Concealed

by Christina Bauer

  How long have I been asleep exactly?

  Dull pain burned up my arms. I opened my eyelids the barest amount. Jonas and Hannah stood on either side of me. Each Fantome had draped one of my arms over their shoulders, making it easier to drag me along. That explained the pain. It didn’t answer how much time had passed, though.

  Still trying to look asleep, I stole a few more careful glances at my surroundings. It helped that my mask was gone and some of my hair had fallen over my face. The mages were lugging me down a darkened passageway. I exhaled. This was familiar territory. We were in the dungeons just underneath the Montagne mansion. Which meant there was no question where they were taking me.

  Straight to Ada and Veronique.

  And to a place that the Fantomes thought would mean my death.

  At last.

  Footsteps and muffled music echoed in from the ceiling. I let out another relieved sigh. The ball continued upstairs. At most, I’d been passed out for an hour.

  I carefully reached out with my mage senses. When it was clear that Hannah and Jonas didn’t notice what I was doing, I tested the magick around me. There was hardly any power in the air. Still, I pulled in what I could. Another force crept across my skin. It was some kind of ward. Not against Necromancer power, though.

  That’s right. The Vicomte blocked Caster magick down here after our battle yesterday with the Fantomes.

  A hollow sensation spread through my chest. Since they’d blocked Caster magick in the dungeons, I couldn’t call Tamu.

  I would have to fight alone this time. No help from Rowan.

  Fine. I could do that.

  Hannah and Jonas dragged me deeper into the dungeons. With every step, the ache in my arms grew worse. I wanted nothing more than to walk on my own power. It wasn’t something I could risk, though. As long as Jonas and Hannah thought I was passed out, I had the chance for a surprise attack.

  That was an opportunity I wouldn’t waste.

  Instead, I focused on drawing in a steady stream of magick. After the battle in the gardens, I was empty and tired. I needed to prepare for another fight and fast.

  Finally, Jonas and Hannah stopped before a heavy wooden door. My skin prickled with gooseflesh.

  This was it; I could feel it in my bones.

  All I needed to do was keep up the appearance of being passed out. As long as the Fantomes thought I was helpless, I could launch into a surprise attack, free my Sisters, and get us all to safety. In the journey here, I’d gathered enough magick for a decent spell or two. But escape alone wasn’t enough.

  I must get that vortex watch.

  A hazy plan began to take shape in my mind. The Fantomes would need the vortex watch in order to drain me. And the moment they brought out that device? There was my opportunity to strike. The witness watch still sat safely tucked away in my pocket. Even better, it looked identical to the vortex watch. Perhaps I could use the witness device as a decoy, cause a diversion, and then grab the vortex watch for my own. A spark of hope lit in my heart.

  The plan might work.

  Hannah knocked on the door in an odd rhythm. “We brought her.”

  The portal swung open, sending a beam of torchlight across my face. The Vicomte stood on the threshold, wearing a garish yellow longcoat. His gray features were tight with rage. “This better be worth my time. I left the ball for your nonsense.”

  I risked a quick look. The chamber was huge and made of gray rock. Apart from our small pool of torchlight, most of the place was cast in darkness. A dozen more Fantomes stood in a neat line behind the Vicomte. There was no mistaking the glimmer of totem rings on all their fingers.

  Gods-damn it. That man came prepared.

  Jonas jostled me, sending a shooting pain up my arm. “This one’s got magick, I tell you.”

  “Her? How much?” asked the Vicomte.

  “She cast a winding sheet spell on me,” said Jonas. “I escaped easily, of course.”

  The Vicomte’s gray eyes narrowed. “But that’s Mistress level.” His voice dripped with doubt. Like the mages back in the garden, he couldn’t imagine a real Necromancer would survive the Tsar’s purges.

  Wait until I unleash my power.

  “No, Your Eminence.” Hannah helped Jonas drag me inside. “She’s a Grand Mistress.”

  The Vicomte chuckled. “Did I hear you correctly? I sent you off to deal with a troublemaker. Now you say she’s a Grand Mistress Necromancer. Why I trust you Fantomes is beyond me.”

  “We are sorry to disappoint,” said Jonas earnestly.

