‘Where’s he going now? He always that muddy?’
‘He just likes to walk topside. Can you blame him?’ Zoe made a show of looking around the room.
Amanda’s mind was working fast. Things were starting to make sense. The power struggle between the warden and the jackal he’d given too much power to. And here she was, stuck in the middle, each man thinking her a double agent. This wasn’t something she could play out forever, but if she could keep them both off her back while she found Karina, that would be enough. Then, once she was sure her daughter was safe, she could break the rift between them wide open. The only question was how.
But one thing at a time…
A broad back had appeared in the doorway as a man huffed and puffed his way through.
He must have been in his fifties, Amanda determined as he turned around. He was big in a way that spoke of a long-forgotten gym regime, replaced with too many meals and not enough exercise.
Thick, tattooed forearms working, he pulled something through after him.
Though he was blindfolded and bloodied, Amanda recognised Duncan immediately. His hands were secured in the glove-cuffs that Amanda had already learned to loathe. These had been attached to a chain that trailed out behind him, linking him to Chitra, then Janine, then finally Sarah. All were blindfolded, a couple were bruised.
Groping ahead of them, all terrified, they made their way into the room.
The man’s bulk exuded a gravity over his prisoners as he forced Duncan to his knees, making them all do the same. He pushed them back to the wall without a word, smiling as they shivered and whimpered.
‘What is this?’ asked Amanda.
Harry smiled and, without another word, disappeared up the stairs.
‘These are Karina’s closest friends,’ said Zoe. ‘Rarely see one without the others. If anyone knows where she went, it’ll be this lot. And the warden doesn’t keep us around to be nice.’ The woman’s eyebrow twitched to let Amanda know how she felt about that.
‘And is this part of the gig?’ asked Amanda. ‘You bully the prisoners so he doesn’t have to?’
‘Small part of it, yes. Come on, might as well get the intros done,’ Zoe stepped forward. ‘Bohdan, I found the new recruit. Amanda, Bohdan Susyk. Bohdan, Amanda.’
The man looked her up and down, a hungry glint to his eyes that Amanda found less than appealing.
The prisoners had gone utterly still at the mention of her name.
‘Susyk here’s a good man for enchantments,’ said Zoe. ‘Or disenchantments when required.’
‘Don’t be getting too friendly,’ the man grumbled, turning back to the prisoners. One by one, he whipped away their blindfolds. Their eyes were red and swollen, tear tracks down their cheeks. Blinking against the light, they looked around, each of them finally seeing Amanda and their expressions somehow managing to sour even further at the sight of her.
Reaching into his shirt, Bohdan pulled a tangle of pendants from out around his neck. Holding a fistful of the things, he let the jumble spin in front of his face until he spotted the one that he wanted, extracting it from the others and slipping it off.
Duncan flinched at his approach.
‘Want me to put it on one of your friends?’ Bohdan asked, then grunted with satisfaction when Duncan complied, bowing his head forward. ‘So, where is she? Who helped her?’
None of them answered, staring down at the floor, biting lips and cheeks and tongues.
‘You’re going to answer,’ said Zoe. ‘Might as well answer now before all the hurting starts.’
There were more footsteps on the stairs, the door swinging open to reveal a new man.
Andre Crozier, as he was introduced, must have been in his thirties, his hair cropped close but unable to disguise the emerging grey at his temples. He was only a little taller than Amanda and had the growing paunch of someone who hadn’t yet accepted that his twenties were over. Like Bohdan, he gave Amanda a once-over but showed no emotion one way or the other. Instead, he chose to approach Bohdan and talk in a low voice, excluding the others.
Bohdan gave a nod, which Andre returned.
‘How do we know it’s them?’ asked Amanda.
‘No one else it can be,’ said Bohdan. ‘They know. And they’re going to tell us. Or die keeping it from us. Up to them.’
Taking a step back, Andre began to work cantrips. The effect was immediate, the pendant around Duncan’s neck starting to reek of magic. The tall man gritted his teeth in discomfort.
