The footsteps go, reluctantly. But I don’t let out my breath just yet, as the click, click, click of polished shoes returns. Sweat collects under my hair at my neck, and beads slide down to the small of my back, tickling as they go. I nearly pass out from lack of oxygen. The footsteps squelch and click on the tile floor. Then the thump, thump, thump of feet climbing wooden stairs allows me to breathe a little more easily.
I relax a bit and stand by the ghoul. These eyes, this sadness, belong to the count. Jean-Claude is inside Stregen. I can feel it—I can feel him. Stregen could be the count’s only refuge from Faunus. I open my mouth, but Stregen clamps a hand over my lips. He listens and the seconds go by. One, two, three… five.
After a good long while that feels like we’re waiting for death itself to pass us by, Stregen hustles me out of the closet. A second later, Riddle descends from the air and lands on my shoulder. I’ve never been happier or more relieved to see him. Stregen then leads us to the front door.
“Jean-Claude?” I ask Stregen. My voice is so low, not even the tile can whisper my words back in an echo.
Stregen turns and nods. Then he points to the front door.
I nod back.
I’m guessing we don’t have much time. Stregen opens the door, and amazingly, this time it doesn’t creak. There’s no time to think about it much more as Riddle and I slip through the entrance.
From the second story, I hear a roar and the pounding of footsteps comes crashing through the corridor.
Crap.
When I turn to run, I see Pilot, unattached from his cart, eating a slab of meat. As the roar shakes the windows of the castle, Pilot jerks his head up from his meal and perks his ears. Unless we can get a ride from the winged equine, it’s not looking good.
“Pilot!” I run to him. “We have to get out of here!”
The winged horse snorts. His eyes roll to me, ears forward.
There’s another roar. The front entrance of the castle buckles and splinters, and one door of the two is broken off its hinges.
Pilot snorts, eyes wide, body tense, ready to run.
Another pound hits the door, and Stregen flies through, flops to the gravel, and rolls in a heap that stinks like embalming fluid. His unresponsive eyes stare up into the sky. His body is as lifeless as a Raggedy Ann doll.
Instantly, I’m worried for Stregen. Until I remind myself that as a ghoul, he’s already dead. So it’s probably just a matter of reanimating him once Jean-Claude is returned to himself.
If Jean-Claude is ever returned to himself…
Everly, you must hurry, Pilot says inside my head and snorts as he tramples backward. I take hold of Pilot’s mane and climb onto his back as he paws the ground.
“Everly!” the count roars. He rushes forward, but Pilot is faster. The Pegasus bucks, leaps and takes to the air. Riddle squawks in the air as he flies right beside us.
As I look back, I see the count fade into dark wisps of black smoke. The cloud follows us. Jean-Claude is able to… fly?
“Pilot, he’s coming after us!” I yell.
He may be a demon of the night, but no matter the time, I own the skies. You should hold onto the golem.
“Riddle!” I yell and my golem responds by landing in my lap. I put an arm around him as I continue to cling to Pilot’s mane. Pilot flaps his wings once, twice, and we shoot through the air faster than any bird, leaving the smoke cloud far behind.
Where to? Pilot asks.
“The Academy of Necromancy,” I yell out against the wind that eats my voice. “I need to find…” If I go to Riven, Faunus will follow me and he’ll kill Riven. I can’t do that. “Pilot, you said you could navigate anywhere?”
He tosses his head, flailing his mane in the chaotic wind. Anywhere, yes.
“Can you take me to Dr. Ephesius?”
He gives me a side eye but continues. Yes.
Finding Dr. Faunus is paramount. He has control of the count now, and that will take every bit of his concentration. If I know Jean-Claude at all, he won’t quit fighting. Faunus will need everything within him to make sure the vampire is under his control.
Which means Faunus is vulnerable. He might have some goons protecting him, but the only chance Jean-Claude has of breaking the control Faunus has over him is to break his connection with Faunus.
But that might mean killing Faunus... And I’ve never killed anyone. Not to mention Faunus is obviously powerful. Yep, his pay grade is way above mine.
“On second thought, Pilot, can you find Harlow?”
I need help. It’s obvious I can’t do this myself. But a spear penetrates my heart when I think about what I’m going to ask of Harlow, someone who has proven his friendship, yes, but it’s not like we’re close. And I’d basically be asking him to risk his life for me.
Pilot points his nose in the opposite direction and turns. Yes.
Bile coats the back of my tongue. But I don’t change our direction. The fact is that my power is to heal, not hurt, and I know how unfair it is to ask what I’m about to of Harlow. But I have to. I don’t have another choice.
And maybe, just maybe, I can turn this around. Maybe no one has to die. Maybe I can convince Faunus to let Jean-Claude go, to give up his ridiculous plans, to see that darkness isn’t evil but just the opposite of light.
But the part of me that’s
