Blood and Gold Trilogy

Chapter 3: Intruder

My first reaction was the one I went with. I instantly lifted my blanket and offered the dark space beneath it as a hiding place. There was obvious surprise and gratitude in those blue eyes as the young man in question quickly ducked underneath, crouching at my feet. I flipped the edge of the quilt over him just as a face appeared in my window.

The officer looked young and wore those horribly popular muttonchop sideburns the men were all so fond of these days. I personally found them hideous and imagined they looked much like rodents attached to the cheeks rather than facial hair. He smiled at me as he realized I was a single girl alone in the hansom, his chaotically arranged front teeth crumpled together like a patch of unruly softwoods.

"Evening, miss," he said with a very strong accent and a wash of body odor as he craned his neck to see further inside the cab. "Ask you to step out, if you would."

That simply wouldn't do, not if I was to keep my new fugitive friend safe. Perhaps it occurred to me this was the wrong thing to do. It was likely I harbored some kind of criminal under my blanket. But if those thoughts did pass through my mental process, they were fleeting and ignored. I barely even noticed the hiss of anger Sass released when I allowed my face to settle into my best arrogant expression and raised one eyebrow.

"I beg your pardon," I said, adding a thread of earth magic to my words, satisfied when I saw him tremble slightly from the force of my power. "You surely did not just ask me to leave my hansom for your convenience."

He flushed red. "Forgive me, miss," he said. "It's a matter of some importance."

I fed him a little more magic while Sass's hiss turned to a deep humming growl of discontent. "You're disturbing me and my cat," I said, shoving against the officer's will with my power, subtle enough I knew no one would notice, but just hard enough to break him.

He finally bobbed his head, sweat popping out on his forehead under the peak of his dark blue helmet. "How rude of me," he muttered.

"Very." I sniffed and looked away from him. "We'll be leaving now."

"Excellent, miss." He backed out of the window and vanished from view. The blanket twitched and I looked down. My new friend grinned up at me like it was funny and I couldn't resist grinning back even while I pulled the quilt over his head and gave him a good tap on the top of it for good measure.

Within moments the hansom jerked forward and we were on our way again. I glanced out at the small group of officers, seeing the slightly dazed look on the bobby's face as another spoke to him with some heat. But before anyone could stop us again we were on our way.

I waited a block before sliding the quilt free. Blue eyes waited for me. He eased out of his crouch, peeking out the window, before turning to me with a thankful smile. There was nothing at all about him that made me doubt I'd done the right thing. He was well dressed, if dirty as though from some kind of fight, and a large bruise marked his right cheek. But his face was open and his smile genuine so I found myself yet again smiling back before opening my mouth to ask him what was going on.

He beat me to it. "I'm not sure how you managed it," he said in a soft, deep voice and in that precise British way, "but I am forever grateful."

"Maybe if you tell me why they want you so badly, I can help you." I had no idea if that was the case, but there was something about him that drew me to him and wanted him to stay.

"I have no answers for you, lady," he said, "and even if I did, I wouldn't share them. This is no fight of yours to be dragged into, not for so fine a lady as you." He leaned away from me, looking out the window on the other side of the hansom. "You'd be best to forget this ever happened, truth be told."

Heat rose in my cheeks. "I'll have you know I'm more than capable of handling whatever it is you might have done and can assure you the likelihood of me forgetting any of this is slim. Nor do I take such instruction from fugitives."

Instead of being upset by my tempered tirade he just smiled at me again, leaned close and kissed my cheek. I noted the softness of his lips and the fact he smelled of fresh earth and cinnamon just as a zing of power passed between us.

He paled, eyes growing wide. "I'll remember that," he said. The hansom leaned hard to the left as the driver took us around the corner. My new friend chose that moment to open the door of the cab and slip out into the night with a concerned look back. I caught the latch and leaned far over to pull it closed, seeing him dart across the cobbles and into an alley thick with darkness.

I closed the door and turned back, my cheek burning from his touch and the remains of my temper.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Sass spared no lost moment to harangue me over my apparent lawlessness. "You know it's against the rules to use your magic on mortals."

"Whatever they think this boy did, they are wrong." That sounded foolish even to me. What was I thinking? The more I turned it over in my mind, the more I realized I'd acted impulsively and with great risk to both Sassafras and I. And yet, I knew in my heart I was right about our departed guest.

"This is exactly the kind of thing I warned you about." Sass was so angry every word he spoke spit out of him with great heat. "Of all that is good and wise, Burdie, what were you thinking?"

There was no way I would admit to him I hadn't thought, only acted. It would just make matters worse. Instead, I let Sass carry on and on for the remainder of the ride, barely hearing his chastisement, my mind on a pair of lovely blue eyes.

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