Chapter Forty

Safina

Luckily, nobody sawus slip out the back door. After Gabriel helped me climb down sandbags, I was shocked to land in water up to my waist. I stifled a gasp and did my best to straighten my face. I didn't want Gabriel to know I was afraid.

"Are you sure about this?" he hollered into the wind.

"We're wasting time!" I yelled back.

"I know the way to Lydia's." He thumbed over his shoulder. "Stay behind me."

He turned, holding out his hands and breaking the wind like the bow of a ship cutting through water. As long as I ducked behind his shoulders, the wind wasn't bad at all, but the water moved swiftly, wrapping my skirts around my legs and threatening to pull me under. I held onto Gabriel's coattails as I pushed against the current. Debris smacked into my side so hard, I howled in pain.

When Gabriel turned to help me, I ushered him forward. "I'm fine!" I lied. I rubbed my sore hip, picturing the bruise I'd see there later.

We found Abby clutching a porch railing, sobbing as blood ran down her forehead. "Oh, Abby, you're bleeding." I took my friend in my arms.

Abby looked at me with glazed eyes while absently rubbing her matted hair. "Something hit my head."

"This is a fool's errand," Gabriel yelled as he dropped his arms. Wind and rain assaulted us all. "I insist you turn back."

Abby jutted an arm toward a two-story house in the distance. "We're almost there. I can't turn back now."

"You women are going to be the death of me." Gabriel rolled his eyes before lifting his hands to the sky. "Stay behind me!" he called, pressing forward.

* * *

Dr. Straw

DR. CHARLES STRAW WASin a particularly bad mood. This bothersome storm showed no signs of blowing over, so the freighters had docked, and the trains had stopped running, leaving him stuck on this blasted island. Dr. Straw liked to consider himself a positive man, but there were a few positives to be had on this blustery day. The police had been too preoccupied with evacuations to search for the gutter slut's killer. Not that they'd recognize him, as most everyone foolish enough to be out in this weather kept their heads down, their hands shielding their eyes from the onslaught of debris.

And speaking of evacuations, the further west he'd walked on Broadway Street, the more empty houses he found. Some of the residents had abandoned their homes so fast, he knew they hadn't had time to gather all their valuables. "One man's folly is another man's fate," as he liked to say, and he had the feeling fate was about to make him a very wealthy man.

He was just about to climb the back steps to a particularly grand Victorian when he saw a flash of crimson. He squinted against the wind and saw two women following closely behind a man. As they headed up 48th Street toward Sealy, he thought it odd how the wind seemed to break before them. His mind must have been playing tricks on him. He recognized one of the women to be that ill-mannered Abby Jenkens. He was not a praying man, but he did send up a silent plea that a flying slate shingle would smack that girl in the head and knock her under the water. He couldn't tell if the other woman was the healer or her daughter, though he assumed it mattered little. She was a long way from home, and with the deafening noise from the howling wind, they would never hear him sneaking up behind them.

* * *

Duncan

I RACED DOWN THE STAIRStwo at a time, bursting through the front parlor and into the kitchen. I checked Gabriel's bedroom and ran back into the parlor. Mrs. Jenkens was awake, nervously twisting her apron strings around her fingers as she sat beside Fiona and Moses on the sofa. They watched as Josef held his arms out to the storm. Amazingly, wind and water broke before him as if he'd created an invisible dam around the house.

But just knowing that Safina had left the safety of the house to brave what was out there made my knees weaken. I fell against the wall, struggling to stay strong when my whole world threatened to be swept away into the abyss. Where had she gone, and why?

"Where is she?" I rasped, panting as I clutched the doorframe.

Fiona released Mrs. Jenkens's hand and slowly stood, looking at me as if she'd seen a spirit. "Who?"

"Safina!"

Fiona pointed to the door behind us with a shaky hand. "She's in the kitchen with Gabriel."

I shook my head. "She's not there, and I don't feel her nearby."

Fiona rushed past me and into the kitchen. "Safina!"

Her frantic footsteps echoed through the house and then she raced back into the parlor. She looked at me with a wild-eyed expression, reminding me of a wounded animal caught in a snare. "Abby and Gabriel are gone, too."

