Through the Mirrah Read online

  “No, it’s just really scared wood.”

  Aideen rolled her eyes. “What is wood so scared of?”

  “Burning.”

  “I’m scared of burning, too, at the moment.” Aideen sniffed. “Is that gas?”

  “I smell it too. The fire was no accident.”

  Aideen’s eyes widened. “The Dark Man.”

  “Who?”

  “The Trapper whose Turkeys have been chasing me.”

  “It’s possible.” Sterling nodded.

  “We can go out the fire escape.” Aideen started toward the window.

  “There’s no fire escape.”

  Aideen stopped and faced him. “Are you kidding me? Why not?”

  “We’re surrounded by water. In all honesty, getting caught in a fire wasn’t high on my list of concerns.” He walked to the window, opened it, and peered down.

  Aideen paced circles around the room, willing another option to present itself. Sterling stopped her in mid-circuit and grabbed her arm, leading her to the window.

  “There is one other way down.”

  “Oh, no.” Aideen took a step back as she guessed what Sterling expected her to do. “There’s no friggin way I’m—”

  A tremendous crashing resonated from behind them as the cables supporting the elevator snapped and it plummeted to the ground floor. The tower shook as the elevator landed. Visible through the gap between the doors, the flames’ orange glow climbed higher and licked at the gaping shaft.

  Sterling pulled Aideen toward the window and shoved her through it.

  Chapter Four

  Shrieking, Aideen fell into the pond. The shock of the cool water added to her panic at being weightless and unmoving. The moment ended, and she kicked to the surface, gasping as she treaded water.

  Her heart pounded as she stared at the top of the tower. Flames spit through the window, but there was no sign of Sterling. As the tower leaned and started to crumble, Aideen swam for shore.

  She dragged herself onto the bank and turned as the whole structure collapsed in clouds of smoke and waves of pond water.

  Flames continued to eat at the rubble; only the dome remained intact. It must have been metal; other than some tarnishing, the fire had no effect on it.

  Aideen teetered as her stomach lurched. She scanned the water, the shores, and the ruins on the island, but she saw no one.

  “Sterling!” she shouted as loud as she could.

  He didn’t reply.

  She paced along the bank, heart racing. She didn’t want to return to the island while the fire burned. She called to him again, and still there was no response.

  Shaking, Aideen fell to her knees. Sterling couldn’t be dead. He seemed so healthy, and he couldn’t be much older than Aideen. Young, healthy people aren’t supposed to die. People riddled with disease, emaciated and faded, nearing the ends of their lives . . . Not Sterling.

  On top of the tragedy, Aideen was all alone. Unless she found Rag Man, but where to look for him? She could pick a direction and walk, but she was more likely to become lost than to find answers that way.

  Would Lux give more advice if Aideen returned to the cabin? Or would Nox intercept her?

  Sterling was my only hope.

  Tears burned in Aideen’s eyes and she struggled to control them. Her breath hitched in her chest as helplessness threatened to crush her. The weight of Aideen’s emotions brought her to the brink of collapse when she heard a voice behind her.

  “If you hadn’t come here, he would still be alive.”

  Aideen stood and turned to the last person she wanted to see.

  “He wasn’t much help, was he?” The Dark Man chortled. “There’s no use running. Nobody can save you now.”

  He stood with his arms akimbo and a smirk on his face. Behind him, three ever-present Turkeys lurked, preening and making chattering noises.

  “Where’s Sterling? What did you do to him?”

  “I haven’t seen him. Wasn’t he up there in the tower with you? He must not have survived.” He chuckled.

  Aideen expected the outburst of evil “Bwahaha” laughter of movie villains. But he left off at the chuckle. Aideen was torn between disappointment and relief that maybe he’s not that evil after all. Then she realized why he was there.

  “You set the fire.”

  The Dark Man grinned.

  Aideen tried to hit him and he grabbed her fist in one hand. His other hand clamped around her neck.

  Why didn’t I see that coming?

  She clawed at the Dark Man’s hand, gasping for air. The Turkeys squawked and flapped as Aideen passed out.

