“Hurry up and do it before we both die.”
He must’ve looked at me as if I were crazy, but he didn’t bother to argue. I gripped the extra pistol he pressed into my hand, and was about to tell him that I couldn’t see anything, but decided to say nothing to avoid delaying him. I heard him go over to what sounded like the utility box. He opened it, probably grabbing an axe, and stalked toward the Cruenti.
I heard his nervous breaths and then a pause. “He’s dead.”
Suddenly I heard Ken shout in disgust and shock, and the Cruenti roared as repeated thuds filled the hallway. I visualized the sickening tearing of flesh and crushing of bone, and forced myself to speak when I heard Ken’s attack cease.
“Did you get him?”
He breathed heavily. The axe clattered against the floor at the other end of the hall. “Yeah...I got him.”
“Do you see my knife?”
“Erm...do you still want it?”
“Please? I’d get it myself, but he blinded me with a spell.” I heard him make a low grunt and grab my knife. He walked back toward me in quick strides. My legs grew weak, and my head throbbed and grew feverish. I sank to my knees, pressing my hand against the wall for support.
“Let’s get out of here and get you healed.” Though his voice shook, his hold on me remained firm. Under any other circumstances I would’ve refused to let him carry me, but my legs felt like rubber, and I could barely stay conscious.
“Got a first aid kit in your car?” I hissed through clenched teeth as the cool evening air stung my exposed wound. I heard sirens blare and the rumble of fire truck engines.
“Yeah, but, baby...you’re going to need a lot more than that.”
“Renée Apolline...my jade powder.”
“I’ll get you there.”
“Thank you.” I shut my eyes and leaned into him as I closed out the spinning gray and red colors. I hoped that the jade powder would completely restore my sight.
6
I awoke to the sound of birds chirping. I squinted my eyes at the sunlight streaming through the bedroom window, and smiled to myself, feeling immense relief for having my sight back. I brushed my fingers across the bandage that had been applied to my wound, and although it felt a little sore, I could tell that the jade powder had once again healed me. I didn’t know how much remained, but it would take weeks for me to obtain more.
I was in my guestroom at Renée’s, and strangely felt a sense of safety and comfort despite the danger that lurked outside in the city. This room felt like my little sanctuary, and for this moment at least, I just lay in blissful silence.
Then, the thought of that Cruenti last night crept upon me and made me shudder. I began wondering how my cover was blown in the first place. Now I would have to change my codename, and even wear disguises. If I pulled out now and asked the Maquis to get me across the border to Spain, it certainly wouldn’t be shameful. However, I didn’t want to fail at what I intended to be my last mission, and I certainly didn’t want to feel like I’ve belittled the sacrifices of others.
I also didn’t want to return to Ian empty-handed so that Joshua Morton from MI6 could berate us. Besides, if I took care of Veit Heilwig and his chemical weapons, I could finally retire like I wanted to.
I shifted when I heard a knock at the door. “Come in.”
Renée came in with a bowl of soup. “How are you?”
“Better...I guess.” I sat up and took the bowl from her.
“You were in and out of consciousness since last night. I was worried.”
As soon as she said that, my head throbbed and my body tensed. All I wanted was to fall back asleep again. “Where’s Drake?”
“He said he would try to find his Maquisard contacts. He told me he’d be back before dinner.”
My vision hazed, and my eyelids grew heavy. “I think I’m going to rest some more. Can you wake me when he comes?”
I felt a delicate hand on my sweaty forehead, and then on my cheek. The door opened and closed, and then I was asleep. It was a deep and quiet rest, but in some eerie way I felt like I was lost in nothingness. I wondered if this was what death felt like. I must’ve lain half-dreaming and seeing grays until I finally had another nightmarish memory of that Cruenti. I swung and tossed, fighting an enemy that wasn’t there, until I ended up accidentally kicking Ken, who was sprawled at the foot of the bed. He shifted and groaned.
