Chapter 23
The sound of water caught my attention. “The sewer!”
Will understood immediately. “After you,” he said letting me go and then limping toward the storm drain. Water ran down through the holes of a large sewer grate.
We both groaned as we lifted the heavy iron cover, Will nearly dropping it before recovering. I climbed down into the icy, churning water, sucking in a breath while Will slipped on the slimy, metal rungs of the ladder. He paused, grunting as he pulled the heavy cover in place behind him.
Suddenly we heard rushing footsteps overhead and loud, angry voices. Will and I exchanged one, fleeting look and then turned toward the dark tunnel. I felt Will’s hand grab onto mine as he took the lead. “Stay with me. Don’t let go.”
I let him pull me forward. The water deepened as we dragged ourselves along. The sound of rushing water ahead had me backing up against the current. “This was a stupid idea.”
Will tugged me by the hand, wincing in pain. “It’s the only way out. Trust me. It’ll be all right.”
“Trust you? That’s a joke, right?” I tried to pull my hand back, but he gripped harder.
“Can we fight later?”
Before I could argue, a wave of turbulent water rushed in from a connecting pipe, and swept us off our feet. Will’s hand tightened around mine and we dropped abruptly downward. As the slope steepened, the water picked up speed. Darkness and the stench of sewage overwhelmed my senses. Another rapid drop sent my stomach soaring to my throat as Will’s grip broke free.
The thunderous roar of the cascading waterfall swallowed the sound of my scream as the rush launched us into the darkening horizon like a torpedo and then dumped us thirty feet into the icy roiling waters of the Hudson River.
With my arms and legs flailing, I hit the water hard and was immediately plunged into the freezing depths. I kicked for the surface, but the water pummeled me back down. My breath escaped me and panic set in, but my will to survive made me kick and claw my way under the thick debris until I hit something solid.
Dragging myself to the surface, I took great gulps of air as I clung to the roots of a tree sticking out of the embankment next to a bridge. I held tight while water rushed by. I couldn’t see Will anywhere. My chest ached as I choked out water. Finally, I managed to crawl up the roots of the tree and roll myself onto solid ground.
I lay there looking up at the night sky, my breath ragged. The lights of the city dimmed the shimmer of scattered stars, and a dark haze of clouds threatening rain snaked across the full moon. At least that meant no one would be on the streets. When my head stopped spinning, I sat up and scanned the river. My heart took another plunge. Will’s body lay motionless a little further down the embankment under the bridge.
Slipping along the muddy hillside, I made my way to where Will had washed up on shore. When I reached him, I dropped to one knee and felt for a pulse in his neck. Shock and relief ran through me.
“You’re alive!” I shook him gently. “Wake up, Will.” His eyes fluttered open. A small dimple appeared in one cheek. “I told you everything would be all right.”
I wanted to punch him, but then I realized how close I’d come to losing him. I helped him sit up. “What now, oh wise one?”
He grinned at my sarcasm. “We get the hell out of here, that’s what. They’ll be out looking for us for sure. We need to catch a boat down river and get as far away from Albany as we can.”
We helped each other to stand and I looked at him for a long minute in the shadows under the bridge. We both shivered from the wet and cold, but Will’s limbs shook from weakness and shock as well. In the moonlight, his skin was ghostly pale.
In spite of my desire to heal the deep purple bruises on his face and the ribs I knew to be cracked, my better judgment told me to cut my losses then and there. “I think now is the time we part ways,” I said. I couldn’t leave Albany without Sam’s medicine, and Will was a liability I couldn’t afford. Not only was he in no shape to be pulling off a robbery, I clearly couldn’t trust him as far as I could drag him.
His face grew serious. “We have a better chance if we stick together…but I understand.” He couldn’t meet my eyes. “I…I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you when we first met…about working with the Industry. I wanted to say something after that first night at your house, but I thought…it doesn’t matter what I thought. I hadn’t intended for you to get caught up in my problems. When you invited me to ride into Albany with you, though, I should have said no. I knew it would be dangerous for you here and I should have warned you. I just thought that once I was here, I would go out on my own and try to rescue my dad—lead them away from you. I figured you would keep a low profile and stay out of the reach of the Vice President. I should have known better…”
“Wait…the Vice President? Is that who was holding us prisoner?” My mind spun with the implications. We’d known that the Industry was a scientific subsidiary of the new government, and that they had an insider in the President’s Assembly, but I didn’t think Sam knew that the corruption went all the way up to Vice President Malevich. “Does your aunt know you’re here?”
Will looked grim. “I don’t think so. I haven’t seen her in a few years, but I don’t remember her being this ruthless. She and my dad used to be very close. But I don’t know if they’ve corrupted her, or if she’s as much a pawn as my dad and I are.”
“How did they get to you?” I asked quietly, not sure I even wanted to hear whatever lame excuse he had for betraying me.
“I’d been caught stealing.” He stared at his feet. “Agent Marx found me in a work camp in Providence and offered to take me to my father. He said they’d taken my dad into custody, and if I helped them find you and your brother and bring you to the city, they would set him free. I would have done anything to get out of that camp and find my father. But that was before I…met you. I didn’t know what they wanted…I’m so sorry, Lily.” His eyes came up to meet mine, large dark pools in the shadows. “I really appreciate what you did for me back there. It’s a lot more than I deserved.”
My throat tightened. As far as apologies went, that was a pretty good one, but he’d lied to me before, and done it convincingly. “I couldn’t leave you there to start talking.” I said, my armor crumbling only slightly.
“I didn’t tell them anything useful, I promise.”
“Well, that’s obvious, based on the beating you took.” The healer in me wanted nothing more than to tend his wounds, especially since he’d gotten them on my behalf, but another part of me knew that if I did that, he would know everything he needed to know about me to either turn me in for whatever reward he could get, or he would think I was a total freakazoid.
His next words cut off my train of thought. “I think we should stay together, at least until we get out of Albany.”
“You don’t get it. I can’t leave. Not yet.” I hesitated. “I have something to do first.”
After a moment of staring at me like I’d gone over the edge, a look of recognition dawned on his face. “Sam’s medicine?”
“Yeah. But it’s not your concern. You should take the next boat out of here and get as far away as you can.”
He winced as he curled his elbow into his ribs. “I’m not leaving without you.”
His tone stubborn and reassuring at the same time, I sighed. “You are in no shape to help me break in and steal back the medicine Sam needs. Don’t even ask,” I added, putting a hand up to stop him, and unwilling to tell the embarrassing truth that I’d screwed up in a big way.
“Then fix me up.” His grin widened when he saw my surprise. “I know what you can do. I’ve known all along. Marx told me, although I was skeptical until I saw the healing you did for my shoulder.”
“I don’t know what you…”
“Don’t bother trying to deny it. We’re wasting time. Do your thing and then I’ll be able to help you. You can’t go breaking into places and stealing government property
all alone.”
We were already climbing the muddy hillside toward Riverfront Park, with me following closely at Will’s heels. “Wait a minute. I didn’t say I would let you come. Or that I needed your help.” I pulled on his soggy sleeve and stopped him before we reached the grassy hilltop.
A cool mist had already started to fall. He turned to me, his expression maddeningly confident. “The two of us are better off together. I can help you. Breaking in and stealing is what I do best.”
“I wouldn’t admit to being a criminal quite so proudly,” I suggested, my eyes narrowing.
Will laughed and then winced again. “Besides, I know you aren’t the kind of person that can stand by and watch a guy suffer.” He took my hand and placed it over his cracked ribs. “Let’s see what kind of magic you can really do.”