Mrs. Jenkens screamed and fell back against the sofa. "Where's my Abby? Oh, heavens, she will drown!"

By this time, Gabriel's brothers had come downstairs. They were looking at the rest of us with alarm in their eyes.

Gabriel's older brother, a tall young man with a bushy mustache, stepped forward, holding out his palms. "Calm down, everyone. They are with Gabriel."

Moses held Mrs. Jenkens, fanning her face while she moaned, rocking her head back and forth.

"Oh, my Abby!" She flung her arm across her brow. "Where could she have gone?"

Fiona's back stiffened as understanding dawned in her eyes. "To Lydia's." She looked at me. "Can you find her?"

I closed my eyes and channeled a vision of my sweet Safina, cursing under my breath when I saw her fighting a current higher than her waist.

"Aye," I growled, for I also saw Gabriel in front of her. What kind of fool would subject his mate to such danger?

Fiona tugged my sleeve. "Then lead the way."

Mrs. Jenkens shot up, the flaccid flesh on her face falling like a tumbling house of cards as she frowned. "The storm's too rough. You'll never make it."

"You underestimate me, Mrs. Jenkens." I clenched my hands with hardened resolve. "There isn't a force of nature strong enough to keep me from finding my daughter."

* * *

Abby

WHEN WE REACHED LYDIA'Shouse, I fought my cumbersome skirts to push ahead of Gabriel while shielding my face from the onslaught of rain. I climbed inside one of Lydia's mother's raised flowerbeds and grabbed Gabriel's hand as he pulled Safina with him. A horse whinnied and stomped through the water, pulling a wagon as it slowly moved past me.

The wheels were nearly completely submerged, and I feared the cart wouldn't make it. I was filled with dread to see Lydia's family in the wagon. Why had they waited so long to evacuate? I counted six heads: Lydia, Irene, Lydia's younger brothers, and her mother and father. But where was Charlotte? I prayed she'd already gone home.

"Lydia!" I screamed, waving wildly.

Lydia's father kept his head down, holding tightly to the reins and not bothering to slow as he urged the horse forward.

"Abby," Lydia yelled from the back of the wagon, "what are you doing here?"

I cupped my hands around my mouth and called back. "Where is Charlotte?"

"Inside!" Lydia pointed to the house they'd just evacuated. Already, the current had ripped the stairs from the porch. "We're moving to higher ground. She refused to leave. Papa says we must go."

"You would just leave her here?" I screamed, but as the cart moved farther down the road, I doubted they heard me.

A gust nearly knocked me backward. I would've fallen if Gabriel hadn't caught my elbow. He held out his hands, and amazingly, the storm seemed to circumvent us. Lydia's family wasn't so lucky. Flying debris battered the wagon. Lydia and her family screamed as Irene toppled out of the back of the wagon and into the raging water. Irene didn't make a sound as she went under, a trail of crimson following her floating fingertips with the current, and then she disappeared completely. Lydia's father looked over his shoulder once but pressed the horse forward.

My stomach twisted and roiled as I scanned the water for Irene, but it was so murky and littered with debris, I could see no sign of her.

Gabriel stepped forward, looking ready to dive in.

Safina grabbed his waist, jerking him back. "We can't do anything for her!" she hollered. "We need to save Charlotte before the house goes."

Gabriel helped Safina and me climb to the porch. Chests heaving, we tumbled inside the house. Gabriel fought to shut the door and then fell against it, mopping his brow.

"Charlotte!" I called as I moved through the hall. My skirt puddled the floor, but I didn't care. Soon the house would be lost to the flood.

I found Charlotte in the kitchen, sobbing as she hunched over the table, clutching her round stomach. The howling winds shook the house so violently, I feared the structure would fall apart at any moment.

I fell to my knees, grasping my friend's hands. "Charlotte, what are you still doing here?"

She sat up and gasped. "Abby? Is it you, or am I dreaming?"

"It's me, dearest." I motioned to my friends, who'd followed me. "Safi and Gabriel have come to help. Are you all right?"

