Devious Magic (25 page)

“Inside,” Pete grunted and pushed me into the room, apparently all done with niceties. Crossing to the window, I strained to see if I could see anything at all but, aside from patrols crossing the lawns and sweeps of flashlights, nothing was happening this side and it was too dark to see. The lights, however, gave me an idea.

Crossing to the door I’d entered by, I scrabbled in the dark for the light switch. When I found it, I flicked it on and off, counting to twenty. Sure, if any of the patrols looked back at the house, they’d see it, but I had to hope that any flickering could be blamed on faulty wiring; after all, Hawkscroft was an old house. More importantly, if anyone were watching from the woods beyond, they might take it as a signal of my location, that I was alive. I just wished I learned Morse code. What I really needed to do was send a message, and for that, I needed Daniel.

I left the light on when I finished flicking. Someone had come into the room while I’d been at dinner and left towels and wash things on the bed, but no clean clothes. After a quick look in the bathroom, I saw that my dirty clothes had disappeared; leaving me with only the velvet dress and flat shoes to wear.

I stayed at the window watching until the patrols were just dots moving about. I couldn’t see anything aside from them but I had to hope someone was there in the woods and that my signal had been enough.

When the door opened softly, I didn’t turn round at first. I guess I assumed it was Pete, or maybe Daniel.

“Hello, love,” said a different voice, a far worse voice and, with a sinking feeling, I turned around.

Nameless pressed the door shut and leant against it, grinning at me. His eyes took me in, then flicked across me to the bed and back again.

“What do you want?” I asked, gulping.

“How about a little cuddle, love?” Nameless curled back his lips revealing his charming array of missing teeth that left a dark void in his yellow smile. I suspected he had a bigger void where his brain was supposed to be.

“Get out,” I hissed.

“Oh, don’t be like that. Not when that nasty little bitch downstairs already bit me.” Nameless took a step towards me. Like a dance, I stepped backwards, then moving away from the window, I kept my back to the wall as I tried to maintain distance between us. There was precious little I could use to defend myself and Nameless knew it as he moved closer.

“The boys and me, we share rooms in the attic.” He jutted his chin upwards, then looked around. “Now, this is cushy. Four-poster, eh? I quite like the idea of roll in a big bed like that.”

“I don’t.” I sidestepped as Nameless lunged at me. He fell against the chest of drawers. Pushing on them, he righted himself and turned, looking for me. I had no choice but to move closer to the bed. Looking around myself, I saw I had few options. Get to the bathroom and hope to God there was a lock, or at least a bolt. I hadn’t thought to check earlier. Or, I could try and get the key off Nameless, unlock the door and get out before he could grab me.

Or scream the place down and hope that someone gave enough of a shit about Auberon’s orders to rescue me. Except... What if I got someone who wanted to join in with Nameless’ sick little plan?

“Play nice, you naughty little witch, or I might have to get nasty with you just like I did to your little wolfie friend.”

“What have you done to Annalise?” The constant simmering of my magic, unable to find an outlet, was giving me a headache that hovered behind my eyes.

“Gave her something to think about.” He wrinkled his nose. “Don’t be disgusting. I’m not into animals. I like my women two-legged.”

“If you’ve hurt her, I’ll...”

“You’ll what?” Nameless sneered, moving slowly closer to me. “You ain’t got no magic here, ‘ave you? You ain’t got nothin’.”

I tried sidestepping past him to the door, but he was faster, manoeuvring so he stood in my path. He grabbed at me, his sweaty palm wrapping around my wrist, one foot swiping my ankles as I raised my knee, aiming for his nuts. Down we went in a messy, smelly tangle of limbs. He planted himself over me, forcing me to the floor. I screamed when his hand slid up my leg, pushing my skirt up around my thighs.

“Like the floor, do ya?” He laughed, teeth nipping at the top of my dress. I wriggled a hand free from his grasping paws and punched the side of his head repeatedly until he slapped me, my head bouncing against the carpet. “Was looking forward to a nice, comfy mattress, but I’ll take what I can get.” He planted his mouth on mine, his tongue wriggling against my lips as I clamped them shut. In a swift, sharp move I drew my head back and head-butted him. Bloody hell, if that didn’t hurt like a...

