“Fellas,” the fifth man called shakily. “Fellas?” Sev fired his wrist bow at the man’s neck, silencing him.
“Here.” Midnight shoved one of the dead men’s rifles into his hands. “The rest of them are unarmed. They’re breaking up crates to throw on the fire. You take four, I take four, and that will only leave Fervis.”
Sev checked the rifle to make sure he had enough bullets. Midnight did the same. Satisfied, they walked out into the street. Fervis intently watched his men feeding the flames with bits of shattered barrels and crates. Midnight and Sev fired simultaneously, and two of Fervis’s men fell. They cocked and fired a second time as Fervis turned toward them. Two more down. The remaining four men ducked, looking all over for the source of the attack. The third bullets found their marks. Midnight and Sev strode into the open lot. Fervis pulled his gun. Midnight’s fourth bullet dropped his man, while Sev’s fourth bullet drilled into Fervis’s shoulder, forcing him to drop his gun without a shot. Midnight picked off the final Footman.
“Nice shot,” Midnight congratulated Sev.
“Thanks. Let’s get some water on that fire.” Fervis reached for his gun with his good arm, and Sev walked up and kicked the turret pistol. “No, you don’t. You’ve caused enough trouble today,” he told the man at his feet. Fervis opened his mouth, and Sev hit him with the butt of the rifle, knocking him out.
“What’s going on?” Heph’s voice barked from within the warehouse. “Who’s out there?”
“Seven and Midnight,” Sev answered. “Fervis and his men are down. We’ll have ye out in a tic.”
Midnight already had a bucketful of water to toss on the flames. Sev grabbed a bucket and filled it with water from the canal. They dowsed the flames at the doors first. Luckily, the damp prevented the fire from spreading too fast and they were able to get it under control.
“The door is safe. Open it up,” Midnight told them. The besieged men wasted no time, and the doors were thrown open. Tesla and the other uninjured boys grabbed shovels and axes, knocking the flaming bits of debris away from the walls.
“God, am I glad to see you,” Silas said, laying a hand on Sev.
“And I’m glad t’see you too, friend. But grab a bucket, will ye?” Silas did. “Nikky,” Sev called. “Would ye be a peach and gather all that burnin’ rubble into a single pile?”
Tesla shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”
“Thanks, mate.” Sev walked over to the warehouse, where his friends were throwing water on the walls. Heph limped out with a makeshift crutch. “All right, Heph?” Sev asked.
“I am now. Thanks to you and Mr. Midnight. I honestly didn’t know how we were going to get out of that one,” Heph confessed. “How did your little excursion go?”
“That’s somethin’ we need t’discuss.”
“Bad?” Heph asked.
“Very,” Sev answered.
“We’ll talk soon. Did you get the Tear of Purity?”
“Aye, we got it.”
“At least there’s that,” Heph commented as Sev entered the warehouse. He found a length of iron bar and carried it out to the fire pile, sliding it in at the base of the flames. The warehouse steamed where it had been on fire moments before.
“Good lord, look at all these bodies,” Heph lamented as he gazed over the lot. “How are we going to get rid of them?”
“It’s been quite some time since I’ve had to make this many corpses disappear,” Midnight said. They all stared at him. “What?”
“We’ll have to burn them,” Sev stated.
“What? No! We can’t set our friends on fire,” Silas shouted.
“Why not?” Midnight asked.
“We have to bury them properly,” Silas argued.
“Where?” Tesla asked. “Are you going to dig into this stone?”
“Then we have to transport them somewhere and bury them.”
“It’s too dangerous.” Sev tried to sound sympathetic. “We would if it was possible. But it just isn’t.”
“We can’t do this.”
“No, Silas. They’re right. It’s really the only way. I don’t like it either, but we have to be realistic. We can’t feasibly get them to a proper cemetery, and if we leave them down here somewhere, it would be more disrespectful and unhealthy for the rest of us,” Heph said.
“We should get t’work. The sooner we get it done, the sooner we can bring the rest o’the children home.” Sev looked at Fervis. The man was beginning to stir. “Jack, can ye tie that bastard up?” Midnight nodded.
“Mr. Withers, would you get the injured to the infirmary?” Heph asked.
“Aye, sir.”
“I need to check on Carrington and Banwall,” Heph told the others. “Fix my leg so I can help with the cleanup.”
