He fell to his knees and his arms sagged at his sides. A part of him still wanted to chase after Jake and use whatever means necessary to get Kat back. But his rational side stopped him. He couldn’t shoot Jake, not on a military base. It would not end well.
A lump swelled inside of his throat. Last night he had all but confessed his love to her, and now . . .
I couldn’t save her. It felt like the Tower all over again, after he’d left Kat there. Only this time he had no idea how he would find her. He didn’t even know if they would take her back to the Tower, or somewhere else she couldn’t be found.
What do I do, God? You know what will happen to her once they take her back to World City. This time her father might actually transform her into a monster.
Stephen dipped his head, his insides as tight as a coiled spring. A memory from another time and another place filled his mind. Him, on his knees, head bowed, staring at the wooden floor as Aunt Milly stood nearby. It was the night the caretaker had come to take his parents’ bodies away.
“How do I go on, Aunt Milly? A part of me doesn’t want to ever move again.”
Her hand had rested on his shoulder. “You just do it. You get up, and you take a step. This is the first of many trials you will face in your life, Stephen. You can either let them break you, or you let them make you stronger. And remember, you’re not alone.”
Stephen swallowed. Aunt Milly wasn’t here now to tell him to get up. She was gone, just like everyone else in his life.
No, that wasn’t true.
He took a deep breath and looked up. He still had God. God had never left him, even when he had walked away years ago.
God, he breathed. Slowly, quietly, strength trickled back into his body, spreading across his chest and limbs. Aunt Milly had been right. There had been many trials in his life since the day his parents had died, and at one point, he’d almost let them break him. But not this time. He was stronger now, and he wasn’t alone. He had never been alone.
God, all I ask for is the strength to stand again and find Kat. Let me find her one more time. I can’t save her from the monster inside of her, but I can rescue her from those who would do evil to her. Let what is dying inside of her live again, let her soul be awakened. By your power . . .
Stephen took one more cleansing breath, then pushed up from the ground. A fire relit inside his chest. It wasn’t over yet. He stood and holstered his revolvers. He couldn’t rescue Kat here at the base, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t follow Jake, Piers, and Rodger outside its confines. And if he couldn’t catch them before they left for World City, he would pursue them there.
As long as God gave him breath, he wouldn’t stop until he found Kat.
Chapter
28
“Well, well, Grey. We meet again.”
“Robert.” Stephen stepped onto the deck of the Lancelot three days later. “You have no idea how glad I am to see you.” He dropped his pack and clasped forearms with the airship pirate. Dr. Latimer came aboard behind him. “If there’s someone I trust to get us to World City fast, it’s you.”
Robert let his arms fall and took a step back. “You’re lucky I received the message from the base. I had just finished repairs and was about to head back to World City when I received the telegram. You did not send any details.” Robert glanced behind Stephen. “And where is the lovely lady?”
“That’s what we need to talk about.”
Robert’s gaze came back and he gave Stephen a firm nod. “To my quarters. Anders!”
The tall sailor came to Robert’s side. “Yes, Captain?”
“Take us out. Head to World City along the new coordinates. We shouldn’t have any problems with Austrium wasps this time.”
“Yes, Captain.” Anders turned and started shouting orders to the other sailors. The gangplank was withdrawn and the opening closed. A handful of sailors were already deflating the large balloon that kept the Lancelot afloat while more were readying the rotor engines.
“This way,” Robert said and turned around.
Stephen grabbed his pack and followed, Dr. Latimer close behind. There was still evidence of the air fight from a couple weeks ago, places where the wooden planks had been patched, and a new wooden tower to which the fallen main rotor was now attached. A patchwork of the old ship and new materials.
Robert led them to the door beneath the top deck and stepped inside. Down the dark hall they went while outside the rotors began to hum in preparation for takeoff. He opened the door and ushered them into his quarters, his gaze lingering on Dr. Latimer.
