Page 114 of Alchemised

“It won’t be bad, though. It’s flood season now,” Purnell said. “The water will mostly be mountain water. It’ll be cold, but nothing like it is in the summer.”

Small mercies. Helena was well acquainted with how cold the river snowmelt was; the mere thought of crawling through it was enough to make her bones ache. “And these tunnels are connected to where Luc is?”

Purnell was avoiding Helena’s eyes again.

“A lot of old access points to the sewers were built over, but they’re easy to reopen if you have the building schematics.

Someone investigated it a few months ago.

It’s very high-level compared with the other prisons, but almost completely empty.

Like it’s being reserved for something.”

“If Luc’s there, then this means his capture is something they’ve been working towards for a long time,” Sebastian said in a tight voice.

Fear sliced down Helena’s spine. “Why are you so sure Luc’s there?”

“If it’s a secret they have him, they’d have to put him in a secret place,” was all Purnell said.

Helena couldn’t help but feel that the girl’s involvement had already destroyed Crowther’s chance at plausible deniability. Surely he could afford to be less opaque.

“If he’s not there, no one will even know we went in,” Soren said. “We have to go tonight. Ascendance is tomorrow; the floodwaters are already high, and none of us will be clearheaded enough to go. We’d have to wait two more days, and Luc can’t afford that.”

Helena hadn’t considered that aspect. They captured Luc just before Ascendance. Why? Just to increase the complexity of the rescue efforts? Or was it a coincidence?

The plan was only the vaguest shape of a plan. Get in, find Luc, get out.

Helena’s job was to keep Purnell close and out of the way.

The others would deal with any fighting.

When they found Luc, she’d examine him, make sure he was still alive, and, if necessary, heal him as rapidly as possible.

Then she would get him out. Purnell would help her carry him if he couldn’t walk on his own.

Helena’s job was getting him back to the East Island by any means possible. If she had to leave everyone else behind, she was to do that. Once Luc was safe, the others would scatter and regroup.

“Let’s go,” Soren said, pulling on his armour as Alister and Penny snapped to attention.

“Wait!” Helena said, fighting to keep her voice steady, overwhelmed with the feeling that the plan was wrong. “I need to get my medical kit.”

Soren’s eye narrowed with suspicion. “Don’t you just use your hands?”

She shook her head. “No. If Luc’s really hurt, there’s elixirs and salves, restoratives that will make him recover faster. Relying on vivimancy would—drain him or me. If I have my medicines, we’ll have a better chance of him making it out if he’s badly hurt.”

Soren relaxed marginally. “All right. Go fast. If you don’t come back in fifteen minutes, we’ll leave without you.”

She ran out the door, straight to Headquarters and the Alchemy Tower. The lift had never felt so slow as it cranked upwards.

“Please be there, Shiseo,” she prayed as the doors opened and she hurried to her lab, beginning to doubt whether she was making the right decision.

Shiseo was there, synthesising chelators when she burst in.

“I need your help,” she said as she rushed to her satchel.

She went to the cabinet filled with all her medicine and snatched up vial after vial, enough doses for everyone twice.

She found needles, bandages, manual medical tools, then packed everything she could into waxed, water-sealed bags and put all of it into her satchel until it was full to bursting.

Then she opened a small drawer that held her knives and started strapping them on.

“You got the titanium-nickel,” Shiseo said, watching the knives mould against her skin. “May I see them?”

“Not now,” she said, pulling the satchel over her head and buckling the extra strap to her waist so she could run with it. “I need you to do something for me. I can’t tell you all the details, but I don’t have anyone else to turn to.”

She snatched up a piece of paper and started scribbling notes. Everything she knew, all the relevant details. Location. Strategy. Exit.

Written out plainly, it was obvious there was no way it would work, but she didn’t know what else she could do but go along with it.

She looked up. “Do you know the way to the old factory Outpost?”

Shiseo nodded. “Yes. I visited when it was operational.”

She nodded shakily. “I need you to go there, as quickly as you can. It’s—enemy territory, but if you see a necrothrall, say ‘Helena sent me’ and they should leave you alone.

Take this route.” She sketched it roughly on a slip of paper.

“You’ll find a tenement building with the iron symbol on it.

On the second floor there’s a door. Shove this under the door and then come back.

Or—if you don’t want to do any of that, give this to Ilva.

I can’t—I don’t know how to make this choice. ”

She held the paper out.

Shiseo looked from her to the paper, an odd gleam of interest in his dark eyes. “I always knew you were very interesting.”

“I have to go,” she said.

He took the paper, and she turned and ran, not waiting to see which choice he made. She kept running.

Soren and the others were emerging from the shop as she careened down the alley.

“Thought you’d split,” Alister said, giving her a sideways grin. He seemed to have accepted her presence now.

“No,” Helena said, breathing raggedly. “I’m all in.”