Free Photographs & Phantoms by Cindy Spencer Pape Page B

climbed the steam-powered main staircase at a run, skipping over the revolving steps two or three at a time. Bailey, the other constable, was assigned the cage lift, to make sure Peterson didn’t exit that way while they went up the steps.
    Outside room 209, they paused, weapons drawn, while Everett inserted the key and then Kendall kicked open the door.
    Kendall took in the scene in an instant, his heart lurching in his chest. Peterson lounged on the bed while Amy stood in the center of the room. Her eyes were glazed and vacant, staring straight ahead as she untied the front laces of her corset. Her hair was down and her dress already lay in a pool on the floor. She didn’t even start or look up when the door crashed in.
    What the hell had Peterson done to her?
    “Amy, stop,” Kendall called. He strode into the room, his weapon fixed on Peterson.
    “She won’t listen to you,” the sergeant said evenly, sitting up straighter but not bothering to stand. “Amy, dearest, take the knife and hold it to your throat.”
    Kendall hadn’t seen the hunting knife on the small dresser beside Amy’s hand. Moving as jerkily as an automaton, she picked it up and held it against her smooth, white throat.
    “No!” Kendall lunged toward Peterson. “Stop it. Now.”
    “Press harder, darling. Oh…and show him the ring.” He shook his head as if Kendall was being a particularly thick child.
    Amy pressed harder with the knife and blood welled from the small cut on her neck, sending tendrils of horror down Kendall’s spine. She held out her left hand, displaying a poorly fashioned gold ring set with a single sapphire—just like the one missing from the ring on Peterson’s mechanical hand.
    “What have you done to her, you bastard?”
    Peterson chuckled. “You’re too late, my lord. We’re already married.”
    “In what? Twenty minutes?” Everett gave a disgusted snort. “What about the banns, the license, the vows? It can’t be legal.”
    “The license was obtained some time ago—I had to test the control phantom on someone, and a government clerk seemed utterly expendable. The parson was easier—he happily accepted a bribe. Lovely Amy signed the papers, and now she and her pots of money are all mine.”
    A red haze swam before Kendall’s vision. There was no way in hell that this man was going to lay so much as a finger on Amy. Perhaps if the man were dead, she’d be freed from the compulsion she was so obviously under. He saw Tom lining up a pistol shot from the corner of his eye and kept talking, hoping Peterson would stay focused on him and Everett.
    “Killing me won’t work, by the way,” Peterson said with a long-suffering sigh. “It takes some time to gain control of the serpents. She’d die of starvation or forget how to breathe on her own before you could determine how they work and set her free. And now, here’s another one of the set, just for you, inspector.” He popped one of the two remaining sapphires from his ring and hurled it at Everett. “This one isn’t designed to poison or control. This one goes for blood.”
    Almost immediately, Everett yelled, as blood spurted from his thigh, dark and thick. He tried to fight off the invisible force, but soon another wound appeared, high on his shoulder.
    Peterson plucked out the last sapphire and threw it at Kendall, but missed and it struck the constable behind him. Bailey crumpled. “He’ll sleep until I tell him to wake up.”
    The stone. Kendall whispered a quick spell, took aim and fired his pistol at the gem lying far too close to Everett’s foot, just as the inspector began to sag. The bullet struck the gem and shattered it.
    Peterson screamed in pain.
    Everett passed out and fell onto Bailey behind him.
    Kendall stepped up to Amy and took her hand. “Fight it, sweetheart. You can do it. There’s magick in your veins, remember. Fight for yourself, for us. I love you and I’m not going to let him take you from me.” Meanwhile he began to