A metallic scrape brought Cara out of her doze. Nate's arms still wrapped around her waist and her head lulled on his chest. From under half-opened lids, she watched as Miguel flipped switches and pulled levers.
Turning, Miguel grinned over his shoulder at her. "All safe and sound, we’re under the Gravesend Pier."
She stayed in her cocoon of safety within Nate’s embrace as the young man crawled to the funnel and then reached up to unscrew the hatch. His torso rose and disappeared, his feet vanishing last. Fresh night air swarmed down the open shaft into the narrow vessel. She took a grateful breath before sliding from her warm position and moving for the exit. Miguel had aligned the submersible with the steel ladder affixed to the side of the pier. Climbing from the underwater vehicle, she grasped a rung as she climbed out and continued up the side of the structure. Nate paused to close the hatch. The clink of his boot heels on the metal rungs followed close behind her.
Once up top, Cara stood on the rickety old pier and drew deep lungful breaths of crisp night air into her body. We did it. That pirate's hare-brained scheme actually worked.
Moonlight reflected off the calm river and turned the surface to a mirror. They stood on a pier suspended in space. Stars spun around and under the pier as well as spiralling above. The horizon invisible, land and sky merged into one continuous, twinkling velvet blanket.
Nate slapped Miguel on the back. "Well done, lad."
The lad in question blushed, but Cara saw him bask in the compliment.
Nate reached out a hand and cupped the back of her head. "Thank you," he murmured, his thumb stroking the silken flesh of her neck as they waited for Loki.
She wanted to brush his hand aside, to give him a tart retort, but the depth behind those two simple words left her speechless.
They didn’t have long to wait before the sleek airship appeared on the horizon. She cut across the pastoral landscape to angle toward the river. The figurehead of a beautiful woman, arms outstretched behind her, clung to the prow of the airship. Her long, black hair flared around her face. She had elongated, golden feline eyes. Her lips curled back in a smile to reveal sharp canines. She was the wooden, and womanly, embodiment of Loki's Hellcat.
She hovered as low as Loki dared over the pier. A platform appeared above their heads, and a lone figure stood with an arm wrapped around the chain on one side. As the device sank lower, the man jumped free a mere foot from the wooden pier. Nate took the newcomer by the shoulder and gestured to the rope ladder off the side of the pier. Brief instructions were given over the thrum of the Hellcat's engines. The other man gave a nod and disappeared over the side of the pier.
Nate strode back to Cara's side. "He’ll take the submersible carriage back to its hiding place. We wouldn’t want her falling into the wrong hands."
"Of course not," Cara drawled with thick sarcasm. "It’s the kind of contrivance that might appeal to, or even appease, a monarch." She dropped a none-too-subtle hint of how he could extract them both from their current predicament.
Nate gave her one of his rare smiles, flashing even white teeth and scorching the wall of defense she tried to erect around herself. "Let’s discuss this top side. We're not safe yet."
Cara stepped up onto the slender platform, the chains reached back to the hovering airship. Nate and Miguel stood either side of her. Nate looped one arm around her waist and grabbed the chain with his free hand. The platform gave a lurch as the winch kicked in and started to hoist the three of them skywards, even as the Hellcat pulled away and started to ascend higher into the heavens.
Miguel gave her a wide grin, enjoying every moment of his adventure. She wished she could share his excitement, but then it wasn’t his life on the line, unless she pushed him off the swinging platform.
A dark hole in the side of the hull beckoned as they were hauled near. Two crewmen stood either side of the gapping maw. They steadied the chain as it wound up over the extended arms to the winch. The platform came to rest with a gentle bump, bobbing a foot away from the craft due to the curvature of the side. Nate jumped across and held out a hand for Cara. She gave him a scowl. She didn’t need assistance as though she were stepping from a carriage. Crossing the gap, she looked down, and paled, the Hellcat much higher than she anticipated.
Might have to add fear of falling out of airship next to claustrophobia. He pulled her to his chest and she didn’t complain, needing the physical security with the ground swaying so far below.
Loki slapped Nate on the back, forcing him to release Cara. He grasped his friend’s arm in greeting while she glanced around the shadowy hold. Mesh encased wall sconces held battery operated lights and cast a soft yellow glow around the cargo floor. Boxes were strapped against the curved sides. Netting held smaller objects in place, so they didn't shift during air manoeuvres. A steady hum vibrated through the floor and up Cara's body, the noise emanating from the enormous engines of the airship.
The pirate had a broad smile plastered over his face. "That was fun. You should have seen those soldiers scatter when we dove on them."
Nate watched the crewmen stow away the platform and roll down the hold door. "I could hear the music, but saw scant of it." He turned his attention back to Loki. "My hosts didn’t assign me a room with a view unfortunately."
