Page 56 of The Doctor and the Devil
“That settles it,” Daphne replied. “We’re turning back. I’m not risking our safety. Tomorrow, we’ll regroup and come up with a different plan.”
“Are you certain?” I asked. “If you’re not prepared to carry on…”
“We’ll come back, Rafael,” Étienne insisted.
“If you wish,” I said, affecting an air of disappointment. The fact I couldn’t sense Laszlo worried me more than I cared to admit, and I was reluctant to leave without getting some idea of what the Order had planned for him. Resentment gnawed at me. I didn’t want to be here; I wanted to be holed up in my castle with Mina. The sooner I could put an end to this mystery, the better.
“Then we should return to the carriage,” I said.
I sensed the relief flowing from Daphne and Étienne, and could only hope they would forgive me for what I was about to do. We walked silently back up toward the mausoleum entrance. The moment they exited into the moonlit graveyard, I slammed the tomb door closed behind them and barred it with one of the tall candelabras inside.
“What the devil do you think you’re doing?” Étienne shouted, banging against the iron door.
“Go back to the carriage and keep Mina safe,” I replied. “It’s better for everyone if I face this alone.”
“We’re not leaving you here,” Daphne hissed. “Mina would have my head!”
Étienne swore beneath his breath, and by the sound of it, heaved his body into the door. The metal clanged and groaned. I knew the door wouldn’t keep them out for long, which meant time was of the essence. There were several soft metallic clicks—Daphne loading her pistols in the dark. I hurried back down the stairs in case she tried to shoot her way through the barrier.
I moved forward swiftly and silently. With every step, I reached out again and again with my supernatural senses, hoping that I’d been wrong—that I wasn’t stumbling blindly into Death’s waiting embrace. Each time, I felt the same thing—a void of feeling, sensation. As if I was coming to a precipice and was about to tumble off the edge of a map.
The corridor ended in a large door, cast in something like iron, but…not. It was much thicker than the one in the graveyard above and while this one felt like it had been fashioned recently, the material it was hewn from felt ancient and rare. I placed my hand against it and recoiled almost immediately. The cold that leeched from it was unearthly andwrong.
This strange material must be some kind of prison door. Now, I was certain Laszlo was inside. I only prayed he was alive.
The massive door swung open easily, as if it had been waiting for me to arrive. Every instinct screamed at me to stop—go back—go no further, but I silenced them. I was here for answers—and for my brother.
I entered a large underground study with a great table in the center. Aside from the stacked bookshelves lining the walls, there were maps of Paris and charts of Europe, all covered with cryptic codes and pins. Curiosity needled me. What was the Order’s master plan? Was it truly as simple as eliminating every vampire and maintaining their consolidation of power? Who would be the scapegoat for their evil deeds when all the vampires had been wiped off the map?
Suspecting Laszlo would be somewhere further underground, I reached out with my supernatural senses but found them severely diminished, as if I were wandering through an empty void. If there was a secret dungeon underground, it would be well hidden. Casting my gaze around for any kind of clue, I noted a conspicuous lack of dust in front of one of the bookshelves lining the wall. Running my hands along the edge of it, I found a catch and pulled. The bookshelf creaked forward, revealing a hidden archway leading even further into the darkness.
The floor was damp stone, and I heard the faint drip of water below. Despite my muted senses, at the edge of my awareness was something dim—familiar. A soft, shuddering breath and a wracking cough split the silence and I raced down the stone steps.
“Laszlo!” I hissed. “Is that you, brother?”
“My god…Rafael? Is that you?” His voice was weak and hoarse, and icy rage settled in my gut when I realized he had to have been starved and beaten badly to sound so diminished.
The small circular room was lined with seven cells. All were empty, save one. I rushed forward and gripped the bars, then pulled back as if burned.
“The bars,” Laszlo huffed. “They are the same as the door.”
“What is it?” I asked.
Laszlo had been sitting in the back corner of his otherwise empty cell. He struggled to stand and shuffled forward to clasp my arms through the bars.
My stomach dropped. Laszlo had once been so tall, strong, and handsome, taking all the best parts of our parents without the weak chin and sloping shoulders the other side was prone to. But here before me, he had wasted away to a skeletal corpse. Skin stretched over his bones and his long, black hair hung in greasy threads over his forehead. Fresh cuts, purpling bruises, and open festering wounds indicated he’d been tortured extensively, but hadn’t been able to heal.
“How is this possible?” I muttered. “You can’t have been here so long. How have you not healed? Why have you not ended these fools with a thought?”
Laszlo shook his head with great effort. “They know things, Rafael. They know enough to keep me in this weakened state. The inner door and the bars of my cell interfere with my abilities, as I’m sure you learned.”
“We must hurry, Laszlo. Who holds the keys to your cell?” I asked, darting around. I scanned every surface for a keyring or latch that would open the cell door but saw nothing. “And where are they keeping Marguerite?”
“Marguerite is here?” Laszlo asked, stunned. “When? How?”
“You didn’t know? The traitorous bitch! I knew something was off. I went to Dunkirk to find you and she approached me there, took me to your townhouse and spun me some tapestry of falsehoods about you being taken against your will by the Order. But how could they have found you? How could they have subdued you?”
A crash echoed from above. I hoped it wasn’t the Order coming to ensnare us all in their wretched net. I paused in my hunt for the key to Laszlo’s cell to brace myself for my enemy, who I could hear running down the stairs above me.
