She truly was a horrible person sometimes.
The medium didnt look the least bit apologetic. You didnt need me to tell you a truth that in your heart you already knew. He pulled something from his pocketit was one of Griffins watches. Hopefully this will help me guide you to him.
Why hadnt they done this originally? Finley wondered. Oh, yesbecause she hadnt waited long enough. If shed had patience Griffin might be home now, and Lord Felix wouldnt be waiting for her to enter the Aether once more. And he would be waiting for her; she was certain of that. Like hed said, she was the one that got away. Not only that, but shed taken him down and humiliated him. That was more than enough for him to want revenge. She could only imagine the pleasure hed take in adding her to his little harem.
Once she saved Griffin, she was going to set those poor girls free.
Emily put the helmet over her head and secured the clamps, enclosing Finley in her little bubble. Instead of trying to listen to what everyone was saying, she focused on remaining calm. She would be lying if she said she wasnt a little nervous about going back into the Aether after her encounter with Lord Felix and his victims. How was he able to control them? Why didnt they turn on him for what hed done to them? It made no sense, and it was unsettling. And they had been so strong. She wasnt accustomed to going up against more than a handful of people at one time. They would have ripped her apart had Emily not pulled her back out.
It made her all the more worried about Griffin. Not just worried, but terrified. She refused to let herself think about it, because her mind went immediately to the worst thingand that was that Griffin was dead, or soon would be. Or even worse, that Garibaldi had totally destroyed Griffins mind and soul, but left him alive.
For the first time since meeting him, Griffin wasnt there when she needed him. He was the one who gave her the strength and confidence to do half the mad things she did, even if he often gave her the very devil for doing some of them. She couldnt afford to second-guess herself, but that didnt stop her mind from doing it anyway. And she couldnt seem to stop herself from thinking those awful thoughts for much longer than a few moments.
What would she do without him? Who would challenge her? Who else would want to be with her even though she tested his patience on a daily basis? Who would test her patience on a daily basis? She pushed aside the useless wondering when tears began to burn her eyes. Time to pull herself together, if not for her own sake, then for Griffins. If she couldnt stop these terrible thoughts, then she would at least endeavor to ignore them.
Emily knocked on the helmet, and Finley raised her gloved hand. Within seconds she heard the suits system come to life. She began to breathe in the chloroform that would put her to sleep before the suit more or less killed her. Her eyelids grew heavier with every deep breath. And then, it was as though someone flicked a switch inside her, although she knew time had to have passed.
The dark that overtook her quickly faded to the familiar gray of the Aether as her eyes cleared. She stood on the side of a street lined with incredible mansions, beautiful grounds and ostentatious vehicles. It was truly an upper-class neighborhoodeven more so than Mayfair, but in an overblown manner, she realized as she took a closer look. It was as though a satirist had designed the entire areathe incredibly tall homes, the perfect lawns that lacked character, and vehicles that were spotless, shiny and far more fancy than anything shed ever seen. Everything was immaculate and pristine. Shed wager the cobblestones were all the exact same heightsame for all the gates and walls and windowsand that the roads and drives were perfectly straight, any curves completely symmetrical.
It was the most god-awful place shed ever seen. Completely lacking in personality or beauty.
Heaven for the privileged, said a voice beside her.
Finley jumped, and turned to find Ipsley standing with her. Or rather, a shadow of Ipsley. He was almost completely transparentshe could just make out his features. It was unsettling because he looked like a ghost.
Aetheric projection, he explained, seemingly reading her mind. You can see me because Im connected to you in our world, and I am able to travel the realm of the dead. This place is obviously the construct of someone who was very wealthy and very obnoxious in his or her life.
His, Finley informed him. Only a man could create this.
How so? His interest seemed genuine.
She shrugged. If a woman had made it, there would be curtains in the windows and birds singing. The houses wouldnt be quite so austere. The gardens would be perfect. Theres not a flower to be seen herewomen care about flowers.
Ipsley nodded. An interesting deduction. I hope to investigate it someday.
I dont, she replied honestly. Then she turned from him and glanced down the street, as though her eyes were following an invisible finger. She felt a pull. Down there. She pointed. The house at the end.
