Chapter Two Nina #3
“Lord Tanner,” said a soldier. It sounded like the general, the very same one who had taken us hostage. The one who had run Gunner through with a knife. “I apologize for the hour. You said to bring them straight to you.”
“And so you have.”
The blindfold lifted away, and before me, Lord Tanner clacked his teeth together and stood from an oversize desk. He looked older. Gaunt. There were even fewer hairs on his head. His jowls didn’t quiver as much as I remembered. It all served to make him seem more severe, and no less frightening.
“Miss Clarke,” he said to me. “Well done.”
My throat closed over. I did not have the courage to look to my left at Patrick. I felt Theo’s stare burning into me, willing me to stay quiet, to be clever.
I knew I ought to smile and bow my head and let my charade of loyalty to the House continue, but I was done playing their games. I was bone-tired and burning with anger. “Where is my mother?” I bit out.
Tanner’s slippery grin wavered. He turned to Theo, who looked, by all accounts, haggard, his eye swollen nearly shut and his shirt torn at the sleeve.
“Mr. Shop,” Tanner continued. “I wish I could offer you the same praise.” He then pulled a scribble from his pocket, an eyeglass from his robe, and poised it over the bridge of his nose. He read aloud.
“To the right honorable Lord Tanner… Where is it?” his eyes skimmed the page.
“Ah, here… three fire Charmers found dead in the canals… the former Lord Theodore Shop found deserting at Kenton Hill and resisted detainment… My, my.” Tanner quickly folded the parchment again, then walked to his desk to discard it.
“I cannot say I blame you, boy. You’ve come up rather short these past years.
” He clasped his hands before him. The words were mild, but I sensed a spiking fury behind them.
Tanner’s eyes flashed. “Two years, the Alchemist eluded you, and he was under your nose the whole time.” He tsked, and again the noise was too clipped, too overzealous.
“And now I come to find you tried to abandon your post. The very one you volunteered for. Am I to believe that you’ve turned to the side of the rebels? ”
Theodore straightened, though I saw the slight flinch. “No, my lord,” and he said, glancing once at me. “I only meant to escape the Union’s recapture. It wasn’t my intention to flee the Lords’ Army. I… I suppose I lost my wits for a moment.”
Tanner regarded him as though he were a lowly insect. “Your father will be much relieved to hear it,” he said. “I, however, remain unconvinced.” He nodded once to the soldier at Theodore’s side, and there was a flurry of movement.
One soldier pulled a switchblade from his belt.
Another seized Theodore’s tied wrists, ripped his shirtsleeve to the crook of his elbow.
Theodore struggled. “What are you doing?”
And the blade sank into his Artisan brand, brilliant red pooling and then flowing freely over Theo’s forearm. Theo shouted in pain, the blood spilling quickly. His knees sank down to the tile, black-and-white checkers now slickened.
“Just a precaution,” Tanner said, grimacing at the mess. “While I make up my mind.”
I realized I was straining against the hold of a soldier, who cursed and yanked at my arm. “Theo?” I called.
But Theo was bent over his wrist, his breaths ragged, one side of his shirt turning crimson.
“You’ll kill him!” I shouted at Tanner, trying to wrench my arm free.
The lord turned to the soldier at my side and nodded in kind.
Hands clamped over my forearm, shunting my sleeve up.
The mottled skin where Idia once resided bore up. A blade flashed down, and in it sank, all the way to the bone.
I screamed and wrenched myself free, falling to the floor. Somewhere above, a voice thundered. A shout of pain. More feet smattered across the tiles. I looked up wearily to see Patrick with his arms looped over a soldier’s neck, his roped hands pressing tightly against the man’s throat.
Patrick’s eyes were on me, bulging desperately.
A huddle of soldiers grasped Patrick from every side, but Patrick was bigger, far stronger, and the soldier in his grasp flailed.
One soldier held a pistol to Patrick’s temple.
“STOP!” Tanner bellowed. It rebounded into the vaulted ceiling. “I SAID, STOP!”
The soldiers froze, confused.
They doubled in my vision, tripled. I blinked rapidly.
“Enough,” Tanner growled, the cords of his neck pulsating. “Remove your hands from the Alchemist. Now.”
One by one, they did. They stepped back reluctantly, leaving Patrick to stand as he was, the rope of his restraints sitting firmly against the windpipe of his captive.
The soldier’s face was puce. His fingers dug desperately at Patrick’s hold.
“Help her,” Patrick said. Not to me, but to Tanner. His hands shook, and his shoulder was bleeding again, the ropes of muscle in his arms flexed. “Now.”
My eyes closed of their own accord, and I forgot how to open them. When I did, all I saw was blood pooling in the cradle of my hands. It rushed from the wound, eager to escape. Nausea descended.
“HELP HER!”
“Calm yourself,” Tanner commanded, his expression livid.
“Once enough idium has drained away, they’ll be treated with bluff to keep them from bleeding out.
They’ll recover. Precautions must be taken while I ascertain which side you’ve aligned with, Miss Clarke, Mr. Shop.
Until then, I’m afraid I can’t have you wielding your mediums, now, can I?
” Tanner peered at the soldier in Patrick’s grasp, whose eyes were beginning to roll back.
“If you plan to kill the man, then do it quickly, Mr. Colson, for Idia’s sake. The hour is late.”
Theodore fell sideways, his eyes closing. The wound at his wrist continued to flow.
“Fuck,” Patrick spat, and he released the man, who promptly collapsed.
Patrick staggered and groaned, his hands rising to grip the bullet wound on his shoulder.
“You have me,” he said, panting painfully.
“You got what you wanted because of her,” he righted himself, hissing another curse.
“You’ve no reason to punish her. She followed your fucking orders. ”
“She did,” Tanner agreed. “For the most part. Though I’m not a fool. She’s a slippery, defiant little thing. She developed a rather obnoxious habit of being a traitor when she was young.”
I thought perhaps I’d fallen sideways, too. Something hot and slick puddled against my cheek.
“You and I have business to discuss, Mr. Colson.”
“Get her a doctor, or there’ll be no business.”
The ceiling seemed to be rising, lifting away into the night. And I was sinking, sinking. Warmth escaped me, and it took with it all the light, the color.
“Don’t worry yourself, Mr. Colson,” Lord Tanner’s voice said, as though it were whispering into my ear. “There’s a greater purpose at hand. One in which I’d very much like the both of you to remain alive for.”