Page 79 of The Last Necromancer
"Bloody hell," Gus muttered, lowering his weapon.
Seth cocked his gun.
"Don't!" I cried. I raced up to them, but stopped short. I wasn't sure what to do or say. All I did know was that I didn't want Frankenstein to be shot.
If he was my father, I had a million questions I needed answered. But I could ask none of them. I could only stare. I took in his appearance, his slender frame and oval face, so like mine. His eyes were the same shade of blue too, although not as wide. The more I looked, the more certain I became that he spoke the truth. This man had fathered me.
He lowered his hands altogether and smiled at me. "Charlotte. That's a pretty name."
I swallowed again, but the lump in my throat was too great for me to speak. I blinked back hot tears and simply nodded like a halfwit.
"I never knew you existed until very recently," he said. "Your mother never confided in me."
"Who…?" I managed to whisper.
"A kind, gentle woman. Her name was Ellen, and I'd like to tell you all about her."
I nodded. I wanted that too.
"But you have to come with me. Together we'll find out what happened to her. Yes?"
My tears hovered on my eyelids. One blink and they would spill. I nodded.
"Charlie," Gus snapped. "Don't listen to him. He's no better than a turd."
"He only wants to lure you to his laboratory and use you to resurrect his monsters," Seth said. "Don't believe a thing he says." He jerked his head toward the entrance to the lane. "Come with us, Doctor."
Some of the residents gathered near the archway, their eyes wide as they watched the scene play out between the toffs. Children clung to their mothers' aprons, and men murmured among themselves. None seemed too concerned about stray bullets.
Frankenstein held out his hand to me. "Come with me, Charlotte. Please. I mean you no harm. I'm your father, after all. I want to get to know you. I've always wanted a child to love, and a daughter most of all. I have the means to give you material things you desire, and the immaterial too. Those which only a parent can give."
My tears spilled down my cheeks. He said everything I'd ever wanted to hear. For five years, I'd lived in hope that Anselm Holloway would say such words to me, but that hope had been dashed when I learned of my adoption. Yet it rose again now, and bloomed like a flower in the dessert, with everything Frankenstein said.
"Charlie," Seth begged, "don't fall for it."
Gus cocked his weapon. "Death never said he wanted the turd alive."
"No!" I shouted. "Don't shoot him! Please."
Frankenstein backed away toward the arch and the courtyard where the crowd milled. Seth growled low in his throat.
"Death will get him in there," Gus muttered, lowering his weapon. "There're too many witnesses here."
Too many innocent bystanders who could get hurt.
The crowd parted for Frankenstein, but he did not pass through the arch. He held out his hand to me again. "Come with me, Charlotte."
Seth raised his gun again. "She's not going anywhere with you."
Frankenstein appealed to me and stretched his hand out further. Seth took my hand in his, but I snatched it free. To Frankenstein, I said, "I…I'm not sure. I need time."
His jaw stiffened, and his lips pressed together, then his face slackened once more. "I'll see you very soon, my dear sweet daughter." He turned and disappeared into the crowd, who closed around him.
"He must be paying them." Gus swore. "Bloody fools are protecting him."
"Come on." Seth took my elbow. When I tried to pull free this time, he didn't let go. "We have to get you away from him."
I planted my feet apart and resisted. "I don't—"
