A Darkness Strange and Lovely

Chapter Twelve

My knees buckled.

Daniel. Daniel Sheridan! Here. Now.

I swayed into Laure. She looked over, alarmed, and tried to steady me. She shouted something. I didn’t answer—I couldn’t. All I could do was stare stupidly at the balloon, my breath frozen in my lungs.

Daniel leaned into the gondola, and when he came back out, he popped a top hat on his head. Then he spun around to wave at the crowd. A confident grin split his face.

And all of Paris cheered—except for me.

How many times had I tried to forget that blasted smile? The way his forehead relaxed and his green eyes crinkled?

A growl escaped my throat, and I squeezed my skirts in my fists. When Jie had said he was due back soon, I had not envisioned that his arrival would be quite so grand.

Laure gazed over at me, worry creasing her forehead. “Are you ill?” she shouted. I nodded and, taking her arm, swiveled about. I had to get away.

With far more violence than before, I shoved my way toward the garden gates and towed Laure with me. Perhaps if I ate croissants until I was sick, locked myself in my room, and pretended my pillow was Daniel’s face, then this enormous lump closing off my throat would go away.

Surprisingly, people stepped aside and let us pass. It was as if my misery were a storm cloud to be avoided at all costs.

And for some reason, this only made me angrier. I stomped on, Laure plying me with concerned questions the entire way.

We were almost up the stairs when I realized that the crowds really were clearing a path—but it wasn’t Laure and me they were avoiding.

I halted on the top step, pulling Laure to a stop with me, while ahead the Parisians continued to draw back.

Laure turned around. “Ah,” she breathed.

“Ah what?” I asked. But she didn’t have to answer, for footsteps pattered behind and a voice I knew entirely too well called, “Excusez-moi, Mesdemoiselles. Est-ce que je peux vous aider? ”

Laure’s lips puffed into a coy smile, her lashes batting prettily. But she said nothing, and so providing a response fell to me.

I drew in a ragged breath and forced myself around. Then I looked him square in the eyes and said, “Hello, Daniel. A fine afternoon for an overly dramatic balloon landing, don’t you think?”

His eyes doubled in size, and his mouth bobbed open like a fish. If the situation wasn’t so awful, I would have laughed at his shock.

He tried to speak, his usually tan face devoid of all color, but nothing came out.

Then, as if matters weren’t already uncomfortable enough, they somehow worsened. The entire crowd fell silent. Every single person stopped speaking and waited to see what Daniel would do.

Life ticked by in painfully slow seconds. My heart pounded in my ears, and I fought to keep my face still.

Someone coughed. Laure flinched. Then Daniel flinched and stumbled toward me.

“Miss Fitt,” he said.

“Do not call me that.” My voice came out surprisingly composed—though I desperately wished the crowds would cease their silence and ignore us. “I’m Eleanor to you, Daniel. You know that.”

His eyebrows twitched down, and with that, his own composure seemed to return. He swooped off his top hat and bowed. “Eleanor, what a . . . pleasant surprise.” He lifted and motioned to Laure. “Who is your companion?”

“This is Mademoiselle Laure Primeau,” I said. “Laure, this is Mr. Daniel Sheridan.”

“How do you do, Mademoiselle?” He gave another elegant bow, and I almost laughed as my discomfort melted away. Jie was right. I didn’t recognize this young man at all. This Daniel Sheridan was not the escaped convict I had fallen in love with three months ago. Whatever that book on manners was that Jie had mentioned in her letter, it had turned Daniel into a perfect copy of every other polite and dull gentleman in the world.

“You know each other?” Laure asked, her lips twisting up wickedly. “What a magnificent . . . coincidence, non?”

“He is one of the Spirit-Hunters,” I muttered, grabbing her arm. “Let’s go back to the hotel now, please.”

Daniel leaned toward me. “The Hotel Le Meurice?”

I nodded grudgingly, avoiding his eyes. “We were just headed back, were we not, Laure?”

But she didn’t answer. Her smirk merely deepened. “You are going to the same ’otel, Monsieur?”

He tugged at his collar. “Yes.”

“Parfait,” she murmured under her breath. Then, with an arch smile at me, she said, “Then he must escort us, non? It is his responsibility as a gentleman.”

I opened my mouth, a hissing retort on my tongue, but Daniel was already leaping up the remaining steps to us. “Allow me,” he said, swooping another graceful bow.

And it was as if all of France released its breath. That single movement sent a wave of sighs through the entire audience (for crowd they were no longer). Instantly, conversations resumed; the world returned to its natural course.

