“Check me, then,” he said.
We placed the remaining lanterns nearby, and Elizabeth turned away as he disrobed. I checked every inch of his body, with growing consternation.
“Incredible,” I said. There is nothing on you. Nothing.”
“Ah,” he said wryly.
“I don’t understand how…”
“Perhaps, Victor,” he said, pulling his shirt back on, “some people can just change all on their own.”
I sank down onto the dirt floor, exhausted, sickened by the noxious vapors still emanating from the charred remains of the mud creature.
“We have to go back and warn Konrad and Analiese,” I said. “We have to finally destroy that thing in the pit.”
“Can we truly destroy it, though?” Henry said.
“We have to try!” I said, standing. “And now!”
“Just wait, Victor,” Henry said, lifting his hand. “You yourself said it wasn’t fully born, that it needed our lives to waken it.”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Well, then, if it gets no more life energy from us, it can’t be born. And maybe, if it’s starved, it’ll go back to what it was, an ancient block of stone.”
“You’re suggesting we never go back inside again?” Elizabeth said, her pain obvious in her voice.
“Can we risk it?” Henry asked us. “There are too many butterflies now, and they’re devious. If even one feeds on us, that might be all it takes to unleash the pit demon.”
His logic was true; it was also unbearable.
“But I promised I’d go back,” I said. “I said I’d think of something…”
“Henry’s right. There’s nothing you can do,” Elizabeth said quietly. “If only we hadn’t interfered from the start. At least this way Konrad will be gathered and will find his new home. Which is as it should be.”
“I won’t accept it,” I said. “There must-”
“Accept it, Victor,” Henry told me.
“No.”
In my dream I’d seen him. He’d been ahead of me on the ice, but I was going to catch up.
And suddenly I had my answer. It was such an obvious one.
I flung open the cottage door and ran, ignoring the urgent calls of Henry and Elizabeth. Where my strength and speed came from, I didn’t know, but I sprinted through the night. They could not keep up as I bolted back to Chateau Frankenstein, to bring my brother back to life.
CHAPTER 19
For a second I lie very still on my bed, looking all about my room. There’s no sign of black butterflies lying in wait like vampire bats. Outside my windows the eerie white mist gathers angrily and thumps against the glass. I’m suddenly aware that this is the second time I’ve entered the spirit world in a single day-something the instructions warned us was dangerous. But it’s too late for worries now. Hastily I steal from my bedchamber and make my way down the hall, checking in Konrad’s room. Empty.
I won’t call out. I want no unwanted attention. As I put my hand upon the library door, a shrill howl of frustration rises up from the depths of the house, sending my heart into a gallop. But at least I know that thing is still trapped in its pit.
When I open the door, I fully expect to find Konrad here, armed, a crossbow aimed at the secret doorway. The weapons are still laid out ready on the table, but the library is abandoned except for a small cluster of butterflies. I close the door quickly behind me, hoping they didn’t sense my presence. I slip down the great staircase and make my way toward the armory. The house is so quiet and still.
What if Konrad has already been gathered? The thought should make me happy, but a spasm of sadness racks me. I will never see him again, and our parting was such a bitter one.
The armory, too, is empty. I walk past our ancient chapel and stop to peer inside. My heart unclenches, for I see him sitting alone in a pew near the altar, hands clasped in prayer. Warily I look all around, and see no black butterflies. I enter.
“Konrad,” I whisper.
He turns in astonishment.
“Victor!”
“Shhh!”
He stands, walks toward me, scarcely squinting, his kind face furrowed with regret. “I’m sorry. My behavior last time, it was ugly.”
“Never mind. I understand completely.” I take a breath. “The creature in the pit seems to be staying put.”
“It howls, but I can’t bring myself to go down to look.”
I quickly tell him what happened after we left him, including what just passed in the cottage.
“The body you grew truly was malignant, then,” he says. He smiles bravely. “There’s no hope of my returning. Victor, you must go. Tell Elizabeth I love her, and tell Henry he was my dearest friend, and go.”
“I won’t say good-bye to you this way.”
“There’s no way out for me, Victor! Resign yourself. I have.”
“You needn’t.”
He shakes his head and almost laughs. “Victor, when will you stop playing God?”
Beyond the narrow stained-glass windows, the spectral wind wails, shaking the casements.
“Konrad, I’ve got a way for you to return. The simplest of ways.”
He says nothing, his brow creased.
From my hand I take my ring talisman. From my pocket I take the spirit clock. Both of them I place on the pew and step back.
Konrad stares at them.
“Do you understand?” I ask.
He swallows. “Don’t do this, Victor.”
“Take them. Take my body.”
He is silent.
“Come,” I say with a chuckle meant to be jocular, but it comes out sounding parched. “It’s not such a bad deal for you. Only three fingers on the right hand, and a difficult personality, but you can take care of that in short order. Your soul was always the better.”
“You can’t mean this,” he whispers.
“Why do I deserve life when you’ve lost yours? Elizabeth is yours, and she’ll never love anyone as she loves you. I’ve promised you so many things. And I’ve not made good on any of them. This time I deliver. Take them and go. Now! ”
He cannot rip his gaze from my ring and clock, the two things that will take him back to the real world, in my body. I can see the hunger in his eyes.
“Don’t tempt me this way,” he murmurs.
“For God’s sake, Konrad,” I growl, “don’t be a bloody fool. Do it before I change my mind!”
He takes a step closer to the ring and clock. “It’s like murder, don’t you see?” he says. “It is me stealing your life.”
“No. I’m giving it to you!”
He tears his gaze away and looks at me. “Your light’s dimmer than ever, Victor, and scarcely any heat comes off you. You’ve weakened yourself more just coming here. Now say good-bye to me, Victor. And do not come
