CHAPTER 18
AFTER READING FIFTY PAGES of Jane Eyre, washing her clothes, and showing Langston the proper way to make gravy, Ceony bathed and managed to get into bed at a decent hour. While she didn’t sleep well, she slept better than she had the night before, and found some relief in being able to wear a full-length skirt in the morning.
She searched for her little white bird at the window, but it hadn’t returned. She hoped it had reached its destination safely, but if it had, that meant her family still lingered in the Mill Squats. Or someone did. Her imagination could only fathom who.
Her stomach turned sour, and she massaged it through her blouse. Langston had a telephone, didn’t he? Perhaps she could ring Mg. Aviosky and learn something. Anything. She would fall like a soufflé otherwise.
As Ceony came down the stairs, she heard Langston speaking to someone in his living room. It only took a few steps for her to recognize the voice, and she nearly tripped the rest of the way to the main floor. Her heart once more lodged in her throat.
She hurried into the front room. “Emery . . . I mean, Magician Thane.”
Emery stood by the front door, absent his indigo coat, or any coat for that matter. He wore only a white button-up shirt with long sleeves and a pair of dark-gray slacks. Had he donned a tie, he would have looked ready to work in an office. His face was newly shaved, and he’d cut his hair as well. It didn’t look too different, just shorter and less unkempt.
He stood with his arms loosely folded across his ribs, leaning his weight on his left side. He glanced at her, the fire gone from his eyes.
He was beautiful.
Langston stood with him, fully dressed for the day, a pair of suspenders strapped over his shoulders. Ceony hadn’t thought to try and overhear what they had been discussing, and she chided herself for it. Judging by their expressions, she assumed the conversation had involved her.
Ceony clasped her hands behind her back and fought down a flush. “I . . . didn’t expect to see you so soon.” Only hoped.
“We have a few things to discuss,” Emery said. He didn’t sound angry, just resigned. Resigned to what, Ceony couldn’t tell, for Emery had shuttered his expression again, and she couldn’t read the secrets behind his eyes. Curse whoever had taught him to do that.
Langston said, “Do you have anything to collect?”
“Just my shoes,” Ceony said. Uneasy, she added, “I’ll fetch them.”
She hurried upstairs and retrieved the oxford shoes she had worn yesterday, taking a moment to inhale a few deep breaths and shake out her shoulders. Then she pinched her cheeks and hurried back downstairs.
Emery opened the door. “Thank you again, Langston. Let me know if you need that reference.”
Langston nodded, then moved to tip his hat to Ceony, only to realize he wasn’t wearing one. He settled for a nod and said, “Good day, and take care.”
Ceony thanked him and stepped into the hallway. Emery guided her to the door with a hand on the small of her back. His other hand dug into his pocket and pulled out a Folded crane, its right wing crumpled from its confinement. Ceony’s crane.
“These are not good ideas,” he said.
Her gut sunk. So he had been at the house. “My family?”
“They’re safe. Out of London.”
“Thank you.”
He nodded.
She took a deep breath. “So you met my parents.”
“I did.”
She wrung a handful of her skirt in her hands. “I really am sorry, Emery.”
“I know,” he said, quiet. “What’s done is done, and in the end it didn’t change much.”
“Didn’t change what, exactly?” she asked, but Emery didn’t answer. He guided her out of the town house and into a buggy that already had its engine running, waiting for them.
Ceony noticed the suitcase sitting behind the seats. “Did you go back home?”
“Briefly.”
After they had situated themselves and the buggy began to move, Emery asked, “Is there anything else I need to know, anything you’ve neglected to tell me?”
Ceony shook her head. “No. Except I lost your glider. That’s how I got to the barn.”
“Hmm,” he replied, nodding. “I hope you closed the roof.”
She hadn’t.
They sat in silence, Ceony wringing her skirt until one of its buttons threatened to pop off. Emery noticed, for he placed a hand over hers to still the destruction.
“I’m not one to dump my autobiography on others,” he said, his gaze on her hands, “but I’ve lost a number of things in my life—important things—and I have no desire to add you to that list, Ceony. Despite what you may think, I do care about you. My stewardship as your mentor aside, I’ve made your well-being my personal priority.”
Ceony’s pulse quickened at those words. Her chest felt hot.
Emery rested back against the buggy’s seat. “Your family is safe, as promised. They’ll be looked after until everything is settled.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“You’re going to stay with Magician Aviosky for a while; she’s agreed to the arrangement and will ensure your safety,” he added. “I’m sure Delilah will appreciate the company.”
