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He moved ever so slightly toward the vault, leaning against the wall. My breath caught. I had to move straightaway, but I couldn’t seem to. The desire to understand my brother’s role in this treachery warred with locking this villain in his own chambers. My hesitation cost me. Holmes stepped to the side, now closing in on where I stood near the incinerator room. My strategy was coming undone at the seams, all because of my cursed curiosity.
“Turns out, he didn’t much have the stomach for murder. He had no such issue with accepting their organs for his science, though. Does that ease your mind, knowing his brand of devilry has limits?”
“Of course it doesn’t.” I shook my head. “Instead of turning you over to Scotland Yard, he accepted gifts in the form of kidneys and ovaries and hearts. Had you not burned his journals, I’d have given them to the detective inspectors when I returned to London. You need to pay for what you’ve stolen. And so does my brother, deceased or not. He hated the women you killed. I saw that hatred in his heart and in the way he spoke of them the night he died. He was not innocent.”
At that, a slow, malicious smile spread across his face. He held up a blade, a silver gleam in the flickering darkness, matching the glint in his eyes. It was as if I was standing in my laboratory watching N
athaniel do the same maneuver. The blade had been hidden up his sleeve, just as Thomas had deduced all those months ago. I was so caught by surprise at the clashing of memories, I could scarcely breathe. Nightmares and reality came together until I wanted to drop my knife and cane and cover my ears.
“Do you know what the most dangerous weapon is, Miss Wadsworth?”
Somehow, he must not have noticed the panic swirling about inside me. Through some miracle I’d kept my expression blank. My association with Thomas had proved most beneficial. Something he’d joked about a long while ago. I swallowed hard, never removing my attention from Holmes. I did not focus on the knife, recalling my time with the carnival. Sleight of hand was a dirty trick. It always made you look at the wrong target.
“I suppose a pistol or a sword.” I lifted a shoulder. “It depends on the circumstances.”
“Is that what you truly believe? That some tangible object is what’s to be feared most?” He exhaled, the sound laced with disappointment. “What of the human mind? That’s the most dangerous weapon. How many wars would be waged, swords drawn, cannons readied and fired, without that one weapon being deployed first?”
He watched me with the eyes of a shark, emotionless yet predatory. I couldn’t help but feel as if I was wading in waters much too rough to survive. I refused to be afraid as I stepped into the incinerator room.
Heat licked at my calves. Our time together was coming to an end. Only one of us would leave this murder castle alive. I pictured Thomas standing at the altar. Uncle instructing us in his laboratory. My father’s glistening eyes as he set me free. My aunt and cousin and Daciana and Ileana—the two other sisters I’d come to love as if they were my own blood. Mrs. Harvey and her traveling tonics and warmth. I had much to fight for, aside from avenging the women he’d brutalized. I would not be an easy target.
“A mind is a powerful weapon, but it doesn’t have to be used wickedly,” I said. “That’s a choice.”
He roughly parted the sea of skeletons before him, no longer patient with our game. He strode toward me, leaving them chattering loudly in warning. They needn’t have bothered. I knew the monster was about to emerge. Running was no longer an option. It was time to fight.
“We are all wicked. More than mortal flesh and blood, our very souls harbor evil. It knows no beginning or ending.”
He paused on the threshold of the room and I silently prayed he’d take one final step inside. All I needed was to complete our dance. One last circle around until I could lock him in here with his latest victim. Anticipation coursed through me.
I spied a stool off to the side with a gas can. I’d try throwing it at him and run. Or I could swing the metal can at him—it seemed hefty enough to stun him for a moment. He stepped forward and I immediately moved back, edging farther into the blazing room.
Sweat beaded on my forehead. Soon it would soak through my nightgown. I shivered at the thought of this man undressing me. He smiled as if he knew my thoughts.
“Your soul longs for the very things mine does. Don’t trick yourself into thinking you’re better because you haven’t crossed that line yet, Miss Wadsworth. I see your desire to end me. It’s so strong I can practically taste it. Like a fine berry wine, your darkness is sweet.”
Silence had many roles. It could be either a villain or a hero depending on when it was called to service. I decided to keep my mouth shut. Let him entertain himself with his lies. I might desire to kill him, but not for the reasons he believed.
“Have you nothing more to say? That’s a shame. I was enjoying our chat together.”
When I slowly swept around the outer edge of the room, he didn’t shadow me like he’d done before. He remained where he was and I knew it was only a matter of moments before the rest of my plan joined him in Hell. I braced myself for whatever was coming next.
“I saw you in New York, you know. I’d gotten to hold you a moment. I wanted to slice your throat then and there.” He smiled shyly. I searched my memory, unable to locate—I swallowed hard. I had bumped into him. He’d been the clumsy young man I’d chided Liza for being rude to. “Delayed gratification is the basis of euphoria.”
I sensed the charge in the air—an invisible building of pressure before lightning struck. I hoped I was strong enough to finish this. I squeezed my cane in one hand and my knife in the other. I’d use them both in any fashion I needed to. As I eased up the pressure on my dragon’s-head knob, I heard the softest swoosh of a stiletto blade sliding free. My heart stuttered.
Thomas. My brilliant, cunning, prepared man. I’d forgotten that he’d had a weapon built into the end of this cane. His gifts were beautiful and practical. Had he deduced my need for this before either of us understood just how important it would be? I didn’t have time to ponder it.
The devil had been coiled like a rattlesnake, and while I was expecting his attack, when he sprang at me, I flinched. It was a costly mistake. He grabbed a skull from the pile just outside the door and in one fluid motion was across the room, smashing it against my head.
A loud, sickening crack echoed around me. My vision swam.
Dark glitter tinged in red flashed across my eyes. It was different from when I’d lost consciousness on the Etruria. Then I’d gotten swept into that in-between state of wake and sleep because of blood loss. It was an odd combination of white spots fighting the encroaching darkness. This was like pain exploded in my brain, all-consuming and terrible.
Warmth trickled down my forehead and into my eyes.
When I blinked, I saw blood. Our battle had begun and I was already losing.
FIFTY-THREE
