I’d had just about had enough of this child. Without giving any warning, I swung my fist at him. It was obvious he’d barely noticed me the entire time he’d been talking to Belle, because he had little time to see the movement before he started to bring his rifle up. But he wasn’t fast enough, and my knuckles hit him squarely in the jaw. He hit the ground with a sickening thud, knocked out cold, the rifle now loose in his grasp. A chorus of gasps erupted through the crowd, but no one made a move to stop me. Even the soldier who’d been holding the loaded barrel against Mr. Alinder’s head was so stunned that his grip on it had gone slack.
“Get these people out of here,” I muttered to Belle.
“I’m not leaving you,” she said in response.
I shook my head. “I won’t have any more of the people of Briar die because of me.”
She looked at me for a moment before she turned away and left my side, knowing I was right. I vaguely heard her yell for everyone to go back to their homes and stay inside. But I was too focused on the soldiers in front of me, because I realized now that they all had rifles and I had nothing. For the first time in my life, I wished I was still the Beast.
“Fantastic,” I mumbled, and lunged for the closest soldier.
Chapter 29
Apparently Dying
BELLE
I watched as Bastian grabbed one of the soldiers and used him as a shield before taking his rifle, letting out a relieved breath as the last few townspeople left in the square fled at the sound of gunshots. Once I told them they’d likely be killed if they stayed, they dispersed fairly quickly, and soon, the streets were completely deserted.
Shaking, I grabbed a rifle that had dropped to the ground near me, aiming it at a random soldier and hitting him somewhere near his leg—I looked away before I could see him hit the ground. I couldn’t think about how I might’ve just killed a person; I had to remember that they weren’t people anymore. Sean had more than proved that.
I couldn’t believe how quickly Sean had given up Mr. Alinder. They’d been neighbors since Sean was born, and Alinder had always treated him like family. Grabbing one of the bullets still in my pocket from earlier, I loaded it, my hands growing steadier now as I pulled the trigger and another soldier around Bastian went down, holding his leg in agony. He’d taken out a couple of his own and there were only two left. Despite not being the Beast anymore, I knew he could handle this.
I glanced over to where I’d seen my sisters before, but they weren’t there. And neither was Mr. Alinder. Feeling panic rise in my throat, I looked around frantically, finally seeing that there was light in the bookstore when it had been dark moments ago. Rushing past Bastian fighting the only soldier left, I swung around and shot the man in the back of the kneecap. He went down easily, his screams filling the square. I turned back and wrenched open the door to the shop, Bastian on my heels.
Bookshelves had been toppled over, hundreds of volumes tossed to the ground: the Regime’s doing. I didn’t spare them a single glance.
“Emily! Lila!” I called out, but didn’t hear anything.
Bastian put a hand on my shoulder. “Wait.”
I was about to ask him why, when I heard the smallest of sounds—a whimper—coming from the back of the store.
We hurried towards it, but saw nothing. I looked behind the register and then beyond Alinder’s desk—where my two sisters were bound and gagged, squirming against their bindings.
“Keep watch for Regime soldiers,” I told Bastian while I took the gag off Lila first, and then Emily. They looked scared and dirty, but otherwise unharmed.
As soon as Emily’s gag was off, she croaked, “It’s a trap!”
“Should’ve guessed as much,” I heard Bastian mutter.
Swinging around, I saw the two Regime soldiers that had been holding my sisters hostage lunge from the shadows at Bastian.
“Behind you!” I warned him, and he spun, hitting the first one hard with the butt of the Regime rifle, and then crashed his elbow into the face of the second. With them knocked out cold, he dragged them outside and slammed the door shut.
I helped the girls up and untied Emily’s hands. “Untie Lila,” I barked at her, and for once she did as she was told.
I went to the nearest shop window, peeking out from behind the dark wood frame and onto the square to look for Alinder. At first, I didn’t see anyone there. Then came a loud knock at the door. Bastian looked at me and raised an eyebrow, asking me with his eyes if I could see who it was. I shook my head. He nodded, striding carefully to the front, backing up against the doorframe, rifle in hand, before opening the door a crack.
Now I could see who it was through the small sliver of light, and breathed out a sigh of relief. “Let him in,” I told Bastian. “It’s Mr. Alinder.”
Bastian opened the door enough so that Alinder could fit through. As soon as he was inside, the old man collapsed to the floor, white as a sheet and shaking like a leaf. I went to his side as Bastian shut the door again, dead bolting it this time.
“What happened—did they hurt you?” I asked him, holding his hand in mine. It was ice-cold.
Alinder sputtered out a bone-shaking cough, but managed to push his glasses back up his nose and answer, “I saw them taking Emily and Lila across the square. I wasn’t sure what had happened, but I knew it couldn’t have been their faults. And when I realized you weren’t with them, I knew something was wrong.”
He took an unstable breath, and continued, “I went outside to stop them, or at least stall them. But they didn’t take kindly to me interfering. Before I knew it, they’d hit me in the back of my knees and I was on the ground with the bad end of a rifle pointed at my head.” His eyes glinted. “That’s when I saw Sean Ager in a Regime uniform, breaking down the door of the shop and ransacking the place. You know the rest from there.”
