Quicksilver Soul

by Christine d'Abo

  Keegan.

  “He’s heading toward the Tower, causing as much destruction as he can along the way so the Sentry is thinned out. The Tower will be minimally defended by the time they reach it.”

  “Thomas.” Nicola yanked on his hand. “We need to warn them.”

  “Timmons!”

  The constable was helping lift a fallen cart off a trapped woman, freeing her legs. His metal hand squeezed around the wood, holding it still as though it weighed nothing. “A bit busy here.”

  “Is Hawkins at the Tower?”

  “Yes, though I told him he needed to rest. Why?”

  “I think that’s where the boy is off to.” Emmet quickly laid out his logic, leaving the other man frowning.

  “Bloody smart little shit.”

  “I don’t think it’s him.” Nicola wrapped a blanket around the crying woman before turning her over to the care of another. “Mary was as smart as Thomas. With her memories in the automaton, she would be the one telling Keegan what to do. The boy is suffering, and she is offering a way to ease it.”

  “We need to get over there and warn Samuel.”

  Timmons left one of the other officers in charge of the scene, sending a second over to evaluate the destruction of the other building. “If there aren’t lives in danger, leave it for now and get back to headquarters.”

  The three of them then turned and raced for the Tower.

  * * *

  Keegan could barely keep his eyes open. He wanted to rest, crawl into a cot, put a thin blanket across his body, close his eyes, and forget everything for a little while. But every time he’d try to let his mind go, Mary would be there, screaming inside his head.

  No, no, no, no, no you can’t leave me. Everyone always leaves me. Thomas left me and I died. My children are gone and I can’t have them anymore. You’re mine. You’ll always be mine, and I’ll take care of you.

  Once I take care of Thomas.

  He’d barely been aware as they’d marched through the front doors of one of the Clockwerker Guild’s factories. The screams sounded as though they came through mounds of cotton, shoved deep into his ears. He’d nearly slipped from Mary’s shoulders to the ground when she’d smashed through the place, pulling the steam lines from the walls, crippling the facility and sending billows of scalding water through the place. The explosion through the ceiling jolted him enough to bring him back to the present. “Mary?”

  You need the sweets, my love. The sweets will make you feel all better. You’ll be smart once again, be able to make the metal dance and sing, do what you want it to do and how you want to do it. We only need to find Thomas.

  “I’m tired. I want to sleep.”

  No, you promised me. You’d stay with me. You’d help me kill Thomas.

  “I’ll get some of the Underlings to help. They’ll do what I say now. I’m their boss.”

  I don’t want them! You’re mine. Just you. You need your sweets. Thomas has them. If we stick together we’ll both get what we want. What we need.

  “But—”

  I promise you can rest when we’re done. Promise.

  “Fine. Then we should go to the Tower now.”

  Yes. The sooner we go the sooner you get your treats. And we’ll smash and crash everything we can as we go. They’ll be running this way and that, never knowing where we are. Then we’ll pluck him away.

  “Then I’ll be myself once again.”

  Oh yes, love. You will.

  He knew her plan. Even though she wasn’t speaking to him directly, all her thoughts echoed through his brain. The force of them hurt nearly as much as his want for the sweets. With each passing moment, he could feel his mind slipping, being siphoned from him and pulled into Mary. She grew stronger to the point where he knew she was no longer his. There would come a point where Mary would have no need for him, and Keegan would be cast aside.

  Never, love. I’ll always keep you close.

  If only he could believe her. “Let’s go get your Thomas.”

  The laugher in his head echoed louder with each step closer they took.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Nicola had moved beyond a state of fear into a realm of calm. Her heart should be beating madly in her chest as they jumped from the iron walk and raced toward the Tower. Her hands should be shaking and her gut sick from the memories of the chaos and destruction she’d been witness to in her time since their escape.

  Instead she’d slipped past it into a state of intense focus.

  She’d been here before, many times, when she’d been following the thread of a particularly important discovery. But her life had never been in danger then, she’d never thrown herself headfirst into madness. Simon would kill her if she managed to survive her adventures and return home.

