Amalgam shuffled out the door. “They’re going to collect blood under the cover of the riots. They knew the royal family stays in the inner sanctum… That’s where they’re heading.”
She knew he was telling the truth—he didn’t want her to die, after all. And she felt better knowing he had the strength to respond and move around on his own. He would be fine, even if they left him.
“Let’s go, Victory,” she said.
“Don’t leave me,” Amalgam said, his voice wet and half muffled by his mask. “Please. Not yet. Just… a little longer.”
Victory held Geist close. “It’ll be easier if we walk with him to the entrance hall. Then we can separate.”
She nodded. Whatever works. And if Amalgam wanted a few more minutes with her, to help him cope with the reality of their separation, so be it.
Victory helped Geist to the corridor. The longer they walked, the more Geist regained control of her body. Pain pulsed from her shoulder to her wrist, threatening to steal her concentration, but an icy numbness quickly set over her entire body. It felt a second wind, but she knew better. I’m so injured I might even go into shock. I have to ride this adrenaline high, though. I can’t stop now.
“Thank you,” she muttered.
Victory held her close, his wan skin coated in sweat. “I should be kissing the ground you walk on. I was certain I wouldn’t make it.”
“Cross would never forgive me if you die.”
“This is twice I owe my life to you.”
“You’ve saved me countless times with your future sight,” she replied, half chuckling. “Just… try not to get yourself captured by the enemy anymore, got it?”
Victory offered a genuine smile. “Deal.”
Slower than Geist wanted, they made their way out of the crumbling building. Rocks fell from the ceiling, some doorways had collapsed, but they still had a way out. When they made the front entrance room, Blick stepped out from around a wall, his rifle up and his gold eyes shining.
“Victory!” he shouted. “Geist!” He dashed over, his eyebrows knitting together. “What happened? You both look like you’ve seen Hell and lived to tell the tale.”
“How is Vergess?” Geist asked.
“He… isn’t in good shape. Defiant knows medicine, apparently, and wrapped him up good, but the guy keeps bleeding. I don’t think we can wait here any longer.”
Blick lifted his rifle, his eyes locked on the weakened Amalgam, who stumbled into the room. Geist placed her hand on Blick’s rifle and pushed it down.
“It’s okay. He won’t hurt you.”
“We’re going to let him live?” Blick asked. “He’s an enemy agent.”
“He betrayed his nation, and I owe him my life. We’re going to let him go for now.” She grabbed his tunic and gripped the shoulder of the sleeve tight. “I have to get back to Alexander Palace.”
“Why?” Blick shook his head. “We’ll never make it. Half our squadron is in bandages. We might not make it through the rioters.”
Geist knew he wasn’t exaggerating. Vergess needed medical attention. Victory needed nutrition and rest. Geist needed a cast for her shattered arm. Defiant had lost his glasses to the Eyes of the Kaiser. Who did that leave? Blick, Dreamer, and Battery. But the three of them had no hope of making it into the palace and escaping with the royal family.
It has to be me. With Battery’s help, I can ignore more of this pain and help ghost people from the palace grounds. She closed her eyes. And maybe Dreamer. He keeps calm no matter the situation. We can work as a group.
“Blick,” she said. “Help me.”
He offered his shoulder and Geist leaned on him. Unlike the rest of her squad, he was notably muscular, and her weight didn’t seem to hinder him in the slightest.
“Me, Battery, and Dreamer are going back to the palace,” she said. “You will lead the others to safety beyond the city lines. Victory is here now. He can set you on the right path to avoid confrontation. And if sorcerers show up, Defiant can neutralize them.”
“I understand,” he said.
“Wait,” Amalgam called out through a wet cough.
Blick stopped.
Amalgam held out a bandolier of three GH Gas grenades. For a moment, Geist considered taking them, but she ultimately shook her head. The gas had too much potential to harm the citizens of the Russian Empire. There were riots happening everywhere, and if a grenade went off, it would no doubt kill hundreds.