Nameless screeched and raised an open hand. The sound of the slap rang in my ears and, for a moment, I actually saw stars. I kicked and thrashed and grabbed his ear, wrenching the lobe until he screamed; his hand rained down on me, slapping and hitting. Stunned, I barely noticed as he pulled at my dress. A seam tore, the ripping sound nothing compared to his rank, heaving breath.

It felt like a fog surrounded my head. Everything seemed dim and distant. I could hear shouting and footsteps but they could have been a hundred feet away, or merely two, then Nameless lurched backwards, flailing, screaming curses.

Someone was kneeling beside me, a hand stroking my hair almost gently. I blinked, and must have lost consciousness for a moment because when I opened my eyes I was in a man’s arms and being deposited on the bed.

“Evan?” I whispered. My throat felt scratchy, raw, and I whispered his name again, waiting for the answer I wanted to hear.

Fourteen

“What’s that?” said a man’s voice as I struggled to sit up. A pair of hands went under my armpits, boosting me upwards, and a pillow was moved behind my head. The voice continued, “Sorry about that.” Pete’s voice, I thought, with a flash of annoyance. Pete, not Evan. “That dick, Barker, sees a woman and thinks he has a chance.”

“What’s it to you, prick?” shouted Nameless, his sudden screech making me shiver. The name, Barker, seemed strangely appropriate for him. “That whore needs to be taught a lesson.”

I blinked a few more times before I could focus properly. Moving my neck hurt but if I rolled it gently to the side I could see Nameless. Blood ran down his nose and smeared his mouth like he’d just eaten raw meat. As I watched, he spat on the carpet and something small and white shot out. One of the men holding him let go, stooping down to pick it up, rising slowly. He grabbed Nameless’ hand, forced it to uncurl until his palm was facing up, then dropped the little object in it.
Oh, a tooth.
Served him right, I thought with a flash of anger.

“Not by you,” admonished Pete, returning his gaze to rest on me. He didn’t look compassionate, or concerned. He didn’t look anything. I’d never seen anyone so devoid of emotion. “Are you hurt?”

I thought about it, wriggling my fingers then my toes, raising my shoulders and testing each limb. The whole process took only a minute or two. My head hurt and my arms and back from the fall and being pinned down, but nothing else. “No,” I said, “I’ll be okay.”

“Someone get a first aid kit,” Pete barked and footsteps shot off. He nodded at Nameless. “Get rid of him.”

I watched as Nameless struggled, no match for the burly pair holding on to him. “You’ll regret this, you bitch!”

“Wait!” I sat up straight, my head pounding, the sudden dizziness making me nauseous. The men stopped, watching me, traces of fear flitting across their faces. For all their armaments, they were still afraid of me. They were probably waiting for my head to spin, or a curse to fall from my lips, but instead, I said clearly, so they would all hear, “If you got bitten, you’ll probably turn into a werewolf.” I’d no idea if it was true, of course, but Nameless paled. “Enjoy the next full moon!” I called brightly, laughing as he was dragged, cursing, from the room. I knew I sounded slightly hysterical; right now, that was part of my charm.

“That true?” asked Pete, after a long pause during which we listened to the sounds of the three men retreating, the stomp of their feet against the carpet, Nameless shouting.

I shrugged. “We’ll have to wait and see.” Maybe they would shoot him instead of Annalise, just in case? One could live in hope.

After a moment, one of the men came back and, keeping his distance, tossed a white box on the bed. Pete opened it, extracting a few things. After putting on thin plastic gloves, the kind a doctor wears, he sat on the edge of the bed and ripped open a small packet. He smoothed an antiseptic square over the few small cuts I’d sustained. I tried not to wince as it stung.

“My shoulder hurts,” I said as he screwed the wipe into a ball, dropping it on the nightstand.

He manipulated it while I winced. “Not broken, or dislocated. Probably just bruised.”

“Yay.”

“Did he...”

“No,” I replied quickly.

“I would have shot him if he had.”

“Don’t hold back on my account.” I think Pete smiled then, but it was so fleeting, I couldn’t be sure.

He packed up the medical kit silently and stood, peeling off the gloves. “We’re not the bad guys, you know.”

“Neither am I,” I shot back.

We looked at each for a long moment. One of us was lying.