  WHAT WAS THAT SMELL? ‘Eau de dive bar?’ Worse: a dive bar’s restroom at the end of St. Paddy’s Day weekend. A fat, brown spider made its way across the dirty, gray ceiling. Metallic clangs echoed through the air. Voices yelled, sang, whispered, howled.

  Aideen tried to sit up but couldn’t move her arms. Her wrists were bound by thick leather straps to the bed she occupied. She kicked her feet, but they had been bound, as well.

  Now sporting loose, slate-gray pants and a matching short-sleeve tunic, she shuddered to think of a stranger changing her.

  An IV needle was taped in the crook of her elbow. Aideen’s eyes traced the connecting tube up to the bag hanging from a nearby stand.

  In the bag, a thick, black goo bubbled. Bile threatened at the back of her throat. So much for her appetite. She closed her eyes and willed the nausea to pass. Another chilling howl echoed down the hall.

  “Why couldn’t this be just a dream?”

  She was trapped here. The longer she stayed, the more incapacitated she would become . . . Perhaps it wasn’t such a bad way to go.

  What did she have back home, anyway? A mortgage. A job that was okay, but not her dream job. No friends, not anymore. And the only family left was her mother. No loss there. Did anyone even know she was gone?

  What was the point of going back? She would just start drinking again to forget her troubles. If she let the Trappers poison her, she wouldn’t have any troubles left to worry her.

  Plus, she was strapped down, behind a locked door. Not to mention whatever other security measures they had in place.

  “Stop thinking like that.” Aideen struggled against the wrist restraints. “What would Murdock do?”

  Well, duh.

  “He’d have Face scam him out, that’s what. But what am I going to do?”

  Aideen racked her brain for an answer. She didn’t want to die.

  JANGLING KEYS AND THE RATTLING cell door brought Aideen out of her thoughts. She had a visitor; a man, maybe five years younger than Aideen. The disdain on his face seemed just as much for their surroundings as for Aideen herself.

  Why is he even here, then?

  He had average features that would have made him invisible in a crowd. Barely taller than Aideen, but he was skinnier.

  He caught Aideen watching him and sneered as he tramped around her bed to check her IV. While he stood near her right hand, something at his belt caught her eye: his key ring. It rested on his hip, attached to a retractable fob.

  How to reach it? He wouldn’t release her, would he? If she came up with a good enough reason . . .

  Her nurse fiddled with the IV bag.

  “Hey.”

  He raised an eyebrow at her.

  “Sorry, I . . . well, I have an itch.”

  “Tough luck.” He turned back to the bag.

  “Please, I wouldn’t ask, but it’s been driving me crazy.”

  He faced her.

  “Where?”

  “Down there.” Aideen nodded for emphasis.

  “Your foot?” He reached for it.

  “Nope. Higher.”

  His hand hovered over her knee.

  “Up and in.”

  “You mean . . .”

  Aideen tried not to recoil at the disgusted expression on his face.

  “Not a chance.” He turned away from her.

  “Wait,” Aidee
n said. “Undo my right hand, so I can scratch it myself. Please? It’ll only take a second.”

  He started for the cell door.

  “Imagine how you’d feel, strapped down with an itch in your crotch you couldn’t scratch. Wouldn’t you appreciate a little help?”

  He stopped but didn’t turn right away. Aideen was sure they drilled into his head when he started working here they weren’t allowed to release the prisoners for any reason. She hoped this guy had enough humanity left in him that he’d feel sorry for her and give in.

  He returned to Aideen’s side and made eye contact.

  “Just one hand. And just for a few seconds.”

  “That’s all I need. Thank you.”

  The nurse freed Aideen’s right hand.

  “I’m sorry.” She decked him in the face.

  Her bar fights used to annoy her erstwhile friends, but her fighting skills sure had come in handy today. The nurse staggered and Aideen grabbed at the key ring, but it slid through her fingers. She leaned to her right, but her left hand, still tethered to the bed, stopped her. She pinched her fingers tighter around keys which were slipping away.

