Read The Inventor (The Legend Chronicles) for Free Online

Something far deeper and darker than anything that continent could provide. The creatures we hunt are Darkin. Werewolves, vampires, ghosts, demons, and such. But that’s not the point. The point is, are you up to the challenge of assisting us in weapons development, to annihilate these creatures?”
    Marley could tell from the look in the other man’s eyes that this was no jest. No alarmist musings. “Such things actually exist?” Marley asked, mouth dry as his fingers gripped the smooth wood of the chair arms.
    Lord Hargrieve leaned toward him, his dark blue eyes intense and serious. “I saw you eyeing my set of vampire fangs earlier.”
    Marley shifted uncomfortably in his chair. A shiver shot down his spine. Vampires. Werewolves. Demons. Ghosts. Fae. If all the dark things he’d thought were only the vestiges of unscientific mythology and lore were actually real, what did that mean for their society? What did it mean for science? How did one possibly fight against things one couldn’t comprehend?
    “We have training, Sir Turlock, knowledge that isir kept within the society on how to effectively attack and resist the Darkin. We will share that with you, but we need weapons. We need your scientific mind to help us break the stalemate between our forces and the Darkin. Will you do it?”
    “I suppose it would depend on what kinds of weapons you wanted, my lord.” He hadn’t the faintest clue what one would use to defeat any of the Darkin Lord Hargrieve had just mentioned.
    Hargrieve rolled the cigar to the corner of his mouth, his lips spreading into an approving smile that calmed Marley’s nerves slightly. For a moment he had been certain Lord Hargrieve was going to tell him they hunted humans or some such strangeness.
    “Excellent, Sir Turlock. Now we’d like to begin by having you test your electrostatic transmission ray in a demonstration for us in North Umbria.”
    “My device? But how—”
    Hargrieve raised a hand to stop his question. “Suffice it to say Her Majesty is well aware of your experiments, Sir Marley. We’re particularly interested in the transmission ray. We believe it could have use as an electrical cannon of sorts.”
    Marley shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Yes, my lord. But it isn’t yet fully operational.”
    Hargrieve pulled the cigar out of his mouth and set it to rest on the edge of the brass tray. “That may be, but Her Majesty and I have full faith in your skills. We’d like a demonstration of it by next month. Will that be sufficient time to ready the device?”
    A cold, prickly sweat broke out on Marley’s brow and upper lip. It would be possible for him to get it done, but he’d have to work night and day to make it happen. But Marley knew an opportunity when it was presented. He didn’t dare pass it up. “Certainly, my lord.”
    “Excellent. Then I’ll inform Her Majesty. And as compensation, following a successful demonstration of your device, shall we say five hundred pounds and admission into the Aeronautical Society?”
    Marley practically sprang out of his chair. That was far more than he’d anticipated. “Very generous, my lord.”
    Hargrieve extended his hand to shake Marley’s on the deal, then rose from his chair, signaling their interview was at an end. “I’ll have the papers outlining our expectations sent round, and I look forward to your demonstration,” he said.
    Marley stood and gave a slight bow of his head. It had been the strangest half hour of his life. “Thank you for the opportunity, my lord.” Marley hesitated one moment, his heart practically climbing out of his chest and into his throat. It was now or never. “Lord Hargrieve, if I may be so bold, would you allow me the honor of courting your daughter?”
    Lord Hargrieve stared long and hard at him, and the moment seemed to stretch on into what felt like infinity. “You know she has a suitor already, don’t you?”
    “Yes, my lord, but if she is willing to entertain my suit as