Confident in her decisions, Blick continued to help her outside.
The cold Petrograd air greeted them with a waft of embers. While the whole city seemingly burned, Geist’s goal became clear in the distance. Grand Duchess Anastasia and her family needed help. Once she did this… the one last thing… then she could finally go.
At least I hope it’s the last, she thought with a wary smile.
Thirty-One
The Last Grand Duchess of Russia
Using only one arm to hold onto Dreamer, Geist kept herself as still as possible. The power her father displayed with his strike rocked her. Apex sorcery was powerful. Even her ribs, collar bones, and spine felt sore, as though the blow had shaken her entire body. If it hadn’t been for Amalgam’s anti-magic, I don’t think I would’ve gotten away.
“Blick saw your father fleeing the monastery,” Battery said as they ran through the back alleys of the city. Dreamer had given them the rags and appearance of street urchins. For some reason, it looked the most compelling on Battery.
“In what direction did my father go?” Geist asked.
Battery hesitated before replying, “Toward the palace.”
No. She shook her head. Everything will be fine. He ran because he was injured. He wouldn’t risk attacking me again until he knows he’s safe. We’ll still be able to get the royal family to safety.
“Your father can’t see through illusions, can he?” Dreamer asked between controlled breaths.
“I… don’t think so.”
But she didn’t know anymore. He never had tempest sorcery, but he had used a bit of it in the basement. And Victory said he had taken the domination power from the dead Eye of the Kaiser. Why is he amassing so many sorceries? Just to have them? Just to be the most powerful? He can never master all of them. It’s too much.
They reached the edge of the city and stood between buildings, examining the long road to the palace. Russian soldiers fought with protestors, so chaotic it was difficult to discern who was fighting who. Geist quickly noticed the distinction—some men wore red, and others wore white. They were two armies, each made of civilians and military personnel. One the Bolsheviks, and one opposed to them.
Through the fighting and carnage, Geist spotted a man atop a horse. She recognized him. General Volkov, the sorcerer general who had questioned her intent with the tsar. Although he had said his ability was to detect lies, he waved his sword and sent a wave of rot into the enemies—much like Vergess’s empowered ruina. He cleared through waves of people, fighting under the white banner. His men rallied when he shouted, each fighting harder than before.
Sorcerer General Volkov rode his horse into a grouping of the enemy, clearing away as much as he personally could. His shouts were in Russian, but Geist could sense the charisma.
“We fight with his army,” Geist said. “And we make it close to the palace.”
With a wave of his hand, Dreamer gave the group white handkerchiefs. Together they made their way through the battle. Battery used his personal handgun to down enemies. Dreamer used daggers and his rifle. Geist held out her hand, took the empowerment from Battery, and then rushed forward as an invisible force of death for the White Army.
When they reached the fence, she waited until Dreamer and Battery were close. With her empowered sorcery, she ghosted them through the bars. Then they ran as a squad to the walls. Bullets rained down from the windows, but Geist protected them both. Her “bubble” of incorporeal made it so the fast-moving bullets slid right through her teammates.
&
nbsp; Once inside, Geist cursed under her breath.
Both the White and the Red Army were looting the luxuries. Fires had been set to the rugs and tapestries that were too large to move, and the servants had all been slaughtered. The once regal home had become a nightmare prison for the inhabitants.
“Wait here,” she told Battery and Dreamer. “Secure this hallway. I’m going to bring the royal family here, and then we’ll escape together.”
They responded with curt nods.
Satisfied they would follow her orders, Geist rushed into the palace. She ghosted through walls, dashed across rooms, and ignored the furniture standing in her way. The inner sanctum was the area with Anastasia and her brother, Alexei. Geist had seen it before, when she went snooping around. Now the corridors were filled with the bodies of the Imperial Guard, as well as civilians with red scarfs.
“Commander Geist.”
She stopped in her tracks, her breath a fire that scorched her lungs and spread to her shattered arm.
