He strode toward me with a grim smile, then selected a miniature pair of steel forceps from the table. “We need to keep you healthy for Lord DuChard’s treatment, but I doubt anyone will notice if I rearrange a few teeth.” He clicked the forceps near my face, grinning as he seized my cheeks to force my jaws open. Another few seconds and he would see the secret vial. “This may take a while, Mademoiselle. I hope you’re comfortable.”
I sawed furiously through the last fibers. He glanced at my wrists, his eyes bulging as I cut through the leather cuff and tore free to sink my blade into his gut. “Now I am,” I said.
He gaped, crumpling onto me. His lips twisted into a pained snarl, his fingers spread like claws. “You’ll never … escape,” he rasped, before falling to his knees, out of my sight. I slid the Lycanum vial out of my mouth and tucked it under my belt. I sucked in air as I hung from the rack, feeling the soreness in my chest and stomach. I stretched to cut through the other strap, then unscrewed the metal clamp around my thigh, blowing out a huge breath as I relieved the pressure. I bent forward to work on the ankle straps, freeing myself a minute later. Then I jumped down from the rack and nearly fell over. My limbs were numb from being immobilized for the past hour.
I dropped to my knees, taking the keys from Monsieur Strineau’s belt. Then I stood and stumbled to the door, regaining my footing as my strength returned. The door was unlocked. It creaked as I opened it to listen.
“Marceau and Dureau escaped their cells!” someone growled in fury nearby. “They set two guards on fire!”
I smiled. A good distraction and a good start for a battle.
I poked my head outside. The tails of two wolves disappeared at the end of the empty passage.
I followed the wolves, assuming they were headed toward the disturbance. They sounded anxious to take action, rather than flee. I needed to find Marceau and Dureau.
I pursued them through the door at the end of the hall and down a set of spiral stairs, then hurried toward the smell of smoke and the nauseating odor of burning flesh. Growls came from the bottom of the stairwell.
“Was this your entire plan, Marceau?” a wolf snarled.
“Stay back, all of you!” Marceau said. “I’m warning you!”
The wolves chuckled. I slowed my steps to keep quiet.
“What do you think, Tourniet? Do you think Marceau might be bluffing?”
They laughed louder, snarling, drawing closer. I crouched low, keeping to the shadows as I spotted Marceau and Dureau with theirs backs against a wall, both with large bags slung over their shoulders. Three wolves crept toward them. Marceau waved a single torch ahead of him, keeping the wolves at bay. But they clearly knew he couldn’t hold them off long.
They fanned out, dividing his attention. If he attacked one wolf with the torch, another could easily pounce on him from the side. Dureau, weaponless, pressed his hands against the wall. They had nowhere to run.
“You think you can fight us now, like your little blonde friend?” mocked a circling wolf.
“She surprised us in the Maze,” said the wolf at his opposite flank. “But it won’t happen again.”
Marceau and Dureau looked from one wolf to the other, trying to keep them all in clear sight.
“The next time we see her,” said the wolf in the center, facing the men. “We’ll tear her to pieces.”
I leaped down from the steps and dropped onto the center wolf. The impact of my knees smashed him to the floor. “Tear away,” I said, flicking out a blade and shoving it into his side. The wolf cried out in a half-howl that was quickly choked off, a second before its head slumped to the stone pavement.
“It’s her!” one wolf growled.
The other wolf charged at me. I stepped to the side, letting it fly past and stabbing its gut as it went. It toppled end over end and crumpled against a wall, upside-down.
Marceau held out his torch before the third wolf as it leaped at me. Distracted by my attack, it jumped right into the flame, its fur quickly catching fire. It panicked, shrieking as it pawed at its chest to stifle the blaze. I rushed at it, sinking both blades into its chest to silence it, then ripped them out and let it fall flat on the stone floor. I stomped on its back twice, producing a couple coughs of smoke, the last remnants of fire from its body.
Marceau and Dureau gaped at me.
I slid each blade back into the pockets of my gloves as they watched. “Gloves,” I said, holding them up for Marceau to see.
