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Chapters (86)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. Contents
  7. Paris, June 1794
  8. PART ONE
  9. 1
  10. 2
  11. 3
  12. 4
  13. 5
  14. 6
  15. 7
  16. PART TWO
  17. 1
  18. 2
  19. 3
  20. 4
  21. 5
  22. 6
  23. 7
  24. 8
  25. 9
  26. 10
  27. 11
  28. 12
  29. PART THREE
  30. 1
  31. 2
  32. 3
  33. 4
  34. 5
  35. 6
  36. 7
  37. 8
  38. 9
  39. 10
  40. 11
  41. 12
  42. 13
  43. 14
  44. 15
  45. 16
  46. 17
  47. PART FOUR
  48. 1
  49. 2
  50. 3
  51. 4
  52. 5
  53. 6
  54. 7
  55. 8
  56. 9
  57. 10
  58. 11
  59. PART FIVE
  60. 1
  61. 2
  62. 3
  63. 4
  64. 5
  65. 6
  66. 7
  67. PART SIX
  68. 1
  69. 2
  70. 3
  71. 4
  72. 5
  73. 6
  74. 7
  75. 8
  76. 9
  77. 10
  78. 11
  79. 12
  80. 13
  81. 14
  82. Postscript
  83. A Ship in Le Havre Port
  84. Acknowledgements
  85. About the Author
  86. About Zephyr

The sight of those bodies would never, ever leave her.

Al extracted himself from inside a bone niche, brushing dust off himself.

From behind a toppled end table, James emerged.

‘Could someone tell me what the hell is going on?’

3

The Charnel House

Camille went cold.

She looked at James, mind racing. Could they trust him? Were they done for?

‘Don’t be scared. Olympe isn’t dangerous.’

James looked at the smouldering debris flung around the charnel house.

Camille raised her hands. ‘Okay, I know it looks bad, but trust me. She’s just a girl who’s … different.’

‘You can say that again.’

‘Oh, tell him,’ said Al. ‘Not even you can lie your way out of this, Camille.’

He had a point.

James watched her expectantly.

So for the second time that night she told James more than she wanted to. He listened carefully, nodding as Ada explained what they’d learned about Olympe’s powers so far.

‘Actually … there’s something else I found at the abbey.’ She fished in her pockets. ‘Damn, my notes are gone. When we were investigating the laboratory, I found what looked like the duc’s diary. It went back years.’ Her eyes flicked to Olympe, a look of apprehension in them. ‘Back to before Olympe was born.’

Olympe wrapped her arms around her knees and hid her face.

Ada continued, ‘The duc, he was there from the start. He … he set up an experiment on pregnant women, on their unborn children, using electricity.’

Camille frowned. ‘What are you saying?’

‘He was trying to see if the application of electricity would … change something in humans,’ explained Ada.

‘Like Galvanism,’ said James, deep in thought. ‘Except experimenting on people before birth, instead of after death.’

‘Exactly.’

‘I read it too,’ said Olympe softly. ‘I am a science project.’

‘No – that’s not true,’ said Ada.

‘Isn’t it?’

‘Whatever he did only woke up a latent ability you already possessed. What you can do with it – the way you can manipulate and control the electric current – that’s all you, Olympe. I think you have made yourself even more powerful than anyone could have imagined.’

‘What good is being powerful if I will always be hunted for it?’ A shiver of blue sparks ghosted her jaw. ‘Don’t worry. I’m not going to lose control. But I will never, ever let that man get hold of me again. I will die first.’

Camille held her dark gaze, willing her lungs to take normal, even breaths.

What if she didn’t find a way out of this? What if Olympe was forced to make that choice?

She looked away. ‘What about Comtois? How did he get involved?’

‘He was working for the duc,’ explained Ada. ‘That’s how he found out about Olympe. How he knew to take her.’

‘Do you think he knew what the duc had planned for Olympe?’