  The Vicomte waved his arm. “We’ll see. Hopefully, there’s a little power in this wench. I’ve been killing myself trying to eke out magick from the sad specimens that are currently in my collection.”

  A jolt of anger rushed up my spine. Specimens? These were my people.

  “She will complete your vortex watch,” said Hannah. “You can rely on it.”

  “Perhaps. If this bitch has had any kind of training, then it’s a distinct possibility.” His gray eyes flared with hunger. “Genesis Rex has given me nothing but trouble tonight. How I’d love to have that vortex watch charged up and ready before I return to the ball.”

  So you can kill him, you mean.

  Worry churned inside me. The Vicomte was out to murder Genesis Rex. Down here in the dungeons, there were still wards against Caster magick. I couldn’t get a message to Rowan through Tamu. Even worse, I couldn’t afford to use the little magick I had for anything outside of grabbing vortex watch and escaping. Rowan would have a far worse problems if the Vicomte got his hands on a fully charged totem ring.

  Some rustling sounded in the distant corners of the darkened room. Were Ada and Veronique out there somewhere? With the size of this chamber, it could easily be a trick of the ears.

  The Vicomte eyed me carefully. “Don’t you think you need to restrain her more properly?”

  I worked hard to stay limp in Hannah and Jonas’s arms. A surprise move was my best chance here. I must save it for the perfect moment.

  Jonas sniffed. “No, she’s under a sleeper spell. Eight of us cast it. This one won’t awaken for hours yet.”

  It was an effort to keep from smiling. That’s what you think. That hybrid magick must have protected me from the full effects of the sleeper spell. Something to remember for the future.

  If I have one, that is.

  “So you say.” The Vicomte did not sound convinced. “I’ll have a look myself.”

  Sharp footsteps sounded across the stone floor. My heart beat so fast, I felt sure everyone could see the pulse in my throat. The Vicomte’s chilly hand gripped my chin and forced my head upright. It took every scrap of my Necromancer training to appear asleep when what I really wanted to do was cast an attack spell.

  Wait, Elea. You need that vortex watch first.

  Foul breath cascaded down my cheek as the Vicomte moved in closer. “Are you really asleep, I wonder?” The Vicomte then slammed his fist into the side of my head. Pain ricocheted down my skull. I didn’t show any reaction. After years of controlling the painful deluge of magick, that punch felt like nothing. The Vicomte leaned in once again. “She doesn’t look like much. Still, I’d rather have my vortex watch working sooner rather than later. Set her onto the machine.”

  Hannah and Jonas dragged me deeper into the chamber. We hadn’t gotten more than a few steps inside when I felt it.

  A total void of magick in the air.

  Every last wisp of Necromancer energy was gone. It made sense since this was the place where they drained Necromancer power. It didn’t help me any, though. If I was going to get the vortex watch and escape, I couldn’t rely on being able to quickly pull in fresh power.

  Oh well. The little magick I had gathered would have to do.

  “Elea! Elea!”

  That was Ada. She’s here, right now, in this very room.

  I pushed away Hannah and Jonas. Standing on my own, I scanned the darkened recesses of the chamber. I couldn’t see a th
ing.

  “She awakens,” said the Vicomte. There was a calculating note to this voice. My training told me to consider that before anything else, but my heart wouldn’t have it. Ada was somewhere nearby. All I wanted to do was find her.

  “I’m here, Elea. Here!”

  I took off into the darkness, following the direction of Ada’s voice. Rushed footsteps sounded behind me. I was pretty sure Hannah and Jonas were trailing me. Even so, I couldn’t be bothered with them right now. Ada needed me.

  “Jonas. Hannah. Cease your pursuit,” commanded the Vicomte. “I want to see what she’ll do.”

  “But she’s strong,” said Hannah.

  “And there are fourteen of you in this room. Call it an experiment.”

  I didn’t care what the Vicomte called it so long as I found Ada. I stumbled around as my eyes adjusted to the lack of light. Other than the mages, the place seemed empty.

  Did I imagine that voice?

  “Elea!”

  Finally, my vision cleared. I found Ada sitting in a far corner. Her bony limbs jutted out from her loose robes. A tangle of dark hair sat matted against her head, and her brown eyes seemed sunken into her skull. A large table stood beside her.

