Page 47 of The Devil's Bargain
“Caroline!” Devlin’s voice shouted, but there was no time to stop and discuss her plan. She kept running. But he was too fast for her. He caught her in his arms and spun her around.
"Evacuate!" Devlin commanded, already running toward the control room. "I'll shut down the water flow!"
Caroline raced after him, ignoring his orders. When she burst into the control room behind him, his expression darkened with fury.
"I told you to get out!" he thundered, already grappling with one of the valve wheels.
"You don't know the system!" Caroline moved swiftly to his side. "I designed this. Every valve, every connection point." She pointed urgently to the main control wheel. "That one first, then the secondary intake."
Devlin's jaw clenched, but he nodded sharply, recognising the logic of her presence despite his fear for her safety. Together they worked the wheels - Devlin on the main valve while Caroline handled the secondary intake. The mechanisms turned slowly at first, years of mineral buildup fighting their efforts.
"Here," Devlin said, moving to help her once he'd secured the main valve. His greater strength made quicker work of the secondary wheel.
“Is everyone clear of the water side? If the guncotton detonates, the entire water system would be compromised.”
Through the window, she could see Mills evacuating the area. The ripples in the water had stopped. Either the divers were too deep to detect now, or...
A different kind of vibration shuddered through the pipes. Caroline’s blood ran cold. “No...”
She and Devlin threw themselves at the emergency shutoff, but she already knew it was too late. The explosion ripped through the water system with devastating force, the shock wave shattering windows and throwing her backward. Strong arms caught her as Devlin covered her with his body while glass rained down around them.
For a moment, they lay tangled together as water sprayed from ruptured pipes. Then Caroline struggled up. “The secondary valves—if we can isolate the damaged section—”
“Already done.” Devlin helped her to her feet, his hands checking her for injuries. “I had men stationed at every junction point. The moment we started the shutdown, they sealed off everything downstream.”
She stared at him. “You knew what I would do.”
“Yes.” His mouth curved slightly. “I didn’t want to disappoint you.”
Without thinking, Caroline wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a passionate kiss. Once she thoroughlyexpressed her gratitude through the kiss, she released him. “You are my hero,” she whispered.
“You’re the one who saved thousands of people just now. But I shall take all the credit since that’s what you’re used to.”
Laughing, they stood together as water sprayed from ruptured pipes. But shouts erupted from outside, followed by the sounds of struggle. Inspector Mills’ voice cut through the chaos. “We’ve got one of them!”
Caroline and Devlin rushed outside into the rain-slicked night. Two officers were wrestling a figure in a diving suit to the ground. As they struggled with the brass helmet, Caroline stepped forward, drawn by a terrible certainty that had begun to form in her gut.
The helmet came free with a metallic screech.
“No.” The word escaped her like a prayer. “No, it can’t be—”
But it was. Thomas Findlay’s face emerged from the diving suit, water streaming from his hair, his familiar features twisted with something she’d never seen before—bitterness, rage, shame.
“Thomas?” Her voice broke on his name. Years of friendship, of shared discoveries and late-night discussions about engineering innovations, of trust freely given—all of it crumbled like sand between her fingers.
He met her eyes, and for a moment she saw the man she’d known—brilliant, passionate about science, the one person who’d understood her mind when Edward had dismissed it. Then his expression hardened.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” he said, his voice rough. “If you’d just shared your work willingly—”
“Shared?” The word tasted like ashes. “Is that why you tried to destroy everything I’ve built?”
“What choice did you leave me?” His laugh was ugly, desperate. “Do you know what it’s like? Having pieces of yourbrilliance but never the whole? Watching you give it all to him?” He jerked his head toward Devlin. “A low born, while I—”
“While you what?” Caroline stepped closer, shaking off Devlin’s restraining hand. “While you pretended to be my friend? Used our past to try to steal my work?”
“I was more than your friend! I loved you!” Thomas struggled against the officers holding him. “I was your equal! We could have built something magnificent together. Instead, you chose him. A common thug!”
“He is a thousand times more the man than you could ever be! You chose Imperial’s money over our friendship. You were willing to kill innocent people, and that makes you the worst man I’ve ever known.” Her voice was steady now, though tears burned behind her eyes. “How long, Thomas? How long have you been betraying me?”
