Thrills

by K. T. Tomb

  “Are you okay?” he asked, his face coming into view, not unlike the image she had seen upon awakening in the sarcophagus.

  “Just a bump.”

  “That was more than a bump. You hit the wall full on.”

  “What can I say,” said Nora. “I’m stronger than I look.”

  He grinned. “I have no doubt. As you can see, you have acquired some amazing new skills and power; learning to control them is what this is all about. Now, jump down and go back to the starting point. But this time, join me smoothly, without missing the mark.”

  She did as she was told, leaping down to the floor from the great distance and landing smoothly, easily, her legs bending and absorbing the weight of her body. She was certain she could have just as easily jumped down from a much greater height.

  Nora focused on the platform and leapt toward it. When she landed on the top, she stumbled forward only a little before Andrik caught her.

  “Now, let’s work on your landings,” he grinned.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “She still won’t even try the rat,” Andrik answered.

  Alfred laughed. “I thought it was the easiest one.”

  “It is, but she won’t do it. She’s mastered the bat and the owl. She wants very badly to master the fox, but she’s still struggling with that one.”

  The date for their meeting had been set, in fact, even before Nora had made her decision to be transformed. When Andrik and Alfred had discussed it, the new vampire had wondered at the hunter’s confidence. How had Alfred known that she would transform? There were many things about the man which had baffled Andrik in the beginning. In spite of the experience of knowing him, he was no less perplexed. Did the man possess a form of mind control? Andrik kept the question to himself.

  “Evidently, she wasn’t very athletic before,” commented Andrik. “It has been a very rewarding experience watching her train. Every accomplishment is a victory.”

  “Is she feeding?” Alfred asked.

  “She’s doing better with that now. She wasn’t keen on it to begin with. She tolerated it, mostly.”

  “I can only imagine,” said the hunter dryly.

  Andrik watched Alfred as the latter frowned. It was obvious to Andrik that he was stirring something around in his head. After a few moments of silence, Alfred appeared to have come to a decision, nodded, and spoke.

  “I want to send her to Limehouse,” he announced.

  “Limehouse?” Andrik asked. “Didn’t she come from Limehouse?”

  “Indeed.”

  “What mission might be carried out in Limehouse?”

  “I’ll come up with something,” Alfred responded. “The important thing is that she has the opportunity to see the slum with her new set of eyes; a confidence booster, if you will.”

  Andrik considered the significance of returning Nora to Limehouse. During their brief time together, he had learned of Nora’s past vocation, learned of her addiction and learned of how Alfred had rescued her from her attacker. “Is it wise to send her back in there considering what she might do if she comes across Edwin Burberry?”

  “I think it will be a great test for her actually.”

  “She’ll kill him,” Andrik responded.

  “That’s the test.”

  “You want to see if she can kill someone?”

  “No. I want to see if she can refrain from killing someone.”

  “That’s quite a risk to take, don’t you think?”

  “I doubt it,” Alfred responded. “I think she will bring the man in, perhaps not without injury, but I don’t think she’ll kill him.”

  “Turn him in here?”

  “Of course.”

  “Then what?”

  “We shall see.”

  Andrik was certain that it made little difference what his personal position was concerning the mission. Alfred had made up his mind to test Nora by sending her back to Limehouse. He was probably right. Nora would probably be able to maintain self-control. He just wasn’t ready to deal with the after-effects if she ended up killing the man.

  “We’re probably going to need to send the two of you on a mission very soon,” Alfred began. “We have Miko on the case now and he’s hearing about some troop movements. If we can anticipate where, when and how many, we might be able to get ahead of the Crimean problem before it collapses. As you already know, we are hoping to keep trade lanes open in the Balkans. We can ill afford those routes to be blocked or eliminated entirely.”

  “You can’t be seriously considering sending Nora into Crimea so soon.”

  “I’m afraid we have little choice.”

  Suddenly, it was all coming together for Andrik. The mission into Limehouse, though simple enough, would force Nora to maintain complete control of herself and finish her training. It was a trial by fire. She would have to face her past demons, overcome those, utilize her new skills and remain focused. If she completed her mission properly, she would gain enormous confidence, and trust from her superiors. But would it be too much too soon?

  “I will meet with Nora now,” said Alfred, “if you’ll go get her or send someone for her if you prefer.”

  “I’ll go get her.”

  Knowing that it was likely that Alfred would take her from Branksea that night, Andrik wanted to give her a few words of encouragement and a couple of useful pointers before she headed out. You’re acting like an overprotective father, he told himself as he left Alfred and started in search of Nora. Believe in her. She’s ready.

  Nora was in her private chamber memorizing telegraph codes. He watched her muttering to herself and tapping her finger on an imaginary key. She had surpassed him in learning the ins and outs of the new machine and quickly recalled the codes where he often drew a blank. The fact that she was so diligent was an encouragement. Maybe she really was ready for the level of test that Alfred was assigning to her. He tapped softly on the open door.