“How are you feeling?” I asked. I sat up, quelling my irritation at not being woken earlier, at least he was here and not out in the streets. It was dark again.
“Don’t ask.” He pulled himself toward me and laid his head on the pillow next to me. His swollen black eye was barely noticeable. It must’ve really hurt, or else he wouldn’t have used the jade powder.
“Did you finish off the powder?” I caressed his swollen eye with my thumb.
“There’s a pinch left. I put it away for you.”
“Keep it. You’ve earned it.”
“Thanks.”
“Did you find your contacts?” I pulled my legs under me and began playing with my ring. I felt trapped, like I couldn’t do anything or go anywhere. Now that the enemy had targeted me I would have agents like Karsten waiting for me on every corner, ready to arrest and torture me before finally handing me over to a firing squad—or worse, to Dr. Meier’s experimental program.
“Yes, I found them, but we have to be careful.” His serious look made it seem like he was really saying I needed to be careful. “I still have to finish my assignment with OSS and can’t leave just yet.”
I nodded. “I also have to stay. I can’t go back to London without finishing what I started.”
“You’ve been out all day.”
I frowned. My mind was still a little murky. “What day is it?”
“It’s the twenty first...happy birthday.”
“Some birthday.” My stomach ached with hunger.
“At least we’re alive.” He propped himself up on his right elbow and began slowly planting a trail of kisses up my arm until he reached my shoulder. I leaned in to kiss him back, but a knock at the door made us pause.
“Giving you a head start, mes amis.” A high-pitched cackle resonated from behind the door. Ken and I both sighed.
“Come in, Penn.” Ken turned on the lamp and went to open the door for him. Renée was on Penn’s heels, carrying a tray of bread and fruit with a small carafe of juice and a couple of glasses.
“Good evening!” Penn took the tray from Renée and steadied it on the bed next to me. He slid onto the bed and helped himself to a slice of bread. “We could use an extra glass, and some wine...and cheese, if you have any, Renée.”
She glared at him before turning and heading down the hallway. Penn regarded Ken with a smile and offered me a glass of juice.
“Thank you.” I gulped it down.
“Jasmine sent you?” Ken grabbed his shirt which was hanging on the bedpost and threw it on.
“She’s upset about what happened down at Éclat. The club won’t be able to reopen for another couple of weeks and she doesn’t do business at home. So, if you have any further messages, give them to me now.” He grabbed a few grapes and plopped them into his mouth. He wiped his hand on his vest and pulled a cigarette lighter from his pocket.
“For me?” Ken asked.
Penn motioned for him to take it. “I believe you’ll be able to find what you’re looking for once you decode the cipher. The Americans picked up the signal by RADAR.”
I felt a dull ache in my side and got up. Renée made a soothing tea in the kitchen which I suspected she bought from a Practitioner. Those types of teas were the best—and sometimes the most dangerous. There were plenty of charlatans masquerading as healers “certified by the Gray Tower” who put God-knew-what into those mixes. Anyhow, I could vouch for the fact that you didn’t leave the Gray Tower with a certificate. As I stepped out into the hallway, I heard Ken growl in frustration.
“Dammit, Penn. This isn’t nec
essarily my area of expertise...I can barely decipher this crap.”
I laughed to myself when I heard Penn retort, “What do I look like, a spy dictionary? Get your Maquisard friends to help break the code.”
I made my way toward the kitchen and faintly heard Ken say, “Great, now I’ll have to go out looking for my contacts. If I get shot or obliterated by a warlock, I’m coming back to haunt you.”
I met Renée in the kitchen. She had the wine bottle in one hand and slices of cheese on a plate in the other. I thanked her for her foresight when she gestured toward a hot cup of tea sitting on the counter. I grabbed the drink and headed back toward the guest room, quickly running a hand through my hair and imagining what I must’ve looked like. I came back in and sat on the bed, eyeing the plate of bread that had just a few slices left.
“Did Jasmine leave anything for me?” I swatted Penn’s hand when I saw him reach for another slice of bread. I took it for myself.
