Clockwork Dream

viii City of Dust

The room started to spin, her heart pounding loud enough to drown out the hundreds of voices around her. Was she falling victim to the same fate? Poisoned and lost before she ever had a chance to make her mark?

"No," a soft voice whispered. It didn't come from a person, it was its own entity. No she realized it was her. "I have to calm down."

She shuddered, feeling a shock of cod race down her spine. "I have to calm down." She was seeing shadows, paranoia plagued her like a swarm of locusts. She couldn't believe her suspicions quite so easily.

A physician had arrived and shooed away all the curious watchers, but they still gathered in groups, transfixed by the fragility of the human body. Maybe they were wondering if it could happen to them. Maybe they were wondering who had done it.. Maybe one of them was out there scoping for his next victim.

There was only one pair of eyes not focused on the body being carried from the ballroom. Jinx was looking at her.

She attempted a weak smile and he slid through the crowd towards her. "How is this going to mess with your scheme."

He shrugged. "I can't tell yet. Could be good or bad, Sabine and I might not exactly be chummy but at least I think I managed to impress him and now they'll be looking for new contacts in England. Still, it's a pity. Randolf was so easy to deal with, especially when he was drunk."

His words chilled her. All business and no emotion, cold hard logic. Who was she to judge though? She'd been lying through her teeth from the moment they met.

"Lets get out of here," she said. "Or would that be impolite?"

"My recently ill wife taking a turn for the worst after witnessing a traumatic event? Shouldn't raise too many eyebrows. With those two gone there isn't much more for me to do here anyway."

"Good." She extended her arm for him to led her out of the stifling party. The nausea and faintness she portrayed were only half feigned.

The cool night air started to clear her head as they walked farther away from the dizzying swirl of light and sound. Silence surrounded them for a long time until she could no longer find a single trace of the world they had left behind.

Within the span of a few blocks the landscape changed from large sprawling city hopes to tight towers of brick that crammed together, each trying to muscle enough space to call its own. They called it the sky district for a reason. For years there had been an informal contest going on, who could build the highest. Some buildings had so many additions that they looked like every floor had been made by a different hand, while others sported lengthy spires that quickly outlived their usefulness. at least once a year someone beat the old record and according to some this years was supposed to be the tallest building in the world. She doubted it, they were far behind in any real technological advances.

Far from being impressive, the looming buildings served no purpose except to make her feel small. Their opulent clothes felt even more out of place surrounded by cold brick and raw steel. Still, anything was better than where the had been. If she was small then she could hide and well... at least she wasn't alone.

Finally Jinx stopped in front of an iron grate, prying it up with the tips of his fingers. She wasn't surprised when he pulled up a bag with a fresh set of clothes for each of them and a smaller silken bag on top of that. No matter how impressed his cave home was, she'd gotten the impression that it only held a fraction of his belongings, all the more practical ones spread out across the city. It would be stupid for them to return downtown in anything other than rags.

"Thanks," she said as he passed her a set.

"Between the two towers on your right there's a dead end alley. I won't peak."