Galt inhaled while he considered what he said next. "I can see the council believes this to be true, and I will admit I might have been hasty in my accusation. You can forgive a man for wishing to protect himself and his neighbors?"

  "Given recent events," said Drusus, "I appreciate the irony of your statement."

  "Is there any reason to continue this inquiry?" said Carlo, "if Lord Galt is no longer concerned Lady Klaereon killed her father purposefully?"

  "Perhaps the second part of this inquiry is the most important part," said Galt. "I'm sure the council will agree with me. Mr. Claudian, you said you were jealous of Khun. I want to return to this in a moment. It is known your sister-in-law is a blood magician of some aptitude. Is it true she carries the spirit of Ra within her?"

  "That is true," said Drusus.

  "Is it true Ra has no influence over her?"

  "That is not true."

  Carlo drummed his fingers on the table. The truth potion worked on Drusus, because he doubted Drusus would have said so otherwise.

  Galt smiled. "Please explain."

  "Lucy resists Ra's influence. When you poisoned her, I suspect you weakened her resolve."

  There was a great uproar in the hall again. "Silence!" Madame Fouchet's voice boomed over the crowd.

  "Whatever happens next, Galt," said Drusus, "you are as responsible for as Lucy is."

  "I wish to inform the council and the families," said Galt, "that I did not poison Signora Borgia. My sister has, and she is being dealt with by me, as I am head of the Galt family. You can rest assured I will not allow this transgression to pass."

  "You are not being examined today," said Baron Bauer. "The council will expect you to follow up on this action in due course."

  Galt nodded. "Mr. Claudian, do you believe Ra is a danger to this community?"

  "What an insane question. You know the answer."

  "For the record."

  "Irrelevant. Lucy has plans which will remove him as a danger."

  "We must stop this line of questioning," said the Hsieng matriarch.

  "Please answer the question," asked Galt.

  "Do we need to contain Lady Klaereon? Mr. Claudian?" Madame Fouchet asked the matriarch.

  "Drusus?" Octavia stepped forward. Madame LeClere touched her upper arm and she hesitated.

  "Ra is dangerous," said Drusus.

  "And Khun?" Galt pressed on.

  "There is no Khun. Khun and I died trying to protect Octavia. Lucy resurrected both of us as one person. I am both. I am neither."

  "Stop!" the Hsieng matriarch stood. "Madame Fouchet, I insist."

  "Drusus," said Carlo, his interest piqued, the Hsieng matriarch's warnings in the background. "I'd like you to tell me what happened when you first came to find me. Did Lucy send you to me?"

  "You were our only chance," said Drusus. "You still are. Do something about this, Carlo."

  The audience erupted. Madame Fouchet slammed the orb on the table to silence them.

  Hathersage, March, 1842

  Lucy's wing of the house, the east wing, made Drusus uncomfortable. It spoke to the Khun side of his nature, now that he could hear the shadows. Cuckold, they said. Brute.

  "Make up your mind," muttered Drusus, under his breath. The shadows understood him no more than he understood himself. Most of the rooms here were neglected, left as they had been before Caius had been master of the house.

  The shadows rustled as they moved, like birds fluttering among old draperies. Windows were shuttered, adding to a gloom that one could see glimpses of the hallway through. The overall result was an abandoned house, yet Lucy haunted these corridors and hid her experiments.

  Through doors that did not creak, in spite of their cobwebbed, dank appearance, across the study, littered with small chairs and a table piled high with dusty books. Through another set of doors and into the putrid part of Lucy's laboratory. Smells of alcoholic preservatives and decay. Sheets draped over tables, hiding dissections and experiments from view. Lucy stood on a set of small stairs to reach a table. She glanced over her shoulder as Drusus came in, her face always the same, an impassive mask. Certainly, she had goals and schemes and dreams, but Drusus couldn't see them anymore. She was a cold little statue. He had loved her like a little sister, but now she was some hollow thing.

  Octavia was beside herself. He had to try to talk Lucy out of it. Atreus Galt was unsuitable for any woman.

  "Thank you for coming," Lucy said. "I know you don't like my part of the house."

