To Whatever End (Echoes of Imara Book 1) (31 page)

A growing feeling of dread built. She feared something terrible had happened to Daro. Since he’d disappeared, she had gone to bed each night secure in the knowledge that he was alive, somewhere. She could feel their bond like something warm, a mingling of his presence with hers. Even when her dreams were at their worst, she always woke up and felt the link to his soul.

For the last several days, the link they shared felt different. She could no more explain what had happened than she could explain the bond itself. But deep inside, she knew something was terribly wrong. He might be still alive, but for how much longer, she couldn’t be sure.

With a calming breath to steady herself, she opened her Awareness and focused first on her floor. She was two levels below the ground and could tell that she was alone. She expanded and probed the floors below. The next level opened in her mind, and a picture of the layout grew from the ceiling down to the floor. She found nothing but bookshelves filled with stacks of books, scrolls, and parchments, no doubt just as dusty and dry.

The next level appeared to be similarly deserted, but as her Awareness expanded it made the image hazy. She decided to head downward so she could get a clearer picture. She felt out the fifth and sixth floors, the ones she knew held the secret offices and laboratories of the Lyceum of Power.

She was surprised to find them nearly empty. In her days with the Lyceum, the underground levels were active at all hours of the day or night. Magisters came below to work on covert projects and research, or to train their students. Cecily had done much of her training in those very rooms. Several magisters even had quarters there, spending their nights sleeping with their work piled around them. With her Awareness open, she could feel the various rooms, but most of them were deserted.

She could sense two people on the sixth level. One seemed to be sitting outside the door to a room, and there was a figure inside, behind a closed door. A prisoner, with a guard outside. It wouldn’t be the first time the Lyceum of Power had held someone in those rooms. She thought back to her last visit, to Magister Evan’s explanation for Magister Brunell’s absence. She hadn’t believed he was on sabbatical. Perhaps she’d just found him.

The sixth level was secured with a complicated lock. It took her several minutes to release the mechanism, allowing her to open the door. She crept along the hallway, keeping her footfalls as soft as possible. Focusing on the guard seated outside the room, she used her Reach to seal off his airway and apply a sharp jab of pressure to the nerves at the base of his jaw. He slumped over and she could feel him take a heaving breath, even as he lay unconscious.

The lock shocked her with a spark as she tried to Wield it open. She sucked in a breath and shook her hand, opening and closing her fingers as the pain dissipated. Gently searching the guard, she found a key around his neck. She unlocked the door to find a small room with a mattress on the floor next to a small table and chair. Magister Brunell stood in the center of the room, and his eyes went wide as she entered.

“Cecily,” he said, and his mouth hung slightly open. “You are the last person I expected to see here.”

Cecily glanced around. “I’m sure. This place is practically deserted.”

“Help me with this,” Brunell said as he pulled at something around his neck.

Cecily pulled the chain around his neck and looked for the clasp. It was a braided silver necklace with four circular pendants set at close intervals on one side. Each pendant held a small silvery-green stone, polished to a shine. It was an Absorption collar, a device designed to keep a Wielder from using their power. Cecily knew they existed but had never come into contact with one.

“I don’t know how to open it,” she said. There was no obvious clasp, but it was far too small to fit around his head.

“There’s a lock, underneath the pendants,” Brunell said.

Cecily probed it and found the tiny locking mechanism. It was as complicated as it was small and she wondered whose hands had created such a thing. After several minutes, she was able to delve in with a slice of Pressure to release the lock. The necklace fell into her hands.

Cecily shot a quick glance behind her. “Let’s go. We need to get out of here.”

Brunell started to reach for the absorber, but Cecily tucked it away. His gray magister’s robes hung over his stout frame, and he’d aged since Cecily had last seen him, more gray peppering his dark hair and thick beard. They stepped over the unconscious guard and closed the door softly behind them. Cecily locked the door and carefully replaced the key around the guard’s neck.