  “Andrik,” she smiled, turning away from her notes.

  “You remember that practice assignment I told you about?”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s time.”

  “Really? Where am I going? What am I doing?”

  “I’m not at liberty to tell you. I actually don’t know the details myself. Alfred will brief you.”

  “Should I be worried?”

  “No. I’m just being overly protective. That’s what we trainers do with our favorite students.”

  “I’m your only student,” she laughed.

  “You have been a delight to work with.”

  “Yes, you said it before: my face, my hair, my bod—”

  “It’s more than that,” he said, cutting her off.

  “Oh? Do tell.”

  He took in some air, held it, and released it slowly. “Now is not the time.”

  “Very well,” she said, grinning, and patting him on the cheek after rising. “I’d better not keep Alfred waiting.”

  “You’re forgetting your bag.”

  “Do I need it?”

  “Yes,” he replied. He watched her take up her “ready” bag, something all the agents were required to have in order to be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice. “Stay focused on the mission and come back safe, okay?”

  “I will,” she said, sliding past him with her bag. As she did so, she kissed him on the cheek. “That’s for all your help.”

  Minutes later, Andrik was sure he could still feel her soft lips on his cheek.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Alfred had warned her that Limehouse was going to look entirely different to her from her new perspective.

  She could only hope! Though she could have chosen any number of ways to reenter Limehouse, she had decided to try out her new transforming skill. She might have chosen to be an owl, but she felt the bird wouldn’t blend in as well as the bat. Of course, Alfred had chided her a bit for not having mastered the best disguise for Limehouse: the rat. And he was right: Limehouse did look different... from a bat’
s eye view.

  Her assignment was to locate another kind of rat, a man who scurried around Limehouse District: Edwin Burberry. She was to locate him, gather intelligence on him, and make a full report to Alfred. Once that report was made, she was to return to Limehouse, apprehend him, and leave him tied to the same pipe upon which she’d hit her head in the alley.

  “I want him to be alive when he’s recovered,” Alfred had said, his voice low and somber. “We’ll bring him in and put a scare in him that will go with him beyond the grave.”

  She knew that taking out her revenge upon Burberry for what he’d done to her was to be limited. She also suspected this was a test of sorts. Could she control herself around the very man who had intended to rape her? Additionally, would she be able to find any dirt on the man, too? How far would her intelligence gathering extend? If she were to find any dirt on him, then would Edwin Burberry just be confronted by Alfred and company, or could he possibly be arrested, too.

  All of which put a smile on her face. Well, before she transformed into a bat.

  Now, as Nora flew above the seedy district that had been her home for so long, where she had turned an unending amount of tricks, where her body had been ravaged for money, she decided that the best place to transform back into her normal state would be that very same alley. With the keen sense of smell that goes along with being a bat, she could smell the mild, sweet aroma of a flower on fire—opium—as she passed over Emma’s. She was surprised that it didn’t entice her at all. Was it because she was a bat and not her semi-human self?

  When Alfred had assigned her to return to Limehouse, she’d felt an immediate rush of doubt come over her. The feeling had shocked her, because she’d believed that all of her doubts had been washed away in her transformation. Mostly, she was angered that her newfound sense of peace had been disturbed because of the mission itself. She’d called Alfred on it.

  “Are you trying to make me fail?”

  “Not at all. What I want you to do is to stay focused, complete the mission as it has been assigned to you, and walk out of Limehouse under your own terms and with your head held high. I haven’t a single doubt that you will succeed.”

  When he’d put it that way, she’d welcomed the opportunity. After all, she’d been carried out of Limehouse unconscious, walking or flying out would be far better. Focus on the mission, she told herself. It was a mantra she would repeat, no doubt, a hundred times before she was finished with her first mission.

  When she spotted the alley, she turned into it. Under the cover of its darkness, she transformed and stood, fully clothed—which was part of the magic of transmutation—listening to the sounds of the night around her.

  “Here we go,” she muttered.

  Her first contact was going to be Kate. Though she wasn’t sure how much Kate or Mary knew about Edwin, it was a good starting point. The fact that she wanted to check in on Kate and Mary was part of her motivation, as well.

  She followed along the street until she came to the house where she once lived. She took a deep breath, climbed the steps to the door, opened it and passed through. She hurried up the stairway to the second floor flat. Nora paused at the door, gathered herself, and knocked. It felt a little strange knocking on a door she used to open with her own key, but, as a vampire, she could no longer cross the threshold of any abode without having been invited to do so. She rapped again on the door.

  “We’ve gone to bed,” Kate’s voice called out. “Come back tomorrow.”

  “I need to talk to you,” Nora responded through the door.

  “Nora?”

  “Please, Kate, keep your voice down.”

  She heard Kate unlock the door and then turn the handle. “I can’t believe it’s you and back from the dead,” she said in an excited whisper the moment she saw Nora.

  “If you only knew.” Nora hesitated, unable to move into the room.

  “Oh, come on, Nora, get in here.”

