A Clockwork Heart (22 page)

Jack looked alarmed. “You cannot do that. A bargain struck is a bargain binding.
Pacta
servanda
sunt.
Pacts must be served.”

“Not if the bargain was struck by trickery. Now tell me what it is that you want. I really do not have time for this.”

Jack was silent as he thought the matter over. “I want you to take me through the barrier when I come. Will you do that?”

Elle thought about it for a moment. She had no idea why Jack would want something so specific. It had to be important, but she could not think why.

She watched a little black spider drop down from the branches above them on its silken thread only to quickly climb back up it again.

“If you let me through the barrier, then you would know where I am,” Jack said.

Jack had a point. And knowing what Jack was up to was certainly better than leaving him to his own devices.

Oh
voices, what should I do?
she thought. But there was nothing but silence. Elle suddenly regretted banishing her allies with all her heart. And right now, there was no time to devise a way to return them from exile.

Elle sighed. She would have to make the decision on her own. And right now Marsh was her only concern.

“Done,” she said. She could worry about Jack later when the time came.

Jack gave her another crooked-toothed grin and rubbed his hands together. “That is splendid, my dear. Splendid indeed.”

“Now tell me about the lady.”

“All right, all right, I am getting to that,” Jack said. He scratched his wispy beard. “The Ladies in White are difficult creatures. Willful, stubborn. And they hold grudges like no one else in the two realms. Oh, I remember a little dalliance with one when I wore a younger man's beard.”

Elle pulled a face. “That's not much help. How do I stop one?”

Jack shrugged. “That depends on the situation. As far as I know there are only two ways to stop her. You must either make her want to change her mind. Or, if she won't, then the only other way is to change her mind for her. You know what I mean?”

“Not really, if I'm honest,” Elle said.

Jack looked at her with his sharp little eyes. “Oh don't be so slow. You have to
kill
her.”

Elle shuddered. The image of the man in the park was still vivid in her mind. “More blood on my hands,” she murmured.

Jack tutted. “I heard rumors that the new Oracle was a little behind on her training, but really, this is too much.”

Elle glared at him. “My training is just fine, I'll have you know, sir.”

Jack held a hand up to placate her. “Easy now, I meant no offence. I'm sure you are well aware that you are one of the few forces in existence that can stop almost anyone from the Shadow with your power. You
are
the Shadow, my dear and so you control the energy that flows within all of us.” Jack nodded slowly. “I suspect that there are some here who would see me lynched for letting the secret out, but we are all yours to command, my Queen.”

Elle blinked. She was queen of the Realm of Shadow? This was certainly news to her.

Jack chuckled and gestured toward her hand. “Also, that bit of silk around your finger might come in handy. That would tie her up in knots in no time.”

“But if I unwound the ring, would it not sever the bond?”

“It might. But I thought you wanted to stop the Lady no matter what the cost?”

“I do.”

“Well, at all costs is sometimes very expensive, you know.”

Elle thought about this. Jack was not being particularly helpful and she was wasting time. “Jack, I thank you for your time.” She drew up her cloak and rose.

“Right, so it's settled then,” Jack said. “Just give me a moment to gather a few things.”

“What? You want to come with me now?” Elle said.

Jack shrugged. “Now is as good a time as any, don't you think? I hear the Orient is lovely this time of year.”

“I have no idea.” She had not bargained on him wanting to go immediately.

“Stay where you are, let me just get my things. I won't be a moment,” Jack said as he disappeared behind the tree. Elle watched his lantern flutter and flicker on the ground where he left it.

This sudden turn of events was most inconvenient. She did not trust Jack one little bit and the last thing she needed right now was to be playing governess to an old fairy.

“I'm sorry, Jack, but I'll have to come back for you another time,” she whispered as she snuffed out the light of the lantern. Then Elle turned and ran for the barrier as fast as she could.

As she ran, she heard a strange howling noise behind her. It was the sound of pain that ran deeper than any mortal could withstand, paired with utter and desolate disappointment. The sound was so awful it set her teeth on edge.

“Run! Run!” The magpies appeared overhead, squawking loudly.

The dip-dibs screeched as she flew past them.

“Rrrrrrun!” the magpies said.

As soon as Elle cleared the trees, the world sped up to a speed that made her nauseous. And just when she thought she could not stand moving any more, she felt the barrier before her. She closed her eyes and dove headlong through it. The moment of weightlessness, as if she was underwater, passed in an instant and then she landed on the cold hard floor of her secret chamber.

She stood up, shivering. All her limbs were damp and cold as if she had been lying outside in the rain. She stumbled out of her secret chamber and closed the door firmly behind her. Grateful for the safety of her own room Elle crawled to the bed and slipped in between the covers. She lay under the cover shivering and thinking for a very long time. She had many plans to make before nightfall.

