Liv squared her shoulders. “It’s science. Spirits are energy. This house is functioning like a black hole trapping that energy within it. Take her across.”
Lucille ran into the Tunnel and waited.
Sampson glanced at Necro, unsure.
Come on, Wheel a Fate. Give us a break for once, Link thought.
Link couldn’t remember Liv being wrong before, but as Sampson lifted his foot to cross the threshold, dread twisted in Link’s insides.
There’s a first time for everything. Especially the bad things.
Necro let out a bloodcurdling wail, but Sampson kept moving.
The moment Necro’s body reached the boundary between the basement of the Sultan’s Palace and the Caster Tunnel, her shoulders jerked and the harem girl’s Sheer lurched forward—out of Necro’s body—as if someone had thrown her. It was like the Sheer had hit a force field from a sci-fi movie. The Sheer’s bare feet hit the ground, and she bent down in a crouch, as if she was just as shocked as Link. Then she rushed back up the stairs.
When Link turned back to the Tunnel, Sampson was already standing on the other side next to Lucille. He was still carrying Necro, her limp body leaning against his massive chest.
Floyd ran toward them. “Is she okay? Why isn’t she moving?”
Link swallowed hard.
Come on, Nec. You gotta be okay.
“She’s breathing, and her pulse is strong.” Sampson looked down at her. “Beyond that, I don’t know.”
Necro stirred, and she pushed closer to Sampson, like someone having a nightmare.
Liv touched Necro’s wrist and counted softly, checking her pulse. “Sam’s right. Her pulse is a little fast, but it’s strong. She’s probably just weak. I can’t imagine it’s easy to have spirits stepping in and out of your body that way.”
Sampson took a deep breath, looking relieved.
“That certainly was dramatic, and a little anticlimactic,” Angelique said, glancing at Necro before she headed down the Tunnel.
“You should shut your mouth,” Sam called after her. “Before someone does it for you.”
The Cataclyst winked at him. “Aw. Say it like you mean it.”
“Let’s go,” John said. “We can’t afford to lose her until she gets us to the labs.”
Sampson nodded and pulled Necro closer to him, following Angelique, while Lucille trotted next to the Darkborn.
The Tunnel resembled a storage cellar in an old bar. Boxes filled with cartons of Lucky Strike and Pall Mall cigarettes were stacked next to crates with the word COFFEE stamped on the outside.
John reached inside one of the crates and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. “These have probably been down here since Prohibition.” He checked the date on the bottle. “Bootleggers smuggled liquor in coffee and tobacco crates all the time.”
Liv pushed up on her toes and peered inside another crate. She pulled out an unmarked bottle of clear liquid. “Gin, maybe. I’m surprised Abraham left these down here.”
“Maybe it’s part of the décor,” Floyd said, following Sampson farther into the Tunnel. “When you have as much money as the Ravenwoods, I bet cases of old cigarettes and liquor aren’t big concerns.”
“Not if you’re selling harems of Caster women and girls,” Liv said.
“I’m gonna kill that bastard Silas when I see him,” Sampson said as he stormed behind Angelique.
“Get in line,” Link said. “If that son of a bitch did anythin’ to Rid …” He couldn’t finish. The possibility that Silas might have already done something terrible to Ridley was too much. Deep down, Link knew things could be even worse—that he might get to the labs and find out Ridley was dead.
She’s okay.
He had to believe it. It was the only thing he had left to hang on to.
Angelique slowed down. “Now, boys, let’s not get carried away. Silas is mine.”
“What happened?” Necro mumbled, her hand sliding around the back of Sampson’s neck.
Sampson froze, as though he wasn’t sure if Necro was really talking or if he was imagining it—at least, that was the way it looked to Link.
If anyone knows what that feels like, it’s me.
How many times had he found Ridley or one of his friends hurt and wondered if they were gonna be okay?
At least I knew if they were alive or not.
“You’re awake.” Floyd rushed to her friend’s side and wrapped her arms around Necro.
Liv and John rushed over, too.
Necro rubbed her eyes and stretched slowly. “I feel like I was run over by a bus.”
“Do you remember anything?” Liv asked tentatively.
Necro nodded, wincing. “Some of it. I saw the Sheer of one of the harem girls coming at me, and I felt it when she stepped inside me. But after that, it’s all pretty hazy. But I’m guessing from the looks on your faces it was worse than that.”
Angelique waved a hand in the air. “Lots of blood, some severed limbs, a man wielding a machete. That sort of thing.”
Floyd glared at the Cataclyst before turning back to Necro. “There was more than one Sheer. It was like you were a magnet. They just kept coming at you, and there was nothing we could do.”
Necro closed her eyes and nodded. “I get it. This isn’t my first rodeo.”
When she opened her eyes again, she glanced down at Sampson’s arms wrapped around her. She raised her chin and looked up at him. Link couldn’t swear to it, but it looked like Sam was blushing a little. “I’m guessing you’re my knight in shining bike chain,” she said, smiling. “Did you swoop in and save me or something?”