The Conquering Dark: Crown by Clay Griffith Susan Griffith & Clay Griffith

Author:Clay Griffith, Susan Griffith & Clay Griffith [Griffith, Susan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC028060 Fiction / Science Fiction / Steampunk
ISBN: urn:ean:9780345540508
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey Spectra
Published: 2015-07-27T16:00:00+00:00

“This seems a dirty play, Simon.” Nick rolled a small bottle between his fingers and glanced nervously at the steel door to the makeshift cell where Ferghus was held.

“I know.” Simon rapped his fingers nervously against the wall.

“There’s no choice.” Kate paced outside the door. “We need information now.”

Nick exhaled and continued to fidget with the vial.

Malcolm stepped closer and sneered. “What exactly is the problem, Barker? The man is a murderer many times over. He would’ve killed any of us, and almost did for Charlotte and Imogen. You’re worried about him?”

Nick snorted in derision. “I don’t expect any remorse from the one who nearly beat him to death.”

“I wish I had finished it.” Malcolm’s voice was cold.

Nick glared at the Scotsman, but said, “Simon, Ferghus wasn’t always the man you see. He couldn’t control his power. He drank too much to hide from it. It drove him mad. That’s something that could happen to any one of us.”

Simon pursed his lips thoughtfully.

Nick gestured toward the cell door. “Now he hardly knows who or where he is. I don’t relish the idea of being the last man to talk to him and lying to him on top of it.”

“I appreciate that, Nick.” Simon struggled to keep his tone even. He felt the fierce gaze of Kate on his back, and he understood her impatience. However, he sensed shame in Nick’s voice that he’d never heard before. Simon’s flexing hands betrayed his doubts, but he still knew which way they had to go. “It does you credit, but the man is an unrepentant villain. As Malcolm said, he’s killed innocents and would again.”

“Fine.” Nick took a deep breath. “The Simon I knew a year ago wouldn’t have countenanced this.”

“Perhaps not. The Nick I knew wouldn’t have been so hesitant, I think. This past year has done a lot to all of us. We are in a war for our survival and, like it or not, Ferghus is the enemy. We need to know what he knows. And we need it now. So I’m asking you to use the glamour spell to appear as Gaios and talk to him. Draw out whatever you can.”

“I’ll do it, but not as Gaios. There’s only one man Ferghus would want to see.” Nick popped the cork off the bottle and drank the elixir in a single swallow. As he wiped the back of his hand across his lips, he whispered a word and suddenly a new man stood in the hallway. He wore a long leather jerkin and knee boots from the seventeenth century. His hair was dark and fell in ringlets.

Simon’s pulse jumped. He recognized the face from the background of a painting he had seen in the Medici Palace. “Pendragon.”

“Yes.” Nick’s voice was now deep and authoritative, without its usual sneering petulance.

“Amazing. Is that how Pendragon sounded?”

“Close enough to fool that crazy bastard in there.” Nick shook Pendragon’s head sadly. “Damn me.”

Simon pulled the bolt and swung the door open. He watched the uncanny figure walk into the room.

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