Chapter 21
“There is what is easy, there is what is right, and there is what you can get away with.”
- Octavius Septimus Stalk, Key King
Ijerked awake.An unknown sound had pierced my slumber. Marcus’s cries followed by Justin’s soothing tones settled my concerns. I sighed. It must have been my dreams that caused my heart to pound and set my nerves to jangle.
A loud shout followed by a scream dispelled me of that notion. I jumped to my feet.
“Stay here.” Justin put Marcus in my arms before he raced outside, clutching a dagger.
I was still blinking back the sleep as I gazed down at the baby. “How did I get relegated to babysitter?” I swayed Marcus side to side and hoped desperately that he wouldn’t start crying.
“Do you think he’ll be okay? Maybe we should look around for a weapon.” I wasn’t much of a fighter. Okay I wasn’t a fighter at all, and other than a few daggers, I had no other weapons on me. However, I was in a workshop and considering how morally deficient the Gear Master might have been, he must have created at least one weapon.
After much searching, I discovered a sword dumped in a scrap bin. It must not have come out how Torren had wanted. I pulled the sword out, then set it on the desk. I wasn’t sure where this wariness came from. No one should be able to access the workshop who wasn’t pre-approved. The archway would keep the interlopers out. As much as I wanted to see what was going on, I didn’t dare risk Justin’s baby.
Too wound up to rest further, I spent the next few hours unrolling blueprint after blueprint to understand the Gear Master’s plans. The amount of genius enclosed between rolled pieces of paper astounded and amazed me. If Cruller hadn’t told me of Torren’s experiments, I’d admire his brilliance more. The plans he had that didn’t involve human experimentation had my imagination firing to see if I could make the designs he left behind. If I didn’t have to give up sex and Justin, I could’ve become one of those monks who spent their days amongst scrolls and parchment. It didn’t help that my powers would probably see me burned for heresy.
My fingers tingled a bit. Was my magic recharging faster now that I was using it more often?
I had always thought my powers underutilized. Sure, it did help my creations become more lifelike and lately, almost too much, but I suspected it could be do more now.
After learning Torren changed humans to mechanical and that my magic was reverting it, I had to wonder what happened with Amalia and the blue bird. They had never been alive, and yet now they were starting to become more lifelike—the opposite of what Torren had done. Was I granted different magic to reverse the damage Torren had caused? I didn’t exactly believe in a higher power, but there were enough strange things going on that I was willing to believe in fate.
I flickered through page after page of brilliant schemes, impossible inventions, and incredulous creations. Time passed with no notice by me as I became ensnared by one man’s ingenuity. Marcus had fallen asleep a while ago when a bang at the door yanked me from my absorption as fast as a plunge into a cold bath.
I snatched up the sword and went to investigate.
The bang came again.
Before I reached the door, it sprang open. Buster stood on the threshold. Not the proper, polite mechanical version, or the half-mechanical hurting one. No, this man was mostly flesh. A handsome almost human version with only the imprint of mechanical pieces remaining on his flesh. At the wild, manic expression in his eyes, I have to say I preferred the metal version.
“Look what you did to me!” he screamed.
“I thought you wanted to be flesh?” I mentally scanned out previous conversations and couldn’t think of anything that would make me think otherwise.
“I wanted to be fixed with a new gear, you imbecile, but you couldn’t keep your grubby magic to yourself. You were supposed to replace my gear and put me back together. Then I would make you reverse the change. Why do you think I went to the effort to get kidnapped!”
“What? You were purposely kidnapped?”
“Yes! And it cost me a lot of my profits. Now use your filthy magic and change me back!”
“I don’t know how to do that!” I snapped back. “I’m still learning about my abilities.”
“That’s why I wanted you here!” He waved a hand encompassing the workshop. “Torren explained his processes in his journals. If you read them, you can reverse the process.”
“I won’t. What Torren did was despicable.”
“He was a genius!”
“He was insane! He experimented on people for his own amusement, simply to practice out his powers.”
“He was unappreciated by the others. They trapped him here among his creations, refusing to let him out.”
Enlightenment hit me. “The entire prophecy was a lie.”
Buster smirked. “I planted the whole thing. My spies above told me of the three of you and how strong your abilities had grown. Let’s just say it is a self-fulfilling prophecy.” His grin widened. “And you little puppets were perfect. Now finish the job and change me back!”
