Page 111 of Prince of the Undying

“Not far from here.” He unhooked the device and pointed his flashlight about forty-five degrees to our left. “The interference is strongest that way.”

I jumped from the back of the truck and landed in a crouch. I pressed the Eisenkrieger’s knuckles into the dirt and pushed myself to my feet. The pneumatics of the metal limbs pumped with smooth power.

“Follow me,” Konstantin said.

I lumbered alongside him. The Eisenkrieger left deep footprints in the mud from the rain. We crossed half of the empty lot, and he held up his hand to stop me. He took another reading on the device.

“Turn clockwise. More. Less. Stop.” He unhooked the device. “Walk.”

I did as he said. We walked for a few hundred meters, stopped, took another reading, turned right and kept walking. Rain silvered the air like scratches on glass.

“Somewhere,” he murmured. “Wendel has to be here somewhere.”

I scanned our surroundings. The nearest factory looked out at me with shattered and empty windows. Deep within the darkness, a light flickered for no more than a second before it vanished. I froze and stared at the factory. Faded white letters had been painted over the doors, but I struggled to read the German.

“Konstantin,” I said. “Look. I saw a light over there.”

He ran the beam of his flashlight over the lettering. “Sargfabrik,” he read. “Coffin factory.”

We shared a glance. Unease slithered through me.

“Should we go in?”

“It looks abandoned. Are you sure you saw a light?”

“Yes.”

He took another reading. “The interference is off the charts. He has to be here.”

“I’m going in.”

I left him behind in three giant steps and stood at the threshold of the factory. A padlocked chain hung across the doors. I wrapped the chain in my metal fist and snapped it like it was no more than a thread.

“Ardis!” Konstantin hissed my name. “Stop! You can’t go in there with the Eisenkrieger.”

“Isn’t it fully functional?”

“Yes, but it’s only a prototype.”

I shrugged. “Prototypes are made to be tested.”

“We can’t risk it.”

I tried to smile. “I won’t scratch it, I promise.”

“We would jeopardize Project Lazarus.”

“More than we already have?”

He squared his shoulders. “Get out of the Eisenkrieger.”

Damn it, that sounded like an order. I unlatched the cockpit door and hopped out.

“Can I at least have my sword?” I asked.

His sigh clouded the air. He held out Chun Yi, and I buckled the scabbard to my waist. He caught me by the wrist and glanced into my eyes.

“Wait,” he said. “We can’t rush in.”

---