Iron Cast by Destiny; Soria Page A

who was heralded on the diploma came in, he seemed so harmless with his spectacles and warm smile that Ada found herself smiling back.
    â€œFamily?” he asked a nurse, who handed him a chart.
    â€œFather, in prison,” said the nurse. “Mother, address unknown.”
    Dr. Knox nodded thoughtfully, and Ada felt the first twinge of worry in her gut. She was sitting on a wooden exam table, her legs dangling. Suddenly she felt exposed. Helpless.
    â€œShe’s a songsmith?” he asked as he thumbed through the chart. “Are you any good, my dear?”
    Ada stared back at him, unsure how to answer.
    â€œAccording to the agency, she’s one of the hemopaths involved in that scam on the bridge,” said the nurse. “The one with Councilman Turner and the elephants?”
    Dr. Knox’s eyes lit up with new interest, and he scratched his chin.
    â€œOne of Dervish’s girls then?”
    â€œWill that be a problem, sir?” the nurse asked.
    Dr. Knox was studying Ada like she was a slab of meat in the butcher’s shop.
    â€œI’ll need her in the basement for the second phase,” he said at last. “We’re still disposing of the failed subjects, so it will be a few weeks yet.”
    â€œWe can keep her upstairs for now,” the nurse said. She took back the chart and made a note in it.
    â€œThe second phase of what?” Ada asked.
    Dr. Knox seemed surprised that she’d spoken. He frowned slightly, then turned to the nurse.
    â€œLet’s take some blood samples while she’s here. Give me a syringe.”
    When Ada saw the gleam of metal in the nurse’s hand, she scrambled off the table. She tried to run for the door, but the doctor was in the way. She shrank back into the corner. She could feel the stinging presence of the metal only with concentration, which meant it was some sort of iron alloy. Probably steel. The only thing sheknew for certain was that she wouldn’t let them stick that needle in her.
    â€œNo,” she said, and was pleased with the vehemence in her voice. It was a strength she didn’t feel.
    â€œNone of that,” Dr. Knox said sharply.
    He snatched the syringe from the nurse and reached for Ada’s arm. Her body was tense and coursing with adrenaline. She sidestepped the doctor, leapt onto the table, and rolled to the other side. Then she flipped it on top of him.
    All the rest was a blur in her mind. The nurse screaming. Others rushing in to help. Ada tried to run, but someone pushed her down. There was a lancing pain in the back of her shoulder, and then she fell unconscious. When she awoke, she was in her solitary cell, with nothing to do but await the basement. And wonder what Dr. Knox meant by “failed subjects.”
    She hadn’t told Corinne any of that yet. She wasn’t sure if she could.
    Corinne would have a thousand questions. She would want to figure it out, solve the mystery. Ada didn’t want to know what was happening in the basement, though. She wanted to ease back into her comfortable life and forget the asylum even existed.
    After an hour or so, she did manage to drift off. But the screams of the woman from the next cell over followed her into her dreams.

CHAPTER THREE

    The next morning Ada slipped out early to go see her mother. Corinne considered joining her but fell back asleep before she could decide. After another hour of sleep, she pulled on the first dress she could find from a pile on the floor and trudged upstairs to the bar for breakfast. The tables were populated with the morning crowd of those who worked daylight hours for Johnny. Most were groggily clutching white mugs of coffee. A few were eating from the breakfast spread on the sidebar.
    Gabriel was at a corner table—alone, predictably enough. The Cast Iron crew was slow to trust and even slower to pleasant chitchat. Corinne sighed to herself, then loaded up a plate with eggs and toast and joined