The Impostor (14 page)

She snapped her fingers, and the two large, burly men who had been standing behind her awaiting her orders, now stepped into the room.

“You are correct, Miss Ryder,” Jane continued, still addressing both Tessa and Sebastian. “Until I determine which one of you is the true Montague, I will have to keep you both alive. Unfortunately for Montague, I am certain your father can sort this out rather quickly. “

One of the men reached down and quickly bound Tessa’s hands and feet, then slung Tessa over his shoulder; the other did the same with Sebastian, who made no effort to resist as the rope was pulled tight over his wrists.

They were carried through the burnt remains of Montague House. Tessa could only pray the servants had all made their escapes. They were carried out into the dark, cool night, and then tossed into a carriage waiting at the front steps. Jane climbed inside, careless of their fingers as she did so, but the two men climbed up onto the box, and after a moment, the carriage set off.

Tessa lay with her face squashed against the floor of her carriage, trying to draw deep, even breaths. Sebastian faced her, while Jane sat on the seat, keeping a pistol trained on both of them.

“Tell me, Jane,” said Tessa. “How long have you been working for Sevigny?”

“How long have I been working for Sevigny?” Jane gave a light laugh. “We have been lovers for years. I was with a traveling troupe for some time. We met while I was traveling through Paris.”

“May I presume you only became my mistress because Sevigny asked it of you?”

“Yes,” said Jane coldly. “I was only ever your mistress—if you are indeed Montague—because Pierre wanted me to spy on you. I was the natural choice. You didn’t truly believe I could care for a hideous and crippled man like you?”

“Sevigny is using you, Jane,” said Tessa. “You know that, don’t you?”

“Don’t be absurd,” said Jane. “He loves me.”

“Perhaps,” said Sebastian unexpectedly. His voice was still harsh with smoke. “But he will never love you as much as he loves his emperor.”

“Nonsense,” said Jane, but uncertainty flickered in her eyes.

“If his love for you was enough for him, he would not go through all this trouble to bring a sick and dying old man back to France,” said Tessa. “Sevigny’s first love will always be the empire. If he loved you, why would he ask you to become the lover of another man, his greatest enemy?”

“Shut up,” said Jane, her eyes kindling with rage. “Shut up! You know nothing of my relationship with Sevigny. Nothing.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that, Jane,” said Tessa. Her voice was apologetic. “The Omega Group never knew anything about you, I confess, but we kept extensive files on Sevigny. Did you know, for example, that he kept mistresses in Salamanca and Madrid, as well as two different ones in Paris? While you were spying for him in London—I presume that is what you were doing in London after 1810—he was keeping quite the string of doxies all across Spain and France.”

Jane raised her pistol. It shook wildly in her hand. “Shut up, you monster! I hate you, I hate your ugly face—”

She broke off. While Tessa watched, she began to choke and gasp, the pistol dropping from her hands as she struggled against the illusion of black water that Tessa knew Sebastian, staring intently up at her, was now projecting.

The actress struggled to breathe, and Tessa allowed her transformation to fall away. As she shrank back into her own form, the cords binding her hands became loose, and she wriggled free and grabbed the pistol. Then, before Sebastian could kill her, she raised the butt of the weapon and brought it down hard on Jane’s head.

The actress crumpled into a heap.
 

She fell to her knees and freed Sebastian of his bonds.

“What took you so long?” she demanded in an undertone.

“I couldn’t be sure I could project an illusion strong enough to overwhelm her just yet,” he said shortly.

“What are we going to do now?” Tessa asked, climbing onto the seat and pushing Jane onto the floor before giving her dressing gown belt a tug to secure it more firmly.

“I intend to go wherever those thugs are taking us,” said Sebastian, his voice still hoarse and rasping. He rolled his shoulders to work out the kinks. “I am going to rescue Francis, and the Howard brothers, and Dr. McGrigor, and whoever else Sevigny might be holding. And then I am going to destroy the
Neptune
.”

“Right then,” said Tessa. “I hope you have a plan.”

Chapter Thirteen

The carriage continued to move with great rapidity through the darkened streets of London. Tessa was not surprised to see they were moving east and staying close to the river.

It was some time later they finally halted in front of a series of tall warehouses that faced out toward the river. In the darkness, she could make out the shapes of ships further down the river, anchored to a series of quays.

“Are you ready?” Sebastian asked.

Despite the danger, despite her fear for her father, Tessa found herself smiling at him in the shadows. “This is not our first adventure, Sebastian,” she said. She reached out a hand and touched his jaw briefly.

He smiled back.

As the carriage drew to a halt, Tessa glanced down at the dark shape of Jane Cameron, still unconscious but now wrapped in the dressing robe, and securely trussed with the bonds that had held Sebastian. Tessa had transformed some time ago into the actress, and had donned Jane’s clothing—men’s breeches, shirt, waistcoat and a cap to confine the flaming hair.

As the carriage door swung open, she stepped down and directed one of the hired thugs inside, knowing Sebastian would make short work of him. When Sebastian emerged presently, somewhat tousled but otherwise unharmed, the second thug gave a horrified exclamation, but before he could sound an alarm, Tessa gave his thick skull a tap with the butt of the pistol she had taken from Jane, and he promptly sank to the ground.

“You are disconcertingly skilled at rendering men unconscious with that,” said Sebastian.

“You were the one who taught me how to do it, Sebastian,” she said.

“I remember,” he said. “I must say, I am an excellent instructor.”

She returned his smile and he permitted her to bind his hands once again. Then, pistol in hand, they started toward the great, fortress-like warehouse with its gates and high walls. It stood along a stretch of riverside road that was otherwise empty.

Tessa made an effort to access memories of Jane’s that might help them.