Laure’s lips stayed in a smug pucker as she took Daniel’s left arm and I took his right. Then we began an awkward promenade toward the hotel. He was as tall and lanky as ever, and I had to roll back my head to meet his eyes.

“That was quite an entrance,” I said, lifting my voice over the now-roaring crowds. “You would do well in the circus.”

“C’est vrai,” Laure chimed. “What was the purpose?”

He chuckled tightly. “The Marquis asked me to do it. When I returned to Paris, he told me to make it grand. So I did.” He spoke slowly, putting a great deal of emphasis on each word. “What brings you to Paris, Miss Fitt?”

“And why . . . are you . . . speaking so slowly? Also, do not call me Miss Fitt.”

“I ain’t—I mean, I’m not talking slow . . . slow ly. ” His teeth gritted, and I could see Laure bite her lip to keep from laughing. “I’m merely surprised to find you here,” he continued. “And with a . . . lady at your side.”

I wrinkled up my face. “Merely” was not a word in Daniel’s vocabulary.

“Eleanor was my roommate,” Laure explained as we walked down the sidewalk beside the busy street. “We were on the same ship to France.”

Daniel only gave her a cursory grunt, his focus still on me. Laure looked daggers at him—it would seem she wasn’t fond of being ignored.

But inwardly I grinned. Even in my mud-colored gown and unlaced waist, Daniel wanted to speak to me.

“You have not answered my question,” Daniel said, his eyebrows drawing together.

“What question?” I asked.

“Why are you here, Miss . . . er, Empr . . . uh, Eleanor.”

My breath skipped. He had almost said Empress, and strange behavior or not, that was too intimate for me.

I swallowed. “If you must know, Daniel, I was chased out of Philadelphia by Marcus, and now”—I flourished my left hand in the air—“here I am. And what about you? I thought you were due in later.”

He grunted again and lengthened his stride. Since we were attached, Laure and I had no choice but to pump our legs faster. I didn’t mind. The hotel was close now, and the columns of Le Meurice beckoned to me.

“What will ’appen to your balloon?” Laure asked

Daniel peered at her, giving an absentminded smile. “Actually, I prefer to call it an airship. Once I unload my things, I’ll move it outside the city, to a big warehouse that holds bal—er, airships.”

“And what will you unload?” she pressed, still trying to draw his attention.

But he didn’t answer right away. We strode through the street’s traffic, somehow walking even faster than before. It wasn’t until we were almost to the other side that he lifted his voice.

“I’m an inventor, Mademoiselle, and I have new inventions for my employer.” His face shifted back to me. “Things for Joseph.”

“Fascinating,” I inserted before Daniel could go into any detail. I was desperate for some space.

Plus, we had reached the sidewalk on the other side, and I could just make out the hotel’s white marble foyer. Freedom was so close! “We left our breakfast half eaten, Laure.”

Laure snorted. “Très horrible,” she said flatly. “To think of a breakfast unfinished—the world might stop spinning.” She pulled free of Daniel and sauntered toward the door.

“Must you be so sarcastic?” I demanded, trying to free my own arm from Daniel’s and scurry after her.

“Oh, I am only beginning,” she called, already disappearing into the hotel.

I pulled harder, throwing a glare at Daniel. “Let go.”

“No. Wait . . . Please.”

I frowned as he tugged me, and against my better judgment, I let him guide me between two columns. He bent toward me, his gaze roving over my face—some of his old slouch back. “Did he hurt you?”

“Who?”

“Marcus.”

I reared back slightly. “Oh no. I managed to get away before he could do anything.”

“Is he here?” Daniel leaned in more closely. “Are you in danger now?”

“No—not yet. At least, I don’t think so. I cannot be entirely sure.” I was rambling—Daniel’s proximity was making my head spin. “I do think he will follow, though—”

I didn’t get to finish, for at that moment, Daniel’s eyes landed on my right hand. “What is that?”

“My hand.” I curled my fingers into a fist.

He grabbed my wrist and pulled at the glove, but the instant he saw flesh, he let go, repulsed.

“How? How’s this possible?”

“It’s a long story.” I tugged my glove back in place. “One I would rather not share.”

“Tell me!” His voice lashed out like a pistol shot. “I have a right to know!”

