Quicksilver Read Free Page A

Please help me.”
    Owen stilled. “Damn,” he said, very softly. “One complication after another.”
    Virginia turned back toward the intersection of the hallways.
    “Who’s there?” she called in a low voice.
    “My name is Becky, ma’am. Help me, I beg you. I can’t get out. It’s very dark here. There are bars on the door.”
    “Another one of Hollister’s victims,” Owen said.
    Virginia glanced at him. “We must do something.”
    “We can’t get to her unless we can get past that clockwork mechanism.”
    “It is producing my kind of energy,” she said. “I might be able to control it.”
    “Are you certain?”
    “I must try. Let me take a look.”
    Owen’s fingers closed like a manacle around her wrist. “Whatever you do, don’t let go of my hand. Understand?”
    “Yes, yes, of course,” she said, impatient now. “I need some light.”
    He held the lantern out and aloft so that it partially illuminated the intersecting corridor.
    The clank-and-thud noise had ceased. Virginia risked a peek around the corner.
    In the flaring light the windows of the miniature vehicle glinted ominously. As though sensing prey, the automaton lurched forward again.
    “Interesting,” Owen said, listening. “It seems to be activated by movement. Since it is a psychical device of some sort, it is probably reacting to our auras.”
    “Yes, I think so.” She pulled back out of range of the carriage and flattened herself against the stone wall. “The energy is infused into the windows. I cannot be absolutely positive until I try, but I believe I may be able to neutralize the currents, at least temporarily.”
    In the adjoining corridor the clank-and-thud noise ceased again.
    “It definitely reacts to motion,” Owen said. “If you can neutralize it long enough for me to get to it, I may be able to smash it or disable it. If it is a true clockwork mechanism, there will be a key.”
    “Are you still there, ma’am?” Becky called from the darkness. “Please don’t leave me here.”
    “Coming, Becky,” Virginia said. She worked to keep her tone calm and reassuring. “We’ll just be a moment.”
    “Thank you, ma’am. Please hurry. I’m so scared.”
    “Everything is under control, Becky,” Virginia said.
    Owen tightened his grip on her wrist. “Give it a try. If it feels as though you are being overcome, I will pull you back out of range.”
    “That sounds like a reasonable plan.”
    She gathered her nerves, heightened her talent and stepped cautiously around the corner. Owen angled the light so that it fell on the motionless carriage.
    There was a brief, tense silence before the dark windows of the miniature vehicle started to glitter as though illuminated from inside the cab. Virginia sensed energy pulsing once more in the atmosphere. The mechanical horses started forward. The wheels of the carriage began to turn. The device was much closer to her now, only a few feet away.
    Without warning, currents of senses-freezing energy lashed at her. Although she thought she was prepared, she nevertheless flinched at the impact.
    Owen tightened his grip. She knew he was preparing to pull her around the corner and out of reach of the carriage weapon.
    “It’s all right,” she managed. “I can handle this.”
    Ignoring the freezing wave of energy, she found a focus the same way she did when she looked deep into a mirror. She established a counterpoint pattern, dampening the oscillating waves of power coming from the device. The effect was swift, almost immediate. The currents smoothed out rapidly. The carriage continued to roll forward, driven by the clockwork mechanism.
    “It’s done,” Virginia said. She did not dare look away from the carriage. “Do what you must. I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to maintain control.”
    One could draw on one’s psychical reserves for only so long when employing them to the maximum degree, as she was doing now.
    Owen did not waste time asking questions. He