“How is it possible that I’ve known you for five years and you never mentioned your sister?” Theodora asked after they were safely settled on the train.

“She’s not exactly the pride of the family,” Augustus joked.

Theodora smirked. “Right. Because running about and stealing bits and bobbles for your inventions is so praiseworthy.”

“We have helped many people over the years, love. Do not forget that,” he said.

She chuckled. “Fine. I suppose that’s true. Even so, one has to wonder what else you’re hiding.”

“This hardly sounds like thanks,” he said. “Shouldn’t you be saying, ‘Thank you, Augustus’ or ‘You’re so wonderful and brave, Augustus.’ ‘How could I ever live without you, Augustus?’”

How could she, indeed. She’d find out soon enough.

“Thank you,” she said, her voice soft and quiet. “I shudder to think what would’ve happened had you not intervened when you did.”

“I shudder as well,” he said, throwing an arm around her shoulders. “That poor Cotton would be castrated within the hour.”

Theodora scoffed but couldn’t hide her smile. While she hardly believed she was the roguish hero Augustus praised her for being, she never minded his high estimation of her. It was part of why she fell for him in the first place. He always called her things like ‘sweet’ and ‘love’ while also saying she was fierce and formidable. Who wouldn’t fall for a man that used words like that?

“So, what are we doing? Saving a damsel? Stopping a crime?” she asked.

He turned to grin at her. “There are those pesky questions I love. We’re looking for something.”

“Yes, but what else?”

“That’s all,” he said, facing forward. With Augustus, that was never all.

“You mentioned the Jackal earlier, and the Mistress. If we’re not stopping a crime-”

“We should always be on the lookout for them,” he muttered, cutting her off. He leaned closer to her. His warm breath grazed her ear. “You are never really safe when you’re with me. Though I will do my very best to return you in the same state that I borrowed you.”

He was not a man of his word. From the first night he borrowed her, she was never the same. Could never be the same. Didn’t want to be, until more recently. Until the startling realization that that longing in her gut meant she loved him. That was when the regret kicked in.

“May I call you Auggie?” she asked.

She saw the corner of his mouth quirk up in a smile. “If you wish.”

“It’s probably too cute for you,” she said.

“Coming from you, any name is too cute.”