CHAPTER 29

Elle found Loisa and the professor in the dining room that evening when she came downstairs.

“Loisa! You are up,” Elle said.

Loisa still had half moons the color of bruised damsons under her eyes, but she was alert and seemed much better. “Thank you for the potion, it has worked absolute wonders,” she said.

“That was a rather close call you had, Ellie, my dear. Loisa was just telling me all about your little adventure in the park.” The professor rose from the table. “Blasted business, shooting a man, isn't it?”

Elle did not meet her father's gaze. “I'm sorry I'm late. I overslept a little,” she said avoiding the subject.

“You look like you needed it, darling.” Loisa took a sip from the ruby-colored liquid in her goblet. “But in answer to your question, Professor, Elle is a deft hand with that revolver and we were lucky we managed to get away when we did. A few minutes later and it would have been too late. Even for someone as skilled as me. I owe her my life.”

Caruthers started serving the meal, which was a strange mix of dinner and breakfast dishes. Elle helped herself to some Kedgeree. “How is he?” she said.

There was an awkward silence as her question hung in the air.

“Ticking along as ever, my dear,” the professor said softly.

“I know this might not be the best topic for the table, but as we are all here, we might as well talk,” Elle said.

No one objected.

“How is work on the device coming along, Papa?” Elle said.

“Very well, actually. I tested it out on a pig carcass that Neville picked up from Smithfield for me. You know, even though I hated every moment of it, the time spent with those alchemists was most illuminating. I actually ended up learning quite a lot from them in the end,” the professor said.

“But what about the device, Papa?” Elle said.

“Oh that. The device made the transference of the organs still attached to the pig without a problem. I can't say the same about the mantle clock in my room though. I hope you don't mind.”

“As long as you can make that machine work, you may use anything you can find in this house, Papa,” Elle said.

“So I take it that you have been up to something while the rest of us were in repose,” Loisa said.

“Actually, I went to the Shadow side before bed this morning. I went to find a very recent acquaintance of mine,” Elle said.

Loisa gave her a look. “I think you had better tell us about it,” she said.

“That was a very risky thing to do. Dealing with the old Fey is always tricky business and there are always consequences,” Loisa said when Elle had finished relaying her story.

“Desperate times, Loisa.” Elle said.

Loisa patted her bee-stung lips delicately with the starched table linen. “To be fair, at least we know what we are dealing with now.”

“I will handle Jack if he shows up,” Elle said.

“A real Lady in White,” Loisa mused. “They are very rare creatures, you know. Elemental witches. And judging by the splendid weather we are experiencing at the moment, I'd say her element is storms.”

“So that's the explanation,” the professor said. “I knew there was something behind all this rain.”

“Exactly my thought,” Loisa replied. “And what better place for an elemental who specialises in the use of thunder and lightning …”

“ … than a spark monastery.” Elle finished Loisa's sentence for her.

“So what we need to do is plan the offensive,” the professor said.

Elle looked at him in surprise.

“Well you didn”t think I was going to let you go in there all by yourself now, did you?” the professor said.

“And I am coming too,” Mrs. Hinges said from the door. “There is no way I am going to allow that thundering Valkyrie to get away with what she has done to his lordship.” She shook her head. “Not in a million years.”

“And neither will I,” said Caruthers not to be outdone by Mrs. Hinges.

“And me too,” said Neville. Clearly they had all been listening from just outside the dining-room doors.

“That”'s wonderful, but I cannot allow you to place yourself in harm's way,” she said. “I caused this problem and I need to solve it on my own.”

“Oh, here we go with the it's-all-my-fault nonsense again. I knew she was going to say that, didn't I?” Mrs. Hinges said. “No, my dear, this calls for teamwork. United we stand and divided we fall.”

“Hear, hear!” said the professor. “Caruthers, see if you can find us a bit of that nice sherry in the study. I say we all retire to the withdrawing room to toast this endeavor.”

“Splendid idea,” Loisa chimed in.

Caruthers wandered off looking somewhat scandalized at the thought of servants and members of the family drinking together, but he had found the sherry glasses by the time they were all assembled in the drawing room.

“I have been formulating a battle plan,” the professor said as soon as the sherries were poured. “Neville, bring in the drawing board!”

Elle turned around in surprise as Neville wheeled in a wooden drawing board, the kind the professor used for presenting lectures. Pinned to it was a big sheet of paper with a number of diagrams and formulae.

The professor pulled his telescopic lecture cane with the brass tip from his pocket and opened it up with a flourish.