“A right?” I hissed. “What, pray tell, gives you any right to know about me?” I backed up two steps. “Have you forgotten how you left things between us in Philadelphia? You cannot simply show up in a fancy balloon, Daniel, and expect me to fall at your feet. I am not some girl to be trifled—”

“I ain’t expecting that!” he snapped. “I just wanna know where that came from.”

A female squeal burst out behind me. “Monsieur Sheridan!”

I whirled around, and my stomach flew into my throat. Rushing toward us, all smiles and perfect couture, was beautiful girl after beautiful girl. Their lashes batted so wildly I thought they might be having conniptions.

Daniel stood, clearly bewildered as the array of silly girls came nearer and nearer. And though this was easily the worst nightmare I could ever conjure, it was also an opportunity to escape Daniel’s temper.

So as fast as humanly possible, I fled for the restaurant. Yet I was almost immediately intercepted —by Joseph and Jie.

“Eleanor,” Joseph said, beckoning for me to follow him out of the lobby and into the relative quiet of the main stairwell. He and Jie paused at the bottom step, and then he turned a hard eye on me. “You did not come to the lab last night.”

“I’m sorry,” I said tiredly. “I did not get in until quite late.”

“Did you have a nice time?” Jie asked, sliding her hands into her pockets. “Was the Madame’s house really—”

“You could have come this morning,” Joseph cut in. “It is imperative that we fix your magic as soon as possible.”

“Fix it?” I repeated. “It’s not as if it is broken.”

He dipped his chin, watching me from the tops of his eyes. “That is precisely the problem, Eleanor. It is broken, and yet you act as if what you did yesterday was of no consequence.”

“What are you talking about?” I glanced at Jie, but she merely shrugged—and looked incredibly uncomfortable with the turn of the conversation. “What did I do yesterday?”

“You used your necromancy.” Joseph’s voice was curt. “You used your own power to stop that corpse.”

“But I stopped the corpse, didn’t I?”

“Not properly, non.”

“Properly?” My voice came out shrill with annoyance. “What should I have done, pray tell?”

“Not relied on self-power.”

“Joseph,” Jie said, pleading, “you’re being a little rough on her, don’t you think?”

“She knows the dangers of self-power,” Joseph replied, not taking his eyes off mine. “We had discussed it only moments before the Dead alarm rang.” He leaned toward me, his voice low.

“Eleanor, your body is so accustomed to using its own magic, you are automatically reacting with spells. Your body wants to use its power, and this is very dangerous. If this is how you respond when a single corpse is present, I shudder to imagine what will happen when we finally face Marcus. You must resist your magic. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” I snapped, my temper flaring to life. “Though it might help if you would teach me how to actually do that, wouldn’t it?”

“And I will—as soon as I return from this assembly.”

I bit back a groan. “Fine. Let me know when you have returned from your assembly. Now, if you will excuse me, I have breakfast to finish.” Then, with nothing more than an apologetic smile for Jie, I stomped off to the restaurant—and found Laure ordering a fresh pot of coffee.

“Where ’ave you been?” she demanded.

I ignored the question, shifting from foot to foot as I asked, “Would you care to see my room?” I wanted something—anything—to distract me from the last twenty minutes. “We can have the rest of our meal sent up. I have a lovely balcony.”

Laure hesitated. “Is this to escape that young man—”

“No.” I moaned.

Her lips pursed with disbelief.

“All right, perhaps it is. Now come with me. Please?”

With a smug grin, she complied, and soon enough, we had escaped the first floor.

Yet of course, as my luck would have it, taking breakfast on the balcony proved to be a colossal mistake. For an inhumanly long hour I was not only cursed with a perfect view of Joseph as he left the hotel, but with all the Parisians who came to see the enormous balloon.

And worse—far worse—all the Parisian ladies who came to see its pilot.

At the first tap against my bedroom door that afternoon—hours after Laure had left—I swung the door wide, already saying “Land sakes, I thought the world had forgotten about . . .” I let the words die, for it was only the dressmaker with a frazzled assistant and a wealth of fabric in tow. My shoulders dropped. Had I alienated Jie by snapping at Joseph? I had searched for her after Laure left, but according to the man at the hotel’s front desk, she was away “on business.”

The dressmaker and her assistant bustled inside, and without even asking, they dragged me to the center of the room and began to undress me down to my petticoats. Once my gown was off, they set me atop a stool and then subjected me to a tirade of pins, needles, and lace. Madame Marineaux—true to her word—wanted me to have a magnificent ball gown in an eye-catching scarlet. The Marquis had already paid for everything: the silk, the gown, and the hard work.

