The Gray Tower Trilogy: Books 1-3

by Alesha Escobar

  We needed to neutralize the guards before they triggered the external alarm, and then we had to subdue the officer who would be at the front desk before he sounded the internal alarm. Brande increased the heat in the ceiling lamp’s bulb, so that it cracked and went out, making the tunnel completely dark. He used this moment of confusion to approach the guards. I heard a scuffle, a confused gasp, and then silence. They were dead at a single touch.

  Brande ignited a small flame to give us light as I scraped the black vitriol in my bracelet against the keyhole. The lock instantaneously corroded and fell apart. We opened the door and went through, I immediately grabbed my silver knife and laid a Circle of Silence while Brande forced the guard at the desk toward us with Air. The officer came flying toward us and maneuvered himself so he could kick Brande, but he cut off the spell, and the officer dropped to the floor. He quickly got to his feet and made a quick jab at Brande, who blocked him. They continued fighting as I made my way over to the desk to disable the alarm.

  Goosebumps ran up my arms, and my stomach tightened. I could already feel the presence of a Black Wolf here, perhaps two. Brande was smart to conserve his magical energy, since the real battle hadn’t started yet.

  As I took my knife and began cutting wires and readjusting them, I also thought about Simon and why he didn’t tell us Black Wolves were here. He had led me to believe there were only just a handful of German Armed Forces soldiers, and of course, I anticipated the possibility of running into Praskovya and any other warlocks. Although I felt that something was wrong, I knew I had to stick to our plan. Our lives depended on each of us accomplishing our assigned tasks.

  I patched up the control panel to the alarm and stood to get a view of Brande. He had subdued the guard, and I could see blood splattered on the floor near the guard’s body. Brande stepped over him and approached.

  “You can release the Circle now,” he told me. “You’ll have more energy for the Sublimations.”

  I nodded and leaned against the desk. We were in the section called “Chamber One,” a mid-sized room with only the desk, some maps, and notes hanging on the wall behind it, and two corridors on the right and left sides.

  “Give me a boost first.” I pointed toward a large grate on the ceiling which would open up into the ducts where electricians and engineers crawled in to work on the electrical system or maintain the venting. I would need to go throughout the ducts, planting Sublimation symbols along the way and readjusting the wiring. When I could no longer hold off the Sublimations, I’d release them, and then the entire laboratory would go up in flames.

  I jumped onto the desk and pulled on the grate. It came down with little effort, Brande helped steady it and set it aside. He climbed on top of the table with me and held onto my waist, giving me the boost I needed when I jumped.

  “I’ll take the left corridor.” Brande paused and listened. We heard voices and gunshots.

  I crawled into the duct and let him replace the grate. I moved through, trying my best to cause the least amount of noise. Every few feet, I would carve in a Sublimation symbol, without activating them. When I found some of the wiring I needed to rig, I set to work on those and then kept moving.

  I turned a corner and I felt Brande’s magic at work. By gauging the strength of his spells, I knew he had run into the Black Wolf. I could hear some of the other soldiers within the lab, some shouting orders and others engaged in a gunfight. I could hear Ernest and Lucien taunting them as they shot back at the fire and lured them away from the inner lab areas. Off in the distance, I heard metal ringing and slashing, and I thought of Father Gabriel.

  Just ahead, I saw a vent that let out into one of the research rooms. The light was on in the room below. I slowed my breathing and approached, peeking down into the room from my hiding place. Dr. Heilwig stood in there, mixing chemicals on an apparatus and storing a blue liquid in small tubes. If that liquid was anything like the black powder in Vélizy, then it would have to be destroyed as well. I was just about to whisper Heilwig’s name when I heard a familiar voice address him.

  “I think my brother will like this new formula. We’ll deliver it in the morning.” Marc came into view and walked over to Heilwig, observing him with that same look of avarice he held for any wizard whose blood he wanted to drink.

  I grimaced as I recalled the night I had escaped from him. I wanted to jump through the vent and blast him with a spell, but instead, I held myself back and listened to their exchange.

