Rising Shadows

"Finnigan, for the last time, you cannot come with me."

Emily was bustling around her lab like a mad woman gathering small weapons that she may need on her journey to Paris. Finnigan had nearly fainted when she told him Percy had been arrested and he kept trying to insist he accompany her.

"Luke gets to go," Finnigan said, looking put out.

"Finn, I need you to stay here and help Teddy and keep track of any requests that come in for me. You'll be of much more help to me here."

Finnigan looked like he was about to try and argue some more, but snapped his mouth shut when Emily have him a stern glare.

"Fine," he mumbled. Emily ignored his scowling and continued readying herself to leave. She didn't even notice that someone had entered the lab until she heard Finnigan call her name nervously. She turned around to find none other than Gregory Harrington strolling casually through the door as if he belonged there.

"What do you want, Gregory?" she asked icily.

"I heard the news about your dear fiancé. It's most unfortunate. I simply wanted to offer my sincerest condolences."

"That's not saying much," she sneered.

"Are you going somewhere?" He eyed the luggage bag she had packed to take with her to Paris.

"Yes, I am."

"With your fiancé in prison? Hardly seems an appropriate time for an excursion."

"I'm quite busy, Gregory," Emily snapped.

"Oh don't worry, Miss Weldon. I only need a few moments. I have a proposition for you."

Emily glared at him, suddenly wary.

"You should have known it would be unwise to fall in with a pirate," Gregory went on. "He's already in prison, probably not for the first time. They're bound to find evidence of his wrong doings and choose to execute him. But as you know, Emily, I have quite a bit of influence and my name carries weight even with the police. I'm sure I can pull some strings and get that brute of yours set free."

Emily narrowed her eyes. "Why would you want to help Percy?"

"I don't like to see you so distressed." Gregory reached out as though to touch her face and Emily stepped out of reach.

"Of course I wouldn't do it for nothing," he said, reluctantly letting his hand drop. His eyes fixed on her left hand, where her ring sparkled in the lamp light. "I'll make sure he goes free if you come to your senses and marry me instead."

Emily heard Finn suck in a sharp breath and her own heart began to pound angrily in her chest. Before she was even aware of moving she had struck Gregory hard across the face.

"It was you," she hissed. "You went to the police to feed them some story to get him arrested."

"He's a lowly criminal! He doesn't deserve someone like you. He deserves to dangle at the end of a rope!"

Emily moved to strike him again and Gregory caught her wrist, trying to drag her closer to him.

"Don't be a fool, Emily. Men like him were born bound for the noose. He can never measure up and fit into your world."

"He is my world," Emily shot back. "And he's a hundred times the man you could ever hope to be. Now get out of my lab this instant before I make you get out."

Finnigan appeared at her side, brandishing a heavy wrench.

"Unhand her, Mr. Harrington!"

Gregory stepped back, eyes hard with fury. "This isn't over, Emily. I'll see to it personally that your precious Percy hangs for his crimes unless you stop this insanity."

Finnigan prodded at him with the wrench. "Go on, off with you," he said with all the sternness he could muster. Gregory spun on his heel and left, slamming the door hard on his way out.

"Don't let him snoop around here while I'm gone," Emily said. "Let Teddy and Henry know to keep an eye on him. He's not the cleverest man, but he is right about the Harrington name having influence. He will do everything he can to make sure Percy hangs."

"We won't let that happen," Finnigan said firmly. Emily smiled faintly and kissed his cheek.

"No, Finn. We certainly won't."

Emily met Luke halfway between the lab and the docks. They walked quickly and as they did Emily told him about Gregory's hand in getting Percy thrown in prison and his subsequent attempt to blackmail her into marriage. Luke shook his head in disgust.

"That man is definitely fixated on you. He seems practically obsessed."

"Well he's never going to have me," Emily replied fiercely. "I knew he was going to try some nefarious scheme when he found out Percy and I were engaged. I wish Percy had smashed his bloody face in when he punched him at the park."

"Ah, I told Percy you were one of us." Luke looked amused. "I'm glad the oaf finally got off his arse and proposed."

Emily laughed quietly, her dark mood lifting slightly. "I am, too. I didn't think Percy had any interest in marriage. It was so unexpected."

"He never was interested in marriage before," Luke said. "But then you came along. You changed everything about the man. In a good way. He's lucky to have found you."

"Oh." Emily blushed. "I don't know about that."

Luke chuckled. "Trust me. I've know Percy a long time. He'd be lost and miserable without you."

"There's the ship." Emily pointed. As soon as she had left Percy's cell she had gone to speak with the head constable and he had agreed to give her some time to bring it a witness who could testify that Percy hadn't been pirating for the last several years. Then she had gone to The Smokes with Luke and tracked down Clyde Hunt, convincing him that they needed passage on his ship per request of Percy. He had looked skeptical when Emily said she was Luke's sister.

"How'd such an ugly bastard end up with a doll like this for a sister?"

"She got it all from our mother," Luke had replied with a scowl while Emily tried not to giggle. In the end Mr. Hunt had agreed to let them sail to France aboard his ship.

"Thank you again," Emily said politely as they boarded.

"Tell Percy this makes us even," Mr. Hunt replied. They were shown to the little room they'd be staying in during the voyage. Luke flopped onto his little cot and was asleep in minutes. Emily pulled out her magic glass disk and rubbed her thumb across it while whispering Percy's name. His face appeared after a few moments and her heart leapt at the sight of him. He looked disheveled and her fingers twitched reflexively with the urge to push his hair back out of his face.

"We're on the ship," she told him. "We'll be departing soon. I'm going to get you out of there, Percy."

He smiled. "I know you will. I'd like to see anyone try to stop you once you've set your mind to something."

"I miss you," she murmured.

"I miss you too." He frowned slightly. "Where's Luke?"

Emily angled the disk so Percy could see his friend and Percy chuckled.

"He can sleep through anything."

"Sounds like someone else I know," Emily teased. She snuggled down into her own cot, curled in a ball. She drifted off to sleep still whispering to Percy, trying to pretend he was actually there beside her. She found herself in the dream with the swirling fog. This time the girl's face was different than the one before, though she was still young and pretty and frightened.

"Evening, pigeon. Pleasant night for a walk, isn't it?"

That same voice, smooth as velvet and seemingly part of the fog itself. He appeared out of the shadows, giving chase again. This girl struggled more than the last, trying to claw him when he knocked her to the ground and reached for her throat. She squirmed and tore at his hands until the world went gray and hazy and her limbs grew too heavy and weak to work anymore. He pulled a knife from the pocket of his cloak and put it to her cheek, at the edge of her lips.

"Pretty girls should smile when they meet death," he said. The blade sliced into her flesh.

"Emily!"

Emily woke with a start to the sound of Percy's voice urgently whispering her name. His concerned face still filled the disk.

"Are you all right?" he asked. "You were thrashing and whimpering in your sleep."

"Yes," she said breathlessly. "It was just a bad dream, that's all. I'm sorry Percy. I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"You need to rest," he said. "Are you sure you're okay, Em? You're pale as a sheet."

"I'm all right," she insisted, though her heart was still pounding and she could still feel that phantom trace of cruel fingers against her skin and wished desperately that Percy was with her.

"I'm all right," she repeated. "Everything will be all right."