The ship lurched as the rotors took over. Steadying himself against the doorway, Grim gestured to the room. “Gentlemen, take a seat.”
Stephen went directly to the large metal table in front of the wall of windows, which sparkled with new glass and fresh paint.
Dr. Latimer still stood inside the doorway, his eyes wide as he looked around. “This is quite a ship.”
Robert flashed him a roguish smile. “One of the finest you’ll find in the skies. I’m afraid I did not catch your name.”
Dr. Latimer looked back. “Dr. Joshua Latimer.”
Recognition dawned on Robert’s face. “Ah, yes. It’s nice to finally meet you, Dr. Latimer. You were not an easy man to track down.”
Dr. Latimer frowned and glanced at Stephen.
“Captain Grim was the one who helped me find you.”
“I see.” Dr. Latimer crossed the room and took a seat next to Stephen. There was a wariness in his gaze now, but his eyes still lit up as he glanced around the room.
The rotors reached a new pitch, and the ship started moving. Outside the window, the Austrium coast began to pull away.
Robert took a seat opposite of them. He placed his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “So where is Miss Bloodmayne?”
Stephen let out a long breath. “They captured her.”
“Who?”
“The Tower.”
Robert scowled, his eye patch digging into his eyebrow. “How did they do that?”
“The bounty hunters Jake Ryder, Piers Mahon, and Rodger Glennan caught up with us at Ironguard Base.”
Robert sat back and crossed his arms. “Well, considering they knew you escaped by my airship, and the city council knew where I was heading, it’s not surprising. The council must want the woman bad to send those three across the Narrow Strait. I’d be curious to know how much the bounty is.”
“It’s quite a bit,” Stephen said, remembering the contract. “More than enough to allow all three men to live comfortably for the rest of their lives.”
Robert whistled, his eyes widening. “Yes, that kind of money would send those three anywhere. I’m almost tempted myself.”
Stephen scowled.
Robert shrugged. “I’m a pirate. However, I do have principles. And taking that lovely lady back to the Tower would cross those lines.”
“Good to know,” Stephen said.
“So have you thought about what you’re going to do next when we arrive in World City?”
“Yes.” Stephen folded his hands across the table. “First find where they took Kat. Then go from there.”
Dr. Latimer cleared his throat. “We will also want to retrieve my electrical stimulus device from the Tower. I have a feeling Alexander is not going to waste any time with Miss Bloodmayne once he has her, which could worsen her condition.”
Stephen went cold all over as Robert asked who Alexander was. An image of Kat appeared in his mind, laughing with that insane look in her eyes, standing in the middle of World City, her hands spread out as she set the city on fire.
“Like what?” he heard Robert ask, bringing him back to the conversation.
“Alexander will try to figure out how to trigger Miss Bloodmayne’s power, then how to harness it. Eventually he’ll want to replicate it.”
“To what end? Is the council planning to build some kind of human weapon for the war? Or do they want that power for themselves?”
“I’m not sure. It could be any number of things.” Dr. Latimer frowned. “However, I have a feeling there might another motive, at least where Alexander is concerned. Something dark and covert. Miss Bloodmayne looks almost exactly like her mother. I imagine it would be hard for Alexander to experiment on a person that looks like his beloved dead wife. It would go against his very being. There is something driving him, something more than just knowledge and power.”
“And what do you think that is?” Stephen asked, fearing the answer.
Dr. Latimer shook his head. “I don’t know. And that worries me.”
Chapter
29
Dr. Bloodmayne leaned across his desk and reached for the stack of notes to the right. Books lay open on the left, piled atop each other like a paper pyramid. Rain pounded the window behind him. A pungent smell lingered from the lab next door. At least the moans had stopped.
He didn’t bother to turn on the gas lamp on the wall nearby. Instead, he held his notes up to the weak light filtering through the window. He preferred rainy days to sunshine. He seemed to get more done, and the rain soothed his mind.