I grasped his hand tightly. “I’m sorry you got involved in all of this,” I told him.
He shook his head and sat up onto his knees. “I’m sorry I didn’t get involved with it from the beginning. I should’ve kept you and your sisters from that deadbeat father of yours the moment I met him, but I thought he’d keep himself from you girls on his own. I can’t believe what he was willing to trade just to pay off his gambling debt.”
I didn’t know how Alinder knew about that, but it didn’t even affect me anymore. I knew my father was recklessly negligent and only cared about himself. Now, it seemed that everyone else was finally figuring it out. “Do they still have him locked up?”
Alinder bowed his head, and didn’t speak for a moment. My racing heart began to sink.
“I’m sorry, Belle,” he told me softly. “He grew ill and those cells aren’t well-insulated. I heard the Regime soldiers talking about it when they were doing rounds this morning: he died in the early morning hours from pneumonia.”
I drew in a sharp breath through my nose, tears hot and aching behind my eyes; my stomach felt empty and gutted. I couldn’t believe it. He might’ve turned into a terrible father after mother died, but he’d been good to me and my sisters before that, and he was still family.
But now…now he wasn’t anymore. He was just gone.
Bastian put his hand gently on my back—I barely felt it. Shoving my palms against my eyes hard for a moment, I took a deep breath and stood. It was clear Emily and Lila hadn’t heard what Alinder had said about father. They were still sitting, leaning against each other, simply staring blankly at a shelf of books. I knew this might be how Emily would act if she heard about father’s death, but Lila would definitely be crying by now.
I’d tell them about it later, when we weren’t in danger.
“Emily,” I called to her, and she turned to look at me with empty eyes. “Did you hear anything from the Regime soldiers? Are any more coming for us?”
“The rest of the soldiers in Briar should be headed this way,” she told me flatly. “Sean sent a messenger back about Alinder and his pre-Regime books, and told him that if they didn�
��t hear back from him in half an hour that Alinder had been…”—she couldn’t say killed, and I didn’t blame her—“that they should come in full force. They’ll be here soon, if they aren’t already.”
“How are we going to get out of here?” I mumbled to no one in particular.
“We can’t leave,” Bastian told me. My gaze snapped to his. “They’ll just come after us; we need to end this here. Now.”
“The boy’s right,” Alinder agreed. “The Regime needs to be shown that they don’t belong here anymore. Not when our king has come back from the dead.”
Bastian stared at Alinder. “You know who I am?”
Alinder laughed. “Of course I know who you are. I used to see you running along the corridors of the castle. I even supplied your parents with most of the books in the royal library.”
Bastian grinned. “I knew I liked you.”
Alinder smiled in return, pushing his glasses back up his nose. “It’s good to see that you’ve become the man you were always meant to be.”
I sighed, a permanent ache tightening around my heart like a vice. “I’m sorry, but we don’t really have time for pleasantries right now. Alinder,” I said, “didn’t you tell me once that your father built a tunnel under the bookshop when the Regime first came to power?”
He nodded. “But I haven’t been down to check on it in years. It may have caved in.”
“We’ll have to chance it,” I countered impatiently. “I need you to bring Emily and Lila down there right now and take them as far away as you can from here. Where does it lead out?”
“I can’t let you do that, Belle,” he answered instead. “I’m going to help, if I can, but I won’t abandon you.”
I put a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve done so much already. Now, I need you to do one more thing for me and save my sisters.”
He looked at me for a moment, then nodded. I sighed in relief—at least they’d be safe.
“It leads out to a hollow tree stump at the outskirts of the Black Forest,” he told me in defeat. “Close to your family cottage, actually.”
“Good,” I nodded fervently. “Take them there and we’ll come find you.”
Emily must’ve heard the exchange, because she stood up quickly from where she’d been sitting with Lila. “No, I’m staying to fight!”
“Emily,” I started, “you can’t fight these men. They’re skilled soldiers and clearly don’t have much humanity left. They won’t care that they’re fighting a girl.”
She stepped closer. “And you think that you and this stranger can take them on all by yourselves?”
I’m not sure, I thought. I said, “We’re both trained, Em. You’re not.”
Emily scoffed. “You’re not trained. All you know how to do is shoot animals with a bow and arrow.” She met my gaze in anguish. “You know this isn’t fair,” she told me. “You know that I can help you!”
I reached out and squeezed her hand. “I need you and Lila to be safe. That’s all that matters.”
She looked over at Bastian. I realized that she had no idea who he was, and I doubted she was paying attention when Alinder mentioned knowing his parents. “Do you trust him?”
I looked at Bastian, whose piercing gaze was already on me. “With my life,” I said to Emily.
I turned back to her as she folded her arms and huffed; she was angry with me, but she knew I was right. Despite her attitude, Emily was easily frightened, even by small woodland creatures, which she always swore were forest wolves—she wouldn’t stand a chance against Regime soldiers. I’d never had the time to teach her how to survive on her own, but this was the one time I didn’t regret it.
In the distance, I heard what could only be the sound of dozens of hard footfalls against cobblestone. They were coming for us, and they were close.
