“I’ll try, but this one looks tricky. I think we’re gonna need Niall.” Ronan slung his bow behind his back, pulled the metal piece from his pocket, and knelt in front of the door. Faelan felt his sweat beading as he ticked off the seconds, imagining the horrors that could be taking place inside the room.
Niall burst out of a hidden door at the foot of the stairs, brushing cobwebs from his face. “Have you found it?”
“We think so,” Cody said. “Door’s locked.”
“It’s locked from the inside,” Ronan said, rising. He stood guard while the others kicked the door on the count of three. It flew open, revealing a stark white room with tubes and machines and metal surfaces.
“Looks like a laboratory,” Niall said.
“Same as the room in the other tower, except for the window,” Ronan said.
They heard a gasp, and the white-haired man Faelan had seen when he came for Bree began frantically lowering something out the window, the thing so heavy it was about to take the old man with it.
“Stop,” Faelan yelled. He ran toward the man, shoved him out of the way, and caught the rope. A large metal box dangled two feet from the bottom of the window ledge.
“He’ll kill me,” the old man said, struggling with Faelan, eyes wild. Declan grabbed the man around the chest, holding him back, as Faelan gripped the rope. Cody and Niall helped him pull the box up to the ledge and move it inside.
“I’ve found minions and a bunch of halflings hiding on the third floor, north side,” Brodie called over the microphone. “I need help.” In the background they heard screams.
“Go,” Faelan told the others. “I have to do this myself.”
“I’m on the way,” Niall told Brodie. He and Declan took off at a run.
“I’ll stay,” Cody said. He had a look that said he didn’t fear death, might even welcome it, but Faelan decided he couldn’t have that on his conscience. He’d failed too many already. If he had to die to get this done, he wouldn’t take anyone else with him.
“No, Brodie needs help. There could be others hiding. I’ll destroy the virus—it’s probably in that box—and meet you on the third floor. We can’t let anyone escape.”
“Are you sure?” Cody asked. “I’m willing to… stay.”
And to die. “I’m sure.”
Cody clasped Faelan’s arm, his gaze somber, and then nodded.
Ronan held back. “Be careful, Faelan. It’s not over.”
But it was close. Ronan and Cody left. Faelan turned to the white-haired man. “What’s in here?” he demanded, pointing at the box. It was heavy, solid. “Speak, old man.”
“He’ll kill me if I talk.” He glanced from the box to the door with terror-filled eyes.
“He’ll kill you anyway. That’s what he does.”
“He promised to take care of me after it’s released. He’s created a special place for those he wants to keep, like me.” He raised a hand, rubbing at a nervous tic in his left eye.
“You’re his sorcerer?”
“I didn’t want to do it but I had no choice.”
“There’s always a choice. Are you human?”
“Half. I was born in 1720. I was an alchemist and a sorcerer when Druan came to me after his first sorcerer was killed.”
“Why does he want me?”
“For revenge, and he needed to test the time vault, to see if it worked. He planned to wake you in time to witness his victory. He didn’t realize it would take so long to create this new virus. He doesn’t understand these things,” he whispered, as if Druan could hear him. “Just like the mirror. I told him no one uses that spell anymore.” He glanced at the door again.
“Did Druan tell anyone about the time vault?” If he had, their trouble wouldn’t end with Druan’s destruction.
“No. He protected his secrets. He was always afraid one of the others would find out.”
“Others?”
“Them. The old ones. That’s why he used this castle, so no one could see what he was up to, including his master.”
“Are the other demons of old helping him?”
“No. They don’t help each other. The league is a farce. Druan wants rid of them as much as he wants rid of you.”
League. The word Tomas had seen in Angus’s notebook. “Did you cloak this castle?”
“No. I don’t know who did it.”
“Is this the virus?” Faelan pointed at the box.
“If I tell you and you destroy him, will you save me?”
He wasn’t making any promises to a sorcerer who’d spent more than a century figuring out how to destroy humans and could pass the information on to someone else. “Is this it?” Faelan put his dirk to the man’s throat.
“It’s in there.”
“How does it work?”
“It’s a combination of virus and sorcery. It destroys oxygen on contact, feeds on it like fire, but faster. Everything human will die. One vial will wipe out this entire country. He brought demons here from all over the world to solicit their help in releasing it.”
“They’re here in the castle?”
“No, Albany.”
The conference. “Is he working with vampires?”
“Vampires?” The old man looked startled. “Aren’t they extinct?”
Everyone seemed to think so, except the vampires. If Druan had formed an alliance with the undead, he would have to keep it quiet. The Dark One wouldn’t tolerate it. But it made no sense for the vampires to help Druan eliminate their food source.
“Druan wouldn’t work with vampires if they did exist. He can barely tolerate his own kind.”
Then what were they doing here? “Where is Druan?”
“I think he’s with the woman. He had something urgent to do.”
“The woman? Bree?”
“He didn’t say for sure—”
Faelan lifted the man by his shirt, dangling his feet off the floor. “What has he done with her? Tell me now, or I’ll kill you myself.”
The old man trembled. “I don’t know. I swear on my mother’s grave. He just said he had something important to do. He doesn’t trust me. He doesn’t trust anyone.”
Faelan dropped the man, swallowing back the pain. “Can you think of any place he’d take her? Somewhere hidden.”
“The secret passages.”
“We’ve checked there.”
“I’d tell you if I knew. I tried to warn her when she called, but he almost caught me.”
Faelan would have to get rid of the virus first, then find Druan, shackle him and force him to tell where Bree was. “Is this all of the virus?”
“It is. I packed it myself. Be careful. Once these vials are opened, nothing can stop it.”
“The virus won’t be released.”
“How can you stop it? It’d take a miracle—”
“I know someone in the miracle business. Close your eyes.” Faelan pulled his talisman from his shirt. “Better yet. Don’t blink.” He couldn’t let this monster live to create another virus.
The sorcerer didn’t hear him. He was staring past Faelan, his features twisted with terror. Druan stood in the open doorway, wearing his human shell, his gaze darting from Faelan to the box. The sorcerer ran toward the open window. Faelan grabbed for him, but it was too late. The old man plunged over the side with a scream, leaving Faelan with a torn piece of shirt in his hand.
“Good riddance. Saves me the mess.” Druan closed the door. After glancing at the ruined lock, he lowered an iron bar that must have been there since the castle was built.
It took all of Faelan’s willpower not to destroy Druan on the spot, but he had to find Bree first. “Where is she?”
“My human?” Druan laughed, but the sound was cold, hard.
“She’s not yours,” Faelan growled.
“Ah, but she is, warrior. I’ve watched over her for a long time. While you slept, I watched her grow. And after I rid this planet of its blight, I’ll need a few mixed breeds for slaves. Bree will make an excellent mother, don’t you think?”
Faelan wanted to shred Druan into pieces with his bare hands, feel his bones crunch and tissue tear. “Tell me where she is.”