A Monster's Paradise (Away From Whipplethorn Book Three)

by A W Hartoin

  “My love, what happened?” asked Mrs. Marfisi.

  “Riot at the boulangerie.” He gasped, clutching his side.

  I opened his shirt and realized his disguise was my dad’s clothes and it wasn’t good enough. There were a series of shoe-shaped bruises across his ribs and abdomen. He’d been stomped. I examined him as he cried out in pain at my probing fingers. Four broken ribs. I couldn’t tell about internal bleeding. That was a wait-and-see kind of thing.

  “How bad is it?” asked Mrs. Marfisi.

  “Broken ribs and he’ll need some stitches,” I said. “How did they recognize you in these clothes?”

  “They didn’t,” he wheezed. “It was an all-out brawl.”

  “But why? You’ve gone five times without a problem,” said Judd.

  Mr. Marfisi covered his face in his hands for a moment and then looked at us. “His Majesty refused to sign the constitution yesterday. He sent a plea to the Austrian royal family for troops instead. The people are enraged. They’ve attacked and killed royalists all over the city.” He got quiet and his eyes filled with tears. I’d never seen a man cry before and the sight gave me an unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach. “The Comte de Provence tried to escape the mobs. They caught him at the edge of the city and executed him.”

  Mrs. Marfisi gasped. “They wouldn’t dare.”

  “They did. It’s no longer commoner revolution.”

  Lrag and Bentha climbed onto the tabletop and I asked, “Did you hear?”

  “Yes,” said Lrag.

  “The situation has turned desperate. If they’ll kill the king’s brother, no one is safe,” said Bentha.

  I stood up and hefted my traveling bag on my shoulder. “Lucrece can take care of this. We have to go now before it gets worse.”

  “You can’t be serious,” said Mrs. Marfisi.

  I gave her back the beautiful clothes. “I’m so close to the cure. I have to get to Ibn before the city goes completely mad.”

  “It’s too late for that,” said Mr. Marfisi.

  “We’ll get there.”

  “Or die trying,” said Lrag.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  MR. MARFISI WAS right. It was too late. By the time we made it to the Denfert Rochereau metro station, we’d seen three riots and lost count of the bodies. No one challenged us as we went from human to human, trying to stay out of sight. The man we were riding on jogged up the stairs out of the metro station and stopped under the pretty curving metropolitan sign. He lit a cigarette. There was no one else for Lrag and Bentha to jump to, so we waited. That pause would change everything.

  “Phalanx,” said Bentha.

  A phalanx formation scuttled across the stone wall next to the metro stop. Lrag grabbed me and we hid inside the man’s collar for a few minutes. Lrag’s hand tightened on my shoulder and I winced. Bentha’s face was so close to mine that our noses were touching. He breathed deep and concentrated. Then Lrag loosened his grip and lifted me out of the collar.

  The man took a last drag on his cigarette and started off in the direction of the catacombs.

  “Jump,” said Bentha.

  I didn’t have a chance to ask why. Lrag and Bentha leapt off the man’s shoulder and landed on the climbing vines on the stone wall. They climbed up the vine to the top of the wall and put their heads together.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “Those phalanx were talking about the royal retainers,” said Lrag.

  “They’ve been captured,” said Bentha. “All of them.”

  My hand went to my chest. “They can’t mean the vermillion. They stayed in hiding.”

  “They said all.”

  “We have to help them,” I said. “Which way did the phalanx go?”

  Lrag and Bentha stayed quiet.

  “If you’re thinking I’m just going to go home, you’re crazy. Ibn helped me when he wasn’t supposed to. I’m not leaving him to the mob.”

  “It may already be too late,” said Bentha.

  “It will be, if we don’t get moving.”

  They didn’t move.

  “Our duty is to you, my lady,” said Bentha.

  “And mine is to Miss Penrose. Even if you don’t want to save Ibn and the vermillion, how about her? I need Ibn to complete the cure.”

  “I will go and save Ibn, if I can,” said Lrag without hesitation.

  “We will go together as always,” said Bentha.

  “For Miss Penrose,” I said.

  “Always,” said Lrag.