  "Is it true you have accepted Atreus Galt?"

  "You sound upset."

  "I am upset."

  "Why?" She left the steps, and walked past him. Drusus followed her.

  "Let alone the rivalry between the Klaereons and the Galts, or the fact that they stole Solomon's Scroll from your family and wreaked havoc until your family retrieved it, Atreus Galt himself is a reprehensible human being."

  Lucy wiped gore away from her hands with a rag. "I can control Atreus Galt."

  "You are naive if you think so."

  She passed him, into the study part of the room. "I must be away from you and Octavia. I could damage you both by staying here, as I am."

  Drusus turned to follow her. "That is simply not true."

  "You know it is. I must leave. Something is wrong with me, and I endanger all of you. Besides, I cannot have Octavia deducing my plans. She will try to stop me."

  Drusus blinked. "I do not understand your meaning."

  "You and I, Drusus. We have to leave." She tossed the rag into a chair. "I can think of no other way to keep Octavia safe. We must take the children and the Solomon Scroll, and we must disappear. If I am with Atreus, if I am away…"

  "Wait. Lucy. I am confused."

  "I wanted to marry Atreus, to get away from you, but I see now I cannot. You and I, and the children, we have to leave, as I originally thought. You understand we must end this. I regret having to take Gregorius and Marcellus, but if any who are Bound remain, the pact with Erasmus continues."

  "You want me to help you take Marc and Greg and run away?" Drusus ran his hands through his hair. "This is preposterous."

  "We must protect Octavia."

  "How are you protecting your sister when you want to take everything she holds dear?"

  "You know how dangerous Khun is and you are. Do you want your children to have this misery and mayhem continually inflicted upon them because they are Bound? Do you want them to face the same struggle you and I face every day?"

  "Wait." Lucy knew how he felt. "You…are as conflicted with Ra as I am with Khun? Are you missing time, memories?"

  "We are dangerous, Drusus. Binders are dangerous. You know I am right."

  He could make no sense of it. "What does any of this have to do with Atreus Galt?"

  "He knows things about Octavia, and I cannot let him share them, so I wanted to silence him by marrying him. He doesn't matter now. You must help me with the children. We must go where we can do no harm. Ra knows a place we cannot come back from. We'll take the scroll, and the children, and Octavia will be safe."

  "You're asking me to do something I cannot do." Drusus studied her. "Are you fighting Ra? He wants you to take us away, and at the same time you are being blackmailed by Galt? Do I understand it?"

  Lucy hugged herself. Her face shifted to dismay, and her voice was tiny. "My thoughts are slippery. Leave now, please."

  Something was wrong with her. He stepped toward "No. You obviously need help."

  "Get away while you can." Lucy's eyes glowed golden. "Oh Drusus," she said. "It's too late."

  Electricity crackled in Drusus' hair. "Stand down, Ra."

  "I am sorry, Drusus. I am not Ra. I need you to understand why we must leave."

  Drusus cried out as his bones rearranged themselves. "What are you doing to me?" He fell to the floor. There were times he had lost his memory, not been certain of his actions, but this was new. He was changing into Khun. He screamed as skin raced over his muscles, thickening.

  Lucy stepped toward him. "I have the power to control Khun, make you do my bidding. You see how dangerous you are?"

  "Stop this!" His body pulsed with pain, and then something worse happened. His conscious was sinking under the surface of a lake.

  "I am making you understand," said Lucy.

  Drusus suffocated, trying to catch his breath. He was drowning, and he struggled as he sank. He pushed toward the surface, straining, hoping, the surface becoming painstakingly close. The voice was an echo from somewhere above him, and he kept swimming.

  "Drusus? Please help me."

  Drusus surfaced. He flexed his own hands, felt his own chest. His shirt was gone. He had lost time, again. Then he remembered what had happened, why he had lost his senses.

  Lucy had turned him into Khun? He was on his knees bent over, gulping in huge breaths, his eyes squeezed shut, trying to master himself. Where was he? Lucy, in her laboratory, with her insane proposal, and proving to him how dangerous he was. He opened his eyes.