“We’ll need some lamp oil or petroleum to get the bodies to burn properly,” Midnight stated a little too jovially. “I’ll see what I can find, shall I?” He traipsed off to search, while the rest of them started dragging the closest bodies into the fire, friend and foe alike. The smell of burning flesh quickly became sickening.
“I’m sorry, Silas,” Sev said as they walked through the streets with a cart to the entrance. They put as many bodies in the cart as they could to take them back to what was now a funeral pyre. Sev noticed Silas’s shoulder was bandaged and bloody, but his friend ignored the pain to focus on their task. They loaded the cart onto the lift and rode it to the top.
“You don’t have to apologize, Seven. This is a war. Tough choices have to be made. I just hadn’t realized it. All these children, my disguise, the missions. It all seemed like a grand adventure, and while I didn’t lose sight of our purpose exactly, I just… I don’t know.”
“Ye just forgot it was still real life. And real life isn’t pretty. People die.”
“Something like that, yes.” Silas looked at Sev intently. “What happened down there in the ruins? You and Midnight are the only two who survived?”
“No,” Sev answered. “No.” He explained briefly what happened in the tunnels with the monsters and Annie. “That’s when we heard the explosions. So we left Murry, Rat, David, Julia, and Maddy with Timson inside.” Sev made a point to say all their names.
“Poor Rat,” Silas whispered and shook his head. “Too much death.”
“Aye.” Sev trudged along to the entrance. “I was terrified when I heard those explosions. I thought it was Fairgate. I’m ashamed t’say it, but despite everything that’s happened, I’m happy.”
“Seven,” Silas scolded. “How can you say that?”
“I’m happy that ye’re alive,” Sev specified. The lift reached the entryway, and they disembarked.
“Oh. Oh well. Um. Yes, then I suppose I know exactly what you mean, because I was worried sick about you in those ruins. And now you’re out and alive. Well, I know we haven’t known each other long, but—” Silas paused. “—I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
They stood just within the ruined doorway, and Sev stopped, grabbing Silas’s hand. He took a deep breath. “I feel the same way, Silas.”
“Seven, I know it’s not proper, and it seems doubly wrong to admit it after the day we’ve had but, Seven, I think I love you. Properly love you.”
“Ye were shot?” Sev indicated Silas’s bandage. His friend nodded. “I was almost killed by creatures that shouldn’t exist. We could be dead tomorrow. I don’t give a damn what’s right or proper.” Silas leaned in, his lips parting. Sev’s heart threatened to beat out of his chest as he anticipated the impending kiss. Silas’s lips pressed onto Sev’s and light bloomed behind Sev’s eyes, a blissful feeling he’d never experienced.
It lasted only a second. Silas turned his head, his attention drawn by someone croaking out a plea for help. “Dear lord, Seven, someone’s still alive over here.” Silas abandoned Sev and ran to the figure writhing on the ground. Sev’s lips burned from the brief contact, and he felt color in his cheeks, but he forced it down, running to Silas’s aid.
>
“My God—” Silas stopped abruptly and his hand flew to his mouth. He turned from the injured man, bent, and vomited. “Sev,” Silas gurgled and pointed to the prone figure.
Sev knelt to inspect the man. He’d been beaten badly, his face swollen and bruised. His shirt was open and the skin was red and puckered, angry and blistered. Sev peeled up the shirt to get a closer look. His heart skipped. There on the man’s skin were numbers seared into the flesh, numbers he’d seen before. “Who did this to you?”
“Seven?” the injured man asked in a thick and pained voice. “Is that you?”
“Waverly,” Sev gasped. “Oh my God, Wave. How did this happen? I thought ye left.”
“I’m sorry, Sev. I tried t’trick ’im. You told me t’trick ’im, but it din’t work.” Waverly’s words weren’t making any sense. Waverly was having obvious trouble speaking. Sev couldn’t say anything. “I was so stupid.” Waverly started to cry, and it turned to violent coughs.
“Shh. Wave, calm yerself. Ye didn’t do anythin’ wrong. Save yer strength.” Sev finally tried to soothe his old friend.
“I told Fervis. He tortured me, Sev. I tried t’resist, but the heat, the burning. It was too much.”
“Oh Christ, Wave.” Sev wanted to hold his friend, to comfort him, but he was afraid he’d only hurt Wave more.