Ceony had been about to ask after Delilah, but she reprocessed and said, “Why will I be staying with Magician Aviosky? Where will you be?”
She glanced back at the suitcase, then out the window, scanning the shops they passed: Briggs’ Pharmacy, Wolf’s Pencils. This wasn’t the way to Mg. Aviosky’s home. She watched the buildings and street signs glide past them, illuminated by the morning sun, and felt her whole body sink. “You’re leaving. We’re going to the train station.”
“Very astute,” Emery said.
She turned to him in her seat. “Where are you going? What are you going to do?”
He didn’t look at her. “The same thing I’ve done for years.”
“You’re going after Grath,” she hissed, keeping her voice low to prevent the driver from overhearing. “You’re going after him yourself, and after you scolded me about it!”
He turned toward her, his face hovering very close to her own. “This is different, Ceony. I have experience. It’s a decision that was made on behalf of Criminal Affairs. And I’m not going after Grath.”
Ceony’s anger stripped away in jagged pieces, replaced with quivering fear. “Saraj,” she whispered. “You’re going after Saraj.”
He frowned, but nodded.
The buggy pulled up beside the train station just as a clock stand on the sidewalk chimed the eighth hour.
Ceony grabbed Emery’s arm to keep him from leaving. “No, Emery!” she pleaded, blinking back tears. “How do you even know where he is? Where will you go? How long will you be away?”
“I either don’t know or can’t tell you,” he said. He looked . . . guilty.
Ceony opened her mouth to reply, but then addressed the driver instead. “Could you step out of the auto for just a moment, please?”
The driver nodded and stepped outside, looking pleased enough with the arrangement. He pulled a fag and match from his pocket.
“I went through a lot of grief trying to keep you alive,” Ceony said, “and now you’re going to get yourself killed!”
Emery actually smiled. “You have so little faith in me.”
“You’re going after a man who can kill with a swipe of his hand!” Ceony cried. “Please reconsider. I’ll do anything. I’ll never leave the cottage again. You can transfer me, if you want. I’ll give you my stipend. Just please, please don’t go.”
Emery’s expression softened. Lifting his hand, he gently touched the bruise on Ceony’s cheek, a caress that sent chills running down her jaw and neck. “I know more about how to deal with these men than most, Ceony,” he said. “And this way, I can personally guarantee your safety. Please, trust me on this. This time, you can’t change my mind.”
He tucked a stray lock of hair behind Ceony’s ear, then pulled back and retrieved his suitcase from behind the buggy’s seat. Ceony watched him, numb and wordless. Her heart slowed in her chest. Her fingers trembled.
Emery opened the buggy door and stepped out into the sunlight.
He was going to face Saraj Prendi, on his own.
This might be the last time Ceony ever saw him.
“I do care about you.”
She stared out the glassless window as he walked toward the station, suitcase in hand, the sun spinning gold into his raven hair.
Her pulse quickened until her skin throbbed with her heartbeat. Ceony scrambled across the seat and grabbed the door latch, kicking the door open. She jumped outside, blinking the bright morning from her eyes.
Then she shouted, “If you’re going to get yourself killed, you could at least kiss me first!”
Emery paused, as did two other men heading for the train. He turned around and looked to her, the sun pouring around him like a halo.
He walked back to the buggy, and Ceony flushed. Had she upset him? Was he really going to . . . ?
Emery set down his luggage. He put one hand on Ceony’s waist, the other on the unbruised side of her face, and pulled her away from the buggy.
Turning his head carefully to the right, he bent down and kissed her.
His warm lips pressed into hers, and Ceony’s entire body seemed to turn inside out. The sun’s bright rays pierced through her. The city fell away piece by piece.
She closed her eyes and reached for Emery’s neck, kissing him as she’d always wanted to kiss him, parting her lips against his, savoring him, relishing him.
The kiss lasted an eternity, and yet only a few moments. Emery pulled away slowly, leaving Ceony aching for him. She stared up into the beauty of his green eyes, and for a moment she saw everything there, all the pieces of his heart that she remembered so vividly, all the smiles and unspoken words she had earned since meeting him three months earlier.
Emery again touched his lips to her forehead, then stepped back and picked up his suitcase. He didn’t say anything more, and Ceony didn’t speak as he set off for the train. There was nothing left to say. Nothing that hadn’t already been said, in one way or another.
Ceony watched the paper magician leave, her hands clutched over her hard-beating heart. Then he vanished, and Ceony had no choice but to slide back into the buggy and offer direction to Mg. Aviosky’s home, as well as a silent prayer that Emery would return to her unscathed.