‘What are you doing to him?’ asked Amanda.
‘Little trick we picked up,’ said Bohdan, enjoying her unease. ‘Amulet there works with his tattoos. Really gets under his skin, fucks with the magic inside the inks, makes it crackle. He’s feeling like he’s inside a microwave now.’
She could feel the heat radiating off the man, looked at his pink skin.
‘Not just that,’ said Andre. ‘Those tattoos around his eyes, for magic vision. Can fuck with that too. And I can feel those protection wards on you as well,’ he called to Duncan. ‘Wonder what happens when we trigger them when there’s nothing to fight off. Could suck the magic right out of you, won’t even have to empty the hoover to take care of what’s left.’
Duncan didn’t reply, his face taut with pain, eyes closed to help with the burden.
Amanda’s mind worked, fighting between her priorities. She wanted the same information that they did, but to let them find Karina first was not something she trusted to work in her favour. She needed to stop this, find the information out for herself, act on it for herself. It was the only way that she could guarantee her blackmailer would be satisfied.
None of Karina’s friends would meet her eye, their feelings of betrayal evident. But how to win them back? She had to stop this, prove herself an ally, but without showing her hand to Susyk and the others.
‘There has to be another way,’ she said.
‘You have a better idea?’ asked Zoe.
Janine continued to glare at Amanda, demanding that she end this. But she couldn’t think of what to say. These men were on a path and there was little she could do to justify steering from it.
Bohdan and Andre were continuing their work, Bohdan’s arms crossed as he watched Andre work his cantrips. He showed all the emotion of a technician switching a machine back on after a repair.
Whatever power the pair were working, it was syncing with the amulet, Duncan shuddering and squeezing his eyes shut in great discomfort.
‘You think you can handle this much more?’ asked Bohdan. ‘Because I don’t reckon your friends can stomach watching. Just tell us where she is.’
‘He doesn’t know,’ said Amanda.
‘Oh, they know all right,’ said Andre. ‘You still hear me, Duncan?’
The man shuddered. He opened his eyes and Amanda felt sick when she saw that his eyeballs were a startling marble white.
‘Stop it,’ burst Sarah. ‘He doesn’t know anything. None of us do. If you just left us alone…’ her argument cut off to a whimper as Bohdan leaned over her.
‘I’d believe her if I was you,’ said Amanda. ‘I was talking with them earlier. Had them in a good spot trusting me. I got a good read on them, and I could tell they don’t know shit.’
‘What would you do?’ asked Zoe, over the scoffs of the men.
‘Well, how about we start simple,’ she replied. ‘Have you tried searching her cell?’
Somewhere above them, they heard a shout. Already, Amanda knew that voice. Mallory was on his way.
‘Best talk quick, Duncan,’ said Andre. ‘You know there’s worse to come.’
The sounds were growing louder, the commotion upstairs increasing as things crashed and smashed. Neither Zoe nor either of the men seemed concerned, Zoe looking more apprehensive than anything else.
‘People, come on,’ Zoe urged. ‘Give us something. Because you know when he gets down here…’
‘Let him do his worst,’ said Janine. ‘We don’t
know anything. She wasn’t afraid of him and neither are we.’
The expressions of the two women either side called bullshit on that one.
Duncan continued to hiss and shudder against the pain. Amanda could swear that she was beginning to sense the stomach-turning smell of cooking meat.
‘Ease up,’ said Bohdan. ‘Don’t burn the amulet out, that took me days to make right.’
‘Maybe you need to make them better,’ said Andre, not letting up. ‘What happens? Will it kill him or just stop working?’
‘You don’t want to find out. And do you want to explain to Harry what the fuck happened?’
‘Stop being such an old woman, I know what I’m doing.’
‘You don’t. You break everything I make.’
‘Then you should do it. You want that, Duncan? This arsehole working on you. Not going to have any finesse. Probably boil your fucking balls off.’
‘I don’t… know… anything,’ insisted Duncan.