  Bentha led the way across the stone wall, holding his head high and sniffing. “I have their scent. To the rescue.”

  We raced down the wall and through a small park to a bush next to a low stone bench. Bentha climbed the bush and we hid in the foliage, climbing across the thick branches until we could see past the bench’s leg. There in the center of a crowd were the royal dressmakers, milliners, and watchmakers. Their fine clothes had been torn to shreds. Both the women and men were bloody bruised messes. The dressmaker who’d looked at me with such scorn sobbed uncontrollably and a wash of pity came over me. She’d been brought so low. As nasty as she was, I never would’ve wished this on her.

  A brown-winged fairy shoved Jaques the watchmaker in the dirt and kicked him, screaming in French. The only word I understood was vermillion. They didn’t have Ibn. Tears pricked my eyes. The vermillion were safe.

  The brown wing kicked Jacques again and the crowd closed in. The brown wing screamed again. This time I caught the word Marfisi. They wanted to know where the Marfisis were. If Jacques gave in, that information would lead them home.

  I grimaced at the unbelievable pain mounting in my leg and mouthed to Lrag. “Can we save them?”

  He looked at the crowd. There were so many. “Only with your fire.”

  I squeezed the limb tight. If I used my fire, my presence in Paris would be revealed. The horen would start searching for me. If he found me, he would find my family.

  The brown-winged fairy screamed in frustration and turned to one of the milliners. He smacked her so hard a spray of blood erupted from her mouth.

  Jacques said something to him. I couldn’t see what it was.

  “Let’s do it,” I mouthed.

  We three could take that horen, if he found us. He’d never get to Mom and Dad or Iris. I wouldn’t mind killing him just on principle.

  Lrag and Bentha nodded and manuevered themselves into position. Bentha’s muscles bunched, but before he could leap out a second formation of phalanx arrived.

  One popped off his shell. “Rex evasit!”

  The crowd went wild, surging forward, and in an instant were over the prisoners. Blood sprayed over the crowd in big gushes. I screamed and Lrag forced me to look away. “Once you see that, you can never unsee it.” Then he pressed me to his chest and crawled away through the bush. We went over the stone wall and he let me go.

  “We could’ve saved them,” I said.

  Lrag nodded. “If we’d moved faster, but we didn’t and they’re gone.”

  I was shaking. I could still smell the tang of blood in the air. I’d never seen that kind of violence. Battle was different. Sword against sword. Even Notre Dame hadn’t been that bad. The royal guard had used swords. That mob had torn their prisoners apart using their bare hands. I shook harder.

  “Take her home, Bentha,” said Lrag. “I’ll see to the vermillion.”

  My shaking stopped. “Not alone you won’t. Not after what just happened. Besides, Ibn can’t teach you anything. I have to go. Bentha should go home and warn them. He’s the fastest without flying. Jacques might’ve told them where the Marfisis are.”

  Bentha agreed and I took Rufus from him. He bounded onto the next passing human and was away. Lrag and I jumped on another human and headed to the Paris catacombs. The entrance was quiet with the usual queue of humans waiting to get in. Lrag went from shoulder to shoulder and I flew beside him into the depths of death.

  We made it to the vermillion’
s skull entrance quickly. Lrag followed me through the hidden entrance by Rufus’s light. I expected to see Galiana there waiting for me, but the tunnel was empty with only the glowing fungus to greet us.

  Lrag held me back. “It’s too quiet.”

  “It’s always like this.”

  “Always?”

  I nodded and didn’t mention Galiana’s absence. I walked ahead, so Lrag wouldn’t see the worry on my face. When we got to the main hall with all the doors, it was empty. I chose Ibn’s door and opened it without knocking. The door vanished and I stepped into the living room. Ibn sat with his gargoyle facing the door with a club across his knees. I’d never seen him with a weapon of any kind before.

  “Who is this?” he asked, standing to greet us.

  “This is my friend, Lrag.”

  “You choose powerful friends. Pleased to meet you.”

  “I’m not a troll,” said Lrag. I could feel the strength of his words rumbling in my chest.

  “Of course not. Teufels are a special species,” said Ibn without a hint that he knew the truth. I loved him for it.