Blast. He’d given her butterflies again.

~~~

The forest of Charstead was a dank place, danker than any city in which Theodora had stepped foot. It was not at all what she expected when Augustus mentioned a forest. She had pictured tall, lush trees and thick, green grass. She pictured brambles and wildflowers and twittering birds. She pictured dappled sunshine and swaying branches and drifting leaves. Charstead was a stinking, rotten sort of place—as stinking and rotten as the old train station where their night began.

“What are we looking for again?” Theodora asked. She didn’t bother to hide the skepticism in her voice. Forests weren’t meant for smog. Or gears. Or the acrid stench of tech. And yet all three seemed to be present there.

“A ring holding a precious gem,” Augustus said.

She glanced at him to gauge his sincerity. From the slant of his mouth and the wrinkle in his brow, she knew he was telling her the truth. They really came all that way for a bit of jewelry. It must’ve been some ring.

They walked in silence for several paces. Theodora tripped over a rotting branch on the ground and Augustus did not release her hand after pulling her to her feet. For once, she didn’t mind. It didn’t give her unwanted flutters or anything of that sort. For once, it just felt comforting.

“What are your hopes for this ring? Are you using the gem to channel light or magic of some sort? Perhaps you’re making some kind of magnifier?” Theodora asked. She was curious, but she was mostly asking as a means of distraction. The smoggy nature of the forest was unsettling to her. While she lived most of her life in the filth of cities, she knew a forest shouldn’t bear such a burden. She was too afraid to ask about it, so she picked a simpler topic.

“My hopes are grander than that,” Augustus said. His grip on her hand tightened ever-so-slightly. “You’ll see in time, my love.”

She frowned at him but he didn’t see it. He was too busy navigating the twisting, rotting trees and oily, rotting ground.

“There’s something off about this place,” Theodora whispered.

“It’s been polluted,” Augustus whispered back. “A shame, really. Charstead was beautiful once. Vast and lovely, just as any forest should be. The greed of man and the corruption of tech know no bounds.”

So there was tech there. But why? And how? And to what end?

Finally, after Theodora was certain she could walk no further, they stopped. A large, industrial sort of building towered before them. It was dark, the windows broken. Nature had tried to reclaim it. Vines and leaves tangled with broken glass and sagging doors. There was mud where there should’ve been tile and nests where there should’ve been automatons. It was as unsettling as the rest of Charstead.

“In here,” Augustus breathed.

Theodora found herself gripping his hand with both of hers and stumbling in behind him. They crossed through several empty rooms before finding one that glowed with a green light. Inside, at the center of a metal sort of dais, there hovered a brass ring set with a simple emerald. It shimmered as it floated in slow circles.

“What manner of magic is this?” Theodora asked. She had never beheld such a sight.

“It’s old and pure,” Augustus said simply. He stopped at the door of the room, holding Theodora back. After scanning the room in the dim, green light, he turned to face her. “Your step is lighter than mine. Do you think you can reach it?”

“You want me to fetch it?” she asked, her voice quaking. It wasn’t as if she’d never done such a thing before. It was just something about this place—this building, this forest. It all felt very strange in a most frightening sort of way.

“If I were to step on that dais, it might spring a trap, but you are quick and nimble. You’ll be fine,” he said. He gave her one of those impossibly bright, irritatingly handsome smiles. Her steely, fearful resolve melted before it. Before him.

“Alright. But don’t leave me,” she said softly.

“Never,” he said.

Theodora crossed the room with ginger steps. There was no clanking or whirring. No signs of a trap sprung or a warning bell rung. All seemed well. She stepped up on the dais, her breath held in her lungs, and… Nothing. Still well. She reached the top and watched the dazzling emerald ring rotating in the light of its own glow.

“It’s lovely,” she said.

“Are there traps around it?” Augustus asked from his spot by the door.

She glanced at him to find he was looking back the way they came. What was he looking for? Did he hear something? Theodora turned back to the ring. She had to act quickly. There were no signs of traps. No gears or switches to indicate anything.

“I think I can grab it,” she said, reaching for it.

“Wait!”

Theodora’s left hand plunged into the beam of light surrounding the ring and she screamed. Acid. It was full of acid. Her face twisted in horror as her skin began to peel away into tiny blobs that disappeared like ether. Her muscle, sinew, bones—it was all gone in a matter of painful, searing seconds. She removed her hand to find nothing but a cauterized stump at the end of her wrist.

“Augustus,” she whispered, her head light from the pain.

“Darling. You need to run,” he said. She turned to face him, her vision swimming.

The Jackal stood behind Augustus with a knife pressed to his throat. Over Augustus’ shoulder, his scarred and handsome face grinned with gruesome delight. “Pity it had to be your hand, but I’ll take what I can get,” he said.

~~~

The Jackal stood before a bound Augustus. He hadn’t bothered to restrain Theodora. She was still weakened by the sudden loss of her hand. She sat beside Augustus, staring woefully at the stump on the end of her arm. ‘How could she have been so stupid?’ was the only question echoing around the stinging pain.

“Delightful to see you again, Nottle,” Jack ‘The Jackal’ Richardson said. “How long has it been?”

“Not long enough,” Augustus replied. He kept his chin high and his expression neutral.

Jackal laughed. “My, my. Is that any way to speak to an old friend?”

“You have harmed my Theodora. I cannot forgive you,” Augustus said.

Jackal tutted, shaking his pointer finger. “I did no such thing. I set that trap for you. It’s hardly my fault you sent your poor wench to do your bidding.”

Augustus ground his teeth together. He swallowed his sneer and stared at the Jackal.

“Now that I have you both, I think I’ll keep her. I’ve no use for you, friend. But Theodora…” The Jackal’s eyes roamed up and down her body, appraising her. “Even down a hand, she’s a treasure.”

She pulled her gaze from the painful stump to the man standing across from her. “I’ll not be staying with you, Jackal.”

