“We don’t own House Brown,” I said. “It can’t be bought. It’s a collection of people who make up their own minds on how they live and what they do. Those people’s lives are not up for sale.”
“What I want,” he repeated, “are your records, your contacts, names, and the history you have on every member of House Brown. All of them. I want all the information you own. You are the communication hub for House Brown, are you not? That is what all that equipment in the basement is for. Well, that’s what all the equipment was for, wasn’t it?”
A chill washed through me and an unshakable fear clutched my gut. That equipment in the basement was what Quinten was going to use to trigger his time travel. If Reeves had damaged it, destroyed it, taken it, our plan would be worthless and I’d be dead in a few minutes.
“You can’t own something we have no influence over,” Quinten said, refusing to react to the idea that Reeves had destroyed the equipment.
“But you do have influence over each and every person in House Brown. You will explain to them that you’ve made a deal with House Silver that is in their best interests. Of course, they can stay off grid and under radar—that is one of the things I most like about House Brown. But they will do business for me whenever I call upon them to do so. I will pay monthly stipends. A little more credit in their pockets for nothing more than their silence and occasional help.”
“Help?” Quinten asked. “Help for what? Smuggling illegal compounds and products below House notice? Transporting or killing people and the other unfortunates who cross you or get in the way of your power plays and House politics?”
“You want House Brown to be your pet criminals?” I asked.
“Not at all,” he said. “I want House Brown to fall under my care. I want to nurture it and give the people in the House the niceties they currently lack. In return, I will help House Brown become fully recognized among the world powers. It will have a voice among the Houses. Isn’t that what you wanted, Matilda? Wasn’t that the price you expected House Gray to pay for owning you?”
“House Brown won’t have their voice,” I said. “They’ll have your voice. This isn’t about charity, Reeves. This is about you claiming people and using them however it suits you.”
“Well. These things do tend to happen that way. I am offering to lift House Brown out of the squalor, dirt, and shame of its past. The past of a failed rebellion and a war that they lost—decades ago. I am offering them victory. I will stand beside them and help House Brown become strong. A force in the world.”
All the pretty spin he put on those lies didn’t change the fact that he wanted House Brown for reasons that would only benefit him. He already was in position to take over House Orange, and if he owned House Brown, he would become a very powerful man indeed.
He once told me all the world was a game board, and he was the only one who knew how to make the pieces dance. And they were dancing right into his control.
The last thing House Brown wanted was to be under another House’s rule. Reeves Silver was right: people who were now a part of House Brown were the sons and daughters of those who had fled from being owned by the other Houses.
Freedom was more than an empty word for them.
It was not a coin that could be traded.
“No one owns House Brown,” I repeated. “Not us, and certainly not you.”
“I don’t think that you own it, Miss Case. But you are respected within it. You and your brother. All I need is your approval on a few key matters. When I call on you to endorse my desires, you will do so. Quickly and without falsity. In exchange, I will ask your fellow House Brown neighbor, Boston Sue there, not to murder your grandmother.”
I didn’t look at Bo or Grandma; I just kept my eyes on the devil.
“We contact House Brown,” I said. “Tell them we approve of the new management, and you walk out of here, leaving us all to live happily ever after?”
“Oh no,” he said. “Not at all. There is a price on your head. Yours and Abraham’s. You will both come with me—your lovely grandmother too. We’ll leave your brother to send out the message to House Brown.”
“No,” Abraham said, speaking up for the first time since we’d stepped into the room.
“This is the only offer you are going to get, servant,” Reeves snapped. “You shouldn’t even be breathing right now. You’re mine to do with as I please, Abraham Seventh.”
“I am no man’s property,” Abraham said in a low rumble. “My allegiance is to House Gray, not Silver.”
“Such delusions of your station in life,” Reeves said. “Oscar was soft. You liked him that way. You made him that way. You used him and that soft head of his so you could get what you wanted. Oh yes. I know how you made him think you were his friend while you made decisions behind the scenes. But Oscar is dead now. And that death is on your hands.”
“You killed him,” Abraham said in a way that was a promise, a threat.
“No,” Reeves Silver said, “my bitch of a galvanized, Helen, killed him. Do you really think I would order her to shoot another head of a House in plain sight at the most publically viewed event of the year? Do you know what that did to my plans?”
“I know exactly what you would order her to do,” Abraham said. “You know we talk, don’t you? The stitched? Helen was more than happy to tell me what you had done to her. And what you’d told her to do. If Slater hadn’t shot me, I would have been there to stop her.”
That surprised me. I didn’t know if Abraham and Helen had talked in the short amount of private time the galvanized had spent together before the gathering. I did know Helen didn’t seem to like me much. But maybe she was just angry and trying to get out of doing something she didn’t want to do. Something that could lock her away for life.
Although I’d seen her eyes when she shot Oscar. There had been no regret in them.
Truth or bluff, Abraham’s comment was enough to make Reeves pause.
“Willing or unwilling,” Reeves said. “You are mine. All of you. Mr. Case here has convinced you both that he can do something to stop you from dying today. That is not true. There is no break in time from that ancient experiment. There is just this sorry, desperate child-man who can’t get over Mommy and Daddy dying in the front yard. He has convinced himself he can travel through time.”
