And now here she was, tied to a chair, while a scarred Nazi was about to torture her.
“Hang in there,” Kelly whispered. Despite it all, she managed to still look confident. Agnes didn’t know how she was able to do it.
Lunt was rummaging through drawers, pulling forth a number of items obviously intended to heighten the fear factor in his prisoners: a small drill, several screwdrivers, a vial of some sort of clear liquid and a funnel.
“Fräuleins,” Lunt said, turning to face them. He held a screwdriver in each hand. “I do not wish to mark either of your faces. As you can see, I know the pain that such stigma can cause. Children cry at the sight of you and potential lovers suddenly find themselves unable to bear your visage. It is a horrible curse.”
Kelly spat at his feet, her spittle landing atop his shiny black boots. “You’re a fool if you think that women can’t stand you because of your face. It’s your heart that disgusts them.”
“How poetic of you,” Lunt said. “Perhaps you’re right. Perhaps I’m a monster, no matter how my face looks.” He approached Kelly and pressed the sharpened end of the screwdriver against the soft flesh of her face. “Let’s find out just how disgusting my heart can be, shall we?”
Sai Wing could barely control the fury that he felt. He stared at Lazarus Gray with an expression of extreme distaste. “We had a deal, Yankee. You restore my virility and I tell you everything I know about your friends.”
“The terms are being renegotiated,” Lazarus said. Samantha was at his side, looking pretty as a peach, and Eun was hanging back a bit, glowering at the crime lord. “We acquired the object containing your stolen sexual prowess. But I’m not giving it back to you until you tell us everything you know about the Whip Marshall expedition. Even then, you’re not going to get it back for another six months. During that time, I want to hear that you’ve done everything in your power to clean up this town, including dismantling your own criminal empire. Save enough money to make yourself comfortable but stop ruining people’s lives. If I like what I’ve heard, I’ll mail you the object with your virility inside.”
“I don’t like men who don’t keep their word.”
“I don’t like men who use their power to exploit others.” Lazarus leaned over the table that separated him from Sai Wing. The noise of the nightclub seemed to fade away as he locked eyes with his nemesis. “Now, tell me what you know.”
Sai Wing sighed melodramatically. “Their guides were pitiful so I had several of my men go with them. They were going to travel to the Shen Shei Mountains and then travel to the Wanshan Pass at the Great Wall.”
Eun resisted the urge to frown. That seemed to be the same path that Lazarus and Kelly had already decided to follow. Had they really wasted all this time just to find out that they were on the right path already?
Sai Wing’s next words, however, made Samantha take notice. “Before they reached the Pass, my guides were to take them to a series of caverns known as the Xian Caves. Mr. Marshall was interested in exploring them. They are reputed to be one of the repositories for the fabled Soul Stones.”
“One of the repositories?” Lazarus repeated. “I’d heard that they were all hidden in the same place.”
“Originally, perhaps, but over time some of the true believers have moved them around for the purposes of keeping them safe. I’ve heard from those who have claimed to see more of them in Mongolia.”
“Marshall already knew about the Soul Stones? Or did you mention them to him?”
Sai Wing settled back, pleased to realize that he had knowledge that might prove useful to Lazarus. He was smart enough to not try to press his advantage, however. “He was quite familiar with them, though it was obvious that his fiancé was not. He asked many specific questions about the area and about the legends surrounding the Stones. I have no doubt that they were at least part of the reason why he was in this region of the world.”
“Give us a map to the Xian Caves,” Lazarus ordered. “And then we’ll be on our way. Remember: if you live up to your end of the bargain, you’ll get your vitality back in six months.”
Sai Wing smiled coolly. “How could I possibly forget?”
Lazarus, Eun and Samantha walked back to the hotel; the map rolled up tightly and held in Samantha’s left hand. “You realize that we made an enemy back there, right?” she asked.
“I’m not concerned. Sai Wing’s reach doesn’t extend as far as he probably likes to believe.”
“Are you going to tell Agnes that her future brother-in-law came here to find the Soul Stones?”
“I don’t see any reason to keep it from her. If our positions were reversed, I’d want all the facts.”
“But it might mean that her sister-in-law either kept things from her or that she was brought here under false pretenses.”
Lazarus was about to respond when they saw the hotel up ahead. It was surrounded by police officers and as soon as they got close enough for Morgan to spot them, he was running towards them.
“Chief,” he said, just a bit out of breath. “Agnes and Kelly — they’re both gone. I’m sorry but it was a setup.”
Eun cursed like a sailor while Lazarus asked the obvious question: “They were kidnapped? By whom?”
Morgan looked almost apologetic as he listed off the villains responsible: “Walther Lunt, Miya Shimada… and Princess Femi.”
Chapter V
Hearts of Darkness
Miya had changed into a black jumpsuit by the time that Lunt finished his interrogations. He came out of the prisoners’ room and shut it tightly behind him. There were splotches of blood on his otherwise pristine clothing and Miya thought she detected an almost embarrassed look to his scarred features.
Looking up from the American newspaper she’d been reading, Miya asked, “Did you find out anything?”
“Very little,” Lunt admitted. He moved towards Miya and sighed. “I fear that you were right: I have overplayed our hand.” Miya tried unsuccessfully to hide her shock. It wasn’t like Lunt to admit an error. The German saw her expression and nodded, throwing his hands up in defeat. “The women knew nothing. And now I have alerted our enemies to our presence.”
Miya said nothing until Lunt had sat down in a black leather chair. He was busily rolling a cigarette when she finally asked, “So what now?”
Lunt lit his smoke and took a long drag on it. As he exhaled, he shrugged his shoulders. “We need to press on. Let Lazarus and his people look for us here while we continue with our objective. We find Satan’s Circus… and more importantly, we locate Die Glocke. Even though I failed to transform the Circus into tools of The Illuminati, Die Glocke could have other uses.”
“Are we going to kill the women?”
“I was thinking of killing the curator’s daughter. She is mouthy and offends me. But the other: she might come in useful if we need a sacrifice — or a hostage — at some point. And unlike the other one, she’s no threat to escape.”
“Do you want me to do it? Kill her, I mean?”
Lunt studied her curiously. “You don’t think I could do it?”
“It’s not that. But she has a history with Lazarus, just like I do…”