The Forever Flame (Mercury Raine #4)

Chapter 1

London still smelled of horses and dashed hopes.

Mercury Raine hadn’t been in the capital in years, and he hadn’t missed it. He would have happily extended his absence indefinitely if not for a pair of scoundrels who’d kidnapped a lady he deeply cared for and dragged her to Town specifically so Mercury would follow.

“How long will we have to be in London?” Baby Blue sounded as unhappy about their change of location as Mercury was.

A quick glance around the carriage told him the other two ghosts inside shared the little phantom’s sentiment.

Somewhere within five hundred feet of him, his other specters were most certainly feeling everything from excitement to ambivalence to annoyance.

But none of them would have argued that they shouldn’t have made the journey.

Tacey was somewhere in London, and she was in danger.

They wouldn’t leave until they found her.

The carriage came to a stop in front of the intentionally ordinary home he owned in a quiet—one might even say boring—part of London.

He had purchased it while he’d still lived in Town and had kept it over the years since.

While he’d hoped to never have to set foot in the capital again, he’d had the foresight to realize that, were he forced to do so, a place where he could be more or less invisible would be tremendously beneficial.

“I will go inside and quickly light candles.” Smythe took his role as butler seriously regardless of where he was filling that role. “And make certain your room is ready for you.”

Smythe slid through the side of the carriage and out of view. Baby Blue and Zizzy could have followed him, exiting in precisely the same way. But they remained behind, watching Mercury with expressions of concern and uncertainty.

“We will find her,” Mercury assured them. “If we have to turn this city upside down to do so, we will find her.”

“But London is dangerous,” Zizzy said. “And the Vanns are dangerous too.”

The Vanns were the couple who had abducted Tacey. Their ghost, the Violet Giant, had warned him that the Vanns oughtn’t be underestimated. Mercury wished he’d taken that warning more to heart.

“Go on inside,” he told the two little phantoms. “Choose a corner of the house to claim as your own while we’re in London. And tell any of our ghosts you cross paths with that I wish to meet with any who are available and willing in the drawing room in a quarter hour.”

Baby and Zizzy nodded. But Zizzy didn’t leave as quickly as the tiny boy did.

“Are you scared, Mercury?” she asked quietly.

“I am always a little on edge when I’m in London,” he said. “But, no. I’m not scared.”

Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I am.”

On that quivery declaration, she too slipped through the carriage wall, leaving him alone.

Or at least seeming to be alone. He had only just learned, thanks to a unique skill of the Violet Giant’s, that he had an invisible ghostly attachment, one even he couldn’t see.

That was something he’d never heard of before and thus wasn’t at all certain how to navigate the situation.

He didn’t know how to tell if his Invisible, who he’d been told was called the Reluctant Recluse, was nearby.

He couldn’t hear the ghost speak. While he suspected the Reluctant Recluse had moved a pile of feathers earlier that day, he couldn’t be certain.

And he didn’t know if the ghost could move other things.

“I don’t know if you are in the carriage with me,” Mercury said, keeping his voice low so it wouldn’t carry beyond the confines of the coach, “but I haven’t forgotten my promise to sort out a way for us to communicate. I will think of something.”

Nothing answered but silence and stillness.

Mercury pushed out a breath. He snatched his hat off the seat next to him, a plain and serviceable hat to match the less fashionable clothes he’d changed into at their one stop on the journey to London. Hiding his identity was crucial.

It was the reason his London house was one that drew no attention. Anyone inquiring would discover that a “Mr. Jones” owned it but seldom visited.

Mercury alighted from the carriage and set his hat on his head. Smythe opened the front door. As promised, the ever-reliable ghost had lit candles inside, though Mercury was the only one who needed them. Everyone else in the household was a ghost.

He gave Smythe a quick nod, but proceeded without slowing to the stairs and up to the floor above.

Gary the Green floated past as Mercury walked down the corridor.

Shortly thereafter, Captain Capitate did the same.

This house was far smaller than Aventine Manor.

They would all be on top of each other, which experience told him would likely have the ghosts a bit at loggerheads.

He’d be maintaining the peace here, trying to keep his identity hidden, while walking the streets of London hoping to find Tacey before—

He refused to think of what might happen to her.

He hadn’t had a friend since his earliest years at the orphanage.

People came and went, mere flickers in the passing days of his life.