He was angry, yelling. And he was wasting our time.
“He’s deluded!” he said. “The only reality here is my generous offer, the gun in Boston Sue’s hand, and the snipers who have you in their sights. You will deal with me, or, so help me, I will just kill you all and remove you from my list of problems.”
“We’ll do it,” I said. “We’ll give you House Brown.”
Abraham didn’t look my way, but every muscle in his body tensed, his fists curling into a white-knuckle grip.
“Tilly,” Right Neds warned.
I wasn’t listening to him. And I didn’t believe Reeves about the time event not being true.
I wanted Grandma out from under that gun, and I wanted access to the machine in the basement. I didn’t care how greedy or crazy Reeves Silver was. Let him think we would do what he wanted. He could have his game.
There were only minutes left before time was going to end me.
Anything I agreed to would either change after I died and Quinten fought for what he really wanted out of the deal with Reeves, or I went back in time and changed this so that none of us had to talk our way out of a life of servitude.
“I’ll say whatever you want me to say to House Brown,” I said. “Just take the gun off Grandma and keep her out of the negotiations. I’m agreeing to be yours, Reeves. You own me. I will stand and do as you ask as long as you leave my grandmother out of it. Out of all of this.”
Reeves’s gaze flicked between me, my brother, and Abraham. I didn’t look at either of them, but I didn’t have to to know how angry they were.
Well, I hoped we’d have time to argue about how stupid I had been to play into Ree
ves’ hands and agree to his deal.
But first we’d need time if we were going to save our asses.
“And do you also agree to bend knee to me and my rule, Abraham Seventh?” he asked.
Abraham was a stubborn, prideful man, for all the humblest of things he had done for the people in this world. He had sacrificed his own life and freedom for the lives and freedom of others. But I didn’t think he was going to do Reeves any favors.
“I will not stand in the way of House Brown following Matilda and Quinten Case’s orders,” Abraham said.
It was much more than I’d expected him to concede. It was not a yes. It was nowhere near a yes, but it was not exactly a no either. I just hoped it was enough to satisfy Reeves.
“That is a very hesitant acceptance,” Reeves noted.
“I follow my sister’s word,” Quinten said, with a timely interruption. “As does House Brown. You will have us, Reeves Silver, if anyone in this world can.”
“In return,” I said, “you will release our grandmother, and you, Boston Sue, and all your damned snipers and guards will get off our property. This land is ours. We keep it. We own it. We will bow to you, and we will give you our service and do what we can to convince House Brown to listen to you, but this land remains ours. Is that enough of an agreement?”
He considered it for what felt like an hour. How long had we been talking, negotiating? How much time did we really have left?
“Yes,” he said. “It will do.” He stepped away from the fireplace. “There’s just one more thing.”
Guards rushed back into the room, guns trained on each of us.
I twitched toward my weapon.
Reeves raised his voice. “Uh-uh. You are outnumbered, and they are in full body armor and shock shields. Your bullets will do them no damage. They, however, are armed with hollow-point and Shelley dust rounds.”
He strolled up behind Grandma and patted her shoulder. “The lovely elder Case will be coming with me.”
“What’s that?” Grandma said, craning her neck to look at him. “Do I know you?”
“We’re going for a ride,” Reeves said, “And so are you, Abraham Seventh.”
“No,” I said, the wind knocked out of me. “That wasn’t the deal. Grandma stays here. Abraham stays here.”
“I’ll go,” Abraham said.
“You will not,” I said.
He turned to me. “I will. I’m sure it won’t be long before I see you again.”
Time travel. If we could still trigger our way into the past, maybe this would all be different. Maybe we’d have time to save Mom and Dad, save Oscar, save Grandma and Abraham, and stay out of this mess completely.
If it worked.
We didn’t have the journal. We didn’t have any kind of guarantee.
This might actually be the last time I saw him.
“Don’t,” I said. “Please.”
“This isn’t good-bye,” Abraham said.
“And if it is?”
His eyes clouded. “I’ll find you again. No matter how long it takes me. I promise you that.”
“You will return our grandmother to us,” Quinten said to Reeves. “Unharmed, as soon as we make our announcements to House Brown.”
“Of course, of course,” Reeves Silver said, looking between Abraham and me and seeing far more than I wanted him to see.
“You have a week,” he continued. “Get the message out. Tell House Brown they will be following you in following me.”
He snapped his fingers, and two guards moved forward and put their hands on Grandma’s arms to help her out of the chair.
“Matilda?” she asked as the sheep tumbled to the floor and ran around in circles, bleating pitifully. “Why are there men here? So many men?”
“It’s okay, Grandma. Abraham and you are going for a ride. He’ll look after you.” It was a lie. I knew Reeves wouldn’t let Abraham anywhere near her. I knew Abraham, in volunteering to go with Reeves, had just signed himself up for torture, imprisonment, or worse.
“Here now, Mrs. Case,” Abraham said kindly. “Let me walk with you.”