"Bad luck. It was a slight miscalculation on their part having the ships tethered to the Tower. We were able to dodge behind them, and they couldn’t cut their lines to chase us; we were too close. They had to wait until we left before they could get underway." He rubbed his hands together in satisfaction. "Time for a drink to celebrate."
Loki led the way. From the cargo hold, they took a narrow spiral staircase and emerged at the end of a short corridor. A few strides down Loki paused at two large sliding doors made of a rich, red cherrywood. He pushed them aside to reveal the main compartment of the airship that served as mess and lounge. The walls were lined in the same wood as the doors. A wool carpet of rich red and green hues stretched underfoot. A dark, burnished table stood in the centre, surrounded by tapestry chairs stitched in complementary colours to the carpet. Two sofas, covered in wide green and blood red stripes, were pushed into one corner for more casual seating. A coffee table between them bore an inlaid chess set.
The small tea chest nestled against the wall by the sofas, taunting Cara with its tightly nailed lid. She dropped herself into a chair at the end of the table and pointed at the innocuous container. Her curiosity could wait no longer.
"So what have you got in the chest that Victoria wants badly enough to throw you in the Tower?"
Nate stood next to her, his gaze flicking to the chest and back to her expectant face. "I think we should have a drink first. It’s not every day you escape the Tower of London."
Cara narrowed her gaze, re-evaluating and embellishing her plan to kill Nate now they had rescued him.
Loki moved to a small sideboard and opened a cupboard door. He pulled forth a bottle and several shot glasses. He poured a couple of fingers of amber liquid out and handed one to Cara. She waited while Loki handed a glass to Nate and Miguel before picking up his own.
"To adventure and the friends who help us along the way," Loki said.
They clinked glasses and downed the contents in one hit, slamming empty vessels on the table top. Cara and Miguel both coughed, her eyes watering, and she blinked back the rush of tears from the hit of whisky.
"Keep talking." She waved her finger at Nate as Loki filled the glasses for another round. "You were about to reveal to your long suffering wife what is in the chest. And if it’s flesh and blood, why hasn’t it got an air hole?"
Nate threw back his head and swallowed a second hit of liquor. "The chest contains dragon eggs."
Cara snorted, but no one joined in. Loki and Miguel didn’t look surprised. She drained her shot glass before daring to meet Nate’s steady gaze. "Do you expect me to believe in dragons? There’s no such thing."
He placed a hand on her shoulder, his thumb stroking along her collar bone. "And there’s no such thing as a diamond heart."
Touché. She shut her mouth. Maybe he was right; the world contained more mysterious things than she ever believed possible. She leaned into his touch; her body missed him more than her mind cared to admit. For years she avoided physical contact until Nate taught her how much her body needed contact. The five days they had been apart seemed more like five months.
His hand moved to the nape of her neck, his fingers sliding through her hair to massage her scalp. "Rumours have circulated for centuries that the depths of Russia and China hid the last remaining dragons. Victoria asked me to find out if it were true."
Damn him, but that feels good. He had a way of turning her feline under his touch; she wanted to stretch out and let him stroke and pet her. Her brain reminded her of unanswered questions.
"So assuming this chest contains dragon eggs, how did you find them?" With her curiosity satisfied, she was eager to know if an ancient beast really did reside in the tea chest.
"I had my opportunity during the Opium Wars. I chased a different dragon. Rumours always circulate and large quantities of opium gained me access denied to other Westerners." He removed his hand from her nape, much to her regret, and moved to kneel in front of the tea chest. "The Chinese had stolen eggs from Russia, and hid them in the Forbidden City."
Loki handed him a hammer and chisel and he prised off the nails holding down the lid. Cara leaned forward as he removed the top, and was disappointed to see the inside contained only loose leaf tea. The smell of bergamot and spice wafted around the small room.
God, I hope Miguel picked up the right chest, and these eggs aren't sitting in some toff's kitchen.
With careful hands, Nate brushed the tea to one side, and a gleaming oval shape appeared under his fingers. He slid his hands under and pulled the egg free of its resting place. He handed it to a wide-eyed Cara.
It was tapered at one end like a chicken egg, but of a size large enough to contain a puppy. She needed two hands to hold the egg. It was heavier than she expected, and warm, so very warm. Heat washed over her palms, rolling off the egg. The shell colour was inconsistent and mottled as though it had been hurriedly hand painted in varying hues of cream and beige. Brilliant red veins streaked over the surface and glimmered in the available light. The egg had a grainy texture like a cross between tree bark and lizard skin. Her fingers traced the lines and grooves etched in the surface.
"Is there really a dragon inside?" her voice came out a whisper as though she didn’t want to wake the slumbering occupant.
