“But there’s no room for sentimentality. London’s rooftops burned a year ago. Today, her reincarnation, Everland, will face the same demise.”
The soldiers shift uncomfortably, flicking their goggled gazes to one another.
“Burn it down!” I shout. “Burn it all down until there is nowhere else for them to hide.” I fix my glare on Jack and clench my jaw. “And get rid of my traitorous stepbrother.”
The uniform-clad men shout orders, their voices sounding as mechanical as robots when I push past them.
“Wait!” Jack says. He struggles in the grip of an officer, his wrists bound tightly behind him. “That wasn’t the deal!”
I whirl on my heels and march close enough that Jack falters backward. “You’re right, Lost Boy: It wasn’t the deal we agreed upon. I should’ve killed you the moment Smeeth brought you to me. But no, instead I spared your life. We made a deal: You give me Gwen and I leave Everland forever. But the girl is not here, thus our agreement is null and void. Good-bye, dear brother.”
As I storm toward the entrance of the building, Jack lashes out with pathetic pleas. His words fall away, lost as my boots pound on the floor.
“What if I can offer you a better deal?” Jack shouts.
I stop, shadowed in the dark room, but don’t turn around. “What sort of deal?”
“What if I could tell you a sure way to catch the girl?”
“Why should I invest any more of my time in you? We’ve made agreements and your end of the bargain has fallen through, twice,” I say, taking another step toward the exit. “You were supposed to infiltrate the Lost Boys. Instead, you joined them and never reported back. This time you promised me Gwen. She’s not here. Why should I believe anything you say?”
“I know where Pete and Gwen are going next,” Jack says. “And it doesn’t matter if you burn all of Everland down—you’ll never find them. Not without my information.”
Intrigued, I march back up to the boy. “What is in it for you?”
Jack grimaces, holds his breath, and turns his head away, unwilling to meet my eyes.
“Those boys are more than just a bunch of orphaned kids,” Jack says quietly. He turns his eyes back to me and his glare is murderous. “They’re my family, which is more than I can say about you and your mother.”
Amused, I grin as memories of our childhood resurface in my mind. With nothing to eat but leftover scraps from supper, Jack was always a scrawny kid. While I was allowed to live within Lohr Castle, Jack was forced to sleep in a dilapidated delver’s cottage that served as a den to the forest rats. Jack joined my crusade to England in order to escape the Bloodred Queen’s wrath in exchange for labor. But I can live without him.
Cocking my head to one side, I take in the disheveled boy. “Naïve little stepbrother. Our parents’ marriage had nothing to do with being family. My mother wanted the crown, and after your father’s unfortunate ‘accident’ ”—I gesture quotation marks in the air—“you were just extra baggage.”
Scowling, Jack spits. “She murdered him and you know it!”
“Murdered is such a harsh word,” I say, circling Jack.
Jack’s face flares red with fury. “Katherina has no right to the throne!”
Laughter bubbles deep within me and erupts in a thunderous roar, echoing off the museum walls. “Now stop wasting my time. What is it you want in exchange for Gwen’s location?”
“Because of you, the Lost Boys have nothing left,” Jack says, narrowing his eyes. “They have no families, no homes, and now they’re going to lose their lives. They are showing symptoms of the virus. They need the antidote and for you and the Marauders to leave. Forever! If we can negotiate a deal to guarantee that, I’ll do whatever I can to get you the girl.”
I stop pacing in front of Jack and hesitate, knowing that it’s torture for him to wait for my response. As kids, he always hated it when he knew I held a secret. At first it was all in fun, but as we got older I knew he’d do just about anything I asked in exchange for information regarding his father’s death. Information I never had, but he didn’t know that.
“Interesting proposition,” I say. “I’ll tell you what, Jack. I can be reasonable. I will give you what you’re asking for, in exchange for information on where they are headed next and the Lost Boys’ hideout.”
“The Lost Boys?” Jack says in an uncertain tone. “What do you want with them?”
“Collateral,” I say, pacing the dark room. “Tell me where the Lost Boys are and give me the girl’s whereabouts, or I will tear Everland apart bit by bit, piece by piece, and without mercy to anyone I come across, starting with you.”