“Give me three or four days. Ever since your little spat, there have been increased measures to guard against counterfeit papers. This morning they machine-gunned an entire post office full of people just to send us a message. I’ll be lucky if I’m even able to accomplish this.”
Renée offered each of us some wine and a single slice of cheese. “I apologize, but...you know, the rationing.”
We accepted with thanks, and once Penn had his fill of wine, he bade us goodbye and set out to do his work. I kept coming up with excuses for Ken to stay, but we both knew that he had his assignment to complete and I had mine. As he left to go meet his Maquisard contacts in Mantes, I realized with frustration that this was why a stable romance with him wouldn’t work: there was no stability to be had. We would spend days together and then not see each other for weeks; the closest we ever got to having a real date was dinner in an Egyptian bar which devolved into a gunfight with criminals.
If it weren’t for our circumstances, and if it weren’t for our obligations to SOE and OSS, I could see myself with him, and accepting his proposal. Then, like Jane Lewis, I could wear my diamond ring and catch up on Woman’s Weekly, all the while glowing with joy. For now, I settled for flirtatious banter, stolen kisses, and exchanging reluctant goodbyes.
However, this time, as we parted ways, a nagging question burned in my mind: Why did he tell Penn he was going to find his Maquisard contacts when he had already done so?
Three days had passed, and I received no news of Penn or if he managed to obtain the credentials I needed. This was disheartening to say the least, but I kept myself busy the first couple of days by helping Renée around the house. When I got tired of that, the next day I read nearly every magazine in my room, assuring Renée that I was doing “research” (that is, if you counted fantasizing about luxury vacation homes and the latest fashions). As evening approached, I took a break and went to my room, where I laid across the bed and avidly listened to Mathieu Perrine’s underground radio broadcast.
In a fervent tone he reported bits of information he received on Operation Barbarossa. Apparently Hitler had been serious when he said he wanted to help himself to the Soviet’s lands and resources. Though the two were tentative allies, it was only a matter of time before betrayal occurred. The so-called Führer probably used the Black Wolves to launch the invasion, just like he used them to take Czechoslovakia. If they knew that the Gray Tower was within their reach...perhaps my father’s warning had something to do with just that. I grew anxious at the thought, and hoped that Penn wouldn’t take yet another three days to get back to me. It seemed I would have more than the Gestapo to contend with.
The Black Wolves were a coven of powerful warlocks led by a Cruenti named Octavian Eckhard. The Wolves had been around as long as the Order of Wizards, and for centuries engaged in a mostly covert war with us that finally brought itself out into the open within the last twenty years. Hitler was known for his obsession with the occult and, blinded by arrogance and avarice, he eagerly accepted an alliance with the Black Wolves. It didn’t surprise me that the warlocks fought alongside the Nazis, but what did baffle me was how they knew to come directly after Ken and me. It was one thing to uncover me as a spy, and something more to uncover me as a spy who was an Apprentice Wizard. I turned my attention toward Renée when she entered my room. I returned her smile, though I didn’t feel like smiling.
“Let’s get started, Emelie...or should I say, Noelle?” She carried a black sack with her and a set of papers that she handed me. This time I did smile in earnest; once again Penn came through for me.
“Tell Penn that he’s the killer-diller.” I had to admit that I was impressed. I thought I would have to wait at least another day, maybe two.
“Tell him yourself, Noelle.”
The door swung open and Penn walked in with a limp and a black eye that was just beginning to heal. “There are a lot of unfriendly people in the world, Noelle. Make sure you take care of this identity; it’s the best I could get.”
I made room for him on the bed so he could sit. I gently cupped his chin and concentrated on a wave of healing energy that tingled through my fingertips and reached out to flow through his body. I could feel his heartbeat, steady and strong, and I even felt a bit of his fatigue as his lungs slowly expanded with air. His muscles ached. He shuddered at the sensation of the spell, and when I was done, he squeezed my hand in silent thanks.