  Now, she raced alongside Emmet, determined to put an end to things before Keegan was past the point of assistance. He was a child, one who’d never asked for any of this to befall him, and she’d be damned if she’d simply stand idle and watch him be destroyed. The others wouldn’t understand that he wasn’t to blame for all that had happened. The victims would want their vengeance, and the authorities would have little choice but to offer him up as tribute.

  Timmons skidded to a halt, sending them all crashing together. “Shit, we’re too late.”

  Nicola didn’t see what had caught his attention immediately, not until she realized that the people around them were running away from the Tower, running away from the giant automaton. “Oh, no.”

  Timmons turned to Emmet. “Do what you can to distract her. I’ll find Hawkins.”

  In that moment she saw Emmet hesitate, his gaze snapping to her before sliding away. It was a given that she’d follow where he went, and for whatever reason he didn’t want that. Well, that wouldn’t do. Grabbing him by the hand, she set off toward the Tower.

  The closer they got, the easier it was for her to see Mary. Her metal gleamed in the sunset, revealing every pit and dent of her casing. Her hull seemed to lack the shine it had the first time Nicola had laid eyes on her. Keegan was sitting on her shoulder, his body slumped against her head and neck. She couldn’t see his face from this distance, but there was something wrong with the way his body rested against her.

  “We need to get Keegan to safety.” She let go of Emmet’s hand, ignoring him as he called out after her. “Hey! Mary!”

  The automaton turned her head toward Nicola, even as she swung her massive arm, knocking aside the two King’s Sentry men who charged her. The light source in Mary’s eyes flared too bright as she turned her body to face Nicola.

  Okay, that’s not good. “Mary, what are you doing?”

  The automaton moved across the cobblestones toward the main entrance to the Tower. Emmet came up behind Nicola, gun at the ready, and placed a hand on her shoulder. She wasn’t used to relying on anyone other than herself, but there was something comforting in knowing he was there, ready to assist. “Mary, you need to stop this. Innocent people are getting hurt.”

  A loud metallic screech echoed from the small mouth hole. Keegan slowly lifted his head. Closer now, she was able to see how sick he’d grown, how small and frail his body was.

  “I don’t want to.”

  “He’s lost his mind,” Emmet muttered and cocked his pistol.

  There was something in the way the boy spoke. This wasn’t the excited young man who had said he could make the metal dance. This wasn’t even the boy who’d taken great pride in making his automaton a woman. Nicola was no longer convinced this was Keegan at all.

  “Mary?”

  “I don’t want to,” Keegan said again, but this time there was something else in his voice, a familiar cadence Nicola finally recognized as Mary. “I want Thomas. He needs to pay.”

  “Why? What did Thomas do to you?”

  Keegan cocked his head and licked his lips in a slow exaggerated manner. “He needs to pay.”

  “Why does he need to pay, Mary? Did he do something to you before? Did he hurt
you in any way? If he did, we can make sure that he is held accountable. He’s in the custody of the Sentry as we speak. He’ll go to trial.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, Nicola saw Sergeant Hawkins and Timmons emerge from the building. Emmet circled to a point between her and them, putting himself in line with the building group of officers emerging from the Tower. If there was a fight, they would be ready.

  Mary stepped forward toward the bridge to the Tower. “Give me Thomas.”

  “You can’t have him unless you talk to me.” Ignoring Emmet’s hushed, hurried words to move away, Nicola came closer to the automaton. “They need to understand.”

  Keegan groaned, his grip slipping. “She’s screaming.”

  “Keegan, sweetie, can you come down? Mary will be okay if you leave her.”

  He opened his eyes and slowly shook her head. “I can’t. She won’t let me.”

  To further the point, Mary’s grip on Keegan’s small body tightened. He was bound to her metal frame with a single unmovable arm.

  “Mary, Keegan is sick. He needs to see a physician so we can help him get better. You want him to be better, don’t you?