I couldn’t help but love it. It was neither a color nor a cut I would have selected for myself, yet the low neckline accentuated my feminine figure, and the scarlet made my skin positively glow.

“That dress suits you,” a man drawled.

Oliver.

I spun on my stool, startling the assistant, and found the spry demon dressed in his usual charcoal suit, his stolen top hat clasped in his hands and his yellow eyes shining with mischief.

“How did you get in?”

“The door wasn’t locked, and”—he bared his teeth in a grin—“I’m quite stealthy.”

“Well, you cannot be here,” I said over the annoyed clucking of the dressmaker. “I’m half dressed

—”

“Yet fully covered.”

“—and you’re a man—”

“Some might argue otherwise.”

“—in a lady’s bedroom.”

“Though obviously these women don’t care.” He motioned to the dressmaker and assistant, who were far more concerned with the effects of my unexpected twirl than with the pretty-faced young man lounging in my doorway.

“You should have knocked,” I added with a glare. “And where have you been for the last two days?”

“It’s barely been more than a day, El. Stop being dramatic.”

I growled as the dressmaker tapped my ribs. I flung up my arms so she could mercilessly stab me with more pins.

“I’ve been working, as agreed.” Oliver draped his hands behind his head. “Gathering clues, keeping an eye out for Marcus . . .”

“Marcus?” Fear—and hope—awoke inside me. “Is he here?”

“I haven’t seen him if he is. I am merely on the lookout for him since clearly you are too busy to worry about your safety.” He motioned to the dress, a single eyebrow quirked.

“I need this gown. Madame Marineaux wants me to have a stunning gown for the ball tomorrow night—”

“Who?”

The dressmaker spun me around, so I had to look over my shoulder to keep talking.

“Madame Marineaux. She’s the most fascinating woman I have ever met, Oliver. She’s been to all sorts of places and . . .” I trailed off. His eyes were cold. “Wh-what?”

“You have enough time to gallivant with Parisian ladies yet stopping les Morts or dealing with

Marcus is entirely too much to ask.”

I pulled free of the dressmaker and whirled around to face him. “Are you angry at me?” I asked incredulously.

“Egads, yes! If you’re going to gallivant, El, I would like you to bloody well gallivant with me.”

He scratched the bridge of his nose, his face set in a scowl . . . and looking so much like Elijah.

I sighed through my nose, glad I hadn’t mentioned Laure’s surprise visit to Paris—or my time spent with her. It would only serve to make him more jealous. “What do you propose we do together then?”

“Search for les Morts, read through your letters so we can figure out what Marcus is after, train your powers . . .” His words faded and he fixed his yellow eyes on me. “Any preference?”

I swallowed, suddenly breathing fast. Train my powers—I wanted that. My whole body wanted that. But I made myself ignore it and heed Joseph’s warnings. “We should deal with les Morts. If I want the Spirit-Hunters to help me with Marcus, I first need to stop les Morts.”

“Or,” Oliver said, inspecting his fingernails, “you could simply build up your power and then stop les Morts and Marcus with magic. You could learn to fight.”

The hairs on my arms pricked up. Learn to fight. Oh, how I needed it. Needed to use this energy inside me. To use it to fight. To use it to hurt . . .

“No!” I snapped. The dressmaker flinched, and Oliver’s brows drew together. I waved for the dressmaker to continue, and then, with a deep breath, I fixed my eyes on Oliver. “No. I will not train.”

Oliver didn’t react, though I could have sworn his yellow eyes almost glowed. “And may I inquire why not?” he asked calmly.

“Because I promised Joseph—”

“Oh, did you now?” He clasped his hands behind his back and ambled two steps toward me.

“Because I distinctly recall a promise you made to me. A binding one. So unless this promise you gave to Joseph is on the same . . .” He glanced off, as if searching for the word. Then his eyes shot to mine—and the irises were definitely a brighter gold than usual. “On the same scale as our promise, then I urge you to forget the one you made to him.”

I swallowed. “You mean my death.”

“That’s exactly what I mean.” He sighed, and all of his poise vanished. “Bloody hell, Eleanor, you have only two months to free me, and it’s not some simple spell. It requires a great deal of training to master.”

My stomach knotted, and I gazed down at my right hand. I’m sorry, Joseph, I thought.

But the truth was, I wasn’t sorry. I wanted this—and judging by Oliver’s growing smile, he knew precisely how much my body craved more magic.

“All right, Oliver.” I squeezed my fingers into a fist. “You win.”