***
--12--
The news came a week after the baseball field debacle that Kalina had switched sides. Cyrus hadn't seen it coming and he cursed himself for it. He should have had the foresight to see that the miserable little wench would go against him if he fired her, but he supposed he'd had more on his mind than the possibility that Kalina would fall in with Damon Marshall, of all people.
It seemed that Marshall had discovered a little of Cyrus' plan. Apparently he had his own copy of the Arcanum and had been alerted when Cyrus and his team had shown up at the baseball field. Now he was pursuing Cyrus with a fury usually reserved for religious fanatics. Everywhere he went all he heard was Marshall's accusations, as though capturing ghosts were some great infringement on the US Constitution. Cyrus figured he was on pretty solid legal ground as far as his 'enslavement of the dead' went, since legally ghosts weren't acknowledged to exist, let alone hold rights.
But Damon had other ideas, it seemed. Everywhere Cyrus went he was lurking in the shadows. It was bothersome to say the least, especially as everywhere Damon went, Kalina followed. She'd probably told him exactly what it was that Cyrus was planning. In fact, Cyrus wouldn't have been surprised to find that Kalina herself was the one who alerted Damon and his little band of militants.
They impeded his search for a psychic as effectively as anyone could have in their position. It turned out that spoilt little rich boy Damon Marshall had friends in high places, if any place could be considered particularly high in the area of parapsychological research, and Cyrus' every turn was blocked. There was no university department in the country that would even take his phone calls by the time Damon was through calling in his favours, and the list of freelance psychic researchers was somewhat limited even before Damon started to contact them. Cyrus was appalled. He hadn't come so far just to watch his life's work - his lifelong dream - be ruined by a little ingrate like Damon Marshall.
And more importantly, he would not lose to Kalina. He refused.
So he did the one thing he could do. He picked up the phone and he called her.
The conversation was brief and to the point. It didn't take more than five minutes for him to persuade Kalina to switch allegiances, and he hadn't expected it to. After all, as one of his foremen had pointed out to him back at the baseball field, she was clearly besotted with him. He could have asked her to drop everything to join a cult and spend the rest of her life growing organic vegetables in Idaho and she would've done it. All he had to do was promise her that they'd be together forever once the Ocularis Infernum was opened. That was all it took. She was so easy to break.
He couldn't believe that he hadn't noticed her affections before. Surely, considering their previous romantic entanglement back in Prague, he should have understood. Actually, he found the depth of her apparent affection for him rather unsettling. But he didn't dwell on it for long. He just hoped that Kalina made a better spy than she had a ghost trapper. Surely there had to be something she was good for.
***
--12--
The news came a week after the baseball field debacle that Kalina had switched sides. Cyrus hadn't seen it coming and he cursed himself for it. He should have had the foresight to see that the miserable little wench would go against him if he fired her, but he supposed he'd had more on his mind than the possibility that Kalina would fall in with Damon Marshall, of all people.
It seemed that Marshall had discovered a little of Cyrus' plan. Apparently he had his own copy of the Arcanum and had been alerted when Cyrus and his team had shown up at the baseball field. Now he was pursuing Cyrus with a fury usually reserved for religious fanatics. Everywhere he went all he heard was Marshall's accusations, as though capturing ghosts were some great infringement on the US Constitution. Cyrus figured he was on pretty solid legal ground as far as his 'enslavement of the dead' went, since legally ghosts weren't acknowledged to exist, let alone hold rights.
But Damon had other ideas, it seemed. Everywhere Cyrus went he was lurking in the shadows. It was bothersome to say the least, especially as everywhere Damon went, Kalina followed. She'd probably told him exactly what it was that Cyrus was planning. In fact, Cyrus wouldn't have been surprised to find that Kalina herself was the one who alerted Damon and his little band of militants.
They impeded his search for a psychic as effectively as anyone could have in their position. It turned out that spoilt little rich boy Damon Marshall had friends in high places, if any place could be considered particularly high in the area of parapsychological research, and Cyrus' every turn was blocked. There was no university department in the country that would even take his phone calls by the time Damon was through calling in his favours, and the list of freelance psychic researchers was somewhat limited even before Damon started to contact them. Cyrus was appalled. He hadn't come so far just to watch his life's work - his lifelong dream - be ruined by a little ingrate like Damon Marshall.
And more importantly, he would not lose to Kalina. He refused.
So he did the one thing he could do. He picked up the phone and he called her.
The conversation was brief and to the point. It didn't take more than five minutes for him to persuade Kalina to switch allegiances, and he hadn't expected it to. After all, as one of his foremen had pointed out to him back at the baseball field, she was clearly besotted with him. He could have asked her to drop everything to join a cult and spend the rest of her life growing organic vegetables in Idaho and she would've done it. All he had to do was promise her that they'd be together forever once the Ocularis Infernum was opened. That was all it took. She was so easy to break.
He couldn't believe that he hadn't noticed her affections before. Surely, considering their previous romantic entanglement back in Prague, he should have understood. Actually, he found the depth of her apparent affection for him rather unsettling. But he didn't dwell on it for long. He just hoped that Kalina made a better spy than she had a ghost trapper. Surely there had to be something she was good for.
***