Alex Van Helsing The Triumph of Death - By Jason Henderson Page 0,63

up the Orkneys on the internet, finding a map of tiny islands scattered around the north of Scotland. “The Orkneys is an archipelago, a system of islands. We can’t search a system of islands for a two-hundred-year-old body. Not in the time we have.” Need a new plan.

“How would you search?”

“Hang on, hang on; don’t get ahead of me. I know you’re good at that, but don’t do that right now.” He gave her a half-smile and turned back to reading. “Orkneys. What does Mary Shelley say in the book? Frankenstein gets food from the mainland, which is five miles distant.” Then he looked at his watch. “Okay. ‘Five miles from the mainland.’ That could be any of these, along the south of the archipelago. And it doesn’t make sense that Polidori would leave a clue that could point to anything. By the way, I think we’ve got ten minutes and then our friends come looking for us.”

Next he brought up a list of the individual Orkney Islands. “Oh,” he said.

“What?”

“It’s not ‘an island five miles off the mainland of Scotland.’ It’s ‘five miles off Mainland,’ which is the name of another island. I hope, I mean. There is one called Mainland.”

“Go with your gut, Alex,” Astrid said.

“If this”—and now he pointed at the largest island in the group—“is Mainland, then there’s only one island on this map that’s within five miles.” He spun the tablet around to show it to her.

Astrid read the name. “Brough of Birsay?”

“Brough of Birsay. An isolated, desolate island of old ruins. That’s where Mary Shelley picked to be the lab for Frankenstein building the bride. And it’s where Polidori picked to hide the body of Allegra Byron when he stole it, or most likely bribed it, off the gravediggers in England.” There was something else, though. Something Armstrong had said.

“Nuckelavee,” Alex said. When Astrid looked at him, he continued, “That digger creature the Scholomance brought. I learned about them at Creature School. It’s Scottish. It’s also from here, from the Orkney Islands.”

Astrid shook her head. “That seems like a strange coincidence, that they’d use a creature from the place where the DNA is actually buried.”

“It’s the other way around,” Alex said. “The Scholomance really seemed to think that they were going to find the body in England. You know what it means? That Polidori moved the body to the island because he knew that would be the place where Claire would set off the Triumph of Death. He knew the spell would be set off there, and he wanted to plant us a weapon.”

“Something else, though,” Astrid said. “That implies that the Strangers—Blacktowers—have been continuing Polidori’s preparations. Outside the Polidorium.”

“Or Polidori was working for Blacktowers,” Alex offered.

“Does that matter?”

“It might if I ever get the chance to ask Blacktowers.”

Ronnie’s voice spoke up, interrupting them. “Alex, give them eight minutes.”

“Thanks. Hang up now and erase all of this.” He looked at his watch. Time was about up in the library. He stood, closing the tablet and shoving it into his go package. He headed out of the library, saying, “Come on. If we’re right, we could stop Claire at the Brough of Birsay.”

The moment they stepped out of the library’s glass door into the hall, an alarm bell rang.

“What’s that?” Astrid asked.

“I just removed a Polidorium tablet computer with all of the database and more from its home area.” He was walking faster now, then jogging as the alarm receded behind them. “Another few moments and it’ll go off throughout the farmhouse.”

“Then what?” They swiftly walked past a couple of agents around the next corner, who paid them no mind because they were watching a training video on the wall about how to defend a grocery store.

“We won’t be here then.” Alex clicked on his wireless and instantly heard a chirp.

“Alex, where are you?” Carreras yelled.

“I’ve thought about it, sir.” They reached the carpeted hallway that led to the main hangar, and Alex made note of the muddy tracks where countless agents had been coming and going. Custodianship was getting lax. He opened the door for Astrid and they were in the hangar, running down the metal steps. He scanned the area, looking at pilots working on their planes and maintenance crews at the vans. He whispered to Astrid, “Do you have a spell for opening doors?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” He made a beeline for the motorcycles and picked one. It was Sangster’s black Triumph.

Alex started the engine as Astrid hopped on, and this time they attracted the