“Right. If everyone could please be seated where they can see the plans, I will begin,” he said in his best lecture voice. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said when everyone had settled down, “before you I have a floor plan of the monastery. And here is what I suggest we do.” And with that, the professor launched into a detailed account of his vision.

Elle listened to the professor outline his plan with a growing sense of enthusiasm. It might just work.

“Very well then, if everyone is agreed and sure of what they know what to do, then I suggest we set about completing our preparations. We move tomorrow night.”

“Yes, sir!” Neville and Caruthers said in unison.

Mrs Hinges nodded slowly as she thought matters over and Elle could see that the housekeeper was working on a few embellishments of her own, but she was wise enough not to get into a debate with the professor about them.

Loisa just sat in silence with the secret little smile of hers on her face and Elle wished she could tell what the Nightwalker was thinking.

“Neville, would you mind driving me into the West End this evening,” Loisa said.

“No problem, Baroness. Just let me know when you wish to go,” Neville said.

Loisa gave Elle an apologetic look. “I still do not have my full strength back quite yet. I need to go out.”

“Think nothing of it, dear Loisa. Just please be careful,” Elle said.

“Of course my dear,” Loisa said. “I always am.”

“Then we are all set,” Elle said. “We will convene here in the dining room tomorrow evening.”

After the meeting dispersed, Elle wandered into the kitchen. She walked over to the meat room and stared through the windows. Marsh was still in the place she had seen him earlier. He stood completely still with his head bowed forward as if he were extremely weary. His slightly too long hair had flopped forward onto his brow.

Elle wanted to pull the door open and hold him in her arms, but she knew she could not. Any agitation would simply make the clock in his chest tick faster.

“We will fix this, my darling,” she whispered. Her warm breath fogged up the glass that separated them and then, just as quickly, it was gone.

Marsh did not respond.

Elle closed her eyes and turned away from the window. As she did, she said a little prayer to anyone who might be listening. It was a prayer that their plan would work and that tomorrow evening would not be too late.

CHAPTER 30

Clothilde stood very still in front of the magneto generator in her laboratory. Somehow, even though they could not see her, she felt she had to stand when she was speaking to her employers.

“You are sure you linked this connection to the telephony line securely?” the chairman's voice crackled and echoed through the brass speaker horn which stood to the side of the cabinet.

“Our cable is spliced into the transcontinental line, bypassing all the exchanges. I had the electromancers attend to the matter,” Clothilde said. There was a brief pause as her voice carried down the line, for she was speaking long-distance.

“Nonetheless, we will keep this communication short. There is never any way of telling who might be listening in,” the chairman said. Another whizz and crackle on the line ensued. “We are all assembled. You may report,” he said.

“All is going according to plan. I now have a thousand made and ready for shipment.”

“Very good,” said the chairman. “And the quality?”

“The best I could find. Very strong and durable.”

“And your visitor? We are surprised that he has not made contact with us.”

“He is not here at the moment. He said that he had some other business to attend to. He left us the day after he arrived, but he said he would be back soon. Apart from that, I do not know what he is up to.” Clothilde stared at the glass tank that had been erected in the corner of her laboratory as she spoke. Inside the blue spark-infused liquid, Patrice floated silently. A grotesque array of wires and springs sprouted from the cauterized hole in his chest. He was awaiting the insertion procedure, but somehow Clothilde had not quite gotten round to completing the process. The solution he was suspended in would preserve him indefinitely, and his heart floated in one of the jars of the shelf, neatly lined up and numbered, so there was no rush.

She stroked the side of her face that was still slightly tender from where he had struck her. It would do the odious man some good to marinate for a while.

“I am sure we will hear from the good monsieur before long,” the chairman interrupted her thoughts. “In the meantime, I will arrange for transport of the first shipment by dirigible. Choose a hundred of the best specimens and have them ready for collection. The Emperor is willing to allow us to deploy a small batch in the East as a demonstration. He wishes to see how they fare before completing his purchase negotiations.”

“When shall I expect the flight?”

“Tomorrow evening.”

“I will see that they are ready.” Clothilde said.

“Then we are pleased. You have done excellent work so far, Miss de Blanc. Very good work indeed.”

“Thank you, sir,” Clothilde inclined her head even though she knew they could not see her.

And with another crackle and a hiss, the connection was terminated.

“You know that it's illegal to have one of those without a license,” Emilian said behind her.

Clothilde swung round. He was sitting in a chair, eating an apple that he was slicing with a rather large and dangerous-looking knife.

“How dare you listen in on my private conversations?” she blazed.

“Oh, don't be so touchy, lady. You called for me, remember?”

