Page 90 of Betrayal from Beyond
“Do you have enough time to accomplish it?” asked Kara. “Just getting to your forge at Bluefield and back will take time.”
“I know half the smiths in London,” Niall replied. “I can find a spot to work on them in Town. And the design is simple enough. I’ll have Harold help me, and we can turn them out quickly.”
“We have already pulled a trick like that on her once before,” Kara reminded him. “With the locket portraits.”
“Yes.Wehave. But these are coming from Preston. She must know he could never replicate them.”
“That’s true enough.”
“Go and get started,” Gyda urged him. “Kara and I will get all the details about the meeting point from Preston. We will begin to formulate a strategy for the meeting.”
Preston hesitated. Niall could see the man weighing his decision. At last, he nodded.
“I named the sovereign’s entrance as the place to meet,” he said. “And I did it for a reason. Let me show you.” The engineer pulled out paper and began to sketch.
Niall waited until they were all absorbed before he wrapped the percussion cap carefully in his handkerchief. Tucking it into his pocket, he hoped like hell that tonight would be the end of it. He wasn’t above a bit of extra skullduggery to make sure it was.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Stop fretting,” Gydasaid.
“How can I?” Kara asked. “I thought he’d be done by now.”
“He will be back soon,” Gyda said with confidence. “That is not a job to challenge someone with Niall’s skills.” She had settled in a chair next to the fire and proceeded to sharpen several blades that she then tucked away about her person. She held the last one up to the light and examined the edge. “All will be well,” she said with quiet reassurance. “Tonight, we end this.”
“How can you be so calm?” Kara felt like her every nerve ending was fizzing—much like the bubbly water that had been so popular at the Great Exhibition.
“Because we have a plan. Because we can count on each other. Because nature abhors imbalance, and Petra has had her way for too long. It is our time to shift this contest of wills out of the murky dark.”
Kara wished she could be so certain, but she did get a boost of confidence when Niall finally returned, triumphantly flourishing his bag of replica caps.
“Oh, well done,” she said, taking one. “They are very like the others.”
“She’ll never tell the difference,” Gyda added. “Especially since it will be dark.”
“It was easy enough, once I found a supply of the right-sized square nuts.”
“And Harold helped?” asked Kara.
“That he did. And he was thrilled to get his hand in, as you’d expect.”
“Where is he now? Did you send him home?”
“No, I took him back to Stayme’s. That place is a fortress. The staff knows how to handle a threat. Turner is there alone. I reminded Harold about Petra’s tendency to harm you by hurting the ones you love. I tasked him with keeping Turner safe. He is taking the assignment seriously.”
“It’s a relief knowing they will both be safe.”
“Stayme had sent word back to Berkeley Square. He thought perhaps that Lord Palmerston would like to be present as we lay our trap for Petra, seeing as she meant to murder him, but his lordship declined. He said it is much more important for him to round up support tonight in the Lords. Then he is off to a special cabinet meeting afterward. There he will propose his plans to warn off Russia. Stayme said that he and some of his best men will stick close to the home secretary’s side all night.”
“I sent word to Wooten,” Kara said. He’s been in on the hunt for Petra from the very beginning, so I thought he would want to be there.”
“And that we could use the reinforcements?” Niall said wryly.
“Exactly. I have yet to hear back.”
“I did send him word about the Russian assailant we left with the constable at Chiswick. Hopefully Wooten did not trek out to retrieve the man himself.” He glanced about. “Where is Preston?”
“He went to the tower site to set the stage. He’ll return to fetch the box of caps. Come.” She pulled him over to a table, where a set of drawings lay. “See? He means to position a bricklayer’s cart at an angle here, just outside the sovereign’s entrance. And on this side, a pile of mortar bags. Both should provide excellent cover, should we need it.”