  I ran over to Ada, knelt at her side, and scooped her tiny frame into my arms. Heavy chains rattled with the movement. Someone had manacled her hands and feet. Rage coursed through me. How dare anyone touch her?

  “You came for me,” Ada said between sobs. Her tiny body felt so frail against mine.

  “I never forgot you.” I rocked her gently.

  “There aren’t many of us left.”

  My breath caught. If Ada was alive, then there was still hope for others, too. Amelia would be thrilled. “Is Veronique here?”

  “Yes, she’s—”

  “Now I understand.” The Vicomte’s voice boomed around the stone room. Ada immediately fell silent. I pulled her more closely to me. “You’re here to rescue this little thing. My fool of a daughter wants to save Veronique’s useless hide. How brainless of you both.” He paused before me and Ada, his boots gleaming in the low light. “You sent the Tsar into exile, didn’t you?”

  I glared up at him. “You’re next, only it won’t be exile.”

  The Vicomte smiled. “I should thank you for that. Saved me the trouble of killing him. Perhaps I could even offer you a place with me as a Fantome. However, I can’t. Your kind is worse than useless. Need to save everyone, don’t you?”

  “Not everyone.” I carefully reset Ada into her corner. The motion exposed new stretches of her skin to the torchlight. Tiny sores covered her everywhere. Many of them oozed blood. Rage burned through me. “Some people I’d rather kill.”

  I rose, faced the Vicomte, and tapped into the little bit of magick inside my soul. No, I didn’t yet have the vortex watch, but I couldn’t get myself to care any longer.

  The Vicomte was going to die, right now.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Hannah and Jonas tackled me before the incantation had left my lips. Cold metal pressed onto my wrists. Damn, they’d gotten another pair of enchanted manacles. I couldn’t cast a thing while these were on.

  “Well done,” said the Vicomte.

  “Thank you, Your Eminence,” said Jonas. He and Hannah stood behind me, holding me in place.

  The Vicomte rubbed his papery hands together. “You’ve been nothing but trouble to me, girl. I know exactly how to repay you.”

  “You want to drain me.”

  “Eventually.” The Vicomte motioned to one of his other Fantomes. “Bring me a torch.” I didn’t like the smug look on his wrinkled face. “Set it right by the wall over there.”

  The mage stalked closer, illuminating the back wall. That was when I saw her. Veronique. Her broken body was strapped to the high table that stood beside Ada. I blinked hard, hoping that what I saw was a trick of the firelight.

  It wasn’t.

  Veronique lay with her arms stretched far above her. Her ankles were braced apart. She’s on the rack. The Vicomte moved to stand at the foot of the table, his hand resting on the crank that would pull the structure apart. The rack was known to snap a person’s spine. It was a horrible way to die.

  An angry gleam shone in the Vicomte’s charcoal-gray eyes. There was no doubt in my mind. He intended to kill her while I watched.

  Options and ideas flew through my head.

  Lunge for the Vicomte.

  Run for my life.

  Scream for help.

  None of them seemed a viable choice. Amelia’s witness watch weighed heavily in my pocket. When I’d last checked, the time was a few minutes before midnight. My insides trembled with worry. By tapping into my power, the Vicomte would quickly load up this vortex watch.

  There had to be some way to stop him.

  I still had my small cache of Necromancer energy. The enchanted manacles blocked me from using my magick, but not for long. Hannah and Jonas would have to take them off in order to strap me down to the table. When that happened, I’d need to cast and quickly.

  It was my only chance.

  The Vicomte gave the wheel of the rack a spin. Veronique moaned and shook. The Vicomte grinned. “Good evening, Veronique. I brought you a visitor.”

  Veronique slowly angled her head in my direction. Pity and anger tightened my throat. Veronique’s Necromancer robes were little more than bloody rags now. Her face was white as death. Small red welts dotted her skin. Blood and puss oozed from the holes. The sight made me ill and enraged all at once.

  “Elea, you’re here.” Veronique’s large blue eyes, once so full of fight, stared blankly at me. “Kill me. Please.”

  A moan caught in my throat. What horrors had they exposed her to? I pulled against the enchanted manacles that held me. The metal chaffed my skin, and I welcomed the pain. From behind, Jonas and Hannah tightened their hold on me.