Brunell followed her up to the first underground level and they stopped in the stairwell leading to the main library. “There will be a few guards patrolling the grounds,” Brunell said. He paused, closing his eyes. He possessed similar Wielding abilities to Cecily’s, including an Awareness much like hers. He opened his eyes again. “We should be clear. Head for the north door and we’ll turn west. There is a side gate that is rarely used. There might be a guard nearby, but we should be able to distract him long enough to get out.”

Cecily nodded and let him lead the way. They crept through the main library and back out onto the wet grounds. Ducking behind a stand of trees, they watched a Lyceum Guard pass by. Cecily found herself wishing Callum was there to send the guard running with a quick brush of fear.

They made it to the side gate, and stole out into the street beyond. The sun had set, leaving the street bathed in lamplight, illuminating the driving rain. She pulled her cowl further down over her face and tucked her hand in Magister Brunell’s arm. They walked down the hill, south toward the main part of the city, where they found a covered carriage to take them over the Merchant Span. They walked the last winding streets to the Ale Stone and down into the Quarry, and she led him down into the depths of the Underground.

***

Cecily and Brunell sat at a large table with Griff, Serv, Sumara, and Edson. Callum arrived, wincing as he lowered himself into a chair. Mira was still recovering from her injuries. The blow to the head had been severe and the Serum Shapers said it would be a few more days before she would be able to get out of bed. Merrick stood in the doorway, Beau seated nearby. He’d attempted to follow the trail through the storm drain for two days before returning to the Quarry in frustration.

Cecily nursed a cup of hot tea, the warmth seeping into her hands. Brunell hadn’t told her much on the way back from the Lyceum. He seemed rather shocked to find himself suddenly free of his captivity, and he let her do most of the talking. She’d told him what happened to Daro and what they’d managed to discover so far. He’d nodded along as she spoke, asking an occasional question. She was anxious to find out why he’d been held captive and what he might know about the Lyceum’s involvement in Daro’s abduction.

“I hate to put you on the spot like this, after everything you’ve been through. But I’m hoping you’ll be able to help us,” Cecily said.

Brunell nodded and reached up to scratch his beard. “You’ll have to forgive me if I appear rather bewildered,” he said, his voice a deep rumble. “I’ve been held captive for several months now. My contact with the outside world has been limited. And I certainly wasn’t expecting such a heroic rescue.”

“Why did they imprison you?” Cecily asked.

“Ah, well,” he said, resting his hands on his belly. “That is unfortunately what happens when you find out too much about what others wish to keep hidden. You already know that Nihil is behind these abductions. I do know Nihil. He’s been working with the Lyceum of Power for years now. I didn’t realize the truth of what he was doing until recently. And when I found out, well…” He paused and held up his hands. “They made sure I would stay out of the way.”

“What is he doing, exactly?” Callum asked, as he watched Brunell through narrowed eyes.

Brunell took a deep breath. “From what I understand, he is conducting experiments, trying to make Wielders stronger. Cecily, I hate to say this, but if he has Daro, I fear the worst for him. He is experimenting on people. It is highly illegal and there is no telling what he is doing to them.”

“We’ve seen some of his handiwork,” Callum said.

Cecily’s shoulders tightened. “Do you know where Nihil is?”

He shook his head. “I’m afraid I don’t. I found out some of what he was doing, but I don’t know from where he operates.”

Callum tossed his hands up in the air. “No one seems to know, do they? No matter how many stones we turn over, none of them have anything useful to tell us.”

Brunell held up a finger. “I might actually be able to help you. I may have been locked away in the Lyceum, but I was not completely cut off from the outside. I have spies of my own, still loyal to me, and they’ve been feeding me information during my captivity. I kept up on Nihil’s activities as best as I could. If I am not mistaken, next week is the Feast of the Solstice?” he asked. The others nodded. “I happen to know something big is happening in Wesfell, a town on the river not far from Halthas. I’m not sure what, but I know some of Nihil’s men will be there.”

