“Love?” I questioned, a small lilt to my tone. “As in the feeling of attraction?” I received a small nod in response. I knew what the word meant, a small, simple word, that I had read on and thought about for years, but it failed to add up. “Oliver… you… do you love me?”

“Yes. That’s what I said, didn’t I?” I found it odd how the boy could seemingly no longer make eye contact, glancing at every little thing behind me.

“But, Oliver, my heart is broken. That’s why we’re on this journey, because my father always said-”

He cut me off. “I know what he said, Evangeline, but every second I’m with you, I want to prove him wrong. If I can be like this, a real person with a real, flesh heart, and feel this way, why couldn’t you? You’re capable of doing so much, of building bombs and creating things beyond my understanding, so why not love?”

There was something in the way his face scrunched and his brows furrowed that intrigued me. It was desperation. He wanted me to feel the same.

“I… don’t know. I just don’t believe I can. I enjoy being around you, but especially if you can’t wind yourself up, if you lack a key, then we can’t be soulmates, can we? We’ll never match. That’s just how the world is.”

Something hurt as I said that, a small cringe inside my body, but I had no clue why. I was just presenting the facts. Perhaps the gears still needed some time to click together perfectly from the surgery.

We sat there in silence for a minute. “Right. That is how it is, innit?” His eyes seemed very downcast for a moment. “We get the pieces, fix your heart, and you find the man with the matching key, right?”

“That is how they explain it, yes,” I answered, speaking slower as I watched the stars begin to freckle the navy sky.

“Why is that, and what does that mean for me?” I could hear the hurt in his voice. “Am I just supposed to wander around in a world full of people, just looking for another person like me? I’m so sick of the Heart- Status. I… I thought you’d be different.”

“I don’t know. I don’t even understand how you function, much less how you’re to go about your life.” I stopped, wincing at his heavy eyes and shrunken body. I hated to say this, though logically, I shouldn’t. I was a Goldheart, set to find another Goldheart. For his to be… natural, well, I didn’t know where that placed him, or what he’d be destined for. He was kind, but I couldn’t go ahead and take his very destiny away from him by saying yes. Besides, I couldn’t love someone. I was broken. To fling myself into a relationship would make it one-sided and harmful; I had read enough books to know that much. “I’m sorry. I just can’t do that to you.”

“It’s… fine. I understand.” I heard a small sniff come from him, before he tipped his brown cap over his eyes until I couldn’t make out his expression. “You’re meant to find a Goldheart out there, someone who can offer you a fancy house and a posh lifestyle, rather than some ragamuffin who steals to get by.” His hand shot up to his face, making a wiping motion before he stood up, offering a hand up to me. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. It was inconsiderate timing, and you’re probably still sore from the surgery. Are you all right?”

I accepted his hand, pulling myself up and brushing off the trousers he’d lent me. “I’ll be fine.” Truth be told, my chest still ached, and I was positive it would for a long while after, but we had to keep moving. Now that I stood, holding his hand and tall enough to meet his eyes, I stared at him a moment. He had just claimed he loved me. Since when, and why? What was acceptable now, especially after my response? I glanced down at his fair skin, brightly pale against my own warmer brown. At first, it had been a gentlemanly offer. Now it just seemed awkward, and we let go, both looking away at the suddenly very interesting grass around us.

“Anyways, we have two out of the seven pieces, so five to go, plus any more silver we can find for Sophie, right?” Oliver asked, bringing my mind back to the present and causing my cheeks to cool slightly.

“Yes,” I answered, still a bit occupied with my own thoughts.

“Well, since it’s Silver and Gold we’re looking for, does that mean we’re headed to the capital district?" He asked. His eyes were still shifty and his hands couldn't be thrusted any further into his pockets, but I supposed this was his way of pushing forward. That's the only option we had, really.

"I… I suppose so. That's where they seem to always be conglomerating."
"Well, we'll take it slow since you just had surgery so-" his voice came to a halt as the sound of footsteps echoed behind us. We turned our heads, but it ended as quickly as it began, the alley completely empty it seemed. I was about to ignore it and turn back, when I felt Oliver take hold of my wrist.
"Wait…" His dagger was out, held tentatively at his side. “Show yourself!” he called out much louder.

“Oliver… There’s no one here.” It seemed like such a strange thing to have to point out. “Come along. Let’s leave.”

I had just turned my back when I heard a shot go off. My eyes widened, as I turned around to find a bullet heading right towards my face. Time seemed to move at an incredibly slow pace as it drifted towards me. I shut my eyes and prepped for the pain.