Nate watched her, his eyes unfathomable as her fingers explored the rare object. "As long as the egg is warm, it’s viable. But they take years to hatch."
"A dragon." She brushed her cheek against the egg and placed her ear to the thick shell. A faint beat pulsed against her face. The sound of life. With reluctance, she handed it back to Nate, to rebury in the tea nest. Two others nestled in the dried leaves. The smallest egg looked hewn from slate, the dark grey relieved by a green shimmer. The third egg was more roughly hewn and coloured in rich brown streaks with deep blue lines encircling the surface. Her hands already mourned the loss of a creature she didn’t even know existed a few minutes ago. She wanted to caress them, soak up the heat coming from the tough looking shells, and watch over them like a mother hen until the chicks emerged.
"Three? You had three dragons tucked away in the Pit?"
He raised a finger to his lips. "Victoria thinks there was only one egg left in existence."
"So why don’t you give her one? You could still release the other two?" As soon as she said the words a pang shot through her heart. What lay within the eggs were no toy dogs to be taught to beg and roll over. With a creature so rare, no person should ever own or collar them.
"She will either chain them in the Tower as curiosities, or use them in treaty negotiations. Once hatched, the Emperor planned to chain them to the walls of the Forbidden City. Either way they would never be free."
They locked eyes for long moments. A brief sliver of cold horror pulsed down the bond from Nate at the thought of a beautiful creature suffering in captivity, shackled to another's bidding and never free. Cara could only wonder if he meant the dragons. Five days earlier, his words in defence of his actions, echoed in her brain. I protected you, and left you free.
"Come on lad." Loki laid a hand on Miguel’s shoulder. "Let’s go rustle up some food while Nate confesses his pirate antics to his wife."
Cara flicked her eyes to the departing figures, waiting for them to vanish through the panelled sliding door before turning her attention back to Nate. He pulled out a chair and sat across the table from her, nursing his glass of whisky. Waiting for the barrage to begin.
So many questions, she tried to sort through which to ask first. "How did you obtain the eggs?"
"I run airships between India, China, and Britain. Britain has been smuggling opium into China for decades in return for tea. Access to the eggs cost me an airship of opium, courtesy of Duke Nolton. He owns substantial poppy fields in India."
Cara connected the pieces of information. "He’s the one behind the treason charges."
Nate drained his glass and toyed with the empty crystal, rolling it between his palms. "The best defence is a good offence. I wouldn’t be surprised if he's the one up to something, and our bad blood gave him the perfect opening to draw suspicion from his actions."
Cara remembered her meeting with the queen. "Speaking of bad blood, we have another problem."
"A necklace that’s more than a necklace?" He placed the used glass with the other empty ones and stretched his arm over the back of the chair next to him.
"Yes, unfortunately. When I saw the queen, she was wearing Hatshepsut’s Collar. It’s a gold necklace made for the ancient Egyptian ruler, Hatshepsut. A woman who seized the power of men and became pharaoh."
"Did your father write about the Collar?" Nate knew of her father’s extensive collection of ancient artifacts, and one such relic bound their hearts and lives. Lord Devon kept detailed notebooks about the treasures and Cara found rare books telling of the legends and powers surrounding the objects.
Her fingers played with a small metal coaster, her hands unable to remain immobile on the table top. "He tried to acquire it, but it was held by the French. There are contemporary accounts that both Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan possessed the Collar. Wearing the thing provokes an unstoppable lust for power. They say the wearer is gripped by a desire to acquire land and power, and only the removal of the necklace, or death, will stop them."
Nate reached out for Cara’s hand across the table, halting her frantic movements as he ran his thumb over the pulse in her wrist. "Victoria began conscripting troops weeks ago. She has been amassing men in strategic locations outside China’s borders. The queen wishes to become an imperial empress and will lead us all to war."
"I always thought war was good for business." She watched his thumb play across her skin, trying to ignore the ripples of pleasure he aroused as she reminded herself they still had the issue of his forced marriage to settle.
"Not a senseless one, which will plunge us into the midst of death and killing for years to come." His hand stilled and he drew away as Loki and Miguel returned carrying trays of hot food.
Plates were laid out on the long table and the delicious aroma of fresh bread and roasted fowl hit Cara’s nose and her stomach rumbled in appreciation.
Part of her mind tried to stay on topic; the other part sided with her stomach as Loki dished out the simple, but mouth-watering meal. "Victoria has large scale plans, mobilising the youth of England. The call has spread across the country."
Nate met her gaze. "So apart from finding a safe home for the dragons, and neutralising Nolton, we also need to figure out how to get the necklace away from Victoria before her blood lust sets us all on a path of destruction."
Cara picked up knife and fork. "That sums up most of our problems." She met his gaze, and left the more intimate problem hanging between them.