  I glared at the Vicomte. “Set her free. I’ll put magick into your damned watch.”

  The Vicomte shook his head. “Hurting Veronique bothers you, eh? Now, you just made sure that your friend would spend even more time on the rack.” He bared his yellow teeth. “You made a fool of me, Elea. Don’t think you’re getting an easy death. She certainly won’t.”

  I opened my mouth and then closed it again. There was nothing I could say that would speed things along. My best chance was to wait my turn.

  And watch him kill Veronique. The thought made me queasy.

  The Vicomte gripped the wooden crank. “Since that we’re all set and paying attention, I’ll begin my demonstration.”

  Veronique’s chest barely rose and fell. Her lips and fingertips took on a blue tinge. “You don’t need to do this, Gaspard.”

  “Ah, but I do. It’s all your friend’s fault.” He gestured toward me, blaming me for Veronique’s pain. I hated him even more for that. “Elea cares for you, my sweet, and so she needs to watch you perish.”

  A tear rolled down Veronique’s dirty cheek. Rage blazed through my soul. This isn’t how anyone deserves to die.

  The Vicomte turned to me. “Now, be a good girl and watch silently, or I’ll be forced to bring on another subject for my demonstration.” He stared pointedly at Ada, who cowered more deeply into the corner. “Do we understand each other?”

  How I hated answering him. “Yes.”

  Lean on your Necromancer training. Don’t show emotion.

  “Excellent. I knew you’d see reason.” The Vicomte nodded toward Veronique. “This pathetic creature was a machinist for me once. Not as talented as Amelia, mind you. Even so, I thought she could develop skills over time.” His thin lips curled with distaste. “She didn’t.”

  Rage had me seeing red. The Vicomte was about to kill Veronique, and yet, he talked about her as if she were nothing more than a defective gear in one of his machines. Every corner of my soul wanted to take him down.

  Not yet, Elea.

  I forced myself to focus on my breathing, something that Mother Superior taught me long ag
o. My control hung on by a thread.

  “She does have some useful skills, as it turns out,” continued the Vicomte. “Veronique can’t pull Necromancer power into herself. She does naturally attract it, however. Every few days I can bring her here and harvest more energy from her.” He smiled down at Veronique. There was nothing gentle in his grin. “Just like a cow, you see? Only she gives out a different kind of milk.”

  Ada began weeping in the corner. This was what the Vicomte had done to her. To all of them. Broken their spirits like animals. My hands balled into fists. I simply had to make him pay.

  “First, I shall place the device on her.” The Vicomte pulled the vortex watch from his pocket and pressed the sides. Long, sharp prongs jutted out from the base.

  I scanned Veronique’s body and fought the urge to gasp. Like Ada, she was covered in small, oozing sores. It was clear where those wounds were coming from: the prongs on the vortex watch.

  The Vicomte stepped up to the head of the table. He was so close now I could strangle him if my hands were free. I struggled to lunge forward, but Hannah and Jonas held me firmly.

  In one swift movement, the Vicomte jammed the watch face onto the base of Veronique’s throat. Thin trickles of blood ran out from where the prongs dug into her skin. She whimpered with pain. It was an effort to focus on the mission instead of screaming.

  Get that vortex watch. Forget everything else.

  “There, you see?” The Vicomte tapped the watch face in Veronique’s neck. “She’s ready to be milked, as it were.” He chuckled softly at his own joke. I wanted to gouge out his eyeballs with my bare fingernails.

  The Vicomte stepped back to the base of the table and reset his hands onto the crank. “As you can see, the watch face isn’t lighting up. No power yet. Veronique doesn’t know how to access magick or refuses to. Either way, it doesn’t matter. We just need a little more pain, don’t we?”

  Veronique moaned, and I never wanted to kill the Vicomte more than I did right now.

  The Vicomte spun the wheel. Veronique’s hands and feet were wrenched in opposite directions. She writhed on the table, her pale lips widening with a pathetic scream. The Vicomte didn’t seem affected in the least. “Normally, we’d put a silencer spell on her, but for your benefit? Not today.” His eyes narrowed as he stared at the watch face at the base of Veronique’s throat. “Nothing yet. Let’s try a little more pain.”