“Keep still for a while. I’ll post a sentry on the door so you don’t get disturbed again.”

There wasn’t a whole lot I could do after Pete left, so I lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Every so often, I could hear voices outside the door, so, good to his word, Pete had posted at least two men on the door. They may have been fine for blocking anyone’s entrance, but they were also blocking my exit.

After a while, when my head stopping hurting so bad, I got up and walked over to the window. Pete, or someone else, had drawn the curtains so I peeled them back. It was dark outside, the moon full and heavy in the sky. Nameless was going to have a bad couple of nights, wondering if he would turn. I couldn’t see any patrols crossing the grounds, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. I wondered if they found anything, but I supposed I would have heard some kind of excitement if they had.

I didn’t hear Daniel enter the room this time. One moment I was alone, then I turned, starting suddenly when I saw him standing in front of the tapestry.

“You came back!” I think the surprise in my voice was evident.

“What happened to you? I heard there was some kind of commotion.”

“One of those creeps thought he’d try attacking me.”

Daniel looked appalled. “Are you okay?”

“Bruised and a few cuts, but nothing worse. Do you know if Annalise is okay? He said he hurt her.”

“The wolf-girl in the cellar? I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything. Maybe he was bluffing?” Daniel didn’t sound too hopeful.

“Maybe. Do you know what they’re going to do with her tomorrow? What Auberon has planned?”

“I heard one of the guards say the execution would be before dusk tomorrow. They invited a lot of people. No one knows there’s a werewolf, they just think it’s some kind of special event.”

“Some event!” I sat on the edge of the bed, feeling glum. “We’ve got to get out of here, Daniel. They’re going to kill Annalise tomorrow, and probably me too, after I tell Auberon no.”

“Couldn’t you lie and say yes?" Daniel looked at me hopefully.

I’d thought about that. “Auberon will want me to prove my loyalty and it will be something cruel and vile that I can’t… Annalise will still be dead. I can’t risk someone else to save my ass.”

“I guess not.” Daniel held up the cardboard tube he was holding and started pulling off the top. He knelt on the floor, pulling out the papers inside and unrolling them, revealing plans that looked similar to the ones Anders showed us, except these were older and the plans looked hand-drawn. “I’ve been looking at the floor plans and there’s a passageway that we could use to get out of the house. I tried it earlier and it’s clear. It leads to the stables. That’s the place closest to the perimeter.” He pointed to the place on the map, then swept his finger along where the wall stood.

“The stable yard is booby-trapped. The whole of the grounds are protected by magic,” I pointed out, even though I figured he probably knew that already. He’d probably done it. “Is there any other way out?”

“Front entrance, but it’s completely open from there to the drive. Anyone leaving that way would be picked off easily. The rear door leads to the courtyard, then the stables. The east wing has doors that go to the walled garden and out onto the grounds. There really isn’t anywhere to hide, and I doubt we could sprint for it.”

“What about the other tunnels? You said there were more.”

“Three. One of our ancestors was a smuggler, so he added extra ones. They run here and here.” Daniel pointed to two other spots on the map. “But, like I said, I think this one has caved in, and I haven’t tried this one. This one might be okay, but it leads to a cottage on the grounds. No one lives there now, and it’s kind of a wreck because there was a fire a few years ago. The tunnel might be fine, but I don’t know if we can get out when we reach the end. I haven’t tried it.”

“Where is the cottage?”

Daniel searched the map, placing his thumb on the map somewhere beyond the stable yard. It wasn’t far from the perimeter either and a river wound its way past, a couple of hundred yards north.

“I can take us through the secret passages; but our biggest problem is being seen once we leave them. As well as the security, there’s cameras, too. Lots of them.”

“I saw the control room the night I was captured.” I stared at the map, my options limited. “So the tunnel to the stable yard is our best bet?”

“I think so. I can disable the traps when we need to go outside for the last part, but I don’t know if the tunnel is still accessible. I’ve never tried it and, as far as I know, it’s been disused for decades. Plus, the moment anyone notices we’re gone, the alarm will go off and even if we get over the wall, without some way to flee, we’ll be caught.” Daniel’s voice rose in panic and I crossed over to lay a hand on him. It was small comfort, but I needed him to be strong.