Emma Holloway - A Study in Ashes

Bands of men ran through the ruined streets—mostly rebels and Yellowbacks—sometimes fighting, but more often trying to catch up with the rest of their forces. Bodies and pieces of machinery remained behind, like silt from a receding flood.

“I don’t see many Blues here,” Tobias said. He could hear Poppy crying softly as she looked out the opposite window, and he thought he might lose his mind. He couldn’t stand the thought of her distress.

“There was a split in their ranks,” his father replied. “Their command fell apart after the Blue King ran. After that it was easy to push them back east.”

“Rumor says there was a turncoat among them,” Bucky added. “Blue’s own man of business corrupted the troops.”

Tobias didn’t answer, distracted again by the spectacle out the porthole. It was going to take years, if not decades, to repair the damage from this single day. The dirigible passed over a thick mass of fighting, rebels pushing Yellowbacks north. “Isn’t Keating down there in the midst of all that?”

“No,” said Alice. “He would stay one step ahead.”

“There’s what’s left of Russell Square,” said Tobias. “We’re near the Violet Queen’s house.”

“That’s where our informant says Keating’s gone. It makes sense. He publicly allied himself with her,” Bancroft said, “and she’s just the right distance out of the fray.”

They touched down on the rooftop of the Grand Caliphate Hotel, a comfortable stroll from the British Museum. The hotel had evidently been abandoned as the battle moved north, but its large, flat roof—one of the first redesigned for the convenience of guests arriving by air—was still accessible. Bucky stayed behind in charge of Poppy and the ship. The others availed themselves of the steam-powered lift to the streets.

Yellowbacks, with their long black coats and outlandish weapons, patrolled the surrounding area looking for anyone remotely resembling a rebel.

Tobias wished Alice would have remained with Poppy, but she had the best chance of talking sense into Keating if they got him in irons. So he offered her his arm and they strode quickly toward the Violet Queen’s extravagant home, with Bancroft on Alice’s other side. All three of them looked dirty and rumpled, but for once no one was likely to report it in the gossip pages.

They’d nearly reached the corner of the lawn when he saw a scatter of Steamers parked along the road—a fair collection even for a wealthy neighborhood. Then with some surprise he spotted Michael Edgerton slouching against one of the lamp standards, smoking a cigarette as coolly as if there was no war tearing apart the city.

Tobias’s stomach tightened as his old friend turned around, offering a smile. “I wouldn’t go any closer,” Edgerton said pleasantly. If anyone overheard without quite paying attention, it would have sounded like a cheerful greeting. “My men are already in place. Keating is in there.”

Bancroft sucked in air, and Tobias knew what it meant. They’d had Keating’s location correct, but others had arrived there first. As he looked around, he saw the dark-clad figures, all but hidden in the shadows.

“By the by,” Edgerton said amiably, “good work out there today, Roth. I knew you had it in you.”

“But …” Alice began, but Tobias put a hand over hers. He could feel distress radiating from her like body heat, but he knew Edgerton. They could count on his help.

“Keating has our boy,” he said. “We need him to tell us where he’s being held.”

“We intend to take him alive,” Edgerton said confidently. “These men won’t make mistakes.”

He’d no sooner said it than the crack of gunfire sounded from the house, then an explosion. The front corner of the house blew outward, a cloud of smoke and dust billowing out with volcanic force. Tobias pushed Alice behind him, his one thought to get her behind cover. The rebels charged the front lawn. Guns leaped from beneath tailcoats. Then the Yellowbacks opened fire.

Alice screamed in shock as one of the rebels flew backward, chest imploding as one of the fearsome rifles blasted through him. Blood and bone splattered the street. Tobias thrust Alice inside the nearest Steamer, wanting steel around her. “Lie down!”

He fumbled for his own weapon, using his left hand. His father scrambled to his side. “Where did Edgerton go?”

Tobias scanned the scene. There was no sign of his friend. “Damned if I know.”

Then just as quickly Edgerton was back. “They think Keating’s gone, headed south. He got out when the wall blew.”

“Damnation!” Tobias cursed. So much for Edgerton’s men not making mistakes.

“Go after him!” his father ordered. “I’ll stay here. If they’re wrong, I’ve got it covered.”

Tobias scrambled for the Steamer as more rebels bore down on the house. The engine of the vehicle was already hot, so Tobias released the brake, jumped the curb, and sped the puffing vehicle through the park across the street, barely managing the job with just one hand.

The jolting brought Alice out of her crouch in the backseat. “Where are we going?”

“Your father’s fled south.”

She swore under her breath—something Tobias had rarely heard her do. “He’s been ambushed. I know him. He’s going to hide in earnest. It’s going to be next to impossible to get him into the open again.”

“Not if we can catch him first. Where would he go?”

She was silent for a few seconds as she climbed awkwardly into the front seat. “How many men does he have with him?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe none.”

“He might go to Hilliard House,” she said, her voice shaking. “He could take hostages there.”

Tobias bumped the vehicle back onto proper road and dialed up the steam. The vehicle shot forward. When he spoke, his voice was tense but reasonable. “I don’t think so. He’ll try to run to his own men first. This was a nasty surprise, but it’s hardly an endgame. Gold still has a good chance of winning this war.”

“Then he’ll go underground,” Alice said with a sudden lift of her head. “Some of his properties have a way out beneath the streets.”

Tobias blinked in surprise. “Really?”

“Only he knew about it. I don’t think he even told his streetkeepers. The only reason I know is because I used to follow him sometimes.”

Tobias looked at her in surprise. She had a way of making him do that. “Do you think he took Jeremy down there?”

“Not for long—they’re nothing but tunnels,” Alice replied. “They’re a way to move around, not to stay. But he could make it back to his army unseen.”

“Are you sure?” asked Tobias. “We’ve already looked at all his properties. He’s not there, and the rebels have spies on all of them. There aren’t many places he could go, even inside his own territory.”

“But there was Uncle Harriman’s old warehouse. Almost no one knows it’s even there.”

“Where’s that?” Tobias asked.

“A little way off Bond Street,” Alice said, and then quirked a smile utterly lacking in mirth. “You may not have been there, but surely you remember it. There was a gold-smithing workshop beneath it for a while.”

THEY LEFT THE Steamer on Bond Street—although it was hard to believe it was the same street he knew. Every one of the businesses was closed and many of the windows were boarded over. A Yellowback with a rifle turned to look as they walked away from the vehicle. Tobias held his breath, but nothing happened. He took Alice’s hand. “Where do we go now?”

She led him down a narrow side alley that led to a number of storage buildings. He’d walked past that section of Bond Street a thousand times, with the bakery and the draper’s shop, but he’d never realized any of this was behind the tidy storefronts.