  Lucy bled on the floor in front of him, her stomach sliced open, blood pulsing. She was trying to hold the wound closed, her insides slick and threatening to bulge out. His hands were covered in her blood.

  Khun had done this?

  "Please," she said. "Help me." Her eyes dilated, almost all black ringed with blue. She closed them.

  He couldn't believe she was still alive. He had to stop the blood. His shirt and jacket were rags around him. He grabbed them, pressed them against her side. They weren't enough. He stumbled into the laboratory, pulled off one of the sheets that covered her experiments and raced back in.

  Lucy's breath shuddered. "Khun didn't like my idea any more than you did."

  "I'll get help," Drusus said.

  She started crying. "Don't go. Please. Listen to me. "

  She was crying?

  "I'm here," he said. "I'm right here." Gods, he'd done this. He was responsible for this. "I'm sorry."

  Lucy panted. "I did this to you. I brought you and Khun back. It's all my fault."

  "Don't worry about that now," said Drusus.

  The blood on the floor streamed upwards like it had a mind of its own, flowing backwards under the rags. Lucy's eyes were screwed shut, and sweat beaded on her forehead. Lucy was engaged in an arduous tug of war with life and death. One of her hands flopped away from the bandages. He picked it up. It was cold.

  Could he do anything like this to Octavia? To the children? Was Lucy right?

  "Drusus. " Her voice was raspy.

  Drusus brushed her sweat-soaked hair. "What do you need?"

  Her eyes opened, but they weren't her eyes. They were the golden eyes of Ra. "Khun? Do you wish to be exiled to Duat? This is where she will send us? Do you wish to exile your sons?"

  "Ra?"

  "Run, Khun. Run from her. She spells your doom."

  Drusus was angry. "I am not Khun!"

  "What you are is neither man nor god, but she does not care. Get as far away from here as you can."

  The glow in Lucy's eyes faded. "Madness. This is madness. Drusus. You cannot stay."

  "I will not leave you like this."

  "Something is wrong with me. My mind flips. I want to take us to Duat. I will use Ra to control you, and you won't be able to stop me. I cannot help myself."

  "Octavia can help us." Drusus wrapped her in the sheet, getting her ready to pick her up. "We won't let Ra take you."

  Lucy coughed, trying to laugh. "I say I want to save her, but I will kill Octavia if she gets in my way. You have to stop me. Make it impossible for me. Run from me. Save your children."

  Fear gripped Drusus, cloaked him. Pins and needles punctured his limbs. He could barely breathe. He crawled backwards away from her. "Lucy, what have you done?"

  "I am sending you away, so I cannot force you. I cannot hold onto my sanity. Do you understand? I will make you help me destroy your family."

  "I won't do it." Drusus gritted his teeth against the pain.

  "You won't have a choice. I am sorry, but I am not to be trusted. We are not to be trusted."

  "You must fight. Stay with me, Lucy."

  "Find Carlo. Perhaps he will forgive me, and he can untangle all of this. I love you, and I beg your forgiveness."

  "Don't do this."

  Lucy's eyes glowed again. "I command you to go. You must stay away from Octavia, from the children, from me, from our home. Fear me. Do not return. All our lives depend on it."

  Drusus ran.

  Scarborough, October, 1842

  Carlo moved toward Drusus. "What is Lucy planning to do right now?"

  "We are going to escape."

  The hall of magicians filled with echoed whispers and cries of outrage. They were shameless, all these magicians watching this show with lurid fascination.

  Octavia stood. "Drusus, don't do anything rash."

  Drusus breathed heavily. "I don't want to, but Lucy will have her way. Your truth potion, Carlo, has been partly successful. I can tell you everything, but I can't do anything about it."

  There would be a different calibration of borrachero for someone as unique as Drusus. Carlo felt like an idiot for not thinking of it. If Lucy already commanded him, he would be more susceptible to her command. So he was himself, lucid in mind, but he was also her puppet.

  Madame Fouchet's orb slammed with finality. "This examination will cease immediately. Please contain Mr. Claudian."

  Lucy stood, weaving, fighting for balance. "It is time for us to be on our way."

  "Lucy, think before you do anything," said Octavia.