He chuckled. “I’m afraid you don’t have a choice.”

Two burly, bald men stepped into the room behind them, cracking their knuckles and stretching their necks. So it was to be a fight. How predictable.

“You see, darling. You can come with me and my friends will leave Augustus with some bruises. He’ll be fine. A little sore, a little ugly, but alive. Or, you can fight me, and I’ll kill him,” Jackal said. “It’s really no matter to me. I’ll have you either way.”

Theodora glanced at Augustus. He kept his eyes forward, face schooled into cool neutrality. She sighed.

“This was to be my last adventure with him. I suppose going with you is as good as going back to Voxhaven,” she said. The Jackal might have been a horrible man, but at least he wasn’t boring. And, given his criminal propensities, he’d probably let Theodora continue frequenting card halls. He might even encourage it should he come to realize how good a gambler she was.

Augustus looked at her, then. His eyes narrowed as he surveyed her face. “What do you mean this is your last adventure?”

“I can’t go on like this,” Theodora said. “I am desperately, miserably in love with you and you simply won’t return my feelings. It…it hurts too much to continue. I am sorry.”

Augustus’ brown eyes widened. His mouth opened and shut a few times, as if he were at a loss for words. At the sight of it, something melted in Theodora. The Jackal began to laugh again, clapping.

“Oh, this is delicious! Not only have I bested you, but I’ll get to bed the first woman who’s ever truly loved you. I am delighted with my own good fortune,” Jackal said.

Theodora looked into Augustus’ eyes as they raged with all sorts of emotions. Neither of them said anything as she stood. The Jackal’s laughing grew quiet.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I would like to make a bet,” Theodora said. “I bet that I can beat you at cards. If I win, we both go free and you disappear. If I lose, you can have me, but you let Augustus go without harm. Deal?”

He smirked. “Why should I make any sort of deal when I hold all of the cards?”

Theodora’s hand—the only one she had left—slid into her leather pouch and removed a small, golden pistol. She spun it on her pointer finger before firing it at one of the goons standing behind her. He seized and jiggled as electricity shot through his body. Then, before the other even had time to react, he slumped to the ground in an unconscious heap.

“Because, darling,” Theodora said, blowing on the tip of her pistol. “You don’t hold all of the cards.”

The Jackal raised an eyebrow at her. She smirked in response.

“I may cry when I’m hurt, but I’m far from the simpering wench you clearly think me to be. If you wanted to take me without fuss, you should’ve bound me when you had the chance,” she said.

Augustus grinned, slow and devious. “There’s my formidable renegade.”

A table was brought out. Chairs were placed at either end. Cards were shuffled. Theodora clucked her tongue as the dealer began to dole out cards.

“I cannot play with just one hand. I need Augustus to hold my cards for me,” Theodora said.

The Jackal frowned. “No. He’ll help you cheat.”

“These are your cards being dealt by your man. Surely you can throw me at least one bone,” Theodora said.

With a roll of his eyes, the Jackal waved at his lackeys. One of them grabbed Augustus, dragging his chair behind Theodora’s. He draped Augustus’ tied arms around her and Augustus scooted closer.

“Isn’t this cozy?” he whispered in her ear.

“Hush up and hold the cards,” she said. For once, he obeyed.

It was quite a game. The Jackal had an almost impenetrable poker face. He laughed and taunted Theodora right to the very end.

He laid his cards upon the table, revealing an impressive hand. “That, my darling, is a straight flush.”

Augustus had the good sense to gasp.

“So it is,” Theodora said, cocking her head to one side. “And do you know what’s even better than that?” Using her remaining hand, she slowly pushed the cards in Augustus’ hands down to reveal her royal flush.

The Jackal’s eyes grew wide. He slammed his fist on the table, sending the cards flying. He stood and pointed his meaty finger at them. “You’re a dirty cheat! He counted the cards for you, didn’t he?”

“Oh, poor baby. I never knew you were such a sore loser,” Theodora crooned. “Blindfold Augustus and I’ll beat you again.”