They continued to stare at my gloves and my Red Rider uniform. Along with the three wolves I had just destroyed, one of them still beneath the sole of my boot.
“That was – incredible,” Dureau said.
“Thank you,” I answered. “Now where do I find my crossbow and how do we get out?”
Marceau shook himself back to attention. “Your crossbow’s in the Arena. But most of the wolves have gathered there for tonight’s ceremony. The celebration of your defeat.”
“That celebration’s canceled,” I said. “We’ll need another distraction.”
“I burned two wolves,” Marceau said, patting the bag at his side. I recognized the bags from the workroom, and realized they were both full of Lycanum vials.
Dureau shrugged. “That’s as far as we got.”
“We’re about to get farther,” I said. “Have either of you seen Madame Strineau?”
They shook their heads. “She might be investigating our empty cells,” Marceau said. “Or gathering forces in the Arena.”
“Either way,” Dureau said, stepping forward. “The largest concentration of wolves will be in the Arena, those wolves expecting the show and those guarding your crossbow.”
I bit my lip. “We need to distract them long enough for me to grab it.”
“There’ll be dozens of them,” Dureau said. “You expect to distract them all?”
I stared in silence at the floor. At the slain wolf beneath my feet. “No,” I finally said. “I expect to frighten them all out of their minds.”
I strode toward the stone steps and began climbing. I glanced over my shoulder. “Bring one of the bodies,” I said. “Whichever one is lightest.”
45.
Marceau and Dureau carried the slimmest wolf carcass between them, hurrying with me to the balcony that overlooked the Arena.
“This will never work,” Marceau said in a harsh whisper, huffing as he climbed the stairs, his bag of Lycanum vials clinking quietly against his side.
“We don’t have many choices,” I said flatly. “If you have another plan, let me know.”
The men kept silent and continued ascending the stone steps behind me. I reached the top and peered down either end of the empty corridor. “It’s clear. Come on.”
They ran after me to the door at the end of the passage. I opened it and two upright wolves whirled toward me. “It’s her!” one shouted.
I charged straight at it before it could prepare an attack. I flicked my wrist to produce my glove’s steel blade and shoved it into his gut. He gasped as I yanked the knife free and stabbed the belly of his companion.
Drawing the attention of everyone gathered below.
“Look!” one snarled. “There she is!”
Everyone looked up at me. Inmates seated on the ground in rows, and about forty wolves, some standing upright, others on all fours.
All dead silent.
I leaned over the edge of the balcony to meet their stares, lowering my hands behind its wall to beckon Marceau and Dureau. They hunched, keeping out of sight as they hurried to me, dragging the dead wolf.
“How did she get free?” one wolf asked of no one in particular.
“What does it matter?” an upright wolf snarled, pointing his claws at me. “Stay where you are!”
“No, you stay where you are!” I ordered, leaning farther over the balcony.
A few of the wolves scoffed, but most of them fidgeted in place, clearly unsettled by my escape.
“Who do you think you are, little girl?�
� the upright wolf demanded.
“I’m the Red Rider,” I answered. “And I’ve come to kill you all – with my bare hands.”
A few of the wolves chuckled. Most of them simply stared.
“Like this!” I said, dropping to my knees. “Now, lift it,” I whispered.
Marceau and Dureau grunted and strained to raise the wolf carcass from their awkward position. They set it atop my gloveblades, sticking it firmly onto them. I took a breath, bracing my legs, then stood slowly, with Marceau and Dureau helping me lift. They released the body halfway up and kept out of sight. I stood, raising the thick carcass above my head.
Even the mocking Lycanthru fell silent as I stood with the wolf, heavier than a full load of firewood. But I could keep it raised for the few seconds I needed.
With a vicious grunt, I hurled it down, drawing my hands back before they could spot the blades. They all focused on the wolf as it plummeted to the Arena floor beside them.
