Page 29 (1/2)

Her question res lifted her up, in response to the shadowed man’s order, and carried her after Lord Akeldama out of the plush reception room

"And, nohere is my precious baby?" she heard the shadowed man ask as they departed "Ah, there he is! And how did he behave on this outing? Good? Of course he did, enerated into Latin

Miss Tarabotti was carried through a long narrow corridor, painted white and lined with institutional-looking doors It was lit hite ceramic oil lamps atop short marble pedestals dispersed between the doors It all looked very ritualistic, like some sort of ancient place of worship Oddly, the door handles were made to look like octopuses and so, upon closer inspection, were the laht of stairs and into another corridor with more doors and lamps, exactly the same as the first

"Where shall we put them?" asked one of the men "Space is scarce, since we have vamped up operations, so to speak"

The other three snickered at the terrible pun

"Just put them in the cell at the end It does not ether; the doctors will be taking Akeldaray coats have been waiting to get their hands on hi while now "

One of the others licked his fatty lips "We ought to be getting quite large bonuses for this little collection venture"

Murreement met that statement

They reached the last door in the corridor and slid aside the body section of its brass octopus handle, revealing a large keyhole Opening the door, they unceremoniously deposited Miss Tarabotti and the supine form of Lord Akeldama inside the room Alexia landed hard on her side and attempted not to cry out in pain They sla as they walked away "Bodes well for a success in the experi as the pay is good?"

"Too true"

"You knohat I think? I think "

And then their voices became faint and faded to silence

Miss Tarabotti lay wide-eyed, staring about at the chamber in which she now found herself Her pupils took a while to adjust to the blackness, for there were no oil lamps here and no other source of illumination The cell did not have bars, just a seamless door with no inside handle, and felt more like a closet than a prison Nevertheless, she knew instinctively that it was a prison It had no s, no furniture, no rug, and no other decoration of any kind--just herself and Lord Akeldama

So tightly bound and her physical dexterity further iled fro Lord Akelda at her intently It was as though he were trying to speak to her with silare-ish

Lord Akeldaed to writhe his way across the floor, like some sort of purple snake, the velvet of his beautiful coat slippery enough to aid his progress Eventually he reached her Then he flipped about and twiddled his bound hands until Miss Tarabotti understood what he was after

Alexia flipped back over, inched down, and pressed the back of her head to his hand The va tied over her s, unfortunately, were manacled with steel bonds, as were his Such cuffs were beyond even a vareat difficulty, they ed to reverse positions so that Miss Tarabotti could untie Lord Akelda Then they were at least able to talk

"Well," said Lord Akeldama, "this is a pretty kettle of fish I think thosejackets How very vexing It is a particular favorite of ed you into this,jacket into it"

"Oh, don’t be so nonsensical My head is still spinning from that blasted chloroform, and there is no need for you to be tiresome on top of it," remonstrated Miss Tarabotti "This situation could not possibly be misconstrued as your fault"

"But they were after uilty But that could have been a trick of the shadows

"They would have been after me as well, if they only knewmore about it"

The vaest we keep that narinned "You should not find that a particularly difficult endeavor You never do use my real name anyway"

Lord Akeldama chuckled "Too true"

Miss Tarabotti frowned "We e The wax-faced e outside the Westht when they came to abduct a known preternatural He will put two and two together and realize I am the same person"

"Cannot be done, dewdrop," said Lord Akelda to relieve the pain in her manacled wrists "How could you possibly know that?" she asked, wondering at his confident tone

"The wax-facedHe has no voice, little tulip, none at all," replied Lord Akeldama

Alexia narrowed her eyes at him "You knohat he is? Do tell! He is not supernatural; I can tell you thatAnd, yes, I knohat if is" Lord Akeldama wore a coy expression, one that usually acco with his cravat pin As his arms were cuffed behind his back, and his pin had been judiciously re to add to the expression but purse his lips

"Well?" Miss Tarabotti was itching with curiosity

"Homunculus simulacrum," said Lord Akeldahed "A lusus naturae?"

Alexia decided he was playing with her and gave him a nasty look

He explained further "A synthetic creature formed by science, an alchemical artificial man"