Page 95 of The Mask Falling

A siren droned in the courtyard. A set of exterior doors flew open behind us, and more Vigiles stampeded across the roof. I squeezed off a few shots at them. A moment later, Arcturus swept me against his chest, his arm tight as a harness, and threw us over the edge.

As it turned out, Arcturus Mesarthim could jump like a spring-heeled devil. He cleared the impossible gap and grabbed a balcony across the street before he dropped to the ground. His Rephaite bones swallowed the impact, and then we were on the street and running.

“Are we really going to try and outrun the Grand Inquisitor of France?” I gasped over the sirens.

He pressed a dissimulator into my hand. “I thought you were good at running, Pale Dreamer.”

I shaped the mask to my face one-handed as we pelted toward a public garden. Halfway across it, I threw off the stolen jacket. It might have a tracking device stitched into it.

Sirens keened from all directions. Keeping to the cover of the trees, we skirted the edge of the Place de la Concorde. Snow blew thick and fast. My sweater was damp, my hair dripping, my feet burning in the flimsy shoes. Even if there had been any Vigiles nearby—they must all be converging on the mansion—they would have found it hard to see us.

To our right, the Eiffel Tower reached above the trees. Scarlet light branched through its latticework. The same light filled the fountains, turning them to pools of magma, and the obelisk at the heart of the plaza. Across the citadel, other landmarks would be starting to glow red, indicating a serious threat. Ménard had issued a security alert.

Arcturus kept a firm hold of my hand, lending me his inhuman speed. Once I had been able to run like an engine. Now my chest was in agony.

“I can’t,” I rattled. “Have to s-stop. Arcturus—”

“Stéphane is waiting for us in the underpass.”

Just a little farther. I could make it.

Arcturus led me around a sharp corner, onto a shallow incline. A car idled on an island between two lanes. Vehicles roared on either side of it. Arcturus opened one of the back doors, half-lifted me inside, and climbed in behind me. Before the door was even shut, Stéphane drove off the island and onto the road, seamlessly joining the late-night traffic.

“Well done,” they said. “Did anyone see you come down here?”

“No,” Arcturus said.

“Good.” Stéphane glanced at me over their shoulder. I coughed hard enough to crack a rib. “Are you all right, Flora?”

A nod was all I could manage.

Stéphane stuck to the speed limit. I peeled off my drenched sweater and leaned into Arcturus, a crushing pain in my chest. He wrapped some of his coat around me. When I could draw enough breath, I spoke. “Stéphane, I thought Mannequin didn’t assist captured spies?”

“Your friend was the one assisting.” Stéphane kept their gaze on the road. “Ducos agreed to provide cover fire and transport if he got you out.”

“Thank you.”

Dark eyes met mine in the rearview mirror. “You look bad. Do you need to see Cordier?”

“Yes.”

Stéphane took the next right, across the gilded Pont de L’Inquisition, while a helicopter rumbled over the Seine. I rested on Arcturus and let my eyes drift closed. His warmth and the motion of the car lulled me into a stupor.

Stéphane stopped the car near the University of Scion Paris. “This is as far as I can safely take you,” they said. Just the thought of moving drained me. “Walk from here and watch your backs. Ducos and Cordier will check on you tomorrow night. Until then, close the shutters and stay inside.”

“Thank you, Stéphane,” Arcturus said.

“Okay.”

We got out, into a full-blown blizzard. Arcturus took an umbrella from the boot, drew me to his side, and opened it over both of us as Stéphane drove away. By the time we lurched into the safe house, I was on the brink of collapse. Without letting go of me, Arcturus secured the door behind us, and we sank onto the staircase together, my arms tight around his neck.

“I knew you would come this time,” I murmured into his coat. It smelled of winter. “I knew.”

“I could not reach you in the Archon.” His deep voice coursed through both of us. “I will never leave you in a dark room again.”

I pressed my burning cheek to him. Against the odds, I had survived another Scion stronghold. We were both in one piece. His hand came to rest between my shoulders.

We listened as the din of sirens and helicopters crisscrossed the citadel. A vehicle rushed past, red lights flashing through the window and onto us. Arcturus drew me a little closer.

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