  “Where is Galiana?” I asked.

  “I sent my family to another safe location.”

  “Why are you still here?” asked Lrag.

  “I was waiting for Matilda.”

  “A dangerous choice.”

  “A necessary one.” Ibn stood and pulled a small leather-bound book out of his pocket. “This is my personal spell book. It has the full instructions for the spell in it. I’m afraid you will have to teach yourself the rest.”

  “I can’t,” I said, not taking the book he offered.

  He put a light hand on my shoulder. “You can. Your talent is considerable.”

  Lrag took his hand off my shoulder and pushed me back. “Why would you abandon your family at such a terrible time? What do you want? Penrose is nothing to you.”

  “That is where you are wrong. She is everything to me. I fear she will be everything to France.”

  “Miss Penrose?” I asked. “You don’t even know her.”

  “You have described her in detail. She is sweet and kind. Very pale with white blond hair and snowy wings with no other colors at all.”

  “So?” Lrag frowned.

  “And she has gold veining under her wings, correct?”

  “Yes,” I said.

  “When you first showed up, I couldn’t imagine why the Marfisis would risk us by telling you our location, then you described your friend and I knew. You came from America, an isolated mansion in the depths of a national forest. You were cut off from the fae society for the most part.”

  “Yes,” I said.

  “That was the perfect place to hide and your grandmother was Viola Whipplethorn. A healer who just happened to be in France at the time of a royal disappearance.”

  “Who disappeared?”

  “Prince Philip-Rene and Princess Adele.”

  “Adele is my mom’s name.”

  Ibn smiled. “I know. Her Highness was a great friend to your grandmother. The court always thought Their Highnesses went to another royal court in Europe, but I never thought so. Philip and Adele were a quiet couple not given to the excesses of court. They had no interest in ruling France and even less in the constraints and expectations. When Viola and Lucien went back to America, I think the prince and princess and their children went with them.”

  “Penrose can’t be royalty,” said Lrag, his face sad and troubled.

  “She has congestive heart failure,” said Ibn. “That’s a Bourbon disease, the one my family was brought to France to treat. I’ve never seen it in a wood fairy that wasn’t a Bourbon. It’s that rare for your species.”

  “Miss Penrose is a princess,” I said, but the words wouldn’t really register in my brain. It was too bizarre.

  Ibn pressed his spell book into my hands.

  “Are you sure you want to give this to me?” I asked.

  “At this point it’s safer with you than it is with me. We should leave separately.”

  “No,” said Lrag. “You’ve done so much for Penrose. I’ll make sure you get to your family alive.”

  “Absolutely. We’re not going to abandon you,” I said.

  Ibn stood and hugged me. I took a deep breath of his honey scent. He smelled of goodness. “I can’t have you do that. I’m a target. You aren’t.”

  “We’re warriors. You aren’t,” said Lrag. “I’m not negotiating with you, Ibn.”

  Ibn agreed, but I could tell he didn’t want to. He just didn’t know how to insist against a teufel. He grabbed a sleek leather bag and gave me a packet of kaki persimmon root for Miss Penrose and a packet of agrimony and andiroba for my leg. We went from human to human to the catacombs exit. I lay on the last human’s shoulder with my foot elevated. The swelling was so bad that I considered taking off the boot, but that would make me memorable. A burn started in my ankle as the human started climbing the spiral staircase to the exit. I gasped and grabbed Ibn’s hand.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “My leg. It’s burning.”

  Lrag held Rufus up for light and we all saw the yellow streaks creeping up my leg.

  “It’s reacting to something,” said Lrag.

  “Or someone,” said Ibn.

  I spread my wings. “Jump. They must be waiting at the exit.”

  The human walked by a plastic donation bin for catacomb restoration. Lrag and Ibn jumped and landed in front of the coin slot. I flew over. We watched the human leave through the open door. Buzzing in the bright sunlight, were at least two dozen brown wings armed with swords and clubs. On either side of the door frame were two phalanx formations.

  “We’ll never make it through there,” I said. “We have to go back.”

  Ibn shook his head. “They’re brutal, not stupid. They’ll have all the exits guarded. We’ll have to hide until they give up.”