I acknowledged his gesture. “If you ever need me for anything...legal, that is...I’ll be there.”
He faced Renée. “You hear that? I’m not such a lazy pilferer after all.”
Renée swung her hand through the air and laughed. “Well, I didn’t quite use those words. Jasmine must have a heart of gold to keep you around.”
He nudged me. “Or maybe it’s what I can do for Jasmine is why she keeps me around, eh?”
“Exécrable! Such talk!”
I shook my head at their banter and scanned the papers. My new name was Noelle Armande, and my cover was that I came from Dijon as a late registrant to the university’s summer program. Now that my papers were in order, I could go to the school and present them. I needed to sit in Heilwig’s class and find the opportunity to extract him.
“The Nazis must be coming down even harder on everyone.” I folded the papers and set them aside. Usually Penn would provide me with much more, but at least this was passable.
“I wasn’t exaggerating about your new identity being the only one I could obtain. I usually get my papers and passports from my connections—” he glanced at Renée, daring her to comment, “and even they gave me a hard time. I had to kill my first contact because he decided he wanted to collect that bounty from the Gestapo. He gave me a broken rib and a stab wound...and I gave him a crowbar to the head.”
Renée gasped. “Terrible...”
Penn continued, motioning us to sit closer as if he were telling bedtime stories to children. “If that weren’t enough, the second contact demanded an exorbitant amount of money within a day, which he knew I couldn’t gather in time, and the third contact only furnished me with the papers because I walked in, pulled the safety pin on a grenade, and threatened to remove my finger from the striker lever. Heh.”
“That was reckless.” I looked at Renée and mimicked her expression of displeasure. Secretly though, I was thinking of how I would’ve gone in with two grenades.
“These are desperate times, ladies.”
“And how did you get yourself patched up?” Renée crossed her arms.
“A friend did it. You remember Sebastien? The one who got kicked out of medical school.”
Renée sighed and changed the subject. “I have to fix up Noelle, and you need to get back to Jasmine. Now, out the back, through the tool shed...you know the way.”
Penn planted a kiss on the top of my head. He stood and approached Renée, leaning in to give her a parting kiss on the cheek. She rebuffed him.
“See how she treats her friends?” He smirked.
“Oh, stop it! Go on, now...”
She ushered him toward the door.
“Penn...” I tried to keep my voice level. “Any word from Drake?”
He shook his head. “But don’t worry, he knows how to take care of himself.”
Yeah, and I wanted to know what else he was taking care of a few days ago. “I hope he had better luck with his contacts than you had with yours.”
He laughed. “Let’s hope so, or else it’ll be as nasty as that Cairo job.”
My eyes widened. “The Cairo job? You mean Badru?”
“Drake told me you were with him on that in the beginning.”
I nodded and pretended to know what he was talking about. “Of course...how did the rest of it go?”
He wore an amused expression. “I helped him move some money he stole from Badru. Now that is what I call reckless.”
“Take care, Penn.” I smiled, even though I wanted to sit there with my mouth gaping. Why in the world would Ken steal from an Egyptian crime lord? When he invited me down there, he told me that OSS had sent him to obstruct Badru’s arms sales to the Nazis. Perhaps emptying Badru’s bank account was part of the assignment? Maybe?
Renée nudged him out and shut the door behind him. “Now, let me show you how to fix yourself up.”
She beckoned me to sit opposite her and she pulled out a blonde wig, makeup, and other materials she would need for application. I couldn’t help but mirror her smile. Her eyes weren’t tired and sad anymore; there was actually a glow to them. Though the old man Otto claimed to be even less involved than her, I still admired them both for doing what they could.
“You look like a fire’s just been rekindled.” I shut my eyelids as she started working on my brows.
She smiled. “Little things here and there won’t ever do for me. It will be everything...or nothing.”
“Stay true to yourself.” I remembered her words, and would never forget.
The Gray Tower Trilogy: Books 1-3 Page 6