As Marceau and Dureau scrambled away, I stepped up onto the balcony ledge and leaped down. I landed on the wolf corpse and tucked my knees to roll onto the floor safely. As expected, most of the wolves panicked and fled, expecting the worst from the stories they had heard about me.
“Stop!” one wolf demanded. “She’s only a girl! It’s some trick!”
The others fled in droves.
The commanding wolf snarled, giving up on the others and charging at me. I stepped aside, letting him rush past, and dug my blade into his side.
He stopped himself and whirled to make another attack.
Then he gripped his ribs, blood spilling between his paw as he fell over sideways.
“She killed him!” a wolf shouted. “She struck him and killed him!”
“Impossible!” another one cried. “She’s only a child!”
Most of them continued to flee, while a few wolves closed in, advancing on me. I crouched, keeping my hands behind me, letting my cloak hide the blades. As soon as the first two got close enough, I jumped forward and shoved the blades into each of their chests. Their groans turned to whines before they dropped to the floor, dead.
Other wolves halted in their approach, as the bodies dropped at my feet. Behind them, Marceau and Dureau crept quietly to the rear of the Arena, where my crossbow was displayed on a podium like a sacred relic.
“It’s some trick, I tell you!” a wolf growled. Though he kept his distance, like the others.
Marceau lifted the crossbow carefully from its place.
I took an anxious step forward.
“It’s her gloves!” one wolf called, pointing at my hand.
My cloak had pulled away from my fist, revealing the sharp blade.
“Helena!” Marceau called, bending to shove the crossbow along the floor.
The other wolves turned, and I realized Marceau only shouted to distract them. The crossbow slid straight to me. I snatched it up, aimed, and started firing. The wolves dropped, one by one. Thankfully, there were only eight of them. I used every bolt.
Marceau and Dureau started for me. Marceau’s eyes widened. “Watch out!”
Something seized my wrists and shook the crossbow loose, to clatter on the floor. I was yanked backward against a soft torso.
“Did you miss me, Helena?” Madame Strineau cooed in my ear.
I struggled to pull away, but she pried the gloves from my hands and tossed them toward the far wall. I elbowed her ribs as hard as I could. She laughed and seized my wrist again, then flung me across the floor. I tumbled a couple of times, then tucked my arms and legs in to roll the rest of the way. It still felt like a horse had trampled my back.
I forced my head up quickly to see Madame Strineau warning Marceau and Dureau away. “I’ll deal with you boys later,” she said, halting them in their tracks. She strode toward me, smiling. “First, Mama needs to discipline her unruly child who snuck out of bed.”
I pushed away from the wall, standing quickly. The gloves and crossbow were far out of reach, at opposite corners of the room.
I charged, hoping to surprise her. She stepped aside and grabbed my arm to twist it behind me. I groaned at the pain shooting through me.
“Now, my sweet. Let’s get you back to your room.”
I stomped on her knee hard. She buckled and released my arm, letting me jump free. I turned in time for her to slap me hard, sending me spinning across the floor.
She marched at me, no longer amused. “Don’t think you can escape your punishment, dolly. After Lord DuChard finishes with you tonight, I’ll start your real torture.”
I ran and leaped at her, to kick at her chest. She shoved my foot away, tossing me farther.
She grunted and snarled, then crouched to spring. “You’re not going anywhere, my little toy!”
“Helena!” Dureau called.
I turned to see him, standing away from the wall, sliding one of my gloves to me.
It stopped a few yards short.
Madame Strineau smiled at the distance. I could never grab it before she grabbed me.
Behind her head, I noticed one of the torches blazing on the high wall, and remembered Marceau’s words at the work table: All the corridors, well-lit with torches.
I remembered the vial secured to my belt and grabbed it as Madame Strineau crouched to lunge at me. I hurled the vial at the torch far behind her, then turned and dove for the glove. The vial struck the dancing flames and exploded like a volcano, shooting rocks and flame at Madame Strineau’s back and knocking her forward. The impact stunned her as she flew at me, her arms spread like the talons of a hawk.
I held the glove’s blade up as she landed on top of me, letting it sink into her chest.