Waverly reached up, and Sev took his hand. “You’ve always been m’best mate, Sev. Don’t hate me for this. Please.”
“Wave, I never would. I don’t blame ye, mate. I don’t. Just hold on, mate.”
Waverly shook his head. “I’ve held on as long as I could. I’m finished. Just glad I got t’see you one last time. I love you, Sev.” He pulled Sev’s hand to his ruined lips and kissed the knuckles. “Is that bastard dead? Did you kill ’im?”
“Yes, Wave,” Sev lied, tears leaking from his eyes. “I killed ’im, but he suffered first.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
“Silas?” Waverly looked up at Kettlebent.
“I’m here, Waverly.”
“Take care of him.”
“I will, Wave. I promise.”
“Good. Good.” Waverly nodded, satisfied. Waverly started to say something else, but he never finished. He winced and was still.
“Wave?” Sev spoke. “Wave! No! No. Wave.”
“He’s gone, Sev. I’m sorry.” Silas rested a hand on Sev’s shoulder. Sev placed Waverly’s hand gently onto his burned chest.
“Good-bye, my friend,” Sev whispered. He stood. Silas opened his arms to offer his friend solace. Sev shook his head and set his jaw. He marched off to the lift, abandoning the cart, the bodies, and Silas.
“Sev,” Silas called and rushed after him. “Where are you going?”
“To keep a promise,” Sev yelled over his shoulder without slowing.
SEV stalked down the steps to the lot, having run the length of the city. The bodies were blazing on the pyre. Midnight and Tesla conversed near the blaze. Fervis slumped, bound and defeated. Rat and Muriel stood silently near the pyre. Sev walked across the lot to the fire. He wrapped a rag around his hand and retrieved the iron bar. He smiled as he regarded the orange-hot metal. Tears still fell from his eyes at the thought of Waverly.
“Sev,” Rat spoke reverently. Sev stomped purposefully toward Fervis. Kettlebent finally arrived with Heph. Sev registered their presence, but his focus remained on Fervis.
“What’s he going to do?” Tesla asked Midnight.
“He’s going to do what needs doing,” the villain answered. Sev walked up and nudged Fervis with the toe of his boot. The man remained inert. Sev kicked him a little harder.
Fervis looked up. “Seven.”
“Fervis.” Sev pressed the hot iron to Fervis’s shiny boot. The stench of burnt leather wafted into the air. “Do ye know what this is for?”
“Seven!” Silas yelled. “Stop this.” Silas and Heph descended the stairs but were intercepted by Midnight and Rat.
“Get out of my way, Midnight,” Silas growled.
Midnight pressed the barrel of a pistol beneath Silas’s chin. “You’re not stopping him. Seven needs to do this. A price must be paid. If you try to stop it, I’ll hurt you.” Sev knew Silas wanted to protest further, but his friend knew Midnight’s threat was genuine, and as much as Sev was sure Silas didn’t want to admit it to himself, maybe the villain’s argument was sound.
“This isn’t the answer,” Heph shouted.
“What qualifies ye t’say that?” Rat asked, pulling the hammer back on his pistol pressing the barrel into Heph’s ribs. “That bastard has much t’answer fer.”
“I can’t disagree with that,” Heph responded. “But there are alternatives.”
“No,” Sev stated simply. He jabbed the hot iron into Fervis’s shoulder. The industrialist screamed bloody murder as the red-hot metal burned through his vest and shirt, reaching his skin. “How’s that feel?” Sev asked. He pulled the rod back before pressing it against the man’s cheek. The skin popped and sizzled against the hot metal, and Fervis roared with pain. “I put this into the fire fer me, fer me family,” Sev explained. He shoved the bar back into the heat.
“I don’t give a damn about you or your family,” Fervis spat. “And I don’t care about revenge. That’s for poofs. Untie me, and we’ll see who’s the better man.”
“I’ll untie ye,” Sev said. He retrieved the iron and stabbed it into Fervis’s thigh. Smoke poured from the wound, and Fervis screamed. Sev twisted the hot metal bar. He pulled it out and shoved it back into the coals.
“You little son of a bitch,” Fervis gasped. “I’ll eat your liver.”
