Page 108 of The Mask Falling

“Le Passage des Voleurs,” she said. “A tunnel in a very deep part of the carrières, which leads to a cemetery in Versailles. Some time ago, Le Vieux Orphelin and I found the entrance and ventured to the ruin at its end. Over several years, we mapped and explored every inch of Versailles, often visiting to plunder it.”

I exchanged a fleeting glance with Arcturus. His instinct had been right on the money.

“Does Scion know about this secret way?” I asked.

“Not to our knowledge,” Renelde said. “We call the entrance to the tunnel Apollyon—a shaft that goes far deeper than most sensible anormales would descend. Fortunately, we are not sensible.” I could hear her smile. “That part of the mines is not for the faint-hearted.”

“I’ve been called many things, but never faint-hearted.” I pocketed my hands. “Do Le Latronpuche and La Reine des Thunes know where it is?”

Malperdy chuckled.

“No, Underqueen, they do not,” Le Bateleur said. “Le Vieux Orphelin is a generous man, but he has never trusted Le Latronpuche.” His bells tinkled. “With good reason, it seems.”

“They know hehasa way in, of course,” Renelde added, “but not where it is. They allowed him to keep this secret on the understanding that he shared a third of the artifacts with them.”

“Like the jewelery La Reine des Thunes wears,” I conjectured.

“Yes. Worn by the Gray Queen herself. Le Vieux Orphelin gave them to his sister-in-chaos for her fortieth birthday.” She sniffed. “See how she repays him.”

“I’ll be plain with you all,” I said. “I want to break into Versailles and bring its prisoners back to Paris. Some friends of mine are among them. Would any of you be willing to guide us through the tunnel?”

Another silence.

“Underqueen,” Le Bateleur said, “we would do anything to help Le Vieux Orphelin—his absence grieves us, as does the betrayal— but the journey could end in all our deaths, and that will not help him at all.”

“The passage is too fragile now,” Renelde explained. “It is an ancient mining tunnel, vulnerable to collapse. Le Vieux Orphelin forbade us from using it again.”

“It might be his only way out of captivity alive,” I said. “Ménard has learned of his imprisonment and wants him returned to Paris for execution. If we don’t get him out of there, he’s going straight to the guillotine.”

Slowly, Renelde folded her arms.

“What lies at the end of that tunnel now is more dangerous than you can imagine,” I said. “I’m willing. If you are.”

Another look passed between them.

“Excuse us a moment,” Le Bateleur said with a small bow, and the five of them turned their backs on us to confer. Renelde pulled out a burner phone. I hung back with Arcturus.

“Do you think they will agree?” he asked me, too low for them to hear.

“For a price.” I tapped my foot. “In the syndicate, you learn to smell desperation.”

“You believe we appear desperate?”

“Well, you have to be reasonably desperate to ask for help from somebody dressed as a fucking jester.”

It was a while before the perdues returned to us. “Underqueen,” Le Bateleur said, “we must put this to Le Prince Creux. If he agrees to your proposal, a small team of the most experienced perdues will escort you to Apollyon and continue with you to Versailles. The journey will take two or three days.”

Suddenly my stomach felt heavy. I remembered blood on the snow in London.

“I want to make this very clear,” I said. “Anyone who comes with me—with us,” I added, with a look toward Arcturus, “will be putting their lives on the line. We’ll be breaking into a facility that Scion has very good reason to keep secret. There’s a chance none of us will come out of it alive.”

“If there is any chance that we can rescue Le Vieux Orphelin, we must,” Renelde said. “You will need good fighters. Le Prince Creux will ensure you have them. I will join you.”

“So will I,” Malperdy said.

“But if you accept this alliance,” Le Bateleur said, “we must ask one more thing of you, Underqueen.”

“Join us in hunting down the Man in the Iron Mask,” Malperdy clenched a freckled hand. “Make us this promise, and we will go with you to the depths of Apollyon. And beyond it.”

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