Cecily sat back in her chair and stared at an empty spot on the wall. She knew all too well how dangerous Nihil’s men were. But if they didn’t know they were coming, perhaps Cecily could at least follow them. Nihil’s men could lead her to Daro.

“We have to be there next week,” Cecily said. Callum opened his mouth, but she didn’t let him interject. “Yes, I realize it is dangerous. I’m not suggesting we openly attack. We can’t fight them. But what if they don’t know we are there? They won’t be expecting us. We can hang back, just watch. If we follow them, they’ll lead us straight to Daro.”

Callum scowled but her other friends were nodding.

“This is the best chance we’ve had yet,” Cecily continued. “We didn’t expect anyone to attack us at the docks, so we weren’t prepared. This time, we know what we’re up against and we will be ready.”

“No one else seems to know how to find Nihil,” Sumara said. “It seems foolish to miss out on a chance like this.”

Callum shook his head. “Mira is still hurt, and I’m not fit for travel either. We won’t be at full strength. You faced one of them and she could have killed all of you. We’d be crazy to go after them.”

Cecily leveled her gaze at Callum. “What do you suggest we do, hide down here and wait? How long do you think it will be before they find us? They found your prisoner, they got the drop on us at the docks. They know we’re looking for them. We’ve been searching for months and Daro is still missing. I won’t sit here, licking my wounds, when I have a chance to find him.”

Serv’s quiet voice cut across the room. “I’ll go.”

Griff banged his hand on the table. “As will I,” he bellowed.

“I want the chance to track them down,” Merrick said as he scratched Beau behind the ears.

Edson spoke up. “Then I’m going too.” Cecily opened her mouth to disagree, but he held a hand up. “I know you don’t want me getting hurt, Miss Cecily, but I won’t stay behind again.”

Sumara nodded. Callum sighed and tossed his gold coin on the table. “I guess I better go pack.”

“No,” Cecily said and held up her hand. “You are right about one thing. You’re hurt and you need to stay here until you recover. You and Mira will stay. The rest of us will go.”

Callum brushed his hair from his face. The swelling around his eyes had diminished, but his face was still a mess of purple and yellow. “I don’t like this.”

Brunell spoke up. “I will be here to lend whatever assistance I can offer. After your help freeing me today, it’s the least I can do.”

She nodded to him and laid a hand on his arm. Gratitude swelled in her heart. They were finally getting somewhere.

31. ABSORPTION

Grit and sweat mingled on Number One’s forehead. The air was thick with dust and debris, illuminated by the swinging glowstone lamp. He and Number Fourteen were deep underground in the tunnel system that led away from the compound. It led straight to the city, the original entrance deep underneath the palace. He had found the tunnels, back in another life, and told Nihil where to find them. He and the other subjects had worked for years to expand the underground complex, burrowing under the city. The physical work seemed to keep them stable, to help them cope with the chaos threatening to take their sanity. Number One found some solace in the labor, as his burning muscles drew attention away from the tempest in his mind.

Number Fourteen stood nearby, picking up huge rocks and moving them to the side as if they weighed nothing. His movements were monotonous, his eyes empty. He hadn’t spoken on their trek underground, although Number One could tell he still buzzed with too much energy. He glanced over at the big man, his black clothes turned gray with dust. Fourteen dropped a rock into a pile, pausing to stare, and his body hovered as if momentarily frozen. He looked down at his hands and shuddered before turning back to his work.

Fourteen had seemed different ever since Nihil had used him in Number One’s last transference. Number One had desperately wanted to avoid enduring another session with the stone. It had been so long, he’d come to believe Nihil was finished working on him. When Sindre had led him to Nihil’s laboratory, his stomach clenched with fear. It had taken a number of prods with Sindre’s amulet to get him to sit in the chair. He scarcely remembered what Nihil had said. The voices in his mind had risen to a fevered pitch.