“One of the governesses was a secret Bolshevik all along. She’s using her potentia sorcery to empower an Eye of the Kaiser. Warn your team—if you even hear his voice, you’ll be dominated.”
One fucking problem right after another, Geist thought. Each problem added to the next, and the situation almost became so dire it was hilarious. It was just her versus the enemy. She had to save the tsar and family. How could she do it?
When Geist made it past the stairs and elevator, she came to an abrupt stop.
The landing for the highest floor looked as though rabid dogs had been let loose. Men and soldiers had been mauled by some beast, their throats ripped out and their ribs broken open, exposing their organs. Blood soaked the carpet, changing it to a dark black with a sheen of crimson.
Among the bodies, Geist recognized Tsar Nicholas II. Unlike the others, he had no blood draining from wounds on his body. He was a husk—a dead carcass—his skin hanging and his eyes shriveled. Geist stared for a long moment, her heart slamming against her ribs.
Next to him sat the corpse of a woman with a beautiful silver gown. She may have once been exceptionally beautiful, but after having her blood drained away, there was not much left. Had she been the tsarina?
Geist had been too late.
Screaming from down the hall broke the spell the corpses had cast.
She ran for the commotion, determined to save someone from the hellish nightmare of the palace. But she stopped when she recognized the door to Alexei’s room. Bolsheviks stood in the hallway, some kicking and spitting on the Imperial Guard corpses. Inside the room, Geist could hear the faint sound of Russian—and then she detected a conversation in German.
“How long?”
“The boy is almost drained.”
More screaming. Then sobbing.
Of the two people talking, Geist knew one of them had to be the Eye of the Kaiser. Which meant, if she rushed in and attacked, he would issue a command. Even without looking him in the eye, she would be dominated thanks to the empowerment. Fighting couldn’t be an option. However, she could still slip in invisible. But then what? And what if he said a command to the group and just happens to catch me?
There was no time to debate and weigh the options.
Geist went through the wall and entered Alexei’s bedroom. To her horror, two men held Alexei—a child no older than thirteen—while they allowed blood to gush from his slashed jugular. Anastasie struggled against the hold of her captors, her face wet with tears and her hair matted with dried blood. The Bolshevik soldiers growled something in Russian and twisted her arms. She yelled, but she never stopped fighting.
An Eye of the Kaiser and an Austro-Hungarian soldier also stood in the room—the soldier wearing a gas mask similar to Amalgam’s. Who was he? Was it her brother? Geist couldn’t waste precious moments debating. Instead, she took the gas mask as a warning.
They had gas on them, and they were prepared to use it.
Geist ran to Alexei. She touched his shoulder and wrapped her specter sorcery over his whole body. He fell through the bed and then the floor. She let go of him after that, returning him to a solid state. While everyone in the room gasped and stared—shock written across their faces—she ran for Anastasie.
With one swift touch, Geist and the grand duchess also fell through the floor. A second later, Geist made them physical. The landing sent pain flaring up from ankles to her knees, but Geist pushed through it. And it wouldn’t take long for the Eye of the Kaiser to figure out what happened.
Muffled yells from above rang through the ceiling.
“Find her!”
The magic behind the words clawed at Geist. For a moment she thought she had been dominated, but then the feeling faded. She had found Anastasie and completed her command, apparently.
We need to leave right now!
Anastasie must have thought the same thing. She pushed herself to her feet and rushed to her little brother’s side. The boy didn’t move or respond when she shook him. Instead of trying a second time, Anastasie hefted him into her arms, her whole body shaking.
“Let me help you,” Geist said.
Not just because the grand duchess was struggling—but because she could use her sorcery to ghost through them through the whole building.
Geist offered her good shoulder and took one half of Alexei. Anastasie continued to cry, fresh tears streaming down her face by the minute, but she never took her eyes off her brother. Then Geist pushed her toward the wall. Compliant, they hustled forward as fast as they could. Anastasie closed her eyes hard right before they “collided” with the building.