Yet, it never came. Instead came a cry from my left, and once my eyes were open, the sight of blood dripping in front of me. Oliver's pale wrist held in front of my eyes for a moment before he wrenched it back towards his body, gripping it in pain as he fished the bullet out of his flesh.

With his hand out of my line of sight, I could see a dreadfully skinny man in front of us, a brass pistol smoking in a hand crafted entirely of metal, gears scrolling endlessly where knuckles should have been. His scruffy, hardly shaved face twisted into a scowl. “Now you just stop there. I know you was sneaking into the Gadgeteer’s house and gone stealing all his things. Now just return the goods and we can avoid things getting a bit messy al ight?” His southern accent was surprisingly thick. Not entirely uncommon for Missouri, just a lot heavier than I was used to.

“I’m afraid we can’t do that,” Oliver managed to practically breathe out through the pain. “The parts have been used already.” His stance was low and menacing as he took another step to be in front of me.

“I see…” The man paused. “Guess I’ll have to tear them out of you then!” The gun was raised again.

“Wait!” I shouted, my voice becoming much higher pitched in panic than I was supposed to allow. “You can’t just kill him. We have a right to a trial at least.” Not that I wanted to be captured, or ever get that far, but if it made him put the gun away, stop another shot from going through, I was willing to let on that my criminal was interested in law.

But instead, he laughed, dark and rich as boiled tar, his breath just as unpleasant. “Girl, do I look like a Mit to you? I say girl, cause you sure as hell sound like one.” He stopped, squinting at my face for a moment. “Say, you’re looking mighty close to the alleged daughter that Heartsmith we captured was s’posed to have.” He pushed Oliver to the side, getting closer to me. “Well who’d have reckoned that? You are his daughter! You know, there’s a mighty high price on your head.” A click sounded, a brush of cold metal rustled beneath my hair. The man brushed his dark brown hair out of his crazed eyes. “A stolen heart, full of the best of the best pieces. Time to win it from the fair lady.”

Tears began to streak down my face. What was I to do? I didn’t keep an assortment of objects to craft with on me at all times, and if I made a move, I’d be dead before anything went through.

“Fine. We have one more piece.”

“What?” I barely recognized Oliver’s voice with how twisted in anger it sounded. I saw him beginning to rustle through the messenger bag, panic quickening his every movement. Oliver, you aren’t going to give him the silver, are you? With the pistol to my head, I wished I could speak mind to mind. That I could tell him that he should keep what we have. That Sophie, and in turn, Oliver, shouldn’t have to suffer for my illegal heart. I’d accept my consequences if he would just run.

He pulled out the silver, splaying the pieces out on his hands like a platter. “Here, just take them, but keep her safe,” he pleaded, reaching up so that he could grab them.

The man smirked. “Thank you for doing your part, street rat.” He then wrenched his gaze away as he clutched the pieces close to his chest. “I’ll still be killing her though, hope you don’t mind.” My heart could have stopped as the gun pushed in harder to my skull. I would have shut my eyes, if not for the confused look that began to spread across his face.

“What in tarnation…” He glanced down, and I could see the hand he’d raised before now seemingly glued to his chest. He pulled his hand away, the pieces toppling to the ground, but one odd, black shape remained in place. My breath caught in my throat. It couldn’t be…

“Eva grab it now!” Oliver’s words launched my body into action faster than any bullet. In his stunned state, my face took hold of the magnet’s cold body. I lifted my leg high to center my foot against his middle as I wrenched the stone as hard as I could from him. A cry of agony began to grow, and I tried my best to ignore it as it was replaced by a tearing sound most gruesome. The only other noise that followed was a thud of a large weight hitting the ground. When I could finally pull my gaze down, I was met with the sight of a grey, metallic shape, coated in a liquid so black and thin that I believed it to be oil before blood. His body lay on the ground in front of me, his red scarf holding more life in a random burst of wind than the man himself.

My breath was still ragged and unsteady from shock by the time I managed to get Oliver’s attention. “I… we just killed him, with a magnet. Did- Did you plan that?” I dropped the heart out of my hand, unable to hold the morbid item any longer.

“Of course. I’m not about to let you be shot,” Oliver answered, looking away.
“But… how did you know his heart was metallic? That that even would work?”

He tapped the side of his bandaged neck. "It was obvious he was an Ironheart. That's what they used for his arm too, so my magnet was sure to work." He seemed so nonchalant about it all, as if it wasn't his first dealing like this.

"What was he?" I asked, giving Oliver a hard look.

"An enemy, for sure."