  “Noooooooo.” The word seemed forced from his mouth. “Give me Thomas.”

  “Not until you let the boy go. It’s a fair trade.”

  In the next moment, it felt as though every person standing there watching held their breath. Nicola’s heart pounded, and she was ready to run away if need be. But when Mary straightened her arm and held Keegan away from her, high up in the air, Nicola moved to catch him.

  The boy weighed far less than she would have suspected. Her arms easily absorbed his body as she let him rest on the ground. She was able to give him a quick look to satisfy herself that he wasn’t about to die before Mary’s heavy hand clamped down onto her shoulder, preventing her from moving.

  Emmet broke his position, skidding to a halt mere inches from where she now stood trapped. “Nikki!” He picked up the boy as one would a baby. “Let her go.”

  “She’s so angry,” Keegan whispered, his voice raw. “She wants revenge.”

  “Revenge for what?” Nicola wished she could brush his fringe from his eyes, make sure he would be okay. “What did Thomas do to her?”

  “He lived. She was sick and in pain. He got her help but they couldn’t do anything. He lived and she died and she hates him for that.”

  Mary’s metallic voice screamed once more, and Emmet pulled Keegan closer to him. “I need to get him to safety.”

  They shared a look, one that told her Emmet wanted nothing more than for her to be the one he was taking far from here, even as he took Keegan away. With her interpreter now gone, Nicola was left with little to go on. She craned her head around and did her best to maintain her façade of calm.

  “Thank you, Mary. The boy didn’t deserve to pay for Thomas’ misdeeds.”

  Sergeant Hawkins, Timmons, and several of their men moved closer now that Keegan was gone. The sergeant’s brow furrowed as though he were concentrating on something immensely complex. It was then she remembered Emmet’s comment about his friend’s ability to have automatons do what he wanted and she silently wished the sergeant luck.

  “Miss Tesla, are you able to get free?” Hawkins waved some of his men to circle around behind Mary. “I’m unable to do anything to slow her down. It’s as though she’s somehow able to block me.”

  “She might stop if you bring Thomas out for her to at least see.” The painful grasp of metal fingers against her shoulder bit harder. “I don’t think she’s able to see reason, and I suspect she is quite mad.”

  “It’s a fucking machine,” one of the men called out. “It can’t see anything.”

  “It has the extracted memories of a bitter, hurt woman in there.” Emmet had rejoined them. He started to come close, but Hawkins held him back. “We need to get her out of there.”

  “We will.” But there was something in the way Hawkins spoke, in the quick look he shared with Timmons, that told her there was more to this situation than they knew. “Mary, we need you to let Miss Tesla go.”

  Instead of complying, Nicola felt her feet leave the ground. Much as Keegan had been, she now hung dangling. Pain lanced through her body, ripping a cry from her as the metal fingers tightened into her flesh. Everything was too much, too bright and painful for her to process. Unconsciousness threatened to overtake her.

  Hawkins staggered back from where he’d moved closer, his hands pressed to his temples. “Shit.”

  “What?” Emmet’s gun was up, but he looked hesitant to shoot. “What’s wrong?”

  “She’s screaming at me.”

  “Then give her what she wants and get Nikki free.”

  “I can’t.” Hawkins dropped to his knees, groaning loudly. “Get out of my head!”

  The metallic screech this time turned Nicola’s blood cold. Whatever humanity Mary once had had been lost upon her death and rebirth. She knew those were the sounds of pure hate and rage, neither of which would be quelled until Mary got what she wanted.

  Hawkins met her gaze and she somehow knew what he was going to say before he did.

  “Edison’s not here.”

  Another screech, this one accompanied with a tightening of her hand around Nicola’s body.

  “The Administrators wanted to conduct their own questioning. They needed to know about the extractor and who Edison’s connections were in France. They were fearful of the machine falling into the wrong hands, or someone being able to build it again. They took him to the prison in the base of the Clock Tower.”