  “Then...do you think Octavian will let my wife go free?” Heilwig’s lips trembled, though he kept his hands steady. I could tell from the way he moved and spoke that he still suffered the effects of the stroke from the Teleportation spell.

  Marc sneered. “After that little incident at the university, you’re lucky to be alive.”

  “What about my wife?”

  “I’ll talk to my brother, but I want something in return.”

  “I have nothing, Marcellus.”

  “I know you’re out of the Gray Tower’s good graces, so a few dead wizards wouldn’t matter, right? I was wondering if you knew any exceptionally strong wizards I could...easily get my hands on. You know, like your friend Carson.”

  “Even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.”

  Marc grunted. “Faithful till the bitter end. When will you learn that the Order has abandoned you?”

  “I see you’ve made no progress with Octavian.”

  “Oh, he’ll believe me once I find Carson. We just need to catch him before your beloved Gray Tower does.”

  “Carson died sixteen years ago.”

  “Like hell he did. That reminds me, I ran into his daughter a few days ago. She lit me on fire, shot me, and tried to make my heart explode...I like her.”

  “Well, I pray next time you run into her that she succeeds.”

  “You insolent bastard, do you want to be stuck in here the rest of your life? In a room with padded walls so you can’t see or hear anything?” He looked ready to lunge for Heilwig’s throat.

  “You want to talk about living?” Heilwig gritted his teeth. “You’re nothing but an empty shell. You wish to kill real wizards and steal their powers just to prove yourself better than your brother. Octavian’s no better than you, but at least he was born one of us...but you? You’re just a pathetic parasite.”

  Marc’s facial expression suddenly lost all amusement. “I should’ve drained you dry when I had the chance.”

  “One day you’ll get what you deserve, abomination.” Heilwig shook as he said this.

  “Do you want to know something?” Marc grinned and ran his finger across the apparatus as if inspecting it.

  “What, Marcellus?”

  “I killed your wife yesterday.”

  “Rosa...” A pain-stricken look of disbelief showed on his face, and his shoulders began to shake with quiet sobs. My heart hurt for him when he doubled over, almost breathless with grief.

  “I convinced Octavian that she really didn’t need to live, and after tonight, neither will you.”

  He placed his hand on Heilwig’s back. “There, old friend. See? Now you truly have nothing.”

  “Why her? I don’t care what happens to me, but why her?”

  Marc grabbed the tube filled with Heilwig’s concoction and set it in a dark wooden case with five others. He closed the lid and locked the case.

  “It was a pleasure doing business with you, doctor.”

  “Rosa...why?”

  “If you want to end this now, I’ll happily oblige you.”

  The door opened, and an SS officer entered. “Sir, the lab is under assault by wizards.”

  “Stay with Dr. Heilwig, and make sure no one comes in.” He rushed out of the room. The officer went to close the door behind him. As he shut the door, I scraped my enchanted bracelet against the grate like I did the Chamber One door, and the vent’s cover corroded and fell out.

  I quickly dropped in and struck the guard before he could pull his weapon. He stumbled ba
ckward, slightly dazed, and then steadied himself as he threw several punches. I blocked and dodged, and made a chop to his neck with the blade of my hand, emphasizing my lower wrist, where I knew the black vitriol would touch him. He screeched and clawed at his neck as he backed away, until he fell against the wall, blood gushing and a dark corrosive substance eating way at his flesh.

  “Dr. Heilwig!” I ran toward him and grabbed hold of him. I wanted to say something...anything about his wife. I didn’t know if Marc was lying or not, but the pain on Heilwig’s face showed that he had at least believed him. “Do you remember me?”

  “Of course, from the university. What are you doing here?”

  “I’m Isabella, Carson’s daughter, and he sent me to take you out of here.”

  He stared at me when I tried to pull him along. “What about Marcellus and the Black Wolves? And...Praskovya?”

  “Praskovya’s here?”

  “Her, and about four Black Wolves.”

