Chapter 16

AUbrEY

Mud-splattered and soot-streaked was the standard uniform in this part of the city, so he and Calix had that part of the unintentional disguise in hand. But Calix’s clearly expensive clothes and his upscale but still common suit didn’t earn them any congenial looks as they limped along the streets in some part of Lenox Hill. Very little of the old farms that had once flourished there remained, and now the streets were packed mud, the buildings thin and crumbling. Construction equipment and massive piles of stone blocks sat waiting for blueprints to be finished, perhaps signaling change for the neighborhood.

In the cloying dark that settled around them, the wide shadows between the few enchanted lanterns made those stones look rather ominous; like squat monsters simply waiting for him and Calix to walk into their gaping mouths.

Morbid and macabre, perhaps, but Aubrey’s thoughts were no darker than the incoming night. Calix’s arm carefully looped through his, which allowed him to keep Calix close, made Aubrey feel a little bit better. But they were both battered and exhausted, and Calix stayed quiet so as not to aggravate his throat. He’d inhaled smoke as they’d scrambled to leave Aubrey’s apartment; hearts racing and blood pumping, the selfless man at his side had all but shoved him out the door and down the stairs first as gray smoke engulfed them.

Calix had held Aubrey’s grip on the door until the last moment, then ripped himself out of the tether they’d shared. Something of Calix’s power lingered in Aubrey’s veins and strangely, it left the scent of roses in his nostrils.

“We should be able to meet Ethaniel at Marble Hill, if he hasn’t moved on already,” Calix rasped as they turned the next corner. Aubrey roughly understood where they were, but Marble Hill was still a ways off, and he doubted any carriages were selling their services in this part of the city.

“We’ll need to get somewhere with more people, more services,” Aubrey replied as he pulled Calix closer. A figure was stumbling toward them and while Aubrey didn’t want to overreact, he wasn’t about to get caught unawares.

“Right.” Calix turned his head this way and that, then pointed left, to the spot near where the stumbling figure had appeared. “Might be a tavern there.”

“Perhaps.” But Aubrey suspected they were as likely to find an opium den as they would a tavern. The drug still ran rampant in certain parts of the city, and depending on how privileged the area, it could be simply addicts. Or it could be addicted magic users. The latter was worse by far; hallucinatory drugs and compounds were very popular with a certain subsect of the magically inclined and they were prone to violent fits of mania. “Let’s move to that side of the street to check.”

The moment they set foot in the sticky mud, the stumbling figure Aubrey had been watching paused midstep, turned toward a ramshackle tenement building, and leaned slightly forward. “It’s a good piss here,” they muttered. Out of politeness, Aubrey averted his eyes and moved them up the street a little more before crossing. The drunk kept muttering, but Aubrey lost track of the words as the distant sound of hoofbeats echoed toward them.

The hopeful look on Calix’s face made Aubrey say, “Let’s just see who it is. I have money enough to pay. Even if it’s a personal carriage, we might be able to purchase a seat from them.”

Calix nodded and picked up his pace. “We look terrible.”

“As though we just ran out of a burning building?”

Calix’s sigh held a note of exasperation and it made Aubrey chuckle. “Ethaniel didn’t tell me about your dark sense of humor.”

Aubrey shrugged. “We would have gotten around to it eventually.”

The approaching carriage slowed and in the dimness, Aubrey could see a liveried driver, the silver trim of their uniform winking. He raised a hand in greeting and Calix did the same. “Let’s hope we look desperate enough,” Aubrey muttered.

“Or wealthy enough to bribe them for a ride,” Calix answered.

Aubrey nodded but was unable to keep his tone light as he said, “Or that.” He stretched his arm overhead and nudged Calix so he could out, “Please! Over here!”

The horses softly whinnied and the carriage slowed, then stopped. The driver looked down at them and gave a curt nod, then a voice from inside the carriage said, “Bit of an odd place for two gentlemen dressed as yourselves to be out. At night, especially.”

Aubrey leaned forward to get a better look at the person speaking. “I agree, though it wasn’t our intent to get stranded.”

“Thieves chased us,” Calix said. “They took my friend’s cane and my billfold and we had to duck into buildings and hide behind…” He shivered, only dramatically enough to look completely honest. Aubrey nodded along, hoping his acting skills were half as good as Calix’s. “Tire fires! Can you believe it?”

There was a pause and Aubrey wondered if they’d tipped their hands, but then a woman stuck her head out of the window, looking aghast. “My goodness! Calix Addington? It’s been an age.”

Calix visibly deflated. “Sophia, thank god. I’m so sorry our paths had to cross again on such a night. Could we bother you terribly for a ride?”

But this Sophia was already opening the door and motioning them inside. “Come, come. Don’t worry about the mud, this is my third-best carriage.”

He and Calix stepped in and the carriage jolted forward at a hurried clip, not one second after they’d sat down. Immediately, Calix took the older woman’s gloved hands in his and squeezed. “It’s so good to see you. May I introduce my friend? Aubrey, this is Lady Sophia Devonne. My mother was part of her social circle, for a time.”