  She had a vague memory of the clock minder mentioning the cells, though now that she thought about it, he discouraged any questions on the topic. She’d been so close to Thomas and hadn’t even realized, as though the connection, the camaraderie she’d once shared with him, had been completely obliterated. Now, both their lives would be in danger, and there was nothing either of them could do to stop it.

  Mary moved Nicola to her shoulder, pressing her belly against the metal and leaving her head hanging down her back. Dented metal, battered into a rough shape with the love and caring of a boy who had no idea of the monster he would create. The seams were tight and secure, and would make it difficult to break through. From this angle she was able to see the hinges Keegan had installed that would allow the metal chest plate to swing open and reveal Mary’s core.

  The core that held the heart.

  “The key!” She shouted as loudly as she could while Mary started to move her away from the group. Emmet dodged into sight, reaching for her as he moved. Mary swung her away, but not before their fingertips brushed. “Emmet!”

  He moved around again, this time not bothering to reach. “What key?”

  “Keegan has one for the chest plate. We can use it to get inside, pull her heart out. It’s her power source.”

  “I’ll find it.”

  Mary’s grasp tightened further, the pain spreading like quicksilver down Nicola’s spine. Nicola stilled as much as she could, trying to breathe through the pain. Much more pressure and her back would snap like a twig, leaving her little good to anyone. The men of the King’s Sentry circled around them, each with a weapon in hand. Guns, nets, ropes, anything they could find she suspected that was close at hand. It would do little good. The heart needed to be removed, or shorted out, something to interrupt the flow of power to her brain.

  “Hold your fire!” Hawkins shouted at his men, causing Mary to spin around once more. She was a cornered animal and it was only a matter of time before she struck out. “We don’t want to hurt Miss Tesla.” Yes, please don’t hurt Miss Tesla.

  But she could tell with every spin Mary made that the men were growing more restless, more nervous about the outcome. They wanted action, wanted to put the rabid dog down, as it were, and Nicola had no doubt they would sacrifice her if that meant destroying Mary. With the blood rushing to her head, she started to feel nauseous. Her vision swam and the idea of losing consciousness was
fast becoming a real possibility. She needed to keep her wits if she was to survive.

  The tense silence was cut with the bang of a pistol being discharged. The vibration of the bullet slamming into Mary’s metal chest reverberated through Nicola’s body. Mary roared, swinging her large arm into the group of men, sending their bodies flying. Screams of pain competed with shouts of orders to stand down as chaos erupted. Nicola covered her head as Mary continued to mow through the men, snapping through their ropes and tearing their nets.

  Another metallic roar and Mary strode away. Nicola looked up and caught sight of the bloody remains of the Sentry.

  “Oh, God.”

  Bodies lay broken and twisted, silent and unmoving. Blood seeped across the stones, tracked this way and that as people rushed to aid the injured. She caught sight of Hawkins and Timmons as they assisted their men. She couldn’t see Emmet.

  Her throat tightened as the tears dropped from her eyes to land on the rough metal below her. No, no, he couldn’t have fallen. She would have felt it in her gut if he was injured. Like you knew Thomas was there? That was different. Her relationship with Thomas was one of professional courtesy.

  She’d fallen in love with Emmet.

  The last thing she saw was Hawkins moving to a pile of bodies. “Dennison!”

  No. No he couldn’t be dead. The idea was unfathomable.

  “You better not have hurt him.” She spoke the words, no longer shocked by the venom they held. “Pray I’ll go back and find him alive and unharmed or I swear to every god and the universe that I will tear you apart cog by cog.” Mary’s grip tightened. “Oh, yes, you understand me. There was a time you would have understood.”

  Rage fueled by unexpressed love filled her very being. The time for kindness was over. Nicola would stop Mary once and for all.

  * * *

  Emmet lay still on the ground, his head throbbing from where it had connected with stone. He’d been trying to see Nicola once more when Mary’s swing had sent the bodies of two men slamming into him. He’d been unable to move from the weight of the men, his breathing shallow from the pressure. Blood had dropped onto his face from above, so when Samuel pulled him free he could only imagine the sight he appeared.