Free The Inquisitor's Apprentice by Chris Moriarty Page A

His breath was as ragged as if he'd just run up a flight of stairs. Sacha wanted to rush to help him, and he could see that Lily felt the same. But they were both frozen to the spot.
    And then it was over.
    Morgaunt tossed back his drink with one sharp flick of his wrist and broke the spell. Wolf staggered, gasping for breath.
    "Well, what are you waiting for?" Morgaunt taunted. "Isn't it time to trot off and arrest someone like a good little policeman?"
    "I haven't seen the crime scene. I haven't interviewed witnesses. I haven't even spoken to Edison. And you want me to arrest someone? You don't need an Inquisitor on this case, Mr. Morgaunt. You need an errand boy."
    Morgaunt grinned. "You wound me. I would never turn you into an errand boy. By all means, conduct your little investigation. But the end will be the same no matter what you do. It's all just a game of chess, Wolf. Ordinary players take the board as they find it. I set the board up before the game ever starts so that no matter what moves you make, I still win."
    "And what opening moves did you have in mind for me?" Wolf asked sullenly.
    "You have a bad attitude, Wolf. I like that in a man. I think I'm going to enjoy breaking you even more than I enjoyed breaking Roosevelt. That reminds me, I have a clue for you." Morgaunt leaned over to pluck a letter off his desk. "It arrived in this morning's mail. I've been enjoying our little chat so much that I completely forgot about it."
    Wolf scanned the scrawled handwriting that slanted across the page. "A note from the Industrial Witches of the World claiming responsibility for the attack. That's awfully convenient for you. Aren't they trying to organize a strike at the Pentacle Shirtwaist Factory?"
    "Oh, yes," Morgaunt murmured. "You're going to be much more fun than Roosevelt."
    "I suppose you expect me to go down to IWW Headquarters now and arrest some poor slob for attempted murder?"
    "Would I tell you how to do your job?"
    "I guess I'll have to talk to them one way or another." Wolf looked at the letter again and sighed. "Why is it that people who confess to crimes by mail never seem to remember to put a return address on their letters?"
    "I don't think you'll have any trouble finding them," Morgaunt said with a laugh like ball bearings rolling across an iron floor.
    And then Sacha's heart clenched in terror, because he knew exactly what Morgaunt would say next.
    "IWW Headquarters is at number eighteen Hester Street. Your new apprentice can show you the way."

CHAPTER EIGHT
Industrial Witches of the World Unite!

    T HE TRIP TO Hester Street took a year off Sacha's life.
    First, Lily had to ask him what Morgaunt had meant with his last wisecrack. And Sacha had to say he had no idea. And then there was a traffic jam. And then, as if things weren't already bad enough, Wolf decided that what with all the traffic, they might as well walk the last few blocks.
    It was one of those golden fall afternoons when all of New York pours onto the sidewalks—and every out-of-work Yiddish actor and revolutionary on the Lower East Side was basking in the sun at the Café Metropole's outdoor tables.
    Sacha skulked past, doing his best to hide in Wolf's long, skinny shadow. Even so, he could hear Uncle Mordechai waxing eloquent about the vital distinction between Hamiltonian Wicco-Federalism and Jeffersonian Popular Wiccanism. He shrank into his coat collar and prayed that his uncle was having too much fun planning the revolution to notice that his favorite nephew was aiding and abetting Big Magic right under his nose.
    Wolf took forever to get there—mainly because he didn't seem to be able to pass any beggar by without stopping to talk while he fished around in his pockets for coins to give him. But finally they made it down Hester Street and into Sacha's building without anyone recognizing him.
    Their tenement was a good one—anyway, a lot better than some of the places Sacha could remember living in. The Kesslers had