"Oliver, I am serious. You just took him out as if he was nothing. He's not a Mit, you're much too good at this, and your heart, being natural, must be one of the only types not affected by magnets." I took a hesitant step towards him, his refusal to make eye contact more than concerning. "You're the Magnet Killer, aren't you? What was that man? Please, tell me." I begged, taking hold of the upper portions of his arms.

"I just… Why do you even want to be a part of my life? You don't even love me, so why even bother?" He phrased it like a question, but the volume of it with the redness of his face made it seem much like an interrogation. "Why not just keep your head down and ignore all this? Just get your heart pieces, and go back to your simple lifestyle? It doesn't affect you."

I blinked, part of me irked at that fact he spoke so rudely, but quite another at the points he was making. "Well how glad am I to have turned down what was essentially your request before. You want me to be with you when you hide everything from me? I never claimed before not to care, but as it stands, I take you for a secretive, dirty assassin. Is that what you want me to think of you?" I realized I was squeezing his arms much too hard, and was quick to let go. In response, Oliver rubbed them a bit, breaking eye contact once again.

"...I'm not the assassin. They are." He tipped his nose to the body on the ground. "I might have magnets, and I may have taken a few out in my time in America, but it was in defense of myself, or the children every time. If you think less of me for that, then so be it, but I wasn't about to let them all come to harm."

That only answered half of my questions though. "But why are they even after you? What did you do?"
"Because of the Heart-Status Eva! The very concept you refuse to believe in!" His arms were flung away from his body in desperation as his voice raised again. "I lived in England, in a house with my parents and sister. We had money, and would have had a nice life, but because my mother didn't want us involved when they were beginning to install metal hearts, we were shunned. Could only buy them off so long. Either have the cover blown or kill off two kids. The option was obvious. They burned down our house and she died, Eva! She died because of these damn hearts. But I didn't, so instead, they sent assassins. I thought it was just in Europe, and I could escape to America, but they had already done the same here. I wore these bandages, but somehow, they just kept finding me. At first, they just wanted my magnets since they're illegal here, but once they found out how I could use them without dying, they wanted my head." He took a deep, shaky breath. "They already try to go after everyone I love; I didn't want to for you too. I'm sorry." Tears leaked out of his eyes, and he appeared as though he wanted to hug me, but kept his distance out of respect.

Perhaps I would have stepped that gap, but my head was spinning. He was born with a natural heart, as he put it, but his sister had too? In fact, he had made it sound like everyone had, and it changed later? That wasn't possible. That wasn't how the world worked. Unless… "The Heart-Status is real? You were born into wealth, and yet were treated as less than all because of your type of heart?"

He nodded. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. Over time, the metal types have faded into becoming social classes, but it didn't start that way. At least, not in England. The Elite were chosen, and everyone has been treated as less than ever since."

"But how did they just choose to install hearts? Why? If you were simply born this way, and are healthy, then presumably everyone else would have been too." It felt like governments across the world would have to conspire for what he said to be true, and it felt too unreal to believe. Yet, there was living proof before me. "But… that would mean that Soulmates aren't determined by any higher power. That the keys simply match, and that means nothing to them matching. It would be a coincidence."

"Right. I don't know why, but no matter where you reside, the government doesn't want that to happen, and are willing to do anything to prevent it. Heartsmithing and being born natural are two things that break that cycle."

The speed of my heartbeats began to thud ever harder in my chest, a hot ache beginning to spread. I had just had surgery, and was continuing to push myself. I sighed and took a seat on the ground. "So what do we do now?"

"What do you mean? How does that change anything?" Oliver asked, following me to sit.

"It changes everything. That means love has nothing to do with my heart, that I can feel things even right at this moment." I turned to Oliver, taking him in in a new light. "It means that I could scrap my entire project. Rather than kill several others for parts, I could find one other natural heart, and end only one life in replacement for… for mine." I slowed as Oliver gave me a wide-eyed look. I'd only been speaking logically but I almost agreed with the disgust plain on his face. Why did that idea seem so much more morally askew? It was still death, always had been. So what made that different? "Not to mention," I started again, changing subjects. "This directly affects my father's business. This is earth-shattering news, and he's the smartest man I know. Perhaps he could even know why they began to install hearts in the first place!"

Something about solving that mystery that had only just begun to tug on my brain was thrilling to me. Not as much as the weight of missing him tugged on my broken heart, but both held the same solution.

"But we still have no clue where he could possibly be," Oliver mentioned.

"Yes we do. Just one clue, but that assassin claimed they caught him. That means wherever they're withholding him, wherever they're concocting their plans, my father will be there." I clenched my fists in determined resolve. "We just need to find where they're hiding."