His eyes widened as he took me in, and he struggled against his bonds. His gag muffled whatever words he was trying to say, but I was pretty sure at least one was Poppy.
“I’m going to get you out of here,” I whispered and rubbed Hiram’s chafed wrists between my hands. I couldn’t do anything about the knots, at least not now with Desmarc watching, but maybe I could get some circulation back in his hands. If I could find a way to reach into my dress without Desmarc noticing I could pass Hiram my hairpin.
“Well, as touching as this reunion has been, we should get going,” Desmarc said. “We have a room full of people waiting for us to make our appearance.”
I stood and turned to face Desmarc, wiping a hand down my skirt nervously. At least, that’s what I hoped it looked like to Desmarc and the other goon. “Think about this rationally, Desmarc. This isn’t going to work,” I said. “What about after the wedding?”
“What about it?”
“You can’t just keep Hiram tied forever, and as soon as I don’t have a reason to stay, I’m leaving you.” If I could, I’d do more than that. I had to keep talking to buy myself time. With my other hand, I reached into the pocket of my dress for my hairpin. It was no knife, but it was the only thing I had that had even a chance of cutting through his ropes.
“Who says I can’t?” He raised an eyebrow. “I rather enjoy how obedient you are now that I have leverage. Think of it this way: One step out of place, and I stick a knife through your detective,” he said. “Nowhere fatal, of course. I wouldn’t want to end the game too soon.”
I tried not to flinch as he vocalized my own thoughts. “You can’t keep this up forever.”
“I don’t have to keep it up forever. Just until I get what I need.” He tilted his head to the side and studied me quizzically. “Why don’t the three of us focus on getting through today?”
My breath caught at his casual reference to murder and I remembered what he’d said about being ordered to do this. For a moment, I froze, but then I stumbled back a step and widened my eyes at his words. “You can’t kill him.” My movement put the back of my legs against the armoire even while I tried not to think too hard about the implication of Desmarc’s words. He’d just threatened me in front of Hiram, which meant he had no intention of letting either of us go no matter what I did.
“You should know by now that I’m more than capable of accomplishing my goals.”
With my free hand, I grabbed the engagement necklace and held it up while I slowly eased my hairpin behind my back. “Does this mean nothing to you? You made a promise to me when you gave me this—”
“You shouldn’t lecture me about promises,” he snarled. “Not when you came here to dissolve our engagement on the morning of our wedding.”
Behind me, I sensed Hiram stiffen with surprise, but I wasn’t sure if it was because of Desmarc’s words or because of the hairpin I’d just dropped into his lap.
“Now come.” Desmarc stepped forward and grabbed the arm holding the necklace, yanking me so hard the chain snapped and tiny pieces of metal clanged to the floor with hollow thuds. “It’s time.”
I stumbled away from Hiram, praying he’d had a chance to hide the pin before anyone saw.
“Do you still have the communications device?” Desmarc asked the other man as he pulled me from the room, who nodded and held up a small black box.
“If you hear anything from me during the ceremony, start with his leg.”
My breath caught at the casual reference to all the pain he was willing to inflict on Hiram—not just a slow death but a drawn-out torture to ensure my cooperation.
The guard nodded a little too eagerly and tightened his grip on the strange gun.
It didn’t seem safe to fire those on the airship, but Desmarc clearly wasn’t worried about the danger.
I peered over my shoulder one more time to meet Hiram’s gaze. His eyes pleaded with me not to do this, but I shook my head once. The grunt closed the door, cutting Hiram off from view and my heart stuttered in my chest.
“Wait.” Desmarc pulled me to a stop and glanced back toward the armoire. “Open it.”
My heart thudded in my chest. Had he seen me drop the hairpin?
The man opened the door once more and Desmarc jerked me closer so we stood just a few feet in front of Hiram. Suddenly, Desmarc pulled me to him, and his lips crashed against mine.
I stiffened in shock, then I struggled to shove Desmarc away, though his arm was an iron band around my middle.
Hiram shouted, the sound muffled by the gag in his mouth.
“Stop!” I finally pushed away from Desmarc, though only because he let me.
Desmarc grinned at Hiram, then turned to me. “You’re going to have to do better than that. You need to convince everyone this is real if you wish to save his life.”
My gaze drifted to Hiram, whose eyes were blazing. I don’t know if he remembered the first time in the Epoch Clock, but if this was the last time we were going to see each other—
No, I couldn’t think that. We would make it out of this.
“Now come,” Desmarc said as he pulled me into the hall. “It’s time for you to get dressed for the ceremony.”