“No, I swore on my life never to reveal the Lost Boys’ hiding place,” Jack says, shaking his head. “I will tell you where to find Gwen, but I won’t reveal the location of the Lost City.”
I straighten, inspecting my Gatling gun and purposely aiming it in Jack’s direction. “It seems water is thicker than blood, stepbrother. Then again, we were never blood, were we?” My brother and I exchange hardened glares, but neither of us budges. Disgust gurgles up within me. “Kill him.”
I rocket toward the doorway, expecting, waiting for my stepbrother to cave. Glancing back at Jack, I recognize the familiar grimace.
A Marauder aims his weapon at Jack’s forehead, while another shoves him to the ground. He falls hard onto his knees. The gun gives an audible click as the soldier pulls back the hammer. Jack’s gaze darts from me to the gun.
“Fine!” Jack shouts. “I’ll tell you, but promise me that you will not harm them.”
“I promise I will not lay a single finger on any of them,” I say, waggling my gloved fingers in the air.
“And you will provide them with the antidote once you have it,” Jack says.
“Deal.” I spin so he can’t see the smirk I feel tickling the corners of my mouth.
“One more thing,” Jack says.
Aggravated, I steal a passing glance over my shoulder. “What now?”
Jack lifts his chin and swallows hard. “When you and your men leave Everland, I’m coming with you.”
After his betrayal, the fact that he abandoned the Marauders, I had no intention of bringing him with me. Caught off guard, I stumble through my words. “You want to come back? What happened to all that nonsense about the Lost Boys being your family?”
Jack spits and snarls. “Once I give you the location of the Lost City, I can never go back to the Lost Boys. I’m as good as dead if I stay with them.”
Flicking my stare to the officers, I guffaw, trying to cover up the uncertainty brewing within me. I’m not sure that my stepbrother can be trusted. The soldiers join in the laughter, while Jack averts his gaze. I pat Jack’s shoulder, still laughing along with my men.
“Gentlemen, we have a martyr on our hands. Very well, it’s a deal.” I give Jack a brisk slap on the cheek. “I knew you’d make a fine Marauder, Jack. Our mother would be proud.”
The Marauders chuckle among themselves.
“Smeeth, take him outside. Find out where those kids are. Send half of your men to the Lost City and the other half to the girl’s location.”
“Yes, Captain!” Smeeth says, shoving Jack out the door.
I pull a book of matches from the pocket of my black coat. Striking the matches, I drop them on a pile of artwork, lighting it into a bonfire. The fire grows, licking the nearby walls and ceiling.
As the building burns, we move outside. Flames reach toward the night sky from the roof of the National Gallery and ash rains onto the street, blanketing it like powdery gray snow. Soldiers dart between buildings, dousing the structures with kerosene, lighting them all ablaze.
Jack’s eyes shimmer with fear, the orange fire reflecting in their dark, muddy pigment.
“This is it,” I say, excitement evident in my tone. Everland glows, leaving me with a quiet satisfaction, relief washing away the endless months of misery. “A year in this wasteland and tonight it will all come to an end. By t
he time the sun rises, there will be nothing left, nowhere for Pete and the Lost Boys to hide. We will take the girls and leave Everland forever!”
“It’s been a long time, Captain,” Smeeth says, holding a gun to Jack’s back. “I shall be glad to leave this place.”
I grunt approvingly. With the cure in my hands, I am certain my return to Lohr Castle will not only be welcome, but lauded as heroic. The prize of England is only a grain of sand compared with the vast glory the cure will bring. If the world is in the condition that I expect it’s in, millions will be grateful for my gift. Considering the Professor’s suggestion that girls are on the brink of extinction, I’ll be a world hero and I’ll rule it, starting with the German crown.
I turn to Smeeth. “Did you get the locations?”
“Yes, sir. Girl’s heading to the palace, and you won’t believe it, Captain, but the others have been hiding in the Underground this whole time,” Smeeth says.
Disgusted, I grab Jack’s shirt and shake him.
“This whole time? All this time you’ve been right under my feet?” I give him a hard shove. He stumbles, but regains his balance.