He glanced at his latest scribbles, thoughts that had come to him last night. All this time he had thought that Kathryn’s power was triggered by will or thought. But what if that wasn’t the case? What if it was more primal?
He lowered the paper and tapped his chin. When he had her in his lab, she said she couldn’t control the power inside her, that it was somehow triggered but she never said how.
What if—what if it was triggered by emotion?
“Yes,” he said softly and placed the notes down on the desk. He stood and turned toward the window. “That would make sense.” Rain pelted the panes with a steady tap. Heavy, dark clouds hung over World City, leaving the city looking like one of those Goth paintings that hung in the Capitol building. A couple of Tower scientists ran across the street below with newspapers held over their heads.
Death, life, matter, they were the fundamentals of reality. The building blocks of everything that existed. Of course the kind of power that controlled them would not be directed by higher thought. It would be controlled by instinct, by emotion. Until the mind learned how to control it.
“But is the flesh strong enough? Can a human direct that kind of power without consequence?” Dr. Bloodmayne slammed the side of his fist against the window and bowed his head. “I need to know.” Why did you leave, Kathryn? I offered you everything!
He twisted around and grabbed the back of his chair. No matter. She would be found, and soon he would know how much Kathryn could take. And this time he would try a different approach. He would find her emotional triggers and see the power for himself.
The door on the other side of the room opened. Miss Nicola glanced in, her auburn hair a shade darker in the shadows of his office. “Pardon my interruption, Dr. Bloodmayne, but there is a telegram for you. The sender wrote that it is urgent and for your eyes only.”
Dr. Bloodmayne waved her in.
Miss Nicola opened the door the rest of the way and crossed the room. Her lab coat was pristine and wrinkle free, her hair piled up fashionably on her head. She gave him a debonair smile as she placed the telegram on his desk and took a step back. She reminded him of a cat with that suave, confident gait and look of a feline who knew it owned the room.
“Thank you, Miss Nicola.” He picked up the telegram, the paper smooth and cool between his fingers. “I need you to check on the specimen in the next room. It has finally quieted down enough so we can begin the initial round of injections.”
Her smile widened, and that same eager look he felt when he worked filled her eyes. Yes, he had found an apprentice after his own heart. Why couldn’t Kathryn have been more like Nicola?
She gave him a small nod and took a step back. “I will start right away, Dr. Bloodmayne.” Instead of exiting through the door she had come through, Nicola went right and headed into one of his secret labs. A low moan escaped the room when she opened the door, and the pungent smell grew strong again.
Dr. Bloodmayne withdrew his handkerchief from his pocket and held it to his nose. If only there was a way to work without that death-like stench.
Nicola closed the door behind her. Dr. Bloodmayne thrust his thumb under the crease of the telegram, forcing it open. The message was short.
Found her in Austrium. Bringing her back by ship.
Will arrive in five days.
He read the telegram again and placed it on the desk. The date on the telegram was yesterday, which meant the bounty hunters would be here in three more days.
Excellent. He knew if the bounty were high enough, his daughter would be found and brought back. In the end, the price was worth it. The council would be pleased to know that he would shortly be resuming his studies on matter. And even more importantly . . .
He crossed his office toward the bookcase to the left. He reached for a single book bound in dark red leather and pulled. Instead of releasing the book, the entire bookcase swung open with a subtle groan, revealing a small, dark room beyond.
Dr. Bloodmayne reached inside to his right and felt for a small lever. With a flip of his finger, the gas lamp within lit with a quiet hum. As he entered, the bookcase closed behind him.
The air was cold in here, as if it were an icehouse, but there was no ice present. Just a single brass box against the wall. The rest of the room was empty. No tables, no chairs, no bookshelves.
Another, lower hum emitted from the brass box, which stood as tall as a man and three feet wide, with tubes and wires surrounding the outside save for a circular glass window near the top.