Lady Sophia smiled, an impish expression on a thin, sharp-featured face. If she’d had pointed ears and long flowing hair instead of a simple twist at her nape, Aubrey would have thought she’d dropped out of a fairy story. Aubrey gave a small bow and she waved him off. “You noticed Calix called me by my name? I don’t like honorifics, they feel sticky in the mouth. Sophia, please.”

“Then you must call me Aubrey.” Calix was beaming at him and Aubrey didn’t want to think long on how devastatingly handsome he was, even covered in soot and mud. “Thank you for the assistance.”

“Bah, you’re with Calix. I watched this little apple thief grow up.”

At Aubrey’s raised eyebrows, Calix chuckled. “I was six. Your apples looked better than ours.”

Sophia laughed as well. “Well, even at six you always did have good taste. So why in the world are you out in Lenox at this time of night? The entire block is a den of thieves and con artists. It’s where old Doc Slither used to work out of, you know.”

They both went still at that. Doc Slither, or Perry Sizemore as everyone learned from his mugshot, had gripped the city in terror last year when he’d suddenly closed up shop after his “patients” began dying in agony. He was the worst sort of huckster, who saw no value in the lives of others, and convinced people through his knowledge of herbal remedies that he could cure anything that ailed them. And for a time, he acted as a kind of local Cunning Folk for Lenox Hill and the nearby neighborhoods; none of the impoverished factory or dock workers living there could afford real doctors and medicine, and many of them were immigrants who had brought over folk traditions of their own. Doc Slither had taken all that trust and bankrupted it by slowly convincing very ill people to keep buying his tincture. Hell, his catchphrase had been, “One More Bottle’ll Do Ya!”, which was a catastrophe in all regards (including to the English language).

And slowly over time, Doc Slither had, from what the police could tell, used some combination of ingredients and medicinal patterning to make the tincture addictive. So even if you were vomiting and shitting yourself, you’d keep drinking it. Only after he was caught did everyone understand why he’d picked that name: the man kept live snakes in his apartment. Fifty of them. In every nook and cranny. The mere thought of one snake made Aubrey’s skin crawl; fifty was a nightmare.

“I didn’t know that,” Calix said as he leaned back. “That’s awful.”

“The police kept it out of the newspapers, but people talk. It’s done a number on the people here. I was just dropping off another few bundles of clothes at St. Maria’s.” Sophia gave Aubrey a more solemn smile this time. “St. Maria’s seems to be the only place trying to help these people. I help the reverend with arranging clothing donations.” But Sophia didn’t let Aubrey give her the politely appropriate compliments as she kept going. “So why are you two out here? Tire fires? Did you really get robbed?”

Calix gave her a highly sanitized version of the night’s events, keeping the robbery story but twisting it to say they’d run by a building on fire and gotten turned around in the smoke. “You know me, I don’t leave my apartments much,” Calix concluded. “I’m so glad you were nearby.”

Sophia looked properly stricken with worry. “My dear boy, you name it and I’ll get it to you. Where are we going?”

“Marble Hill,” Aubrey replied smoothly, even though he was touched by the woman’s concern and willingness to help them. “The plan was to leave town tonight on one of those horseless carriages.”

Sophia shuddered at that. “I know the place. Good on you both for enjoying the marvels of new technology, but I admit those things frighten me.” She tapped on the roof of the carriage and called out, “Stuart, Marble Hill, to that carriage company that has the beautiful Morabs.”

“Yes ma’am,” came the call back. The carriage soon took one corner, then the next, and the heavy scent of mud and trash soon faded. It was only then that Aubrey allowed himself to lean back against the seat.

“He’ll be okay,” Calix murmured. “I’m sure of it.”

Aubrey wanted to touch Calix, to pull him close and reassure him, but he didn’t know Sophia’s tolerances and they couldn’t afford to be tossed from the carriage. “I know you’re right, but my concern feels like a vise,” Aubrey replied. Sophia was watching them but not overly interested in their interaction, so Aubrey allowed himself a small, sad smile. “Let’s just get to Marble Hill and get our bearings.”

Aubrey was grateful Sophia wasn’t the chatty sort. Though considering how they looked and smelled, she might have been taking pity on them. As the carriage rolled along and the sounds of the city picked up, Aubrey started to plan. He couldn’t say much, if anything, to Calix, but he knew leaving New York was needed. If they didn’t…well, that wasn’t a line of thinking with which he wished to engage.

Sophia flicked a heavy blue velvet curtain aside and brightened. “Oh, we’re near the botanical gardens! It’s too early for many of the flowers, but their hothouse is truly magnificent. Have either of you been? The orchids—”

Aubrey didn’t hear the rest of what Sophia had to say about the garden’s orchids. His vision went black, but there was no pain. He braced for it to come, but instead what he saw was a ghostly image of Ethaniel. He was sitting at a rickety table, hunched over what appeared to be some sort of map, and the blue glow of his power beckoning as he traced his fingers over it.

Aubrey tried to say something, anything, but his jaw refused to move. Then Ethaniel looked up.

Aubrey’s power rose to the surface. He imagined it was like being struck by lightning, but without pain still. When their gazes connected, Aubrey understood.