The medium walked beside her. Yes. I feel the same pull. His Grace is in that house.
Of course he was. It wasnt the biggest house, but it was the most obnoxious with finials and towers and flags flapping in the breeze. It was also a bloody fortress, complete with guards at the door. Only these guards were swirling black cloudsthe things Griffin called Aether demons. They were Garibaldis pets, and they were nasty. Finley had gone up against them before.
You are stronger in this world as a ghost than I am as a projection, Ipsley told her. You bring your strength from the living world with you when you die. You can become stronger, as well, by harnessing the energy around you. Garibaldi has had time to grow his strength, but Griffin is already strong. You are strong, and I will give you whatever strength I have.
Thank you. How was she going to harness the energy around her? She had no bloody idea how to do that! But she did know how to hit, and these demons had fallen under her fists before.
Thank you. How was she going to harness the energy around her? She had no bloody idea how to do that! But she did know how to hit, and these demons had fallen under her fists before.
Surely youre not planning to go through the front door?
She stopped and turned. Ipsley stood beside a perfectly boring hedge a few feet away. It was odd, seeing leaves where his eyes ought to be. New to this world, remember.
I sincerely doubt youre new to the concept of sneaking about? Subterfuge? Those are the same here as anywhere else.
Normally shed be offended by his tone, but in this case he was right. Wont he have prepared for such a thing?
Men who think of themselves as geniuses often make the biggest mistakes.
True. And no doubt Garibaldi believed that it would take them longer to get into the Aetherif hed even entertained the notion of them having the technology. He probably thought he had plenty of time to torture Griffin. He probably didnt think theyd find this place at all if they could access the Aether.
Really, it would be quite stupid for him to underestimate any of them that way. He had to know Sam would do whatever it took to get Griffin back, and he had to know that Emily was just as smart, if not smarter than he was. And that Finley was slightly more mad.
The two of them slipped through the hedge, skirting around to the back of the mansion where two automatons that looked like rubbish bins were stationed.
Pretty rudimentary, she remarked. I expected better.
Ipsley glanced up at the tall walls of the house. I would wager hes invested so much of his power into his demons, his fortress and imprisoning the duke that anything else is too much.
It made sense. Garibaldi had worked with machines all his life. These automatons would be easy for him to build and maintainprobably taking very little of his energy. Does that mean hell be easy to defeat?
While it would delight me to tell you that, Im afraid I cannot. I suspect that hes installed several defenses and safeguards. I wouldnt put all your faith in his underestimation of you and your friends either.
In other words, I should be overly cautious rather than overly cocky.
Yes, exactly that.
All right, so no rushing in half-cocked and impulsive as she normally did. She had to be careful. She had to think. She had to be more like Griffin.
Do you feel him? she asked. I feel like hes near.
Ipsley nodded. Im almost certain...there.
She followed his nearly invisible finger as it pointed at the third floor of the house. There, high above their heads, was a window with bars on it. From inside that room she saw a faint bluish glow, and her heart leaped for joy. Shed know that light anywherefelt it reflected in her soul.
Griffin.
Chapter Eight
As soon as the three of them arrived at Jacks house in Whitechapel, Wildcat removed the dark glasses shed put on when they left Mayfair and turned those feline eyes of hers to Jack. It was deuce unsettling, that gaze of hers with the oval pupils and unflinching directness. He couldnt help but feel like a very large mouse.
Can I see her room? the girl asked. I need to get her scent in order to track her.
She smelled of oranges, Jack almost told her, but caught himself at the last second. Follow me. He could have told her where Milas room was, but he didnt care who they were, or how much Finley liked them, he wasnt going to trust them to wander about unwatched in his house. It went against every instinct he had, even though he was fairly certain the Americans couldnt care less about his business. Still, he hadnt gotten this far by being the trusting sort.
He led them upstairs to Milas lonely room. Shed been gone a few hours but the house felt as though it had been empty for weeks. Jack felt her absence right down to his bones, the wrongness of it. She belonged here. With him. And this foreign girl walking about looking at everything with disinterestedness rubbed his nerves raw. Mila was not something to be rooted out or hunted. She mattered.
Wildcat picked up a pillow from the bed and looked at Jack. Mind if I take the cover off?