His ghosts were his only steadfast companions.

And, other than his Originaries, even they didn’t remain indefinitely.

But Tacey had changed that. She was his neighbor, his friend. She had made room for him in a world that had been rejecting him from birth. He couldn’t turn his back on her. And he wouldn’t let anything happen to her.

He wouldn’t.

Mercury stepped into his bedchamber. He closed the door, though he knew that didn’t prevent ghosts from coming inside. They were likely all busy exploring their temporary home, so he would have a few moments of peace.

He crossed to the window and pulled back the curtain. They had traveled all night, and the sun was only just beginning to light the sky with the vaguest rays of morning. Tacey was out there somewhere in the vast expanse of London.

“I’m going to find you,” he said quietly but firmly. “I promise.”

Ten of Mercury’s twenty ghosts—twenty-one ghosts; he still hadn’t grown accustomed to the knowledge that he had an additional one—were gathered in the simple and minimally furnished drawing room.

It was not a large space, so they were crowded.

He saw no annoyance or complaints on the ghostly faces around him, only worry and determination.

“I am going to need all of you to trust me a great deal despite being able to tell you very little.”

None of the ghosts seemed at all hesitant. It seemed he had gained their confidence and loyalty.

“While we are in London, I am ‘John Jones.’ And it will be vital that none of you reveal your connection to Aventine Manor or Mercury Raine. Indeed, it would be best, while outside of this house, for you to keep at a distance from me, so people we pass won’t make the connection between us.”

“Are you ashamed of us?” Mawky slumped into a heap of ghostly despondency.

“Never. I don’t wish for the Vanns to know I am in London. Rumors of a man walking around with easily a dozen ghosts in his wake would likely give me away.”

“‘Walking around’?” Weeping William cried through the question. “That sounds perilous.”

“The Violet Giant warned me that the Vanns were dangerous. We’d do well to believe him.” If Mercury had listened to the enormous specter the first time, they wouldn’t be in their current predicament.

“Do you have any idea where we ought to be looking for Tacey?” Gary the Green asked.

“I have a theory, at least. The Vanns gave the impression of being somewhat well-to-do. But there were indications that they either were feigning their social standing or were somewhat newly arrived among the ranks of the moneyed.”

“Merchants, perhaps?” The Cream Canary guessed. “Or the very fringes of the gentry?”

He nodded. “The King’s Head tavern in Islington is a favorite of both groups. I mean to look in tonight and sniff around a little.”

“Islington isn’t within five hundred feet of here,” the Quiet Queen said. “We will have to all go with you.”

Mercury nodded. “I would ask that you all eavesdrop as you’re able, at the necessary distance from me. We need any clues we can stumble upon.”

A few of the ghosts exchanged heavy looks.

“Spill your thoughts,” he said. “I’m asking a lot of all of you. I want to know any concerns you have.”

Gary the Green came a bit closer, apparently speaking on behalf of many of the others. “What chance do we have of finding Tacey if the Vanns are hiding her from you in so large a city?”

“We have more eyes and ears than they do,” Mercury said. “We can outmaneuver them.”

That seemed to ease a little of the uncertainty.

“Settle in,” he told them. “Before we begin our efforts this evening, I am going to attempt to get a few hours of sleep.”

The ghosts began floating out of the room.

Attempt. That was the operative word in his declaration. He was tired. Exhausted. But he didn’t know how well he would sleep with Tacey missing and likely in danger. She’d been snatched away because of him. He couldn’t truly rest until she was back with him again.

Smythe remained behind. “Is there anything you need?”

“Not at the moment, no.”

“Why do you suppose the Vanns wanted to lure you to London?” Smythe asked.

“I don’t know with any certainty.” Mercury held his hands up in a show of frustrated helplessness.

“I don’t know what brought them to Aventine Manor.

I don’t know why they want me in Town. I don’t know where they have Tacey.

I don’t know what they know about me. There are far too many questions for which I have no answers, and I do not like that in the least.”

“The Vanns can’t possibly know who you are.” An odd declaration, especially as it was made with an air of pride and conviction.

“Why do you say that?” It had to be something more than truly believing the Vanns weren’t well-acquainted with Mercury.

“Because if they truly knew you, they would know that going nose-to-nose with you in a game of cat and mouse will not end well . . . for them.”