Owen’s eyes opened to find Dr. Verity bending over him. “AAH!” he screamed in surprise, and tried to push himself backward but found he was strapped down.
“Finally,” Dr. Verity said. “I didn’t think you’d ever wake up. Looks like I set the stun setting up just a bit too high. Didn’t want you using any magic, though.”
“AAH!” Owen screamed again.
“Let’s move past that, shall we?” Dr. Verity said, beginning to pace. Owen quickly looked around and realized that he wasn’t in the audience chamber anymore. Instead, this looked like some sort of dark hallway, lit by the smallest of nuclear explosions on either side. And in front of him was . . .
“The vault,” Dr. Verity said. “Notice anything unusual about it?”
Owen frantically looked over the door, but didn’t know what to say, so just shook his head.
“It’s not OPEN!” Dr. Verity shouted. “Do you not see the problem here, boy? I count one-two-three-four-five-six keys here! What kind of hero are you, showing up without all the keys you’d need to find the only weapon that can defeat me?!”
Owen stayed quiet, thinking as quickly as he could. There was no way he could give the mad scientist the last key he needed. No matter what it cost him, he couldn’t let Dr. Verity use a bomb to wipe out everyone who’d ever used magic! Not only would that be the entire population of Magisteria, but also Kiel, the Magister, Owen himself, maybe even Bethany!
But how could he keep the Seventh Key from the doctor? If all it took was a selfless heart—
Wait a second.
Dr. Verity peered down at him impatiently. “Well?”
“Well what?” Owen asked, stalling as he walked his way through the plan.
“WHERE IS THE LAST KEY?”
Owen took a deep breath, crossing his fingers, toes, and everything else. “I know where it is. And I’ll give it to you, under one condition.”
Dr. Verity grinned. “Look who wants to deal!” He took two steps closer until he hung over Owen like a gargoyle. Slowly, he raised a ray gun right at Owen’s face. “You don’t really seem to be in the greatest position to be negotiating, though, all things considered.”
Owen swallowed hard. “Go ahead. Shoot me—”
“As you command!” The ray gun began to power up, and the doctor grinned wider.
“But if I die, you’ll never get the key!” Owen finished quickly.
“If you die, you won’t have any say in what happens to the key,” Dr. Verity said. “That’s starting to look like my preferred option at this point, honestly. At least I never have to look at you again.”
“THE KEY IS IN MY HEART,” Owen shouted, turning his head away from the ray gun. “If you shoot me and my heart stops, the key will never work!”
Dr. Verity stood back and gave Owen a careful look. “You aren’t lying,” he said, tapping the still-powered-up ray gun against his glasses. “I can tell, no increase in heart rate. And if you’re not lying, that presents a very annoying problem. You can’t live, you see. You’ve caused me far too many problems. But I want the Source, Kiel. I don’t like loose ends, and this wipes up pretty much every single one. Including you, by the way. So what do I do?”
“Let me live!” Owen said. “There’s got to be a way to make sure the bomb doesn’t kill me too. Then you’ll have your weapon, and I’ll go away. You’ll never see me again!”
“Pardon me for suggesting this, but if I take a key out of your heart, wouldn’t that stop your heart from working? And wouldn’t that therefore negate my end of this bargain?”
Owen nodded and took another deep breath. “But you can save me,” he said, going all in. “Charm gave me a robot heart, just like hers. Put it in, do whatever you need to do to keep me alive, and the Seventh Key is yours.”
Dr. Verity’s eyes went wide, and he held up the robotic heart Charm had given Owen back in the Magister’s tower. “Well, that explains why you had this on you.” He began to laugh, harder and harder until Owen wondered if he was going to have a heart attack himself. “You . . . want me to save you . . . with science?” the doctor finally gasped. “YOU, Kiel Gnomenfoot, will become a creature of technology? I don’t even need a reason. I’d happily do that, just to make everything you’ve fought for completely worthless!”
“You have to promise I’ll be okay,” Owen said. “Otherwise there’s no deal.”
“Or I could just take the key out of your heart myself while it still beats,” the doctor said, raising an eyebrow.
“That won’t work. According to the zombie of the First Magician, the only way to form the Seventh Key is if I give my heart up freely.” And selflessly.
Dr. Verity started to swear. “I really, really hate magic.” He sighed. “I really did want to kill you too. This is turning out to be a very disappointing day, all things considered.”
“Trust me, things aren’t going the way I hoped either.”
Dr. Verity snorted at that, then shrugged. “Okay, one robotic heart for one heart key. Deal. Shake.” He held out a hand, and Owen went to shake it, only to remember he was still tied down. The doctor grinned. “Gotcha!”
Owen sighed. “Just . . . just do it already.”
“Soldiers!” Dr. Verity snapped his fingers, and two Science Soldiers stepped up next to Owen. “We’re going to need a little surgery. Take the boy’s robot heart, and switch it with the one in his chest, will you?”
One of the Science Soldiers held Owen down while the other’s fingers folded in to be replaced by knives. “Wait, they’re going to do it?” Owen shouted. “I want a real doctor!”
“They contain all the knowledge in our medical libraries,” Dr. Verity said absently, then gave him an evil look. “Or, if you prefer, I could do it.”
Owen shivered and shook his head.
“Your loss. Let’s move, soldiers! Give our boy a new heart!”
The Science Soldier holding the robotic heart touched his arm, pricking it with some kind of needle, and suddenly the room began to get all wavy and foggy. Owen fought to stay awake, but whatever it was that the robot had injected him with was way too powerful.
“Don’t forget, you promised to keep me alive,” he said as clearly as he could.
“We’ll see!” Dr. Verity said.
“Bethany,” Owen said as everything turned to black. “I’m . . . I’m sorry. . . .”
And as Owen fell unconscious, Dr. Verity turned to the Science Soldiers. “Who’s Bethany?” he asked.