Helena smiled again. Her voice was pleasant, almost happy. “My uncle is a peer of the realm. And you are a worthless maggot not fit to be crushed under his shoe.”
Kaldar bared his teeth at her. “When I get out of here, I’ll kill him and mail you his head.”
“I’ve read your grandfather’s journal,” Helena said. “I know all about the Box he invented. It’s a wondrous device, isn’t it? So powerful that as long as there is a drop of life left in a body, it will regenerate it.”
“The Box was burned,” he told her, unable to keep the happiness out of his voice. “I was there.” They had burned it to keep Spider away from it forever. He had no regrets over its loss.
“Your grandfather was a very clever man,” Helena said. “We’ve scrutinized his diary. We’ve read every letter. Sadly, we can’t replicate the Box. But while we studied it, we noticed an interesting detail. While he speaks of the pig and the calf and your dear cousin, all of whom he stuffed into the Box as an experiment, he points out that they all had something in common. He made all of them drink a disgusting concoction he called earache tea. You drank it too, didn’t you, Kaldar?”
“No.” He remembered that vile brew like it was yesterday. He had hated it, and he’d had to drink it for about two months straight because the adults had made him do it.
She shook her head. “Yes, you did. You must ask yourself why your grandfather would torture you so. After all, the tea had only one purpose—to prepare you for the Box. The diary named several test subjects: a, b, c, d, and e. One could assume that animals were the first few, but you see, your grandfather also lists a certain schedule in his mad ramblings. The schedule has five names: Richard, Kaldar, Marissa, Ellie, and Cerise. Five names. Five test subjects.”
No.
Helena grinned at him. “Now, your cousin received the lion’s share of the dosage, but you did get a trip to the Box, Kaldar. I bet you heal faster than normal. You’re healthier. You probably never broke a bone in your life.”
He hadn’t, but that didn’t prove anything.
“When my uncle consumed your grandfather’s heart, his blood changed,” Helena said. “Oh, wait. You didn’t know that? Yes, Spider killed Vernard. Your grandfather was a complete monster by then, but Spider succeeded in killing him. Spider’s blood is no longer the same. There is a certain new component to it. It helps him heal. Very, very slowly. In time, he believes he might be able to walk again. Sadly, he’ll be an old man by then. Whatever that component is, he needs more of it.”
“There is no more,” Kaldar told her grimly.
Helena reached over to the test tube and lifted it. The blood within it had turned indigo. “There is. You’re carrying it in your blood. Spider’s blood turns pale blue, but yours . . .” She shook the tube. “Look at that. You are full of useful blood.”
The woman was insane. “Why not take me back to Louisiana, then?”
“And risk the Hand taking you away to interrogate you? They may even trade you for one of their agents in the Mirror’s dungeons after they wring everything out of you.” She put the test tube back. “No, I’m going to drain you dry right here. I will harvest your flesh, your skin, your bones. I will convert your body into a tonic that Spider will drink every morning. My uncle will walk again, Kaldar. You won’t enjoy the final hours of your life, but have no fear. Your body will be put to good use. You will support a man far greater than yourself.”
“Fuck you.”
She ignored him, walked to the door, and stuck her head out. “Bring the blood bags.”
KEEP walking, Audrey told herself, climbing down the mountain. Just keep walking.
In her mind, Kaldar dropped his harness to the ground. “A good trade.”
No. No, it was a lousy trade, a sucker’s trade. It was unacceptable.
A bird landed in front of her. It was small and blue. “Finally!” George’s voice sounded strained. “I found you!”
“George!” She almost sobbed. “Helena has Kaldar!”
“I know. We’re not far. Hold on, Jack’s coming to get you!”
Fifteen minutes later, when a lynx bounded through the woods, she dropped to her knees and hugged him.
Thirty minutes later, they walked out into a clearing. Their wyvern sat on one side. A different wyvern rested on the other. Between the two huge beasts, William bandaged Cerise’s shoulder. Francis lay on the ground, tied like a pig.
George saw her and slumped on the grass, closing his eyes. He looked exhausted. The blue bird that rode on her shoulder dropped like a stone.
“Helena has Kaldar.” Audrey strode to Cerise. “I need you to help me.”
“We can’t,” Cerise said.
“What?”
“The Mirror broke our communication ban,” Cerise said. “All agents in the Democracy of California have been ordered back to Adrianglia. The Hand is recalling its people as well.”
“We made too much noise,” William said. His face was grim. “The fight was too loud, too public, and there were too many witnesses. Adrianglia and the Dukedom are trying to avoid open war.”
“He’s your cousin.”
Cerise’s face jerked with pain. Tears swelled in her eyes. “And I love him,” she said. “But we have a direct order.”
“But Kaldar!”
“Kaldar is an agent of the Mirror,” William said. “He knew the risks.”
“It’s an order, Audrey,” Cerise said. “Not a suggestion. If William and I stay here, the Mirror will decommission us when we return. We’ll be tried for treason. Our family will lose its asylum, and the Dukedom of Louisiana will have an excuse for an open conflict with Adrianglia. If Kaldar were here, he would tell you exactly what I am telling you now. We’re soldiers in this war. Soldiers don’t get to pick which orders they follow.”
It sank in. They couldn’t help her. They wanted to, but they couldn’t.
“When are you leaving?” she asked, her voice hoarse.
William tied off the bandage. “Now.”