Page 34 of Time of the Warlord (Stones of Scotland #5)

T oo often in her life, Sadie had been forced to admit that her mother was right. Unfortunately, this had quickly turned out to be another one of those occasions.

Sadie had left her parents’ house with no intention of calling the police, despite her promises. There was no guarantee that her mother had not already made that call, so Sadie would have to act fast. She desperately wished that she had that sports car back again, but it was miles away. And probably in police custody by now. Instead, she called a taxi.

“You want to go how far?” the driver asked incredulously. When Sadie showed him she had the money for such a long journey, he just shrugged. “Well, I’ve got nowhere else to be today. Hop in.”

A few hours later, Sadie found herself standing outside the reception of Edmondson Laboratories.

The place looked completely closed. As she peered in through the glass door, she saw no receptionist behind that huge desk. There weren’t even any lights on. But when she finally gathered the courage to push at the door, it opened effortless. Sadie swallowed hard and stepped inside.

“Hello?” she called. No answer.

There were a few different doors. Sadie chose the one marked Staff Only and stepped through into an eerily familiar corridor. Her footsteps echoed heavily as she wandered along it. At least the lights were on here, although she still neither saw nor heard any signs of life. Where was everyone?

“Norah,” she called, hoping against hope that her sister would answer. Nothing.

This door looked familiar. Hadn’t Bethany led them through here, to the time machine? Sadie gritted her teeth and turned the handle.

“Good afternoon,” a familiar voice said.

Sadie met Henry’s eyes for a second before her glance slid to Norah, who sat bound to a chair in the corner of the room.

“Norah!” she gasped, but the gun in Henry’s hand stopped her from taking another step forwards. Sadie thought regretfully of his other gun, the one she’d left in his stolen car. Really, she’d never expected her life to become this exciting.

She didn’t want to tear her eyes away from her sister, but she gradually became aware there was another man in the room. Tall and slender, he leaned heavily on a cane and stared hard at Sadie.

“You two really are identical,” he said, his voice surprisingly rich and mellow. “What a delight.”

Sadie stared at him. There was something familiar about this man. She knew his face. He shifted slightly and his blue eyes flashed in the fluorescent lighting.

Suddenly, it all fell into place.

“Professor Edmondson,” Sadie gasped. She’d investigated this man as thoroughly as she could, and examined dozens of photographs of him. But he looked much older than even the most recent pictures suggested, with deep lines carved into this face.

“Well done,” he said, with a crooked little smile. “A journalist, aren’t you? I hear you tried to meet with me on a number of occasions. I apologize that I was… otherwise occupied.”

“Let my sister go,” Sadie demanded. “You can’t possibly have any reason to keep her here.”

Something else occurred to her.

“And where’s Matthew?”

The Professor’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Matthew is not here. I have every hope that he will soon arrive, but one can never be sure when it comes to Matthew. I mentioned his name simply as an… additional incentive.”

Sadie clenched her fists and tried not to lose her temper. It would do her no good, not when these two men were the ones with all the power.

“Well, I did what you wanted. Now, let Norah go.”

The Professor smiled glacially.

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible, my dear.”

He clicked his fingers and the door slammed shut. Sadie heard the lock click into place. How was that possible?

“What do you want?” she asked him, her voice shaking a little. Her gaze met Norah’s. Her sister looked every bit as terrified as Sadie felt.

“I’m sorry that we could not come to a more mutually satisfactory agreement,” the Professor said, sounding genuinely regretful. “I hear that Norah was one of our best employees. But I need to take some radical action.”

“Radical action?” Sadie asked, suddenly afraid to hear his answer.

“Yes. You see, I have run out of power for this time machine. All my attempts have failed. All my power sources are gone. All that is left is raw life power itself.”

Sadie’s jaw dropped. All those missing women. He couldn’t possibly mean-

“The two of you need to die,” Henry growled. “It doesn’t hurt that you know too much. And twins are powerful in the old magic, so the Professor says.”

“Indeed,” the Professor said graciously. “You will fuel my magic beautifully. I just need your blood. All of it.”

“Not a chance!” Sadie shouted, and lunged for him. She found herself suddenly frozen in the middle of the air, her entire body immobile.

“Now, let’s not do anything rash,” Professor Edmondson said, almost kindly. “Henry, would you put down that gun and tie our guest up?”

Henry tucked the gun into his belt, although he looked reluctant to do so, and set about tying Sadie’s wrists. She still could not move, but he seemed to have no problem manipulating her arms into place. What had Edmondson done to her?

“Good,” he said, once Henry was finished. “Now, please draw up another chair for her. I believe that we are expecting more company.”

Sure enough, Sadie could hear footsteps in the corridor, quiet at first, but growing gradually louder.

“Hand me the gun, Henry,” the Professor ordered.

Sadie could see the hesitation in the engineer’s face - and was that fear? So, he didn’t trust his employer and master. Interesting. Still, he handed over the gun. Sadie did not exactly feel any safer with the weapon in the hands of Lucan Edmondson. She could barely breathe. What was going to happen next?

The door swung open and Sadie gasped. Matthew stood there, with Ciaran peering over his shoulder.

“Here we are,” Matthew announced loudly. “Hello, Sadie and Norah. And hello, Father.”

Professor Edmondson’s lips stretched in a narrow smile.

“You’re late, boy,” he said, and shot Henry through the chest.