  "I have done nothing but think since the day Ra destroyed you," said Lucy. "It would have been better for all of us if I had drowned in Venice."

  Octavia stepped forward. Lady LeClere tightened her grip on Octavia's arm and whispered in her ear. Octavia pulled away, but the young woman held her fast. Drusus transformed into Khun, who swatted Carlo aside. Ngidi pulled the leopard skin he wore over his body, turned into a giant cat and leaped. Khun was faster. He jumped over Galt and Titus, grabbed Lucy and leaped again. An inky hole appeared in front of them, swallowed them, and sealed itself when they were gone.

  Skye Castle erupted into panicked madness. Ngidi paced the floor, transforming back into a man. Octavia yelled over the confusion. "If you find I am not guilty of volition in the act of my father's death, I beg you will let me put my house in order."

  "If you wish to avert disaster," said the Hsieng matriarch, "you must let Lady Klaereon act."

  "Let her go," said Galt. "Please, let them go and destroy each other."

  "You—" Octavia stepped toward him. "If I had time, I would make you pay for this."

  "You see I was right. Your house is not in order."

  "I could have kept this from happening if you had not imprisoned me."

  "Maybe not," said Carlo. "This is not the time, Octavia. How did Lucy make that portal? She has no Binder magic."

  Octavia grimaced. "Lucy has been keeping several secrets from us."

  "So it would appear." Carlo stroked his beard. "Can you follow her?"

  "I cannot travel the Abyss without Khun."

  "Vergilius," said Carlo. "If you value your brother, you will fly us to Mistraldol straight away."

  "You will not arrive in time," said the Hsieng matriarch.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Drusus carried Lucy as they stepped through the black hole into the English countryside. On the road not far from them traveled the Galt carriage, its crest catching the sunlight peeking through the clouds.

  "Stop the carriage," Lucy commanded.

  "You're not well enough to stand on your own," Drusus said.

  "Then I will use more of Ra to do so," said Lucy, her eyes flashing.

  "I do not think that is wise," said Drusus.

  "You will do as you are told. Stop the carriage."

  Drusus, now a giant Egyptian god, leaped into the air, over the top of the horses and throat-chopped the driver, then tossed him to the side. The horses raced forward. Lucy opened a portal in front of them and they disappeared into the shadows. She sealed the portal, cutting the horses free.

  Helen peered out the window, disheveled, her bonnet dangling down her back by its ribbons, a bruise under her cheekbone. She screamed when she saw Drusus.

  "Come out, Helen. Come and talk to me." Lucy folded her hands demurely and waited.

  "No," said Helen. "Lucy, please."

  "What did you do to the horses?" said Drusus.

  "I am not some wanton killer," said Lucy. "Do not concern yourself about them or the coachman. They will be well. Drusus, open the door for Helen."

  Helen's jaw dropped. "Drusus? Did you make him into that?"

  "Some time ago," said Lucy. "It could be I reacted in the moment, somewhat rashly. I regret it now, but there is nothing for it. Drusus is what he is."

  "Lucy," said Drusus, "promise me you won't hurt her, and you won't make me hurt her. Please."

  Helen looked wildly at Drusus as he opened the door. "Is it really you?"

  "You must do what you can to escape," said Drusus softly. "Do not trust her."

  Helen held onto the carriage, and Drusus pried her hands away from the door, depositing her outside.

  "What do you want with me?" Helen stayed as close to the carriage as she could.

  Lucy floated closer to Helen, a faint golden glow surrounding her body.

  "Lucy, don't let Ra take you," Drusus stepped toward her.

  "You will be silent! You are my servant. I tell you what to do, do you understand?"

  Drusus hung his head.

  "Let us talk about what you have done," said Lucy, hovering near Helen.

  Helen pressed her back into the carriage, trying to stay away from Lucy. "It's not what you think. I didn't—"

  "You did," said Lucy. "You gave me the chocolate, which masked your drugs to make me have Flavia early. It also masked Carlo's poison, the one you recreated from the samples at the duel. Am I right?"

  Helen shook her head. "Atreus—"

  "—did not recreate that poison. You are the only one in your family who could. I am right?"

 

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