Claws of Brass by Meredith Rose

Author:Meredith Rose [Rose, Meredith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Coedwig Books

Chapter Twenty-Four

I huddled around the corner from Brocklehurst Textiles, braced against the chilling late-November mist that threatened to become rain, ready to shape-shift into Mortimer Hatfield, a young male secretary we’d created for our reconnaissance mission into the factory. Amberlyn was my presul for this role, and though I didn’t feel the sense of security I felt with either Dietrich or Presul Khan, she had easily caught on to Presul Khan’s way of working with vicimorphs. Partnering with her was surprisingly comfortable, and as she gained more experience, she’d be a very fine presul.

“You ready, Minx?” Amberlyn handed me a chain alchemically tuned to her presul magic.

I took it from her, wishing for a moment it was Dietrich’s. But he and I agreed it would be a bad idea for us to partner together at this point. He had been reluctant even to work with Moth, Evelyn and Delphine—whose vicimorph magic had returned just a few days ago. But nobody thought bringing in yet another presul student would be a good idea, and everyone was too intimidated by Presul Khan to even dream of asking her to help out. In agreeing to be part of this scheme, Dietrich was breaking almost every rule Fenrey had set for him. But when we had explained the situation, he had been determined to join us. I had the sense that he was trying to make atonement for what felt like his past sins—even though those sins belonged to someone else. I was worried for him, but we did need his help, and he had the ring. It seemed to be working the way Lucy and I had hoped it would.

“You know we’re all utterly cogged, don’t you?” I slipped Amberlyn’s chain over my neck. It wouldn’t show under the sack suit I had planned for Mortimer. I stifled a yawn. “Did we really have to do this one day before opening night?”

It was Thursday afternoon, and As You Like It would open tomorrow night. I barely remembered how I made it through the week. Tech week before a production was always insane, but this one had been a nightmare for me because of overseeing the technical rehearsals and final preparations as well as acting in the lead role. Thea and Presul Khan had cut me as much slack as they could, and I had been excused from classes all week as well. But I still felt as sluggish as a clock that was never wound enough and was always running five minutes slow.

I thought I had eaten breakfast this morning, but I couldn’t quite recall. We’d had final dress rehearsals from 8:30 to 2:00, and we had been given the rest of the day off with instructions to go to bed early. I only wished I could follow those instructions.

After my date with Raymond on Sunday, when I’d agreed to help break into the factory, he had convinced our whole group—Dietrich, Thea, Amberlyn, Moth and Evelyn—that this needed to be done as soon as possible.

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