Free Stone Angel by Christina Dodd

sisters,
the Sculptor proved his value to Osgood. It was he who realized
that part of Sophia’s value lay in utilizing her sister’s
willingness to do anything that would free the girl from her statue
state and her eventual turn to evil.
    The Sculptor ordered Amanda to work her way
into the Chosen Ones’ confidences, report on their inner workings …
and eventually, to bring him Irving Shea.
    If she did not, Sophia would die.
    Actually, Osgood would never kill Sophia, or
at least not unless he had tried to turn her and failed, so they
were bluffing. But Amanda didn’t realize that, or if she did, she
was too terrified to challenge Osgood's anger or his power.
    Smart girl.
    However, weeks turned into months, more than
two months now, and still Irving was not well enough to leave the
mansion. Amanda was of value; she handed over crucial information
about the Chosen Ones — their movements and how they spent their
time. She kept the Sculptor informed of Irving’s movements and his
strides in rehabilitation.
    But not
too long ago, the Sculptor had been old. He knew what it was like
to feel his body giving out, to feel himself dying little by
little. There was a good chance Irving would not recover enough to
ever go outside. And Osgood wanted access to Irving now . He wanted
the information Irving held now . He
wanted to use Irving to make the Chosen Ones suffer … now.
Now. Now . Before it
was too late, and Irving was dead.
    So when the Sculptor received an ultimatum
from Osgood, he threw a tantrum composed of rage, desperation, and
terror. He had lifted his hammer and threatened Sophia’s statue,
and for one moment he had considered smashing her into bits and
ending all their agonies.
    Then … then something happened.
    He would have sworn Sophia’s green eyes
moved, and looked at him. Really looked at him.
    He dropped the hammer. He backed up to the
wall. He told himself he had seen nothing but a shadow; it was his
imagination, his weirdly active conscience.
    Sophia couldn’t move her eyes. She couldn’t
project fear and loathing.
    Yet his heart pounded and he broke a cold
sweat, and for the first time, he wondered what would happen if all
the statues came to life.
    What would happen to him then?
    For a moment, he shivered in terror.
    Then he
realized he had better make sure that never happened. He needed
Amanda to deliver Irving, and he needed it now. Now. Now .
    So he pondered how best to send a message to
Sophia’s sister. She needed to know that she was out of time.
    First he sent for Liam. Then he changed his
mind.
    Liam wasn’t the man for this job. He had
displayed a lamentable fondness for Amanda. In fact, Eric and the
boys had beaten the crap out of Liam for trying to help her.
    At the time, the Sculptor hadn’t paid much
attention. The boys were always jostling for position, lying and
blackmailing, trying to get ahead on a stepladder formed of fallen
comrades. As far as the Sculptor was concerned, Liam’s talent and
ambition more than made up for any softness of character.
    But this was important. He couldn’t take a
chance that Eric was right about Liam.
    And he didn’t trust Eric. Eric was the
go-between for Osgood and the Sculptor, and he smirked and
swaggered every time he handed over Osgood's orders. He had no
respect for the Sculptor's talents, and no fear of his reprisal.
No, it would be like Eric to “forget” to tell Amanda that she had
only three days to bring Irving to the mansion.
    So the Sculptor called in Robbie.
    As an evil henchman, Robbie made a pretty
good plumber. He wasn’t smart. He didn’t think on his feet. He
could not remember the details of any plan. But he always did as he
was told, no matter whether how difficult or how violent.
    So the Sculptor called him in and handed him
a note to give to Amanda, a note that spelled out her deadline and
the dire consequences that would occur if she failed.
    Robbie had taken the note, put it in his
pocket, nodded solemnly, and went