Sea of Ghosts - Alan Campbell [54]
‘Don’t try to speak,’ he said. ‘Try not to make any sudden movements. Most of your body has already changed, and you need to keep the sharkskin wet. If I lift you out, it’s only going to hurt you even more.’
She took a gulp of air, but didn’t move.
‘Was it Creedy?’ he asked.
She tried to nod, but he held her chin firmly.
‘Don’t nod,’ he said. ‘Can you move your hands? Make a fist for me.’
Under the water, her hand moved away from her side. She clenched it.
‘How many others were with him?’
She held out two fingers.
‘Two other men? Make a fist for yes.’
She clenched her hand again and then relaxed it.
‘Did you recognize them?’
Her hand didn’t move.
‘Do you know where they took her?’
A look of distress came into her eyes, she tried to shake her head, but Granger restrained her. ‘It’s all right,’ he said. ‘You need to keep still.’ She was neither one thing nor the other. Part human, part Drowned. In this condition her lungs wouldn’t last much longer. He could hardly hear her breaths now.
‘You can’t survive like this,’ he said gently. ‘Your lungs have been contaminated. They’re failing. Soon you won’t be able to breathe air. If you keep your mouth above water, you’ll die.’ He kept his gaze fixed firmly on hers. ‘I’m going to push you under.’
She panicked and struggled against him.
He held her firmly. ‘You’ll feel like you’re dying,’ he said. ‘But you won’t. The toxic shock will knock you unconscious, but there’s a decent chance you’ll wake up again. You’ll go on living.’ He could see the terror in her eyes. They both knew she might never regain consciousness – not everyone did – but Granger had no other option. ‘I’ll find Ianthe,’ he said. ‘And I’ll kill the men who took her.’
Her hand shot out of the water and gripped his glove. Her throat bobbed and she let out a gurgling, choking sound. She was trying to speak. ‘Hhhhhh . . . guuuuuh.’
‘You don’t have to say anything.’
‘Maaaaahhh . . . Awwwwd.’ She tried to lift her face up out of the brine, but he stopped her again. ‘Maaasss.’
‘Maskelyne? They mentioned Maskelyne?’
She nodded.
‘You let me worry about him,’ he said. ‘Ianthe’s in no danger. They want her to find trove.’
She relaxed her grip on his glove. For a long moment she just looked up at him from under the water. Finally she nodded.
Granger pushed her head under and held her there until she stopped moving.
Back upstairs, Granger peeled off the heavy whaleskin gloves and laid them on the top stair banister. If Hana was going to wake from her toxic shock, she’d do so some time within the next few hours. He’d need to carry her body to the opposite cell then lower her through the hole in the floorboards into deeper brine. But he’d wait until she was aware of what was happening. He didn’t want her to wake up alone.
Creedy would have taken Ianthe straight to Maskelyne, which meant she must have arrived at his island keep by now. A direct assault on Maskelyne’s fortress would be impossible without the assistance of the Imperial Navy, and Granger wasn’t in a position to arrange that. Stealth might get him to the fortress walls, but he would be unlikely to find a way inside. He’d have to wait until Maskelyne took Ianthe out onto the open seas to dredge for trove and then attack Maskelyne’s ship directly. He’d need a deepwater vessel, a crew and weapons.
And Granger had none of them.
He heard a boat’s engine thrumming in the canal outside. Something about it disturbed him. In the six years he’d lived in Ethugra, he’d grown accustomed to such noises: the post boat, his neighbours’ vessels, the passenger taxis. He didn’t recognize the sound of this one.
Quickly he ran to the window and peered out.
She was an old iron straight-sided coastal barge of the sort that used to bring whale oil into the city from the depots and shell keeps out by the Ethugran Reef. A fat bow wave surged before her as she sped along Halcine Canal. Granger spat a curse when he saw the crew waiting aboard.
Hookmen.
Six of them stood on the