He gave the guards a look, telling them to stand aside. To my surprise, they glanced at Reeves, who nodded.
Accusing galvanized of being criminals did not wipe out the decades the galvanized had been seen as stars, warriors, and an authority second only to the heads of Houses. So I supposed it was no wonder that the guards stepped aside respectfully and let Abraham help Grandma out of the house.
“One week,” Reeves said as he walked to the door. “I expect results. Don’t disappoint me.”
Boston Sue followed him out the door, and then the guards all walked out too.
“Son of a bitch,” I said. I strode to the door and watched as Abraham, Grandma, Reeves, and several guards climbed into a heli that was ready for takeoff. The rest of the guards climbed into vehicles.
Lizard was thrashing its way through the barn, throwing hay and beams and cockatrice into the sky. It was raining harder now, lightning stitching across the clouds.
“We have to stop them,” I said. “Quinten, we have to do something.”
“Nothing we do will matter if we don’t get downstairs. Now.” He jogged down the hall.
“Neds, keep an eye on Lizard, okay?” I said before following Quinten. “It should wear itself out soon since there aren’t any more people to smash, but if it looks like it’s headed our way, yell.”
“Got it,” he said.
I jogged the hall. Quinten had left the door open. I took the wooden steps down into what used to be our secret communications hub for House Brown.
“Oh no,” I said softly.
Reeves and his men had torn the place apart. They had smashed everything: screens, satellite links, radios, video feed, telephones, telegraphs—everything. What had once been an amazing blend of high and old tech— brass, wood, rubber, wire, slick plastics, crystal, and glass carefully gathered together, maintained, and restored— now looked like a shattered junk pile.
“We can still make this work,” Quinten said, righting a table that had been thrown on its side. “We can do this.”
I didn’t think we could, but I didn’t tell him that. We had—what—an hour left?
“What do you need from me?” I asked.
“Welton.” He hurried to the tool cabinet in the back of the room and scrounged through it. “Get Welton. Quickly!”
I rushed up the stairs, checked the living room. “All clear?”
“We’re good,” Gloria said. “Quinten?”
“He could probably use a hand. Down the open door at the end of the hall.”
Gloria started that way. I jogged to the kitchen.
“Where you going?” Left Ned called out.
“Welton.” I jogged out the door and ran down the familiar path to the pump house. Lizard must have calmed down some. It was raining hard and the wind had picked up quite a bit. I didn’t hear any demolition or screams of people being smashed. The blades of the heli were already out of my range of hearing and so were the engines of the vehicles full of soldiers.
Just moments ago, we’d been surrounded. We were still surrounded. I knew Reeves must have left snipers on the ground and drones in the air to watch us. But right now the only thing I could do to make any of this better was to get Welton to help my brother fix the device that would give us a loophole to travel in time.
If that worked, I would be the one going back in time instead of Quinten. I would try to convince Alveré Case to change his experiment. To make it right so I didn’t die.
This is crazy.
Grandma was in Reeves’ hands. Abraham would be tried as a murderer.
My brain was so tied up in the tangle of worries that I didn’t even see the man who stood at the turn in the path until I was almost upon him.
Robert Twelfth—or, rather, Slater Orange—raised a gun at my head. “Take me to your brother—now.”
23
Quinten was gone for a whi
le again. He doesn’t think I know what he’s doing, what he’s looking for, or how dangerous it is.
—from the diary of E. N. D.
It occurred to me that an awful lot of people who had been or were currently heads of Houses were now on my property, waving around guns and telling me what to do.
I had had enough of it.
“Put the damn gun down,” I said, wiping the rain out of my eyes. “Shooting me won’t get you anything. If you want to see my brother, if you want to live, then get out of my way, Slater.”
His face twisted up into a snarl I’d never seen on the kinder Robert, who had once been behind those eyes.
“You will not give me orders, filth,” he said.
“Filth?” I repeated. “Fine. Let’s do this. Do you know what my brother was looking for before you locked him up? Do you know why he risked hiring himself out to all the Houses—yours included—so he could have access to their histories?”
“He was looking for your grandmother’s journal,” Slater said. “I am not a fool.”
“Good. Then I’ll only have to say this once. In her journal was the calculations for the Wings of Mercury experiment. An experiment that killed everyone in a fifty-mile radius, except for the thirteen people who went on to become galvanized.
“You are wearing one of those bodies, and you think it’s immortal. Well, it isn’t. Today, in less than an hour, we are going to have to deal with the repercussion of time being broken. When time snicks back into place and all the galvanized die, our three-hundred-year extension on life will be over. The bill is up. Done. And you’ll be dead.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I don’t care. Dead is dead. Get out of my way while I’m still asking you nice.”
The snap of a broken branch made Slater spin.
Just in time to see Foster First rush out of the brush, straight at him.
Slater fired half a dozen shots into the big man. But Foster kept coming. He swung a huge fist and clocked Slater so hard, the slighter man was lifted off his feet before he slammed into the wet ground. That blow would have snapped a man’s neck. If Slater weren’t in a galvanized body, he’d be dead.