“Go now,” I told Alinder, pushing Emily towards him and Lila.
Alinder ushered my sisters through his office door quickly, but he turned back. “Don’t do anything stupid, like getting yourselves killed,” he told us before he disappeared behind the door, slamming it closed.
It was so quiet in the shop now. Then I laughed out loud once when I realized that I didn’t have a weapon.
Bastian looked at me oddly, but he said nothing.
“Do you think we’ll make it out of this?” I asked, sobering.
“I don’t know.”
He didn’t sound afraid, only resolute in knowing that we might die in a couple of minutes.
Pulling me into his arms, he held me close. For a moment, I could pretend that Regime soldiers weren’t coming for us, that we were back in his castle and out of harm’s way. He released me quickly though, shattering the image.
“I’m sorry about your father,” he told me, and the emptiness I’d felt when Alinder first told me grew in my stomach like a sickness.
Instead of answering Bastian, I asked, “Do you have a plan?”
He nodded, but I could see in his eyes that he wasn’t going to let go what had happened with my father.
“Is there an attic to this place?” he asked, and I wondered why it would matter. I thought about the rifle in his hand and realized it would be a perfect vantage point if I could shoot from inside the shop. Then I remembered that there was an attic, but it was completely boarded up. The Regime had even taken out the window up there that had once showcased rare pre-Regime books and had put wooden slats in its place. But I wondered…
“Leave it to me.”
I went into Alinder’s office, scanning the area quickly to see if anyone could tell that there was a secret passageway under the antique rug and beneath the old floorboards. But I couldn’t see anything different. Above me was the entrance to the attic, and I had to jump up to pull on the string attached to the ladder. It creaked with the effort and I knew that, just like the secret tunnel, Alinder hadn’t been up there in years. After the last wooden rung had settled on the ground with a spray of dust, I climbed up the rickety steps quickly, hoping it wouldn’t collapse beneath me before I reached the top.
Alinder had once told me that this attic had been filled with rare books, yes, but also children’s toys and antique things. Now, though, there was nothing but dust and cobwebs. I hurried towards the other side, trying to tread lightly over the old beams.
It was easy to tell where they’d patched up the window—the wood was lighter, but obviously of a lower quality as parts of it had begun to rot. Kneeling, I reached through a small slat that had grown between two of the pieces, hoping I wouldn’t get so many splinters in my fingers that it would keep me from shooting accurately, and pulled. A large chunk of the wood piece came out, and from behind it, soft gray light poured in. I bent down and looked through the gap I’d made. It was the perfect height for kneeling, and there was just enough space there that I could see to shoot.
Once I was settled, I realized that there was a lot of noise going on downstairs. I didn’t dare leave my post to see what Bastian was doing, but I was sure it was strategic. He’d been the leader of his own army, after all.
My heart sank, though, as I looked outside again and saw the first of the Regime soldiers come into the square.
Chapter 30
Beauty, Beauty
BASTIAN
A fter pushing the largest bookcases in front of the door, blocking an entire window with one, and the bottom half of the other window by overturning another, I was ready. At first, I felt bad about knocking the books to the floor, but when I looked at the titles and realized that they were the only books the Regime had legalized, I felt the urge to burn them there too.
Steeling my resolve, I readied for battle. I could already see how this would play out: with the way I’d designed it, there was no way they could break through the front door without some serious weaponry. Then their only option would be the window. With them all crowding around one area, and having to take the time to step over the bookcase as well, it would be easy for Belle to pick them off one by one from her vantage point. A
ny that she wasn’t able to take down outside would have to deal with me.
I thought about how I’d knocked out—maybe even killed—those Regime soldiers, including Sean. I hadn’t given him much time to defend himself against it, but even I could see how unfeeling and callous he was. It seemed like Belle hadn’t been too attached to him—which gave me a sickening sense of pride—and he hadn’t even cared that the Regime he worked for had killed his own father. He’d said that he’d deserved it. I wondered what the Regime was doing to these men that they became this way, but that would have to wait until this was all over.
When I could be king again and take back control of Briar.
It wasn’t long before I could see the first of the soldiers enter the square. They marched to the same silent beat, dressed in all back. I glimpsed something red on each of their necks and wondered what it was.
Then, as if by design, they all froze.
“Bastian!” I heard a voice that sounded eerily like Sophie’s call through the front door.
“Soph?” I called back, shocked, removing the dead bolt so that she could come through.
It was her. Her gray hair was unusually askew and her uniform was covered in mud, but her eyes were wide and bright.
Without giving her any warning, I gripped Sophie in a gentle bear hug the moment she’d made it inside and the door was secure again—she was crying. “I can’t believe it finally happened. I can’t believe you’re human again!”
“It’s good to see you, Soph, but,” I continued, “you shouldn’t be here. It’s too dangerous. I told you to stay at the castle.”
She put her hands on her hips. “And when have I ever done what you’ve told me?”
I shook my head at her stubbornness, about to ask her how she’d even known where to find us, when I heard heavy footsteps above me, and dust floated down from the rafters. The door of Alinder’s office creaked open, and I turned to find Belle standing in the doorway.
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