  I wanted to curse. I thought at most there’d be two Black Wolves, not four. “Stay here while I scout ahead. If I’m not back in five minutes, get into that duct and crawl through to Chamber One. If you need to...there are Sublimation symbols along the ducts. I’m sure you’d know what to do with them.”

  “I can fight, too.”

  It would break my heart to tell him he couldn’t help. He didn’t have the necessary reflexes, and he still wore the gold imperium collar around his neck, which meant that his spells were limited; he could do nothing against Praskovya. “Dr. Heilwig...I don’t want to take that chance. My father said to find you, so I need you out of here and in those cellars.”

  He nodded. “Please, don’t tell me you came alone.”

  “Don’t worry, I have an Elite with me, two military men, and a priest.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to—”

  “Please, just do what I told you.”

  I made him close and lock the door behind me, and then I scouted the immediate area before deciding to head left, down the corridor. I heard two gunshots and a man painfully shrieking.

  Thankfully, I could still feel Brande, though the force of his magic wasn’t as fierce as before. I checked several research rooms just to make sure they were empty and, when I came out of the third one, I saw a Black Wolf approaching. This one was the most human looking one had ever seen, though his eyes shone an eerie red and his skin was as pale as a corpse.

  Before I could make a move, he gestured with his hand and paralyzed me. Like a flitting spirit, he was right in front of me, having only been down the hall a moment ago. The only thing that kept me from panicking was the fact that one of my Sublimation symbols had been carved into the duct right above us.

  Just as his skeletal fingers reached for my neck, I released the Sublimation symbol and caused an explosion. As fire and shrapnel came flying down, I regained my ability to move, and quickly dipped low, crouching beneath him so that he would take the brunt of the hit. He let out a deafening shriek, and the vibrations of his voice turned into an invisible force that slammed me to the ground.

  I quickly made my next move and drew my pistol, shoved it beneath his chin, and took a shot. He lunged toward me and sank his teeth into my right shoulder. I cried out in shock, but my vitriol bracelet kept me from feeling the pain. Another Sublimation symbol down the hall released, and an explosion erupted. I prayed none of my friends were down there and got caught in the fire. I forced myself to stay focused, knowing that with each slip up, I could blow us all up before we even had the chance to escape.

  I held the Black Wolf at bay with my forearm and scraped the black vitriol against his face. As he roared and pushed himself off of me, I jumped away and ran down the corridor. I lost hold of another Sublimation symbol, and a second explosion nearly caught me from behind. The hallway blackened with smoke and heated up like an oven. When I heard the unintelligible tongue of the Black Wolf, probably cursing me, I ran into the nearest research room and hid behind the open door. I didn’t have time to close the door or else he’d notice, but I made sure to breathe as quietly as I could.

  Through the crack between the door’s hinges, I could see a German officer walking in with his rifle ready, but he didn’t venture too far into the room. We both heard feet dragging, and that awful guttural voice. The officer turned around and started screaming in German, “Stop! I’m on your side!”

  A few rounds went off and his gun flew to the other side of the room, clattering against the floor. I heard the Black Wolf grunt, then I heard teeth grinding, and what must’ve been the tearing of clothes, flesh and bone.

  I wasn’t going to stick around for that monster to corner me in the room, so I dashed over to the abandoned rifle, picked it up, and shot the Black Wolf in the back as he hunched over his prey. Though bullets riddled his body and my black vitriol corroded half his face, he still stood there alive, though clearly weakened. I ran toward him and kicked him in his head, then drew my pistol again and shot. I almost stumbled over him and the officer’s mangled body. When the Black Wolf backed off and began regurgitating a black liquid and human bones, I ran away.

  I forced my magical hold on the Sublimations to remain stable as I rushed down the hall. I couldn’t afford to unravel individual symbols anymore—not when it caused two or three other symbols to unintentionally fall apart and ignite explosions. When I thought I heard Praskovya’s voice, I made a right turn and headed toward Chamber Three. I grunted and held my breath as I stepped over mutilated bodies; one of them definitely looked like a Black Wolf.