Running knocked Geist’s broken arm around, especially with Alexei in her grasp. Geist bit her tongue to distract her from the terrible sensations of her side, determined to escape the building no matter what.
Unlike Amalgam, who could sense where she was at all times, Geist knew the Eye of the Kaiser would never find her if she just ran through the palace fast enough. He would be left behind.
Geist and Anastasie burst into the secure hallway with Dreamer and Battery. Both men jumped to her side the moment she dropped her invisibility. When they reached for Alexei, however, Anastasie took him for herself. She wrapped her arms around his chest and clung tight. Blood had soaked his officer’s uniform, and he didn’t move.
Not once.
“We have to go,” Dreamer said. “How do you want to go about this?”
“The way we came,” Geist said. “We don’t have any time to lose. The Eye will know it was me, and he’ll search this entire palace. If we don’t leave right now—”
She stopped herself short. If the Eye of the Kaiser knew it was Ethereal Squadron that had taken the Grand Duchess, there was a chance they would be stalked all the way to the ports. But what else could they do?
Geist turned to Dreamer.
“Corpses,” she whispered. “Dreamer, illusion some of these corpses. Make one look like the grand duchess and another to look like her brother. We’ll leave them in the hall. It’ll look like they got shot—when the enemy stops to take their blood, they’ll get nothing but a random soldier.”
“There are no corpses the size of the boy,” Dreamer said as he glanced around.
Even finding one the size of Anastasie would be difficult, though it wasn’t impossible. However, Dreamer was correct. They had no child corpse to use as bait.
Battery touched the neck of Alexei and waited, his brow furrowed. When he pulled his fingers away, he grimaced. “He’s dead,” he intoned. “We can just leave his body.”
“No!”
Geist, Dreamer, and Battery snapped their attention to the distraught grand duchess. She held her brother tighter than ever, her fingers digging into his back. Then she crumpled to the floor on her knees, her whole body shaking.
“I won’t leave him. P-Papa gave me o-one duty. I have to p-protect him.”
She spoke her words through strangled sobs.
Battery shook his head. “If we carry him…
it’ll slow us down.”
“You must leave him,” Geist said.
Anastasie tightened her grip. “Never. I’ll never leave him. I’ll die here in this p-palace with the rest of my family. I’ll… I have to… be with them…”
Leaving her would be the same as giving the enemy her blood. While Geist wanted to honor the grand duchess’s wishes, she knew that wasn’t an option.
We don’t have time to convince her of her foolishness! Geist snapped her finger and pointed from Dreamer to Anastasie. There was no other way. It had to be done.
Dreamer, without a question or word, lifted his rifle and walked over to the grand duchess. Before she could protest, he struck her across the face, rendering her unconscious. She fell to the floor, her strawberry blonde hair spilling across the charred rug. Dreamer then picked her up off the floor and held her close—the body of her brother left in the middle of the hallway.
Battery took the grand duchess as Dreamer grabbed a corpse and tore through the clothing. Then he waved his hand, and illusions spread over the fabric and flesh. The body was already burnt, but now the skin looked as though it had once been soft and smooth. The torn uniform resembled a tattered dress that had wasted to ash in the flames. In all ways, it looked like the corpse of a young girl caught in a terrible fire and unable to escape.
“This is the best I can do,” Dreamer said. “And I can hold it indefinitely.”
“Good enough,” Geist said. She motioned to the wall. “Come. We have to escape. Touch my uniform.” She would use her empowered specter sorcery to take them through the war.
Just a little longer, she told herself. Then I can rest.
Battery helped her stay on her feet. Together, they dashed through the wall of the palace, made their way through the gate, and then traveled the long road through the riots.
Alexander Palace burned behind them, the blaze intense enough to imitate the morning sunrise. Embers and ash rained over Petrograd, like the snow on a fresh winter day.
A Company of Monsters (The Sorcerers of Verdun Book 2) Page 26