I take in my younger brother, my fists clenching. “Before you take us to the Lost City, there is one more item we must take care of. One last thing to be sure neither you nor anyone else questions where you belong.”
Jack steps back, bumping into Smeeth’s gun. “What more could you possibly want from me?”
I stride toward the burning gallery and pick up a piece of wood. A flame dances wildly on the end. I hold the torch close to my gloved left hand, careful not to burn myself but close enough to make the ring on my middle finger glow red in the heat.
Smeeth shoves Jack to his knees. The boy grunts as he hits the ground hard. He sits back on his heels, his head bowed. Smeeth’s fingers wrap around Jack’s ebony hair and yank his head up.
I stoop, my gaze meeting the Lost Boy’s glare. Jack clenches his teeth together defiantly.
I press the red-hot ring behind Jack’s right ear, relishing his violent screams as they rise above the sizzling of fiery metal against his skin. The putrid smell of burning flesh fills the smoky air. Jack’s face grows pale with a hint of green as he crouches and vomits. The insignia of the Marauders, a skull and crossbones, marks the skin behind his ear, angry and raw. Jack spits and stares up at me, his nostrils flaring.
“Welcome back to the Marauders, little brother,” I say in a guttural growl.
Traveling the narrow passageway, I shiver and wipe away the tickle of spiderwebs from my face and hair. Lily leads, holding the lantern to light the dark shadows ahead of us. A wave of claustrophobia washes over me as thick black smoke and the smell of something burning makes the air feel thinner in the small space.
“We must hurry,” Lily says, holding the fabric of her sari to her nose and mouth. “It is just a bit farther ahead.”
“Where are you taking us?” I ask, distracting myself from the anxiety that mounts within me, my breaths becoming more shallow and rapid.
She answers without turning. “Eventually, as far from Everland as possible, but for now, somewhere safe.”
“We’re looking for our friend Bella,” Pete says, crinkling his brow. “She’s about this tall, with blond hair and mechanical wings. Have you seen her?”
Lily keeps moving forward. “Not now. I will explain everything once we are safe.”
We travel a few moments more and stop at a hole in the ground. Lily holds her lamp over the opening, but it sheds very little light into the gaping, dark chasm.
“Take this,” she says, handing me the lamp. She sits on the edge of the gap, her legs dangling over the side. Her foot finds a step and she slides in, disappearing into the thick blackness.
Doc reaches for the lantern. “You’re next,” he says.
“No, you go,” I say. “Pete’s injured. He’ll need you and Pickpocket to help him down.”
Pete shoots his gaze toward Doc and frowns, seeming ruffled by the comment, but he doesn’t say anything. He holds his injured arm with his good hand and gives Doc a tired expression. Doc shifts past me toward the hole in the ground. Lily’s hand pokes through the darkness and her gloved fingers wrap around his hand as she helps him climb down the steps.
“Now you,” Lily says, motioning to Pickpocket.
He glances at me with a wary expression but swings his legs into the gap and carefully lowers himself into the hole. Mole follows without hesitation.
Unable to control my cough, I crouch toward the ground, where the smoke isn’t as thick. Pete drops to his knees, covering his mouth and nose.
“You’re hurt. You go next,” I say to Pete, nudging him toward the opening.
“No, Gwen …,” he begins to protest.
“No time to argue. Just go,” I say, choking on my words.
He glances at me with some hesitancy but sits on the edge of the opening and drops into the dark abyss. My lungs burn and my vision spins. Lying on the dirt ground, I pass the lantern down into the hole. Almost tumbling in and gasping for air, I roll into two waiting hands.
“I got you!” Pete says, cradling me with a wince. I know he’s in a lot of pain, but he tries to hide it. He gently places me on the ground.
“I told you you should’ve gone first,” he says, patting my back.
“Because it would’ve been better if I caught you instead?” I ask, wheezing.
Pete laughs. “Spoken like a true Lost Girl.”
My faces flushes and I elbow him. “I learned from the best.”
