“I think he’d let her die. Can you break a curse like that?” Stephen swung to face Colin, prepared for another round of argument about throwing his life away for a human he’d never met.
“Does a full house beat a pair?” Colin winked. “I’ll come find you once it’s done. Try to whittle them down a bit, will you? Five of those things might be a bit much for me at the moment.”
“I’ll let you take your ease this time,” said Stephen, though his voice was thick for a moment. “Bert’s in the kitchen. Mina’s brother. He’ll take you to Florrie. And take this.” He held out the derringer. “I doubt I’ll be able to use it.”
Colin pocketed the gun, then clapped his good hand to Stephen’s shoulder. “Stay alive,” he said, serious for a second.
He closed the door behind him, but there was no time for Stephen to lock it. As Colin left the room, Stephen had already begun to change shape, not caring or even really noticing as his clothing shredded around him. He did notice when he burst through the closed window, but he didn’t care any more about the shattered glass than about his ruined shirt.
Launching himself into the fog, he sped toward the docks, only hoping that he’d arrive in time.
Forty-two
Touch was the first sense to return. Mina awoke to the feel of cold metal against her back and rough ropes cutting into her wrists and ankles. Her hands were behind her, and when she wiggled her fingers, she felt more metal, pitted and flaked with age. She could smell old metal too, as her head cleared, and a vague hint of rotten eggs.
Sulfur was not a good smell, considering the circumstances. At least Mina didn’t see any flames when she opened her eyes.
Demons, on the other hand, were clearly in stock. Half demons. Five of the creatures from before surrounded her, human features variously afloat in shadow. Each had a different arrangement of…bits…but their eyes were all the same, gray-white and completely expressionless. Mina would almost have preferred rage or hunger—or eyeless faces like the manes had. She wasn’t fond of the middle ground.
She wasn’t fond of anything about this situation. She rather wanted to be sick.
It was important to keep calm. It was also important, she realized after a breath or two, not tolooktoo calm. The less Ward thought she knew, the more likely he’d be to overlook something. So she shrieked and threw herself about, imitating the heroine of every three-penny melodrama she’d ever seen, calling for help even though she knew there was nobody to hear.
Screaming and thrashing against the ropes relieved her feelings a bit, too.
At last, Mina let herself slump in her bonds, hanging her head as if exhausted. Blood was trickling from her wrists where the rope had rubbed off some of the skin. Feeling it, she thought she might have overdone the hysteria a bit.
Footsteps came toward her, echoing in the sudden silence. Mina looked up under her eyelashes. If one of the half manes was approaching her, actual hysterics became a very real possibility.
The half manes stayed where they were. The figure approaching was human, at least, although the man had very little else to recommend him in Mina’s eyes. He was tall, stout, and well-dressed, his coat and hat rather absurd given their surroundings.
He stopped in front of her: not, to Mina’s relief, within arm’s length. “Don’t bother with another show,” he said. “Nobody will hear.”
That wasn’t just a threat. He knew what he was talking about. Mina could tell as much from his voice, and she was glad of the dim lighting. There were several dark patches on the floor that she didn’t want to see clearly.
“I hope you’ll be a sensible girl. I’d like to do this quickly, and I don’t reallyneedto hurt you. Someoneshouldteach you a lesson about sticking to your place and keeping your nose out of the affairs of your betters,” he added, and in the flexing of his fingers and the light in his eye, Mina saw a rage that had passed rationality long since. She shrank back as much as she could.
Whether her fear had sated him for the moment or he’d just turned his mind to more practical matters, Ward cleared his throat and went on. “But it doesn’t have to be me. Not if you’ll be smart.”
Mina widened her eyes and raised her head. “Who are you?” she asked, letting her voice slip back into the accent she’d grown up with. “What do you want with me? I ’aven’t done you any ’arm.”
Ward was a big man, and past middle age, whatever spells he used to keep himself from growing any older. Mina saw his open hand lash out and had time to turn her head so that the blow missed her nose and mouth. It was still hard enough to make her cry out, and it knocked her head back into the pipe, which hurt worse than the slap.
“Don’tlie,” Ward snarled. “Don’t think you can get away with it. Not gutter scum like you. I can see right through you.”
He stepped back. He also rubbed his hand, which tempted Mina to smile, as stupid as that would have been. “You grew up in Bethnal Green,” he said. “Then you somehow learned to speak a little bit like a lady and you worked for Professor Carter—until two months ago, when you showed up at MacAlasdair’s in the middle of the night and got taken on as his personal secretary.”
There was no point asking how he knew. Any of the servants or the servants’ friends or their friends’ friends could have told him. Mina had never tried to keep any of that information secret. Clearly it was time to revise her tactics; the old ones had earned her a bruised face and a throbbing skull.
She swallowed and managed to get words out of her throat, though it felt clamped shut. “What do you want with me, then?”
“He wouldn’t have employed you for your personal charms or your skills,” said Ward, and Mina wasn’t sure whether he meant to insult her or Stephen, or both. “You must’ve found out a thing or two about ‘Laird MacAlasdair.’ What was it?”
The ropes were securely tied and the pipe was solid, with no sharp edges that Mina could find. The half manes stared at her blankly. Off in the distance, a rat squealed.
She cocked her head to the side. “What’ll you do if I tell you?”
“Let you go,” said Ward. Mina didn’t believe that for a second, but she tried not to look openly skeptical. “If you don’t tell me, I’ll let them go to work on you.” He gestured to the half manes. “They like live meat.”