“Yes, of course.” Clothilde frowned. Maintaining control over the soldiers was becoming more and more taxing and she was so tired some days that she found herself forgetting things. And making mistakes—mistakes she could ill afford.

“Well, you heard the man. We need to round up a hundred and have them ready for shipment.”

“Shouldn't be a problem,” Emilian put a slice of apple into his mouth. “I was thinking that batch of prisoners we stole would do nicely. They are also the most bloodthirsty. If they want to do a proper demonstration, those ones should put up the best show.”

Clothilde nodded. “Yes, I think you might be right. Those would be good specimens to send.”

“What are you going to do with Fatty over there?” Emilian pointed to the tank.

Clothilde's eyes blazed. “Don't think I have forgiven you for that little faux pas, Emilian. You should be the one floating in that tank at the moment. How dare you speak out of turn like that?”

Emilian met her gaze steadily and started laughing. “I thought the man needed to know that you were running your own little business on the side.”

“Such insolence,” Clothilde grumbled. Emilian's message was clear, though. He was not going to allow her to treat him like she treated the electromancers. She would have to put up with him for now. And when the time came, sending him into the machine would be so much sweeter.

“So what about Fatty?” he said, pointing the knife at the tank.

“Not that this is any of your business, but he is touched by the Shadow side and so is an interesting subject for research. Once the insertion of the heart device is completed, he will be part of my personal guard. So I would be careful if I were you.”

Emilian held up the hand that held the knife, palm out but with the blade between his fingers. “Understood, dear mistress.” He went back to slicing his apple. “And what do you want me to do with the other special ones? The little lordling and that table-rapping fop that you had Vargo pick up from Soho?” Emilian placed the square apple core on the little ledge beside him and carefully wiped his knife clean. “The fop keeps wailing and whining about wanting to get out of here. Can't you sort him out for us?”

“He can wait, for the moment. We have other, more important business to attend to.” Clothilde thought for a moment. “Actually, I think we should send the young lord along with the prisoners. They will need a general to herd them and he could do with a little training.”

Emilian nodded and stood. “All righty then, I shall do as you command.” He made a little bow, which had nothing to do with respect or subservience.

“Thank you. You are dismissed.” Clothilde said.

“Oh yes, before I go.” Emilian rose from his chair. “In case you were wondering, Mr. Hunch is dead. He died this morning from the gunshot wound to his stomach.”

“I trust that the search for a replacement is under way?” she said without batting an eyelid.

“Yes, we are looking.”

“Any news on the whereabouts of the woman who shot him?”

Emilian hesitated.

“Speak!” Clothilde barked.

“Vargo says the Nightwalker got a nasty mouthful of silver when she sank her little teeth into Tom.” He paused for effect. “We don't think she should be long for this world.”

“And the other, the one with the red hair?”

“We don't know.”

Clothilde went very silent. Was this the same woman who chased her in the opera house? The one who sensed her using Shadow magic? It was too much of a coincidence for it not to be.

“Also, Georgie from the Stag said that the warlock's wife came looking for him last night.”

“No!” Clothilde shouted. She could tell that Emilian was not being entirely forthright in his reporting. Lightning crackled and struck the conductor chimney high above them.

“Did she find your sister?”

Emilian shook his head. “She did not. And besides, even if she did, Florica would not betray you.”

“I very much hope for both your sakes that this is true, Emilian. You and your sister have tried my patience for the longest of time with your insolence. Don't make me regret my decision to hire you more than I already am.”

Emilian stepped back a few paces at the sight of her wrath. “Just the messenger, remember. I'll go see to your hundred.” He turned on his heel and made his way out of the room, ostensibly ignoring her anger, but she saw the little shadow of worry pass over his face. This pleased her immensely.

Clothilde sank into a chair and rested her head in her hands. Patrice had been right. There was a powerful Oracle hunting her now. And if she knew anything about the world it was this: neither the seven hells nor the darkest recesses of the Shadow hath as much fury as an Oracle scorned.

She looked up at the tank. Patrice still floated motionlessly before her.

She turned to the long gallery of glass jars that were lined up on shelves on the one side of the room. Each jar was filled with the same liquid as the solution in the tank. In turn, each jar was connected to a network of copper tubes and cables that fed the spark current into them.

She liked seeing the hearts beat gently in unison with one another. Watching them brought a rare sense of tranquillity over her, but she had no time heart-gazing right now.

She walked along the gallery until she came to a specific heart. “It seems, Monsieur Chevalier, that today might just be your lucky day. For I need you more alive and with all your faculties at your disposal than I had initially realized.”

Carefully she lifted the jar off the shelf and carried it over to her operating table. There was work to do.