“I don’t think so,” Sev stated. He pulled his poker from the fire and pressed it slowly into Fervis’s stomach. The reprehensible bastard screamed as the hot iron seared his flesh. “I wanted t’make ye feel this fer me family,” Sev whispered. “Then I found Waverly.” He pulled the hot metal out and forced it onto Fervis’s forearm.
“That little coward led me right to you,” Fervis ground out, grinning. “He was all too eager to give you up.”
“Liar!” Sev punched Fervis in the face. “Ye made a serious mistake attackin’ me friend, destroyin’ me family. It’s time fer ye t’suffer.”
“Sev,” Silas called out, his tone pleading.
“I want ye t’wish fer death,” Sev told his prisoner. He shoved the iron into the coals once more. He watched for the orange to creep up the black metal. Sev tore open Fervis’s shirt. He pulled the bar from the flame and drew a seven in the flesh of the man bound before him. Fervis’s screams were deafening. “Glad ye found me?” Sev asked. “Was it worth it? Torturing me best mate?”
“Poor little Seven,” Fervis spat, his tears almost sounded like laughter.
Sev thrust the bar back into the fire. “The fire that heats this bar comes from all the people ye sacrificed t’find me. It’s burning red-hot with their vengeance as well.” He pulled the iron out and pressed it against each of Fervis’s ears. The bound man screamed and screamed. Not quite satisfied, Sev grabbed Fervis’s belt and yanked his waistband out enough to slide the iron into the man’s trousers. The hot metal seared the delicate flesh within, sickening smoke poured out, and Fervis screamed until it sounded like his throat split.
“Please,” Fervis pleaded raggedly. “Please, dear God, stop.”
“This is fer me father,” Sev whispered in Fervis’s ear as he reheated the iron rod. He pulled it out and rested the searing metal against Fervis’s left cheek. Fervis screamed bloody murder until he passed out from the pain. “Wake up,” Sev ordered, smacking the man.
Fervis blinked and awoke. “I’m sorry. Please. I’m so sorry.” Fervis’s voice was ragged, pleading.
“I’m sure ye are. This is fer me mother,” Sev said, pressing the iron to the man’s opposite cheek. Fervis screamed until his voice truly broke. “This is fer me siblings and Waverly. This is what ye did t’him.”
“I didn’t mean it,” Fervis
croaked. He wept. Tears streamed down his cheeks. “Please. I didn’t mean it. I don’t want to die. Seven, please.”
“Ye’re asking me fer mercy? Sympathy?” The bar was back in the fire.
“Yes. Please. Let me live, and I’ll go. I won’t ever bother you again.”
“Beg, ye bastard.”
Fervis begged. He swore oaths and promised Sev the world. Sev ignored the man’s pleas. He lifted the eye patch revealing Fervis’s empty socket. He eased the red-hot bar into the ruined cavity. Fervis’s screams were music to Sev, a debt long overdue. Sev reached down and grabbed the man’s turret pistol. He pressed the barrel under Fervis’s chin. “D’ye want it t’stop?” Sev asked.
Fervis whimpered in response.
“The pain can stop, if I just pull this trigger. Is that what ye want?”
Fervis blubbered and wept. With his other hand Sev dipped the iron once more into the hot coals until it was bright orange. “Open,” Sev ordered. Fervis shook his head. Sev pried open the man’s mouth with the barrel of his gun and rammed the red-hot iron in. Sev could hear Fervis’s saliva sizzling and smell his tongue burning. He pressed the man’s pistol to the flesh beneath his jaw once more. “Do ye want the pain to end?” Sev asked. Fervis nodded, his cheeks wet with tears. “Gladly,” Sev said and pulled the trigger. Fervis’s body crumpled to the stone ground. Sev stood and spat on the body. He shoved the turret pistol into his waistband, dragged Fervis to the pyre, and flung the body onto the flames. “Promise kept,” Sev growled. He turned to see looks of shock on the faces of Silas and Heph. Midnight stowed his pistol and clapped his hands, an ovation for Sev’s symphony of torture. Rat joined in and so did Tesla. Sev wasn’t proud of what he’d done but neither was he ashamed. Fervis was an awful, disgraceful human being who’d needed to be stopped. Sev had stopped him. “That’s enough,” Sev told them. The clapping stopped. Sev shuffled back to the city.
“Seven,” Silas said as he passed.
“I’m sorry ye had t’see that, Silas. But I’m not sorry that I did it. I’m going t’clean up all this death.”
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