His magic was answering Ethaniel’s.

The headiness of the moment made Aubrey’s entire being ache, but he refused to move, to do anything that might break the connection. It was unlike anything he’d ever experienced before, and unprecedented as far as he was aware.

Magic in humans didn’t connect. They weren’t like electricity arcing between contact points. Magic didn’t work that way.

Didn’t it?

As quickly as he’d been hit with it, the connection broke. And beside him, Calix gasped and whispered, “Ethaniel”, and fumbled for Aubrey’s hand.

After a long moment, where he watched Calix seem to go through the same thing he just had, Calix turned to him, blinking as if to clear his eyes. “Did you know he could do that?” he asked slowly, as if his tongue were numb.

“No. I’ve never heard anything about…” Aubrey paused, remembering they weren’t alone.

“Neither of you have anything to worry about,” Sophia said, looking completely unrattled. “I’ve got magic users in my family aplenty. Hell, my husband, God rest his soul, was one of the first to bring unbreakable horseshoes to market. They still wear down after a bit, mind you, but at least horses now don’t have to throw shoes and go through all that pain. Poor dears.”

Aubrey had to chuckle despite the fog cloud nestled over his mind. “You are a very welcome surprise, Lady Sophia.”

Sophia patted his free hand. “You’re a friend of Calix’s. That’s enough for me.”

By the time the carriage slowed to a stop, Calix had fallen asleep and Aubrey was well on his way there. The questions whirling in his mind wouldn’t stand in the way of exhaustion. Night had firmly settled in around them and it was late enough that even the main street on which they halted was barely lit; some of the magical lanterns flickered as their charms slowly fizzled out with each passing hour.

Sophia waved off he and Calix’s profuse thanks with a simple, “Just be sure to invite me the next time you have a party at Rosehill, my dears.” She was the epitome of generous and cunning, and reminded Aubrey very much of some of the women in his family.

“Should you ever need my assistance,” Aubrey said, fumbling for one of the few cards left in his pockets that had survived their adventure.

Sophia’s sly but delighted grin told Aubrey everything he needed to know.

They stumbled out of the carriage, taking in their surroundings. Across the street was their destination, a humble brick building with a large stable attached. Beyond the horses, Aubrey could see the glint of carriages and sighed. “We’re close,” he said to Calix. “But we should check for Ethaniel.”

Calix pointed up the road. “There’s lights and a few people. Maybe it’s a tavern?”

“Agreed. Let’s check.”

They stuck to the side of the road, ducking under awnings and balconies. Aubrey could still feel the grip of Ethaniel’s magic, but it only did so much to calm his nerves. Nowhere in the city was safe, and the longer they stayed, the more they risked another encounter with the Golden Order. All he could hope was that Ethaniel was safe, and the book was still in his possession.

“I definitely think that’s a tavern,” Calix said, his expression growing hopeful.

Aubrey struggled to find the energy to reply as they approached the building. A few people stood outside, cigarette embers casting red shadows over their faces. But lights blazed inside and the promise of warmth was too alluring to resist.

Something like an unscratchable itch at the back of Aubrey’s mind made him pause, then turn to face the little boarding house across the street. Somehow…somehow he knew Ethaniel was inside.

Aubrey shook his head, trying to unscramble his thoughts.

No, Ethaniel was most definitely inside.

Before Calix could ask him what he was doing, Aubrey pried a small stone out of the mud and threw it at the window directly above.

“Aubrey!” Calix hissed.

“He’s in there,” Aubrey said. Truth was a drumbeat in his brain. Maybe it was that shared connection, maybe it was intuition.

When no one answered, Aubrey picked up another stone, this one slightly bigger, and hoped he wouldn’t shatter the window. He still threw it, however.

“They’re going to call the police on us!” Calix now looked stricken on top of the exhaustion wearing down his features.

The window above them slid open and Ethaniel stared out, mouth agape. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he rasped, voice hoarse.

“Grab everything and come down,” Aubrey said. “We’re leaving. Now.”

Ethaniel paused, as if processing the information, then nodded. “Two minutes.”

Aubrey passed Calix his billfold. “Get a carriage. A proper one. No markings. Two horses, nothing showy.”

Calix looked torn, so Aubrey took him by the shoulders. “We have to leave.”

“I know, Aubrey.”

“Good.”

With the few smokers staring at them, Aubrey reached out to swipe soot from Calix’s cheek. He’d fight all of them if he had to, should his tiny moment of affection for a man he’d only met a fortnight ago make them incensed. Aubrey didn’t care.

Calix didn’t move away, only bit his lip and stared up at Aubrey, complete trust thick in his gaze.

Ethaniel was with them moments later, throwing his arms around both of them, the satchel containing the path to their futures bumping against Aubrey’s side.

“We have to get out of the city.” Ethaniel looked like death warmed over, but he was alive and whole and for that Aubrey was thankful. At that, Calix took off for the carriage company, he and Ethaniel following in his wake.

“We’ll make it,” Aubrey replied, feeling the truth of his words settle in his bones. “We will.”