Free Supernatural Devices by Kailin Gow

they want the ring?”
    Cruces shrugged. “It is powerful, but the details… who knows? I do know that the last time the Order made a play in London, they made an almighty mess. They started a feud between vampires and-”
    “And gypsies,” Tavian said. “Yes, I know. At least as well as you. Now though, I must try to find my sister.”
    He turned to Scarlett, looking her in the eyes so that she could take in the deep green depths of his gaze. He stared just a second or two longer than he should have.
    “Farewell, Miss Seely.”
    He hurried off, deeper into the station, and for a second or two Scarlett found herself staring after him. She tried to pretend as she did so that her heart was not beating faster. Beside her, Cruces made a small sound of disapproval.
    “You know, he really isn’t your type, Scarlett dear. You shouldn’t let your heart start fluttering at the thought of him.”
    Scarlett turned to Cruces, finding him slightly closer than he should have been when she did so. “I am not your dear, and at least Tavian has manners. In fact, I shall go after him. Presumably, he did not come here to ask for my help idly, and it was he who found the mark on me after all. Whereas you just added one of your own.”
    “True,” Cruces said without so much as a trace of remorse. “Of course, he neglected to tell you that the two marks serve much the same purpose. Just as mine allowed me to find you here, the Order’s will allow them to track you down any time they choose.”
    “Any time?” Scarlett repeated.
    Cruces smiled, but there was genuine sympathy in this one. “It is a worrying prospect, is it not? The greatest bunch of killers and mischief makers out there wants to know where you are at all times. Worse, when they have gotten whatever it is they want from you, they will undoubtedly take you the way they took Cecilia.”
    Scarlett swallowed, forcing her expression to something approaching firmness. “You are trying to frighten me.”
    “Only because you should be frightened,” Cruces explained.
    Scarlett raised an eyebrow. “Only that?”
    “Well, no,” Cruces admitted. “I was also hoping that I might be able to persuade you to let me walk you home. After all, we have much to discuss.”
    Scarlett thought about everything that had happened to her since meeting Cruces. She thought about the marks on her, the different stories he and Cecilia had told her, and about the new threat from the Order. She also thought about the fact that she had arrived in London the previous night and had still not been home.
    “Yes,” she agreed at last. “I think that we do.”

 
Chapter 10
     
     
    I t was as they walked along Grosvenor Place that Scarlett realized that they were not heading in the correct direction to see her safely home. She told Cruces this, and the young man nodded.
    “I said that I would walk you home, Miss Seely,” he pointed out. “I did not say that it would be to your home.”
    “You mean that we are going to yours.” Scarlett paused, half inclined to simply turn around and head for her own home. It was not much of a walk. Certainly not compared to the distances she had covered the previous evening. “You are taking a tremendous liberty there, Lord Darthmoor.”
    Cruces smiled. “I think it is not that kind of liberty you are worried about.”
    Scarlett drew herself up to her full height. “Exactly what are you suggesting?”
    “I meant the mark on your wrist. Why, what did you think I was suggesting?”
    They both knew exactly what Scarlett had thought in that moment. “Isn’t that mark of yours bad enough? You have said yourself that the Order is evil, yet as far as I can see, you have done exactly the same thing as them.”
    “For very different reasons,” Cruces insisted, stopping long enough to take both of Scarlett’s hands. “I put my mark on you because I would not want anything to happen to you.”
    “And why would you care if anything happened to me?” Scarlett