The Pyrette Queen and the Patina Parlour

  “Just stay behind me sweetheart and don’t let go.”

  “I won’t.”

  “Why don’t you just shoot me Blue and get this over with. There’s no way I’m letting you get out of here with Kassidy while I’m still breathing.”

  “I had really hoped it wouldn’t come to that. But I wouldn’t want to deny an old friend his final request. Move aside Kassi.”

  “Get the hell out of here Blue!”

  “Now Kassi, this doesn’t concern you.”

  “If you kill him you’re even more of a monster than I thought you were.”

  “I am what you made me!”

  “Don’t blame me for what you’ve turned into!”

  “Why can’t you just step up and take the credit you deserve?! You think I could have done any of this on my own?! You think I could have become half the man I am now without everything you taught me? How to shoot, how to kill and get away with it, how to walk away from a dead body without feeling regret. How to kiss, how to love, and most recently, how to use a lover without feeling any remorse! I’ve yet to test that out. But I’m feeling pretty good about myself right now!”

  “Look what your men did to the palace! Hasn’t enough destruction happened today for you to be satisfied?!”

  “I’m afraid my lust for making your life a living hell is insatiable my dear. There is no cure for what you’ve done to me. Lucky knows all about that, don’t you old friend?”

  “It’s been far too long for you to get away with calling me a friend Blue.”

  “But we still have so much in common. The hunger for power. The endless desire to take back the city. The same weakness in women.”

  “Leave Kassidy out of this! What issue you have with me can be taken out on me. You’ve done enough to her.”

  “She’s done quite enough damage to me as well! Or do you not see it that way?”

  “She did what she had to do. You forced her into a corner and she just fought her way out of it is all.”

  “And now look at her. On her knees with the likes of you! And this sorry excuse of an O’Brien. He brings such shame across a name synonymous with power. For now.”

  “Shoot me or leave Blue!”

  “Don’t tempt me Lucky.”

  “What did you come here for if not to terrorize us?”

  “You already know what I came here for. Give me Kassidy and I’ll leave peacefully.”

  “I already told you you’d have to kill me before I let that happen. So you’re just going to have to settle for something else.”

  “There will be no settling! It’s Kassidy or your life! Frankly, I could take both and still walk away a happy man.”

  Luca reached his arm across his chest slowly, never breaking eye contact with Blue in the doorway. He squeezed Kassidy’s hand still digging imprints into his shoulder and she let go. She nodded her head understanding Luca was getting ready to do something, though Luca never saw her do this. She scooted back on her knees across more shattered glass and felt the blood rush out of her skin, but refused to look. She too refused to break eye contact with Blue, but he wasn’t even looking at her. In one swift motion Luca leaped up from his knees and tackled Blue through the doorway into the wall in the hallway. Blue’s steam gun discharged, blasting a cloud into the room and directly over Harlan, but he’d passed by out now. Kassidy checked to see if he was still breathing by placing her head down over his chest, and it was shallow but enough to keep her hanging on. Luca was sitting on Blue’s chest now, pounding both fists into a battered and nearly unrecognizable face. Blue’s nose has been knocked out of place, and blood splattered across his face and Luca’s. With no end in sight and with Blue passed out form pain Kassidy got up and placed her hands on Luca’s shoulders to get him to stop. He paused with both fists in the air ready to strike, and stood up. He leaned up against the wall to catch his breath and Kassidy wiped her sleeve across his face to clean him up.

  “What do we do now Luca?”

  “Wait.”

  “For what? Shouldn’t we leave?”

  “We’d never be able to evacuate the entire gang in time. And even if we did try, where would we go?”

  “We could go back underground. To the caves.”

  “Harlan wouldn’t be able to handle the cold. And besides, you haven’t been down there since the cave in. There isn’t as much space as there used to be. We have to wait for Blue to wake up.”

  “What good will that do?”

  “He’ll be ready to negotiate by then.”

  “It never ends well when a Dreadcrank attempts to make a deal with a Ringer.”

  “Well then we’re just going to have to change that, now won’t we?”

  “How?”

  “He isn’t holding all of the cards anymore.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “How do you think Blue got here sweetheart?”

  “He must have come with the others, and they just left him behind.”

  “Not exactly. When I was running down to the basement I passed a window and saw the Lydia docked to the palace again. If he wants to stay alive he’s going to give us back what’s ours.”

  “You really think this is going to work?”

  “What do we have left to lose?”