He stopped before the box and reached for the circular glass. “Helen,” he whispered, his fingers stopping just shy of the glass that separated him from his wife. She looked exactly the same as she did almost twenty years ago. The same beautiful face. The same thick, dark hair. And if he could see them, her eyes would be the same color as coffee. “How I’ve missed you.”
A deep longing filled his being, so full and thick it almost hurt physically. She was the only thing he had loved more than his work, and since her death, he had thrown himself even deeper into his studies. No knowledge was taboo, no risk too great, if it could bring Helen back.
His hand dropped slightly. But what about their daughter?
His lips turned downward and he thrust his hands into his pockets. Kathryn was a means to an end. She was not Helen. If only she had been cooperative when he had first brought her to the Tower, or if he had known that his experiments had changed her, giving her the power he had desired for so long, then he might have Helen now, at his side, instead of in that cold mechanical box before him.
“I just want you back,” he said as he gazed at his wife. “Just to talk to you again.” He tightened his hands into fists inside his pockets. “And I will. Soon.”
Chapter
30
The train chugged into World City late that morning. Jake frowned as he looked out the window of their private car. An unusual dense fog hung over the city like a funeral shroud. Strange weather, considering it was still summer.
The train zipped by factories and three-story flats as it made its way to the central station. The Calypso had made excellent time across the Narrow Strait, clipping off a day and allowing them to arrive early into Covenshire. Captain Harpur had been more than eager to take the rest of his payment and be on his way once they’d arrived in the harbor. Jake felt the same way. The sooner they dropped off Miss Bloodmayne at the Tower, the better.
Rodger sat across from him on the dull velvet seat, cleaning his cannon-arm with a rag and a small can of grease. Piers sat beside him, eyes closed, his head against the window, a small snore escaping his lips. And Miss Bloodmayne . . .
Jake looked to his left. The petite woman lay across the bench, her body tucked in between their packs and the wall. True enough, the clear liquid inside the needles Dr. Bloodmayne had provided had kept her sedated almost the
entire trip, minus the times they fed her or allowed her to use the loo. Fortunately, she had been too incoherent to display those sensibilities women usually employed at the thought of such private functions. All in all, an easy trip and, in the end, a rewarding one.
The carriage Jake had ordered waited for them outside the station. Between himself and Piers, they covered Miss Bloodmayne with a cloak and moved her to the carriage. Rodger followed, his mere presence enough to deter anyone who might have questioned them.
It took half an hour for the carriage to make its way to the Tower. The sky never changed from its dull gray and the sun never appeared. The air smelled of smoke and rot even more than usual. Just another thing he wasn’t going to miss once he had the cash for Miss Bloodmayne’s contract and could leave World City behind.
At the front of the Tower, the carriage stopped. The iron gates were open, leaving the way clear to the front double doors. Good. Hopefully that meant Dr. Bloodmayne had received their message about arriving into port early.
Jake paid the driver double to keep him quiet, then helped Rodger situate Miss Bloodmayne over his shoulder. No one greeted them at the door, and they found the halls inside empty. Even better. Dr. Bloodmayne had probably cleared the Tower so as not to arouse suspicion. That or the fact that it was Sunday.
They took the first staircase they found and headed up. The interior was dark, the only light weak daylight coming from the windows placed on each floor. The Tower reminded Jake of an asylum he’d visited years ago during one of his missions. Dark, bleak, and unwelcoming. And the screams that came from the hidden rooms—
Jake shook his head and focused on the next set of stairs. This was not an asylum. This was the Tower, one of the most prestigious places in all of World City.
After five floors, Rodger huffed. “How far up are we going?”
“Dr. Bloodmayne’s office. Tenth floor.”
When they reached the eighth floor, Rodger leaned against the wall, his face glistening. Here the configuration of the stairs changed. They must be at the actual tower part of the building. Next to the narrower staircase was a sign: “Private Tower Labs. No Trespassing.”
Awakened Page 17