  I went down the next corridor and crossed over to a storage area with crates. In a large open space I saw Praskovya fighting in hand-to-hand combat with Ernest. I knew her fighting style well, and I could tell she was toying with him. Ernest probably didn’t know that she was telekinetic and could kill him at any second without him being aware of what hit him.

  “Praskovya!” I hoped that my shout would distract her enough for Ernest to back off, or at least land another blow to stun her. However, she simultaneously faced me and sent Ernest flying into a crate. Then she sent a reinforced crate that hung above him to come plummeting down.

  I took my silver knife and quickly drew the symbol for Air. A blast of wind rose from the ground and met the falling crate just as it was about to crush Ernest. I managed to control and guide the crate so that it avoided hitting Ernest, and instead it headed straight toward Praskovya. She ducked, rolled, and with a flourish of her hand, sent me flying toward the other side of the room. I quickly got back onto my feet, expecting her to follow up with a physical attack, but she had disappeared.

  “Ernest, are you hurt?” I ran toward him, all the while thinking how odd it was that she left so quickly. It wasn’t like Praskovya to run.

  “I’m all right.” He shakily sat up and gazed at the ceiling, apparently in awe that the crate didn’t land on him.

  “Ernest,” I handled him as tenderly as I could. “I think your arm is broken.”

  “Well, I still have one good arm. Just give me a gun.” He yelped and winced when I tried to examine his injured arm.

  “Here, take this.” I slid my bracelet off and gave it to him. “It’ll dull the pain and protect you. Don’t go anywhere until one of us comes for you.”

  “Where did the Russian babe go?”

  “I don’t know...” I cursed under my breath when I realized Praskovya’s intentions. As I shouted my instructions to Ernest once more, I raced down the corridor, retracing my steps, in hopes of reaching Heilwig before Praskovya did.

  It took me a few minutes to make it back over to the research rooms, but when I arrived, Heilwig was gone. I noticed the case holding the formula was lying on the counter. I hid it in one of the drawers, sealing it with an alchemical symbol that would only open for an alchemist.

  “Noelle, this way!”

  “Simon! What are you doing here?” I could barely conceal my startled gaze. Didn’t I tell him to stay at home?

  “Hurry, l
ove. This way!” He frantically gestured, and I followed.

  “Have you seen Praskovya?”

  “Yes, she’s looking for Dr. Heilwig. I think he escaped.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe he went through the ducts after all. “Who’s still around, Simon? Can you tell me?”

  “I saw a man with a sword fighting Marcellus, and a young man in a gunfight with a soldier, but this is all so chaotic.”

  “Simon, do you have any more written formulas or important records?” We turned a corner and approached Chamber Six.

  “Yes, I keep it all in my office. Do you need them?”

  “It would make me very happy to have them.” I would eventually have to activate the rest of my Sublimation spells, and afterward there wouldn’t be anything left to save or take away from the laboratory.

  “It’s down here.” He led me further down the hall, to a door near the end with his name on it. He unlocked it and let me in.

  With no time to spare, I ran over to his desk and began grabbing papers, notes, and anything else that would be of use to SOE and the Allies later on.

  “Were you looking for something in particular?”

  “No, just...anything significant.” I folded the papers with haste and stuffed them into my cargo pockets. I instinctively looked up when I heard the door shut. Simon stood against the door, revolver drawn and pointed at me, a cold look in his eye.

  “Simon, this isn’t the time to play games. Put that away and help me.”

  I flinched when he fired a shot. The bullet whizzed past my ear. I instinctively brushed my finger against my Agate stone ring, which helped deflect bullets, but it didn’t make me impervious to them.

  “We need to talk, Noelle.”

  “Well, it seems the red garnet spell finally wore off.”

  “No, I still feel the same. How many times must I tell you my feelings are genuine?”

  The door opened and Praskovya came in. she wore an expression of mild shock, but smirked when she saw me in my predicament. Simon ignored her and spoke to me again.

  “I went out today and saw you this morning at the park. I saw you with him!”