A Conspiracy of Alchemists: Book One in the Chronicles of Light and Shadow Read Online Free PDF

amongst the crates and trunks. Here, in this public place, the worlds of Shadow and Light merged in harmony.
    Two dove-chested ladies in large hats trimmed with feathers passed them. Behind them, a valet grunted as he lumbered under a mountain of luggage. The ladies gave Elle’s jodhpurs and riding boots a disdainful look as they passed. Elle dismissed them with a matching stare. Let them think she was one of Monsieur de Toulouse-Lautrec’s kissing-ladies as much as they wished. Women dressed as men might be daring and sometimes scandalous, but there was no arguing the fact that trousers were far more comfortable and practical than the petticoats and stays she wore when she wasn’t flying.
    Marsh touched the rim of his hat and smiled at them. The ladies tittered at each other and cast long glances at him from behind their lace gloves as they made their way to the row of ornate passenger dirigibles that sat urging against their moorings in the fading light.
    “Do try not to attract too much attention to yourself, Mr. Marsh,” Elle said.
    “Easier said than done,” he responded without taking his eyes off the ladies.
    Elle took a deep breath to dispel her annoyance.
    “Now, while no one is looking, if I might tear you away for a moment?”
    “I’m at your service, madam.” Marsh touched the rim of his hat and they strode across the lawn to the other side of the airfield, where the Water Lily waited. Elle inhaled the smell of river and hot metal mixed with the scent of freshly cut grass. She loved the way Paris smelled.
    To her relief, they reached the airship without anyone paying them much heed. In a practiced motion, she climbed the rope ladder and hoisted herself into the cockpit. The Water Lily was nowhere near as big as the cathedral-sized passenger dirigibles that crossed oceans. She was a 40-footer, with double thrusters, which made her fast and maneuverable. The cockpit windows ran in elegant lines from halfway up the hull to the ceiling, allowing the pilot a panoramic view. At the corners of the windowpanes were pink and white water lilies inlaid into the glass. Elle loved those lilies. Wire grate doors designed to protect the pilot from flying cargo in rough weather separated the cockpit from the freight hold. Elle ran her hand over the varnished woodwork and the brass railing of the interior. The Water Lily was beautiful even if she was only a freighter.
    “The freight area has no seats, so you are going to have to take the co-pilot seat,” she said as Marsh appeared through the hatch.
    Marsh winced slightly as he settled against the russet leather seat.
    “I have some bandages in the back, if you need one,” Elle said.
    “It’s just a bruise.” He waved her off. “He caught me in the ribs. A lucky shot, I dare say.”
    She leaned over and pulled a half jack of brandy from one of the cubbyholes. “Um … thank you.” She uncorked the bottle and handed it to him.
    “For what?”
    “Well, you did chase away that Warlock who attacked me earlier. And I wanted to say that I am grateful for that.”
    He took a swig from the bottle. “That was no Warlock.” He swallowed and grimaced.
    “How can you tell?” she said.
    He took a smaller, more cautious sip from the bottle and handed it back to her. “I just can. Whatever he used, it wasn’t Warlock magic.”
    She snorted. “Even to me, the most uninformed of people, that blast looked lethal.” She raised her eyebrow at him. “Come to think of it, why aren’t you dead?”
    Marsh sat up. “Thanks be to the Shadow, I’m generally more blast-proof than most, which comes in rather handy sometimes.”
    “So you’re an occultist?” Elle snorted. “You’ll have to forgive me, Mr. Marsh, but if you ask me, all the hullabaloo about the great divide and the two realms is a load of nonsense. Now stop pretending to be all noble and let’s see if you’re hurt.” She leaned forward to look at him.
    “Thank you, but that really is not necessary.”