  The nurse hit the floor and Aideen managed to keep hold of the key ring, sandwiched between two fingers. Careful not to loosen her tenuous grip, she worked the keyring off the fob and into her palm.

  Aideen wasted no time in freeing her other hand to tear the needle from her arm.

  Reaching down to unlock her ankle straps, she prayed no one would notice the delayed nurse. She hopped down from the table and stripped off her clothes, pulling the nurse’s shirt and pants off his limp body and squeezing herself into them. Then, she yanked the inmate uniform onto the unconscious nurse and struggled to lift him.

  “How are you so heavy?” Aideen asked under her breath.

  She grabbed him under the armpits and hoisted him onto the bed. Grabbing his ankles, she swung his legs up, adjusting his position.

  Aware someone may discover her at any second, she hurried to strap down the nurse. She grabbed the IV needle and taped it over the crook of his elbow, not able to bring herself to insert it. She found the empty IV bag on the floor under the bed and stuffed it under the pillow.

  With one last glance over the scene, Aideen left the cell. She secured the door and turned to the cart stocked with fresh poison-filled IV bags right outside her cell. With luck, she’d pass as a nurse long enough to find Rag Man—she assumed he’d arrived by now—and get the heck out of there.

  Aideen grabbed the handle on one end and spun the cart around, pushing it down the hall. She paused before she turned the corner to another corridor to the left and peered down at the cart. On impulse, she grabbed one of the poison-filled bags and tucked it into her waistband, under her shirt.

  Who knows, it may come in handy.

  As armed as she was going to get, she headed down the next hall toward whatever awaited.

  A guard station stood sentry at the end of the short hallway. Two security guards behind the desk made taking the elevator behind them too risky.

  At the far end of the guard station, a door led to a stairwell. If she went that way, she’d need to leave the cart behind, and that would seem suspicious.

  Faced with Morton’s Fork, Aideen decided the stairs were the lesser of the two evils. Likely to be found out either way, she’d rather be caught on the move than waiting for the elevator.

  She strode with all her mustered confidence toward the guard station. The nearer guard looked up and smiled. The other guard was engrossed in something on the desk.

  As Aideen approached, Guard One’s smile faded. Aideen’s lungs froze and her stomach twisted. She’d been made.

  Guard One stood and reached toward his waist.

  Aideen’s eyes followed the guard’s hand to his holster. Of course they’re armed.

  “Who are you? What happened to Matt?”

  Guard Two’s head snapped up as Guard One rounded the desk. Aideen stopped, considering a break for the stairs, but she couldn’t outrun a bullet.

  Guard Two followed Guard One around the desk. She grabbed a bag of poison from the cart, ripped off the valve at the end, and splashed the poison into Guard One’s face. He stumbled back.

  Aideen pushed the cart as hard as she could into Guard Two and ran. She threw open the stairwell door with the guards’ shouts following her.

  Halfway down the first flight of stairs, an ear-splitting siren sounded. Aideen continued to the landing and down the next flight.

  The stairwell door above her clanged, and she risked a glance. Guard Two peered over the railing and aimed his gun. She jigged to her right, tripping but catching her balance. Guard Two’s shot hit the wall behind her.

  His tramping footsteps beat a rhythm over her pounding heart—he was closing in fast. She jumped the last two steps to the next landing and crossed to the last flight. The next shot ricocheted off the railing beside her and she screamed. She ran down two more steps, then grabbed the railing and vaulted over it.

  She landed in a crouch, lost her balance, and scrambled to her feet, stealing a glance over her shoulder. Guard Two descended the final flight as Aideen burst through the door and into the main hallway.

  The door thunked shut behind her and she jigged again, anticipating another shot from Guard Two. It cut through the air next to her ear and she fought back another scream.

  Two more guards appeared in the hall ahead of her. They both stopped and raised their guns. She cut right, down a smaller hallway, and hoped she could find a room to duck into before the guards caught up.

  Aideen plowed through a door halfway down the hall, realizing too late that anyone inside may turn her in.