  She decided that it was invitation enough and took a tentative step over the threshold. Nothing bad happened to her, so she decided that the statement had counted toward the requirement of having been invited.

  “You look absolutely stunning,” Kate exclaimed.

  Nora had been told that she was stunning, but since her transformation, she hadn’t been able to see herself in a mirror; one of the drawbacks to being an MI.

  “Thank you,” she responded simply.

  “Months ago, your man Alfred Covington sent someone to us with word about you and your recovery. Mary and I were so thrilled that you broke that nasty opium habit too. And now look at you. Please tell me he did not send you to a Magdalene asylum!”

  “Not even close,” Nora laughed. “I’m... I’m with a secret agency working for Her Majesty. I can tell you nothing more.”

  “Sounds dangerous.” Kate’s eyes grew large and fearful.

  Nora shrugged. Though she was happy to see Kate, she was eager to be on with her mission. If I get too comfortable, I might lose focus. “I’ve been assigned to look into a matter concerning Edwin Burberry. Would you happen to know where he could be found?”

  “You couldn’t have better luck, Nora,” she responded. “About a week after you left, he came looking for you. Mary scared him away with her pistol, of course, but he swore he’d find you. We’ve seen him along the street out front on many nights and sometimes in the morning, but we don’t know if it’s a daily thing or just something he does once in a while. In any case, you’re probably not safe hanging around here, unless Mary and the pistol are along.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Nora responded.

  They exchanged more pleasantries and Kate suggested that they awaken Mary, but Nora told her that it wasn’t necessary. She dismissed herself, left the apartment, went down the stairway and back out into the dark street.

  “Easier than I thought,” she muttered. “All I’ve got to do is wait.”

  Waiting didn’t come easily, so she strolled down the street until she reached Emma’s. She paused on the street, facing the door she’d entered so many times before. She could smell and taste the opium on the air. Two months earlier, siren songs would have been less potent, but as she stood there now, she realized that she hadn’t the slightest bit of craving for the stuff. I really have changed.

  She wandered Limehouse District, realizing that she found the place to be abhorrent, until the first glow of orange, which warned of dawn, appeared. She ducked into a dark alley, transformed into a bat and flew back to the street that passed in front of the house where she used to live. There, she found a dark, secluded spot under the eave of a roof gable, which allowed her a view of the street, attached herself upside down, and waited as the sun rose and spread its light everywhere but under the eave.

  Nora passed the entire day hanging from the ledge and was beginning to grow restless as dusk approached. She’d seen nothing of Edwin Burberry. Perhaps he’d given up looking for her. I guess I need a new approach. The thought had no sooner entered her mind when she saw his familiar and hated form coming along the street, smoking a cigarette, and looking up at the second story windows of her former home.

  Got you.

  Chapter Twenty

  The tiny, orange glow of Edwin’s habit had made it easy for Nora to keep an eye on him as clients for Kate and Mary came and went throughout the day.

  She certainly wasn’t missing that particular part of her life. Although she tended to work the night shift, as opposed to days, thanks, in part, to her need to sleep off the opium. Now, as she watched the steady stream of business come and go, her heart ached for her ex-housemates.

  I’ll find a way to get them out of this, she promised herself.

  She could think on the idea no longer, because Edwin had decided to give up his vigil and moved on down the street. She dropped from the eave and flew along following him, landing in various places up ahead and waiting for him to catch up before continuing on.

  She followed him to a building, which
he entered. Though she could not enter the building, the hypersensitive hearing of her bat form kept him within earshot as he moved up the stairway inside and turned into an apartment on the third floor. What she heard next filled her with a combination of anger and pity. Edwin Burberry was married, had four children and, from what she could gather from the overheard conversation, had another on the way. What sort of ingrate… She didn’t finish the question. She didn’t need to. She had, of course, given pleasure to many a-married man in her time.

  Who am I to talk? she thought, and secretly hated herself all over again. How many marriages had I ruined?

  She didn’t know, and didn’t want to know. She also let that line of inquiry drop. She had done all she could to stay alive, and for that she was happy. After all, her life on the streets had led to her station now. That she was presently transmuted into a bat was a different story, and quite laughable. But unbelievable and awe-inspiring, too. She loved her new life, and she especially loved her new powers.

  For two more days and nights, she watched Edwin coming and going from his home and followed him. When she was able to, without attracting attention, she followed along behind him in her natural form, but most of the time, she followed him as a bat. In the darkest hours of the night, she even transformed into an owl, allowing herself to spread her wings and soar over the Thames and other parts of central and eastern London. Everything looked very different through the eyes of an owl, and she found that she savored the peaceful freedom of those midnight flights. They made her heart soar and she began to believe that she had truly discovered her purpose.

  The third night after following Edwin home, Nora flew, as the great owl, out to Richmond Upon Thames and to the house of Alfred Covington. The meeting had been prearranged and Alfred was waiting for her. She transmuted quickly into her human form.