“Let’s get you up,” Pete says, helping me to my feet. His hand lingers a little too long on my elbow, sending a renewed energy through my limbs. Too soon, he releases his grip.
The click of a latch shutting draws my attention. Lily stands on the top step of a crudely made wooden staircase and closes a trapdoor, blocking the smoke from entering the passage. Her face brightens in the lamplight, revealing dark eyes, warm skin tones, and beautiful Indian features. I glance down at my filthy hands, feeling somewhat mediocre next to her beauty. Doc helps her from the step.
“A proper gentleman, I see. Why, thank you!” she says. She gives Doc a quick peck on the cheek before taking the lamp from Pickpocket’s outstretched hand. A grin grows on Doc’s flushed face as he touches his cheek, seeming stunned by her affection. I turn to catch Pete’s eye, but his stare is locked on Doc, fury glazing his expression. I touch his arm and coax him to follow me. Seeming reluctant, he strips his gaze from them.
Fiery torches light the hallway, the flames’ light twinkling off polished white marble tiles lining the floors. Old sconces and dusty portraits of England’s leaders adorn the walls. The musty-smelling passageway is more sophisticated but narrower than those that led to the Lost City.
“Where are we?” I ask.
“In the secret royal tunnels,” Lily says. “These are the passages that the royalty, top military generals, and other government officials once used to safely travel throughout the city.”
I glance at Pete. He appears as surprised as I am and shrugs, still darting angry eyes at Doc as he stands shoulder to shoulder with Lily.
“I had no idea they existed,” he says.
“Indeed,” Lily says. “And you were not supposed to. No one was. There are numerous military bunkers, safe houses, and tunnels that led to important buildings built prior to it becoming the official palace of the monarch. Her Majesty even has a secret steam engine in one of the northern underground tunnels that leads to the surrounding counties.”
Doc rubs his chin and he stares at the girl’s black-and-gold-gloved hands. I wonder if the same questions running through my mind are running through his: Is Lily immune? And how has she survived?
I hold a hand out toward Lily. “Thanks for getting us out of there. Without your help, who knows where we’d be right now.”
“Probably in Hook’s laboratory,” Mole says, shuddering.
Lily shakes my hand. “It’s no bother. You’re not the
first I’ve rescued, and I hardly believe you’ll be the last.” Her gaze falls on Doc. “Although you are the most handsome bunch I’ve saved.”
Doc’s cheeks grow pink as he returns her smile with a crooked grin. Pickpocket rolls his eyes and Mole gives a hushed giggle. Pete gives an audible inhalation.
“I’m Gwen,” I say, breaking the hushed tension. “These are the Lost Boys: Doc, Mole, Pickpocket, and their leader, Pete.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” she says with a courteous nod of her head. She spins, lifting the skirt of her sari, revealing heavy combat boots adorned with several copper buckles. “We should be on our way. The Professor will be expecting me soon.”
“Professor?” Doc asks, worry creasing his forehead. “Wait, who is the Professor?”
“She is the palace physician,” Lily replies, ducking under a loose ceiling tile, waving us along. “She’ll want to take a look at that injury on your arm.” Lily nods at Pete.
“You’re taking us to the palace?” I ask, halting and unsure if this is a good thing or bad. Even though the palace is where Joanna is and I was already headed there, an uneasy feeling crawls up my spine.
“Not exactly. The Professor will meet us in the infirmary beneath the palace. It is a secret room hidden behind the crematorium. Secret from the Captain,” Lily says.
“As in Captain Hook?” Pete asks. He grips the hilt of his dagger.
Lily turns and tilts her head. “Of course. What other captain would I be speaking of?”
“Oh, now I know this is a bad idea,” Mole says, fidgeting with the cuff of his sleeve.
Lily huffs an exaggerated breath. “Well, you’re welcome to go back to the gallery, but I assure you with all that smoke billowing, that is not a simple bonfire.” She whirls around and continues up the hallway.
The Lost Boys exchange worried glances.
“Come on,” I say, tugging Pete’s hand. “I don’t think she means us any harm. And entering the palace this way is a whole lot better than having to fight our way through the soldiers.”
“I agree,” Mole interjects.
Everland Page 17
