Stovall
-
Catherine Stovall is the author of
Faire Eve, Stolen, Reborn & Eternity
of the
Requiem of Humanity
series,
Arcana: The Maiden
(A World of Wade Novel),
and the short stories,
Fearful Day
,
Bloody Freedom (Broken Mirrors, Fractured Minds Anthology
),
Condemned to Die,
and
I Am Freak (Cirque D’Obscure Anthology
). Catherine is a fearless creature who surrounds herself with the joys of life both in and out of her fictional worlds. She lives in Southeast Missouri with her husband, three children, and pets. When not writing and editing, she spends her time riding motorcycles, wearing elaborate hats, and genuinely enjoying the oddities in life. Visit Catherine on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCatherineStovall

Robert Craven
-
Born July 2
nd
 1966, Robert Craven currently lives in Dublin, Ireland with his wife and children. He is the author of such full-length novels as
Get Lenin,
 and its sequel 
Zinnman,
 published by Taylor Street Publishing, an independent press based in San Francisco. As well as a vampire short titled ‘A Communion of Blood’ published by Vamptasy Publishing in their anthology
Broken Mirrors, Fractured Mind
s

Samantha Ketteman
-
Samantha Ketteman has resided in southern Illinois for 7 years, (though still claims to be an Alabama girl), with her husband and three crazy demon children. She is working on The Forgotten series, as well as the Destiny Discovered series, the Reaping Justice series, and Avenging Innocence, a stand-alone novel, as well as various other projects. She is a caffeine addict, insomniac, and generally scatterbrained most of the time. You can find Samantha on her Facebook page as well as other social media sites.
www.facebook.com/authorsamanthaketteman

Cindy J. Smith
-
Cindy Smith was raised in upstate New York. She has worked a variety of jobs during her life—waitress, store associate, certified electronic technician. She is currently employed as an over-the-road truck driver with her husband. Cindy has lived in many states from Maine to Florida. She now resides in Indiana. Through all her experiences, she had voices in her head dictating poems. The voices would not relent until Cindy wrote the poems down. She invites you to eavesdrop.

Emma Michaels
-
Emma Michaels is a cover artist and the author of Owlet. As the founder of The Writers Voice blog (
http://OurBooksOurVoice.Blogspot.com
) she loves to connect authors and readers. Her love of blogging started when she created a review blog in 2009 (
www.EmmaMichaels.com
) which gave her the courage to finally submit her own novels to publishers.

Faith Marlow
-
In the fifth grade, Faith Marlow discovered a fondness for writing and has considered herself a storyteller ever since. The notion of transporting a reader into another place or time, to allow the reader to experience life from the perspective of the character is as intriguing is it is challenging and is at the heart of any project she undertakes. In addition to writing, she is an avid reader, movie connoisseur, and a veritable repository for all manner of useless yet entertaining knowledge.

Faith lives in Tennessee with her high school sweetheart/ husband, Scottie, their son Avery, and Moses the loyal family turtle.

Nina Stevens
-
Nina Stevens grew up with a dad who taught her the importance of taking things apart and putting them back together again, bigger and louder than before. Her husband shares her love of everything vintage, shiny and loud and they live on the beautiful Mississippi Gulf Coast, where she runs their home and their two dogs run the show. This is her first published work, you can read more of Nina’s poetry at All Poetry,
http://allpoetry.com/Succubus_Dreams

Wayne Carey
-
Wayne Carey devoured science fiction from an early age, the genre guiding him toward a career in science with degrees in biology and education and creating the desire to write. A former research scientist and teacher, he and his wife Brenda live in the wilds of Central Pennsylvania with their three children, who provide a great deal of inspiration for his work.

Zoe Adams
–
Zoe Adams is a recent graduate of Professional Writing, at The Grimsby Institute, through the University of Hull. She has always had an interest and a huge love of horror, science fiction, paranormal fiction, and other media. Adams has been writing professionally since 2010, whereupon she first started her course and has continued to push a career since. She can be found at:
 
http://readerwriterzoe.blogspot.co.uk/
 
and through by email:
 
[email protected]
.

MJ Baerman
-
MJ Baerman is a Phoenix transplant currently living in northern Wisconsin. She enjoys writing, art, and running. She was educated in musical performance, focusing on piano and French horn. While she has always been a tinker at heart, she discovered her love of Steampunk in 2010. She is currently working on a collection of steampunk art and a series of novels.
Haven
is MJ’s first submission for an anthology.

Andrea St
aum
-
Andrea L. Staum is the author of Blood of the Sire Book 1 of the Dragonchild Lore series. She's a trained motorcycle technician with an Associates in Supervisory Management, is an amateur home renovator, and somehow manages to find time to write. She lives in south central Wisconsin with her husband, two demanding cats, and two ornery rabbits.

Deborah Dalton
-
Deborah Dalton is a previously published science fiction and fantasy author. Her first short story was
 
Avalonis
 
published on Oct. 25, 2011 by
 
short-story.me
 
and she has
 
Eden Alive
 
coming out in NCGS Books’
 
Elkecordaca RA
 
anthology in summer 2013.

Eada Janes – Born and raised in the wonderful St. Louis, Mo area. Eada Janes is a hometown girl at heart. You can find her walking by the banks of the mighty Mississippi river, dancing the night away at the local clubs, or snuggled up in front of her fire with a good book and a cup of warm coco. After graduating with a degree in fine arts and working in the corporate world of retail for many years, she has decided to return to her creative roots and brave a brand new start as an independent author.
Cogs in Time
is her publishing debut, but she is currently working on a historical erotica for the near future.

Cecilia Clark
–
Cecilia is a writer and illustrator. She has short pieces of fiction and illustrations in a variety of anthologies and magazines. She writes Horror with humour, Paranormal and steampunk romance and stories for younger readers. She is writing several novels and intends to lengthen the short fiction she has enjoyed. She is a member of the Federation of Australian Writers (FWA) and Romance Writer's Australia(RWA) and SCBWI Australia and New Zealand(Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators)

Cecilia can be found on her Goodreads author profile at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7245110.Cecilia_Clark

http://ceciliaaclark.blogspot.com.au

SJ Davis
-
SJ Davis is the daughter of an ex-patriate British mother and a Southern Baptist ex-CIA father. As a child, she spoke in silly accents and recounted outlandish tales of fantasy over afternoon tea and to this day it remains her favorite activity. Born in Long Island, NY, she was raised in the suburbs of Washington DC and went to school for a very long time (University of Virginia and George Mason University), married an all-around wonderful man, had two kids (smart, funny, full of opinions), moved from Virginia to New Jersey to Philadelphia to Chicago, and began her writing career. She is a believer in passionate romance and love at first sight, an avid tea drinker, a stiletto aficionado, Doc Marten worshipper, punk rock listener, and lover of flip-flops and cardigans. She has a terrible sense of direction, loves twizzlers, and is a Johnny Depp fangirl.