The noises above them had stopped. There was the sound of footsteps on the stairs. It was like a taser to Zoe, who jerked from her spot, grabbing Amanda by the sleeve and pulling her along so that they were out of the way.
Duncan gasped as Andre broke his spell.
‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you,’ said Andre. ‘Nice fucking knowing you.’
Every eye was on the doorway now.
‘Here you fucking are,’ bellowed Mallory as he stormed into the room. ‘Looking for you fucking everywhere. Fuck you leave me behind for? Woke up in some shitty prison bed.’
‘So you’d calm down,’ said Zoe. ‘You almost killed Fitzackley’s new spy and got us in a tonne of trouble.’
Amanda met his gaze, trying to disguise her nerves. It was everything about him, the way he moved and spoke, that made her itch all over.
‘How was I to know that was her?’
‘You’d have realised if you’d stopped to think for two seconds. Who else would she be? You ever seen her before?’
‘Then what was she doing standing up for these pieces of shit?’
‘Was she now?’ said Bohdan.
‘I just hate wasting time,’ Amanda shrugged.
‘How’d you do it then?’ asked Mallory. ‘Zoe here said you were the one put Churchie in prison. How’d you do that?’
‘You’d have to ask him.’
‘I’m asking you.’
‘And I’m telling you. Ask him.’
‘Got balls, hasn’t she?’ said Andre, then looked away when Mallory turned his glare on him.
‘He fucking talked yet?’ Mallory demanded, striding over and grabbing Duncan under the chin. ‘Where the fuck is she?’ He rattled the man’s head, almost tearing Duncan’s jaw from his face. ‘Eh? Where is she? Where the fuck is she?’
No one moved to intervene. Andre had stepped back. Bohdan was smiling at the violence, but Amanda could see a runnel of sweat creeping down from his temple.
‘You think she can embarrass me like this? You think I’ll let her humiliate me?’
‘Leave him alone,’ Sarah shouted.
‘Fuck’s sake,’ Mallory snarled. ‘Am I the only one who gets things done around here?’ He reached behind him once again.
This time, Amanda was watching. She wished she hadn’t.
The bat came from nowhere, something painful happened to her vision, space folding and leaving stars in her sight when she looked right at it. It made her toes curl, made the breath freeze in her chest. Even when she knew what it was, it was hard to stop its effects.
Chitra began to cry.
‘I can’t watch this,’ said Zoe, heading for the door.
Amanda stopped her as she passed. ‘They’re seriously going to get away with this?’
‘Trust me, right now they can do whatever the hell they want. Warden’s desperate enough. Stay if you want, but I’ve seen how this ends.’
Amanda watched her leave.
Mallory pressed the tip of the bat into Duncan’s shoulder, grinding it into the man.
‘Still don’t know where she is?’ It was the first time Mallory had spoken without anger. Now that he had someone under his boot, he sounded serene. ‘None of you? You’re just going to sit and watch this happen? Just stand by and let a woman break the law? Run away from justice? Leave all of you to face the consequences?’
‘Sounds pretty selfish to me,’ said Bohdan.
‘We don’t know where she is,’ droned Duncan, exhausted. ‘She was running from you.’
‘Who helped her then?’ said Andre. ‘Someone snuck up on him. Which one of you was that?’
Duncan clamped his mouth shut, stopping the answer from flying off his tongue. He grunted in pain as Mallory jabbed him with the bat, harder this time.
‘They won’t know anything,’ said Amanda, trying again. ‘You want a plan done right, you don’t tell anyone else.’
‘Oh yeah?’ sneered Bohdan.
‘It’s what I’d have done. You find a way out, you tell as few people as possible. You all know how secrets work, right? The fewer who know, the fewer that can talk.’
‘They know,’ said Mallory. ‘They all know and they think they’re being brave not telling me. But they know. All they do is talk. Whisper. You think I don’t know what you’re saying? Saying about me? Hold out his arms.’