  The locker room appeared to be empty. Aideen darted down one row of lockers, turned left, and ran to the end of the room. There was an opening in the wall to her right and she rushed that way. Showers. She ducked into one, pulled the curtain, and turned on the water.

  Shouts met her ears over the running water. If the guards came back here, they’d see her soaking shoes and catch her for sure.

  Aideen removed her shoes, socks, and pants, just to be safe. She gathered the sopping wet clothes and her bag of poison, hugging them to her chest.

  Eyes glued to the floor under the shower curtain, she trembled as she strained to hear the guards. A pair of work shoes paused outside her stall. She held her breath. The shoes hesitated, then moved on. Seconds later, they passed in the other direction. Aideen exhaled. She waited until she believed the voices had left, then shut off the water.

  Her hair dripped, pattering on the floor, and her shirt clung to her as she gripped the sopping bundle in her arms. She listened for any signs of activity in the locker area. Certain the guards had left, she pulled back the curtain.

  Too close. Maybe trying to find Rag Man isn’t the best idea. If I could get out of here and find some help . . .

  Trailing drops of water behind her, Aideen returned to the lockers. She started up the first row and placed her wet bundle on a bench so she could test lockers, looking for an open one to ‘borrow’ some dry clothes.

  She found jeans, socks, and a sweatshirt easily enough. The shirt was a little big, but she liked them baggy. When she turned down the last row of lockers, searching for shoes, she almost collided with a short but gangling nurse pulling her hospital clogs out of her locker. The nurse stared at Aideen through coaster-sized, round glasses that magnified her eyes, reminding Aideen of a praying mantis. Mantis Nurse’s sneakers stood in front of the open locker.

  “May I?” Aideen pointed to the shoes.

  Mantis Nurse looked down, confused. She peered at Aideen’s stocking feet and nodded, her expression unchanged.

  “Thanks.” Aideen grabbed the shoes and shoved her feet into them.

  Clad in dry clothes, and with her improvised ammo tucked in her waistband again, Aideen picked up her wet bundle and headed for the exit. She dumped the soggy clothes in a trashcan on her way to the door.

  Paus
ing at a mirror, she ran her fingers through her long, wet hair. She remembered seeing a hat in one locker. She retrieved it and twisted her hair under it, studying her new style.

  I guess it’ll do, as long as they don’t look too close.

  Eager to find a safe place, Aideen left the locker room. What she saw of the main hall was empty, but for how long? She turned in the opposite direction and forced herself to amble down the hallway. If she had sprinted away screaming, someone may have noticed her.

  She reached another door and entered, praying the guards had already checked this room. The employee lounge was currently occupied by a nurse and two men in civvies. And there was no exit.

  The two men glanced at Aideen, then resumed the conversation her entrance had interrupted. The nurse eyed her as if expecting an explanation.

  “Has anyone seen Matt?” she asked.

  The nurse shook her head. “He hasn’t been in here.”

  One of the men dismissed Aideen by flapping his hand.

  She left, closing the lounge door behind her. A set of double glass doors beckoned from near the end of the hallway. Aideen again forced herself not to run and pushed through the doors into a cafeteria.

  Appearing (she hoped) to be looking for someone in the dwindling lunch crowd, Aideen stopped to think. She could sneak through the kitchen. If she was lucky, there’d be a delivery truck she could . . .

  “Steal, okay? No sense in pretending I’m borrowing anything. I’m not coming back to return it.” Aideen spoke under her breath, but a nearby diner glared at her sideways. Aideen shrugged.

  “This job, some days. . .”

  The diner nodded and went back to their sandwich.

  Aideen crossed to the end of the long room, where the kitchen staff was manning the buffet. She halted at the sight of Guard Two, who was speaking with the buffet line’s cashier.

  Aideen spun away, yanking the hat lower over her face, and considered her options. She couldn’t return to the main hall; there would be more guards there. She spied an exterior door and headed for it.

  She glanced over her shoulder. Guard Two’s eyes met hers, and she froze. She supposed it could have been worse if she had hidden in the basement or in a closet. A groan caught in her throat when she realized she already did the hiding-in-the-shower bit.