  “We can’t wait. Jaques told them something. He might’ve revealed the Marfisis location to save himself. They could be heading there right now.”

  “They’ll kill Penrose,” said Lrag.

  “Without a doubt,” said Ibn.

  “We’ll fight our way out,” I said. “I’ll use my fire. There’s no avoiding it now.”

  “No,” said Lrag. “I’ll make you two invisible. You can escape easily.”

  “What about you?”

  “I’ll ride out like I’m a tourist. There’s no reason to think I have anything to do with the court. Not a lot of teufel serving the king, I imagine.”

  “Not a one,” said Ibn.

  Lrag concentrated and I felt a familiar pop and lurched into him. My hands looked like they were under a gray veil like the last time and the feeling was just as disconcerting.

  “Fly out, Matilda. We’ll meet you at the metro stop.” Lrag leapt onto a woman’s shoulder as she dropped coins in the slot.

  “Are you ready?” I couldn’t see Ibn, but I could feel him near me.

  “I think so. I’ve never been invisible before.”

  “Just remember not to do any magic. It’ll break the spell. Go ahead, jump to Lrag.”

  The woman dropped in another coin.

  “Go.” I felt Ibn move closer.

  “If anything happens, promise me you’ll get away. Save the princess. Save yourself.”

  “I promise.”

  I felt Ibn leap away. He and Lrag went into the sunshine. The phalanx raised the alarm and a dozen brown wings darted onto the woman’s shoulder. Lrag stood up, greeted them, and explained he was a tourist on his way to Germany to visit relatives.

  I flew by slowly, making sure I didn’t get too close to any of the revolutionaries. The woman turned right toward the metro stop and the brown wings stayed on her shoulder.

  Please. Please. Don’t bump into Ibn.

  “Are you coming with me?” asked Lrag, casual like it was fine with him.

  The brown wings snorted. “We don’t travel with trolls.”

  “Let him go. The
royals wouldn’t have him shine their shoes,” said another.

  I let out a painfully held breath and zipped down the street to hover behind a car’s side mirror. The brown wings took off toward the catacombs exit, but stopped suddenly and pivoted back to watch Lrag riding away.

  One said, “Did you smell that?”

  “Yes,” said another, drawing his sword. “Honey and goodness.”

  “Can’t some devil trolls go invisible?”

  “No, but they can make others invisible.”

  “Attack!” they screamed.

  A swarm of brown wings went for Lrag and then right in their path was Ibn. Visible with his arms up in surrender. The brown wings were coming so fast. They bowled him over. I got a look at his face once in the melee. “Run!” he screamed.

  I froze behind the car mirror. I promised. My hands started to get hot and I squeezed the flames away as Ibn was knocked through the air, trying to escape. I promised. Then his little gargoyle lost his grip on Ibn’s neck and tumbled away. I didn’t think. I dove and snatched him out of the air a second before he hit the pavement. He became invisible in my arms. The mob was above us. I got flashes of Ibn’s terrified face streaked with reddish orange blood. He was screaming. That much I know.

  I looked toward the woman walking down the street. Lrag wasn’t on her shoulder anymore. I spotted him running across the top of a car, then down the windshield. He was coming to save Ibn. The mob outnumbered him by a hundred at least. It couldn’t be done, even with my fire.

  I darted to head off Lrag before he threw his life away. I got to him after he’d leapt onto the trunk of a sedan. “Stop! It’s over.”

  Lrag kept going, his face furious. “He sacrificed himself for us.”

  I dropped onto the trunk with a thump. My leg was so swollen, it was bulging over the top of my boot. The yellow had reached my skirt and had gone a shade brighter. “Stop.” I meant to yell that, but it came out weak and breathy.

  Lrag stopped at the back windshield with his big hands pressed on the glass. We watched as the mob trussed up Ibn and passed him from hand to hand. No one was looking our way. They had their prize and Lrag no longer mattered.

  Lrag turned back to me. “We’ve lost him.”

  I lay back on the warm trunk with Ibn’s Fidéle still pressed to my chest. Tears ran out of my eyes quite against my will and soaked into the hair at my temples.