Duncan resisted as Andre grabbed his cuffs, straightening the prisoner’s arms out.
The three women cried out in protest. Getting to their feet, they pleaded for everything to stop, shouting over one another.
Bohdan and Andre stepped to meet them, trying to push them back to their knees.
Sarah, using her smaller size to her advantage, slipped between them, throwing herself at Amanda. Her cuffed hands hit Amanda’s chest painfully, the woman’s eyes desperate. ‘There are papers,’ she said, low enough that only Amanda could hear against the din of the others.
Putting a hand to her shoulder, Amanda glared at the woman, urging her to keep quiet.
‘In the mattress,’ the woman pressed. ‘They can’t find them.’
Andre had spotted them talking, suspicious.
Amanda pushed Sarah back to her knees with the others. ‘Fuck’s sake, get back there, before I put you down.’ She brushed at her front like the woman might be dirty. ‘This is a complete waste of fucking time,’ she said to the men.
‘What did she say to you?’ asked Andre.
‘What do you think she said? She doesn’t know anything, does she? Karina kept them all in the dark. Because she’s smart enough to know we’d try this.’
‘No one’s smarter than us,’ Bohdan sniffed, intent on keeping the others in their place while Andre and Mallory set back to work on Duncan.
Sarah was staring at Amanda now, begging her to make this stop.
The men were discussing the pendant again, unabashed about workshopping Duncan’s torture in front of him.
There was nothing Amanda could do. If these papers were important enough for Sarah to take that risk, then maybe they would lead her to Karina, somehow. She wanted to keep them out of Church’s hands, anyway. Her best chance of saving her daughter now rested with making sure she got to them first.
‘Here we go then,’ said Bohdan, working his fingers. ‘Third time’s the charm.’
Gritting her teeth, palms sweating, Amanda kept her eyes locked on the women before her, urging them to keep quiet.
Chapter Ten
Michaela paced the kitchen and stared out of the window into the city.
She had grown accustomed to the view down the road. There was the raised DLR line ferrying businesspeople safely above the poorer district between Bank and Canary Wharf. There were the vans and taxis on their daily errands on the road below, the occasional old woman overburdened with shopping bags struggling home.
She would make a point of peering out down the street at gloaming, when the old spells that kept the derelict buildings aloft would release a faint light, confusing the sensors on the nearby street lam
ps. That had been hours ago, night settling uneasily over the sleepless city.
A yawn enveloped her. She should be sleeping now. Weeks of grief manufacture had allowed her and Pearce to form a routine.
Perfecting the chair had only been the beginning; now Pearce was working her harder than ever, manufacturing his product. The short time between finishing yesterday’s batch and waiting for the raw emotion he produced today was one of her rare moments to catch some shut-eye. Sleeping and manufacturing had been her life these past weeks, and when she slept she dreamed of bottles, filters and rune adjustments.
But she couldn’t sleep tonight. Tonight, she could only wait and hold her nerve, time measured in cups of black coffee.
She could hear him in the other room, leather squeaking as he adjusted position in the seat.
He was tireless, a constant, grinding machine. He arrived, took to the chair, churned his raw emotion into the bottles and left with the refined product from yesterday’s batch in a shopping bag. He hardly spoke a word to her, or she to him. So long as she did as he told her, she might as well have been invisible.
It was a routine that worked. For Pearce, because he knew exactly what he was getting. For Michaela, because it was a weakness to exploit.
Her phone lay silent on the table. Despairing, she picked it up anyway to waken the screen, checking for notifications. Nothing.
With a glance at the door, she made a call, heading to the furthest corner of the room and keeping her voice low.
‘Hey,’ Jared’s voice sounded resigned; he already knew why she was calling.
‘Tell me you’ve found something.’
‘If I’d found something I’d have told you. He’s either selling to specialists or he’s got some foreign connection. If you just let me talk to Davey—’
‘No.’ Michaela had to force herself to keep her voice low. ‘I don’t want him involved. Don’t you dare tell him.’
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