He nodded, trying not to let his despair show on his face. Rory could have been taken anywhere, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to send Zhang’s family after Hyde even if he’d known where to tell them to look.
Ling held out her hand, Rory’s compass in her palm. “I was going to give this back today, but I didn’t have the chance. Thanks for letting me take a look at a vessel of alchemy. Is it yours or Rory’s?”
Arthur stared at the compass, his heart picking up speed. “Thank you,” he said, with a glimmer of hope. “I’ll take it.”
Five minutes later, he was pulling his Cadillac up in front of a blue-and-white-striped awning on Hester Street. Most of the street’s shops were closed for the Jewish Sabbath, including the lawyer and tailor on either side of Taussig’s Chemists.
The pharmacy itself was also closed, but the Taussigs had always made accommodations for the Ivanovs to work Saturday and visit their church on Sunday instead. So when he saw movement in the pharmacy’s window, his heart started beating too fast with hope. He walked up to the windows and put his face beneath the letters that spelled outPharmacy, Prescriptions, Powders, then knocked urgently on the glass.
Sasha saw him first and scrambled over to unlock the front door. “Arthur,” she said, opening it for him. “Is everything all right?”
“I need your help.” Arthur swallowed, feeling unusually small to find himself again desperate for the aid of others. “Please.”
“Anything, of course.”
“Three paranormals took Rory.”
Her eyes widened. “Quickly, come in. Tell me all.”
Arthur filled her in with what Wesley had said as he followed her through the pharmacy, his throat getting tighter as he told the story. “It has now likely been more than an hour since they took him,” he finished. “I know I haven’t the right to ask, but you helped me save him once before...” He trailed off, his eyes drifting several feet away.
Pavel hadn’t come over. He was standing at the counter, a small tin of headache remedy open in his hand. His eyes were closed as he took a pinch of the powder and rubbed it between his fingers.
Sasha bit her lip. “He’s been consumed by his alchemy since we returned to the city today.”
Arthur’s heart sank with guilt. He’d bet the pomander relic was at fault, leaving behind magic Rory could taste only two blocks from Grand Central. Maybe they should give Pavel the damn thing. Pavel had seen war too. Maybe he could be trusted with a relic.
But Rory’s ring had a way of getting away from him, and if the pomander’s violation magic escaped Pavel’s control...
Arthur crossed to the counter. “Pavel.” He touched Pavel’s shoulder gently.
Pavel made no reaction. There were purplish circles beneath his eyes and a pallor to his skin. He took another pinch of the powder, and under Pavel’s touch, the white headache powder turned to sparkling pink.
“Pavel.” Arthur forced himself to keep his voice soft, but fear was creeping in. “A group of paranormals took Rory.”
Still no reaction. Sasha came up quietly behind Arthur, biting her lip. “I don’t know if he will respond, Ace. His magic is clouding his every sense.”
Arthur swallowed. Numbly, he reached for his neck. “One of the paranormals is a twisted and very cruel man,” he said, almost a whisper, as he undid his bow tie and let it hang loose in his collar. “I know he’s a bad man—” his throat tightened “—because of what he did to me.”
He opened the top button of his collar, and finally, Pavel looked at him.
Arthur’s fingers were steady as he opened the first few buttons above his vest, his body remembering how to compartmentalize, how to function even when his heart wasn’t working. When he reached the top of his vest, he pulled his shirt aside enough to show Pavel his bare chest and the thin lines of scars Hyde had carved into his skin with his claws.
Sasha made a small gasp and covered her mouth. Pavel stared at the scars, his light brown eyes wide with shock and a terrible kind of recognition.
“I regret that you understand,” Arthur said softly. “I regret with all my heart that we’re brothers in this pain. But the man who gave me these has Rory.”
Sasha closed her eyes, hands still over her mouth.
“Please,”said Arthur. “Help me find him before Hyde can hurt him too.”
Pavel’s gaze was on the scars. Then he looked up, straight into Arthur’s eyes, and nodded once before setting off at a brisk stride toward the back of the pharmacy.
Arthur and Sasha chased after him. “Have you anything of Rory’s for a potion?”
Arthur reached into his pocket, his hand closing around cool metal. “I have Rory’s compass,” he said, with a pulse of gratitude for Ling. After this, he was going to get something of Rory’s to keep for his own.
They followed Pavel into the storeroom in the back of the pharmacy, a windowless room with a heavy metal floor safe. As she had before the gala at Luther Mansfield’s home, Sasha once again moved the safe with her superstrength. Pavel crouched and pulled up the loose floorboard, retrieving a small metal box.