She gasped, her throat rustling like dry leaves.
“Playtime’s over, witch!” I said, yanking my blade free as I kicked her aside and rolled out from under her. I rolled farther away before standing to stare at her silent form. I felt myself trembling.
Marceau and Dureau gaped at the body. Then Dureau whistled, sounding impressed. “Thank you, Mademoiselle. Never thought we’d see the end of her.” He turned to Marceau. “We might actually make it out of here.”
“Where are the other prisoners? The Serrones?” I asked, as Marceau handed me my satchel bag, with three more bundles of bolts. I attached the bag to my belt. “And how do we get out?”
“Follow me,” Marceau said, holding up a set of keys. “We blew open our cell doors with some Lycanum and rocks. But the guards we burned were both kind enough to provide us these, which will work much faster.”
“What about Claudette? Where do they keep her?”
Marceau and Dureau exchange pitiful glances. “I don’t know. She’s not kept with the other inmates. I’ve rarely seen her.”
I looked from one to the other. “Do they hold rituals here?”
Dureau pointed at the Arena’s rear wall. “Sometimes, in the back rooms behind the work area.”
“If you never see her among the inmates, they must keep her back there somewhere. Madame Strineau said Claudette would be inducted into their order, as she was, attending their rituals as a child. We’ll free the other inmates, then find Claudette on the way out.
“We need to move,” Marceau said. “They’ll be back soon, once they find their courage or Simonet orders them to fight.”
“Right,” I agreed. “You said there’s a way out.”
Marceau nodded. “The other side of the Arena, beyond the Maze. There’s a passage that leads down to a lower entrance. They use it to bring in prisoners quietly, when they want to avoid having any witnesses see them enter the asylum.” His mouth twisted like he had swallowed something bitter. “It’s how they brought me in.”
I pitied him, trying to imagine being trapped in this madhouse for most of his life. But we had no time to lose. “Let’s round everyone up,” I said.
Marceau started out the door with keys in hand. “Most of the inmates are down the next passage. We can head straight to the exit from there. But we ne
ed to cover our escape, so the Lycanthru won’t follow us.”
“We’ll burn the passage entrance,” I said. “How much Lycanum do you have?”
Dureau grinned, admiring the containers in the bag he carried over his shoulder. “Plenty. We grabbed everything we could fit in these bags from the workroom.”
Marceau frowned. “I hate to tell you, but stone asylums don’t burn.”
I stared back at the wolf carcasses littering the floor. “Bodies do,” I said.
They stared at me, dead silent.
“It’s official. You frighten me,” Marceau said. “Now what’s your plan … ‘Red Rider’?”
46.
After retrieving my bolts from their bodies, we dragged several wolf carcasses to the corridors, depositing one or two in each passage. Then we lit them on fire with the torches we carried and ran back toward the cells.
“There they are!” shouted a wolf leading a few others down the hall. They bounded toward us on all fours, the leader ready to leap bravely across the rising flames.
“Give me a vial,” I ordered Dureau. He handed me a container of Lycanum and I threw it at the blaze, just as the wolf sprang over it.
The explosion blew it upward in a gust of flames, roasting it on the ceiling. We hurried off as the fire charred the rest of the wolves rushing from behind him.
Dureau had already released a dozen prisoners that had been held on the opposite side of the Arena. He had then directed those men to help bring in the bodies of dead wolves from the Arena, to lay across its front entryways and light them ablaze.
I watched the flames rise and heard something shuffle behind us, up above. I whirled to see Simonet, perched on the balcony, gaping down at us, utterly bewildered.
I grit my teeth. “Simonet!” I shouted.
He turned and fled, as I hurried toward the stairwell. “Let him go!” Marceau ordered. ‘This is no time to fight!
We need to leave, while we can!”
I paused. He was right. Simonet could wait.
Marceau led us down a passage outside the Arena to a
long battery of prison cells. The rest of the asylum’s inmates were held here, about twenty of them. In the third cell, I found Madame Serrone, seated on a stone bench, her head hung low.
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