Page 96 of The Last Necromancer
All I could see was the smashed face, the broken teeth and bones, and a man walking toward me. This wasn't a good man, as the one who'd saved me in the holding cell had been. This was a man I'd never met in life but who'd undoubtedly lived on the streets. In my experience, few good men lived on the streets.
Fitzroy circled him and plunged his knife into the base of the man's neck. The corpse stopped and then turned to his attacker. The knife stuck out from between his shoulder blades, but no blood dripped from the wound.
He laughed. It sounded brittle, broken. "You can't kill me, Fool. I'm already dead." He reached back and pulled the blade out.
Then he lunged at Fitzroy.
"Get out of the body!" I shouted as Fitzroy dodged the knife. "Leave this place. Go to your afterlife."
"Why would I want to—" But his words were lost, as if carried on a breeze, although the air in the warehouse was stuffy and still. The spirit emerged and flew away without a glance back at the body now crumpling to the floor.
I folded in on myself, using the door for support against my back. I drew in deep breaths and dragged my hands through my hair. It was over. I was alive.
A hand touched the back of my neck, resting there. I wasn't startled. I knew it was Fitzroy. He said nothing, but remained standing beside me, his bloodied boots in my line of sight. I swallowed a sob but not very successfully. I covered my face with my hands and let a few tears escape, but not too many. They were more from relief, but a little from loss too. I may not have liked Frankenstein but he was my father, and it felt wrong not to mourn him.
Fitzroy's thumb stroked my hairline on the back of my neck. His warmth seeped through my skin, infusing me with a little of his strength. I didn't stand up straight in fear that he might take it as a signal to stop touching me.
After several more heartbeats, he pulled away anyway. "Stay here," he said simply. "I'll be back soon."
I snapped to attention. "Where are you going?"
"There's a horse and cart in one of the neighboring yards. We need to get them home." He nodded at Seth and Gus.
"Oh. Yes, of course." I moved away from the door and he slipped out.
I avoided the bodies and as much blood as possible and checked on Seth first, then Gus. Both breathed normally and none of their injuries appeared too terrible.
Fitzroy brought the horse and cart to the rear door then carried Gus and then Seth to it. I sat beside him on the driver's side and we headed back to Highgate.
"Are you injured?" I asked him.
"A few cuts only. They'll heal quickly."
I splayed my fingers on my knees and breathed deeply. "Where were you hiding?"
"On a ceiling beam."
"But…how did you stay up for so long, and undetected too?"
"The beams were black and I lay on the most shadowed one."
It must have been uncomfortable. "I suppose you had a plan in mind, to save Seth and Gus. Did I ruin it by arriving?"
"Your arrival changed my plan to capture Frankenstein. It worked out well enough in the end. Perhaps better."
'Capture Frankenstein', not save Seth and Gus. Surely he hadn't been going to sacrifice them? I dared not ask. I wasn't sure I wanted to hear the answer.
I did want to know the answer to my other burning question. "What happens to me now?"
"I haven't decided."
"What do you mean you haven't decided? The situation has come to an end. Frankenstein is dead. You no longer need me." I swallowed the lump in my throat. "I need to know."
"I've been too busy to think about it since we last spoke."
I stared down at my hands, twining together on my knees. I stilled them.
"We'll discuss it tomorrow," he said.