“No need, love,” Augustus said. He untangled his arms from her and stood, pointing Theodora’s stun gun at the Jackal. “We’re finished here.”

“Ooh, do you have a little shock for me, Nottle?” Jackal teased. “I’m quaking in my boots.”

Augustus laughed and shot him. Chaos erupted. Chairs were thrown. Hair was pulled. More stuns were shot. Theodora punched a man with her good hand while another brought her to her knees by squeezing the raw end of her left wrist. Augustus ran across the table and kicked that man in the head upon hearing Theodora’s cry. Eventually, battered, bruised, and bloody, Theodora and Augustus were victorious.

They tied an unconscious Jackal to his unconscious men and strung them up above the strange, acidic light in the room with the emerald ring. Augustus was able to disable the light long enough for Theodora to grab the ring, and then they made a break for it.

As the light of dawn kissed the sky, they boarded a train to Belmire. The whistle blew through the air. The engine chugged to life. And Theodora rested her head on Augustus’ shoulder for what would be the last time.

~~~

Three months later

Theodora dried the dishes at her sink with her right hand. It had been hard to adjust to having only one hand, but she’d been managing. The hardest part was packing up to leave Voxhaven. Life in Willowston, however, was much slower and quieter. It was easy to live one-handed there. And the utter lack of card halls made it easier still.

Despite Augustus kissing her within an inch of her life before he left her at her apartment, he hadn’t put up a fuss about the adventure being her last. After they alighted from that final train, he hadn’t said a word. He merely walked her home, took her by the waist, and gave her the best kiss she’d ever gotten. It felt right to end things that way. Good, even. And Theodora was sure that she could recover from that kiss, from that last adventure. From all their years of adventures.

There was a soft knock at the door. Theodora threw her towel down on the counter and crossed the apartment, her boots thudding softly on the thick, wooden floors. She opened the door to a brass, mechanical hand being shoved in her face. On the ring finger of the hand, a shiny, green emerald sparkled.

“You could’ve told me you moved,” Augustus grumbled from behind the hand.

“What…how did you-”

“Come on, love. I always come back to you. You know this,” he said. He pushed past her, stepping inside her small cottage. After glancing around, he nodded. “It’s a bit quaint, but I like this. Suits you better than that trash hole in Voxhaven ever did.”

Theodora turned to him and put her hand and her stump on her hips. “Get out.”

Augustus grinned. “Is that any way to treat a man who’s brought you a present?” He held the hand up again. “I made this for you, darling. Do you like it?”

She raised an eyebrow at the hand. “Is that that blasted emerald that cost me my hand in the first place?”

“Yes. I had always intended to give it to you,” he said.

She scoffed. “I don’t want it.”

“A different color, then? I can swap it out for something else. A ruby. A sapphire. A diamond.”

“Why do I need any gem at all?” she muttered.

He smiled before bending down on one knee. “It’s customary to give a ring when one proposes.”

Theodora startled. “Augustus. What are you saying?”

“A hand for a hand, darling?” he asked, holding the hand with the emerald up to her.

“Be clear,” she said, glaring at him.

His smile softened. “Theodora, I am asking if you will be my wife.”

She sputtered. Her mouth opened and closed. She looked at the hand and then Augustus and then back at the hand. “What…but…why?”

“Why?” he repeated, laughing. “Because I love you, silly. I have always loved you. I thought you knew. It nearly ripped my heart out to hear you say I made you miserable.”

“But… No,” she said, shaking her head. “You always leave.”

“I’ll admit my job has gotten in the way some. But this was always my intention. The greatest adventure I have ever embarked upon was meeting you.”

Tears filled Theodora’s eyes. She smiled at him.

“What do you say, darling? Will you accept my hand? Both mine and this new one I made for you?” he asked, smirking at his own joke.

She laughed. “Augustus Nottle, you are something else. But yes. Yes, I accept.”

He sighed, laughed, and rose to his feet. He fitted the mechanical hand to her left wrist, took her waist, and gave her a third knee-knocking, world-shifting kiss. It would not, thank goodness, be the last time.