“There are guards all around, inside and outside,” she said. “Jane would enter through the side door.” She looked around and pointed. “There.”

As she had predicted, a guard stood at the door, but when he recognized her he tipped his cap and permitted them to enter unmolested. Tessa made a show of prodding Sebastian forward with her pistol.

They found themselves in a great workshop that opened directly onto the river, which lapped lazily at the building’s side. Dozens of lanterns hanging from chains over the rafters illuminated the area. The workshop had no windows looking out onto the streets, but a glowing square on the far side of the great room seemed to mark the window of an office. Someone moved within it.

Benches, tools and great sheets of metal lay scattered at random. More guards stood posted inside. Tessa counted swiftly. There were five of them, all looking vaguely menacing if also stupid, and all carrying weapons of some kind.

But what nearly took Tessa’s breath away was a large, dark ship that seemed to fill the entire amount of open space. She had never seen such a bizarre-looking vessel in her life. It was shaped like a long teardrop with a clear glass dome on top of it and seemed to be constructed entirely of copper. A fan-shaped sail rose above it like a rooster’s coxcomb. A man she recognized as one of the Howard brothers, looking unkempt and malnourished, stood on one side of the ship, lifting several huge copper plates and sending them soaring upwards to graft onto an exposed iron rib.

In front of her, Sebastian swore softly.

At that moment, Ronald Howard turned and saw her. As she watched, Sevigny separated from the older man, leaving Ronald Howard’s unconscious body lying on the ground, and started toward her.

The Frenchman was tall and fair, his hair gleaming like gold threads beneath the flickering lamp light. He was dressed plainly but expensively, and as he crossed the length of the workshop he smiled at her.

“Jane—” he said, then broke off abruptly as the great front doors swung open with a creak and groan.

They all turned. A figure, wrapped in a silk robe, came hurtling into the workshop, but as she passed the stairs that led up to the office, Sevigny, not recognizing her with the blood from the wound in her temple streaking her face grotesquely, had already raised his pistol and fired.

Jane Cameron fell to the floor, dead, a red circle marking the spot where Sevigny’s bullet had entered her forehead.

Sevigny had not yet recognized her, but Tessa knew that it was only a matter of seconds. She raised her own pistol and fired.

She missed. Sevigny turned, disbelieving as he stared from Jane’s dead body to her stolen face, but Sebastian was already reacting, shaking off his loosened bonds. He raised the pistol he had taken from one of the hired thugs, just as Edward Ryder came running down the stairs of the office, alerted by the sound of the gunshots.

Sevigny lunged. He struck Edward with a force that sent them both flying to the ground, and then he vanished as he entered Edward and possessed him, their two bodies becoming one, and Tessa watched as her father’s eyes rolled back in his head for a second before opening.

“Father!” she screamed, as Sebastian lowered his weapon and took an uncertain step forward.

“Stay back,” said Sevigny in Edward’s voice, and Tessa screamed again, a sound of pure rage that echoed horribly through the workshop.

“Let him go!” she cried.

“Stay back,” said Sevigny again. “My men have surrounded you.”

Tessa barely noticed the five guards who had encircled them, their weapons drawn as they awaited the signal to fire. She took another step forward.

“Let go of my father, you murdering French bastard—”

But even as she watched, Edward’s eyes rolled back in his head for a brief, terrifying moment. And then Sevigny once again separated from Edward, whose psychic power must have been strong enough to eject Sevigny. The Frenchman fell out of Edward’s body with a hoarse shout of rage, and as he rolled on the ground Sebastian shot him, cleanly, in the forehead.

Tessa whirled, expecting the guards to fire, but as she watched, they dropped to the ground, one by one, unconscious.

She looked up at her father.

“Good riddance, I should think,” he said calmly.

“Father?” she asked uncertainly.

“The others are in the basement,” he said. When they continued to stare at him blankly, he said, “Peter, McGrigor, and young Hughes.”

“Father, what’s going on?”

Edward Ryder raised a bush red eyebrow. “I have been working for the Crown this entire time, Tessa,” he said. “I told you to stay out of it, if you will recall.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You didn’t really think that I would betray England, did you?”

“Well, I had hoped not, but—”

“After all I have done for my country?” Edward asked indignantly.

“But last week, I heard you speaking with Sevigny in the study.”

Edward Ryder sighed. “I suppose I had best explain from the beginning.”

Tessa nodded. “That would be optimal, Father,” she said. “I would not like to see you hang for high treason.”

“Hmph,” said Edward. “Well, when the members of the Omega Group disappeared one by one last year, young Hughes asked me to help him investigate. I eventually managed to persuade Sevigny that I wished to work for him in return for gold and riches.”

“I still don’t understand,” said Tessa. “If you were working for the Crown, why did you not kill Sevigny, or turn him in before?”

“Because I was still waiting to discover Sevigny’s plans,” said Edward patiently. “Though I began working for him over a year ago, he did not make me privy to his plans regarding the
Neptune
until the night you overheard us. Until then he merely wanted me to procure intelligence regarding the British navy and security on St. Helena.” He scowled. “Then, after he finally told me and gave me information about this place, you ran off to find Montague without a word to anyone. Sevigny was furious that I couldn’t control you. He trusted me even less afterwards.”

“You should have told me!”

“You should have asked,” said Edward. “Before you ran off with your half-brained notions to save Montague and stop Sevigny on your own.”

“You would have told me the truth if I had confronted you?” Tessa asked, skeptical.

“Well, no,” her father admitted. “But I would have done a better job of stopping you from running off.”

Sebastian spoke for the first time. “Then yesterday, at Somerset House—”

“I unlocked your memories deliberately, yes,” said Edward. “I always considered it a foolish idea that Tessa was not good enough for you. I rather thought that, after your memories were returned to you, you would agree with me.”