Page 38

38. See You in Pittsburgh

Kerry

Khiem Pham was the picture of defeat. His back was bent and his eyes were dead.

Well, he is here for the rest of his life . What does he have to hope for?

“Why did you start dating Zoe Becerra?” I started off with.

“My master told me to.”

I made sure the master was the necromancer, then double-checked that Pham hadn’t been enthralled or coerced by any means into serving him.

He hadn’t. He’d done so of his own free will.

Stupid. Got what you deserved, didn’t you?

“Why did he target Zoe?”

“She could give us what we wanted.”

“Be specific.” I rolled my eyes.

“She could read and write and wield power.”

This is gonna take all day this way . Let’s change tactics.

“Answer yes or no to my questions. Did you hope she would transmute the dead into living people?”

“Yes.”

“Did your master zombify her?”

“Yes.”

“Was it because she refused to do something?”

“Yes.”

“Did she refuse when you asked her to tailor a dead person?”

“Yes.”

I went on asking questions like that until it was obvious he knew no more. Thanking him quietly, I signaled the guard and followed her back to the lobby.

“Did you get what you wanted?” Ms. Chapman asked.

“Yeah. Thanks for waiting.”

As we headed back to the dock, I thought over everything Pham had told me.

One, Zoe had been a powerful enough tailor to turn several dead animals into living ones.

Explains their interest in her .

Two, when the necromancer - Khaydari, according to Pham - had ordered her to try her talent on a human, she’d refused on moral grounds and threatened to go to the Council. Khaydari had ended her there and then.

So she wasn’t possessed, coerced, or enthralled . If she’d been any of those, she wouldn’t have been able to resist the order. She obviously hadn’t corrupted herself, either, so she bore no taint. That may comfort Rome.

Three, Zoe had stolen a book from the Vault on Khaydari’s orders. Pham didn’t know what it was about, but he didn’t think it had been found by the wardens. It never came up at the trial, and he’d kept his mouth shut about it.

I don’t know all the ins and outs, but stealing from the Vault can’t be easy. Could she have done it alone, or did she need an accomplice? If she did, who was it? And who would know?

And one more thing: Khaydari was the same necromancer Argaud had mentioned. That bothered me. It bothered me a lot.

I wished Pham would have known more about the Alchemists or the Great Experiment, but his ‘master’ obviously hadn’t trusted him enough to share details like that.

Gah! There are too many pieces in this puzzle!

Not for the first time, I really, really wished I could call Hank.

#

After the icebreaker dropped us back on the mainland, we headed to the airport. Ms. Chapman didn’t ask any questions, sticking with her promise to not get involved unless we asked her to, and I respected her even more for that. She musta been bursting with curiosity; I know I woulda been.

She did surprise me, though, before her flight left.

“If you require further assistance, call and I will come.”

I was kinda waiting for her to say “April Fools,” and it took me a second to accept that she was serious. Once I did, I thanked her with wide eyes. There weren’t many elders on the Council who woulda made such an offer to a young nephilim, and a tainted one, no less.

Then she said she was very sorry about “Ms. Shepherd and the others” and hoped we’d find them sooner rather than later.

I did, too. My patience was running out fast, and my control slipped more every hour.

I called Rome to catch him up on everything we’d learned, including the info about Zoe Becerra. He wasn’t happy to hear it, but I think it gave him some of that closure Chance said he was so big on.

He’d put me on speaker phone, and everyone had a hundred questions and no answers. Well, except Travis. He at least knew a little about alchemy, but said he’d have to look up more.

“It’s not a science anyone gives any credit to today. I’m working on an Internet connection, then I’ll get to digging online. Maybe I can find something on these Alchemists and their Great Experiment.”

“We can look into Hubler on this end,” Rome offered. “See if he has any cronies or patterns of travel or whatever.”

“Sure.” I nodded. Seemed like a good idea. “And see if you can find out anything about City of the Future or a lab in California.”

“Already found City of the Future!” I heard Mira in the background. “It’s an abandoned architecture slash amusement park in the western part of Pennsylvania. Brought up an old tourist map of it, too.”

“Look it up on a current map. What’s around it?” Gigi asked her.

“I’m on it.”

“Should we plan the next step?” Rome asked. “Or wait to see where our research leads us?”

“I dunno.” I shook my head, frustrated. “I just wanna get my hands around Reginald Hubler’s throat. I can’t think past that right now.”

“Well, we can’t touch Hubler.” Rome sighed. “He’s got more security around him than the POTUS. We’ll have to learn the identities of the other Alchemists and go through them.”

Potus?

“We only need one to spill his guts,” John said, “and, Kerry, I don’t mean that literally.”

“You always take all the fun out of it,” I grumbled, forgetting about potus.

“Found it on a satellite map,” Mira interrupted. “Seems pretty isolated. Surrounded by wilderness and farm fields. I can see some old buildings and an overgrown parking lot. I’ll look up the history of it.”

“Boots, what’s the closest city with an airport?” My brain finally started working. “We’ll catch a flight outta Newark and you can meet us there.”

“Gimme a sec.”

As I waited, I looked out the window. My entire field of vision was a sheet of white snow and I had a weird time-space moment. My body felt like I was moving, but my eyes said I wasn’t.

It was just like my life right now. My mind said I was getting closer by the minute, but my heart didn’t agree.

They’d had her for five days now. By the time we landed back in the States, it’d be six.

What’s happening to her? Are they hurting her?

My hands balled up into fists, and the casing on the phone began to crack. I forced myself to relax my grip.

“Pittsburgh,” Mira called out.

“Then we’ll see you in Pittsburgh.”