Charlotte's lower lip trembled as fresh tears sprang from her eyes. "Oh, Abby, they left me! They wouldn't wait with me." She waved at the back door before leaning toward me, squeezing my hands tight. "I'm so sorry I didn't believe you. I'm so very sorry."

I patted Charlotte's knee and abruptly stood. "There's no time for apologies. We need to get you out of this house now."

Charlotte's mouth fell open. "But I can't leave. Teddy is coming for me. He won't know where I've gone."

I did my best to keep an impassive face, but if Teddy hadn't come for Charlotte by now, he was not coming. I didn't want to think of what had happened to him, for he'd never willingly abandon his wife and unborn child. I straightened my shoulders and did my best to put images of Teddy drowning out of my mind. Charlotte needed me to be strong.

I sucked in a hiss when water rushed in from under the doorway. "This house and everything in it is going to wash away. Believe me, Charlotte, Teddy wouldn't want you to stay. You have to leave now," I pleaded.

Charlotte grabbed the table, pulling herself up. "All right."

"Time to go!" Gabriel boomed before latching onto Charlotte's elbow and pulling her behind him.

I followed on limbs that were numb with fear. If the water had reached the floor, that meant the flood was at least chest-high. How were we supposed to cross the torrent?

Gabriel opened the front door, and it flew out of his hand, slamming against the wall with a crack. The wind barreled through the house, knocking Safina and me against the back wall.

"Gabriel!" Safina yelled as water rushed into the house. "It's too high. We'll never cross."

Gabriel bit his lower lip and stared at the water. "Let me try. I think I can push it back!"

"Push it back?" I asked, but nobody paid me any heed.

Gabriel delivered Charlotte into my arms and then faced the onslaught of wind head-on. He sliced the air with his hands as if he were a conductor leading an orchestra. I watched with fascination as the wind and water retreated out the door.

"How did you do that?" I rasped.

But he didn't answer. He kept walking forward, hands outstretched as if he were pushing on an invisible barrier.

I shot Safina a look, and Safina answered with a knowing smile.

"Do you believe in magic?" Safina asked.

I swallowed hard. Water continued to move back from his feet. "I do now," I said.

Just as Gabriel reached the threshold, a shadow moved past the doorway. Gabriel staggered, clutching his stomach and falling to the floor. The water rushed back into the room.

"Gabriel! Oh, my love!" Safina fell to the floor beside him. Blood turned his white shirt red. "What happened? We have to get you to my mother."

"I've got a better idea," came a familiar, sinister rumble as the shadow filled the doorway. "How about we get your mother to come to us?"

I gasped when Dr. Straw stepped into the room, brandishing a cane with a blade protruding from the tip.

I instinctively jumped in front of Charlotte while Safina screamed like a wild animal, clawing at Dr. Straw's face and chest as if she were a lioness defending her cub. Dr. Straw ducked and stepped around her, banging the cane across the back of her head with a sickening thud.

I trembled when Safina fell on top of her husband. Dr. Straw snarled as he hoisted Safina's limp body across his shoulders with surprising ease.

When his beady snake eyes focused on me, I thought I'd faint from fright. "Tell the witch if she wishes to see her daughter alive, she must give me the ingredients to her elixir. I will meet her on the corner of Broadway and 30th at half past six. She is not to alert the authorities or her daughter dies."

I gaped at the man.

"Nod that you understand me," he barked as the wind whipped Safina's hair around his shoulders. Shadows darkened his face, making him look like a demon on fire.

I knew not where I found the strength to overpower my numbing panic, but I slowly nodded my agreement.

"Good girl." He sneered. "Nice to see you do as you're told for once."

"Safina, mi amor. Don't take her!" Gabriel feebly moaned, rolling onto his side.

Dr. Straw answered with a kick to Gabriel's ribcage, so hard I heard his bones crack over the din of the storm. Gabriel curled up in agony before turning face-down into the water.

"Stop it!" I lurched forward, ignoring Gabriel's grunts as I pulled him into a sitting position.

I froze and spun around when Charlotte cried out. Charlotte had fallen to the floor, clutching her stomach, tears streaming down her face.

"It appears your friend is about to deliver her baby. You might want to find her a doctor." Straw laughed before disappearing, leaving me alone with a dying man and a woman in labor.