Page 50 of Unbroken
He did so, hissing when his fingers accidentally brushed the silver bars. Sebastian’s mind raced, trying to come up with something, anything, to get them out of the situation. “What do you want?” he asked again.
“Really, Mr. Rath, you aren’t that stupid, are you?” She rose to her feet, and though she was short and stooped, her presence radiated confidence and power. “You will take me to where the rest of the Books are hidden. Your presence will satisfy the protections on the library, allowing us to enter and retrieve them. Once I have them in hand and am safely away, your family and Mr. Rune will be released unharmed.”
Sebastian didn’t believe that for a moment. He needed to play for time—with luck, some opportunity would present itself. If only Noct had come with them, instead of going to the estate with Irene.
But Noct and Irene were speeding away oblivious, and no one else was coming. Squaring his shoulders, he said, “Very well. I accept your terms.”
The guard with the gun followed Sebastian and the Chancellor outside. “I wouldn’t try anything,” she informed him, as if speaking of the weather. “If my other man inside hears a scuffle out here, he’s to kill your sister without hesitation.”
Sebastian ground his teeth together. She’d outwitted him at every turn, but maybe he’d find a way to turn the tables on her before it was too late. “I’m not going to risk Bonnie.”
“That’s what I’m counting on.”
A coach waited on the street outside, drawn by black horses. A footman sprang down from his perch, opened the door, and helped the Chancellor in. “Bind Mr. Rath, if you please,” she ordered.
The footman took out a length of rope and tied Sebastian’s hands in front of him with the ease and swiftness of a man who had done such a thing many times before. “Not recruiting the cream of the crop, are you?” he asked, and the footman gave him a dirty look.
“I disagree,” the Chancellor replied smoothly as the footman boosted him—none too gently—into the coach. “An expertise in kidnapping can come in quite handy in a servant. Now sit across from me and don’t move.”
The gunman headed back toward the house as the door was shut. The coach creaked under the weight of the footman returning to his post, and they began to move forward accompanied by the clop of hooves.
Sebastian took in his surroundings, hoping for something he could use as a weapon…but there was nothing. He might be able to hurt the Chancellor, perhaps even kill her if he could use the Book of Flesh’s power to slash open her throat. But it wasn’t just his own life he was gambling with, and the footman and driver were surely armed. He might kill her, then be gunned down trying to flee, which meant Bonnie and Ves would die. Perhaps even Clara, if the guards were hard enough men.
God. This was a disaster. There had to be some way out…but he couldn’t think of it.
The School of Night had won.
Ves crouched in the cage, arms around his legs, back bent so his chin rested on his knees to keep any part of him from brushing the hateful silver.
The man with the knife had relaxed enough to remove it from Bonnie’s neck. After a brief discussion, ignoring Ves all the while, the two guards decided to play cards to pass the time. They sat to either side of the table that usually held the lamp, their weapons close at hand. Every few moments, one or the other would glance in his direction, making sure he hadn’t moved.
Ves was fast…but he wasn’t fast enough to break out of the cage and prevent them from killing Bonnie at the same time. Possibly Clara as well, if they were truly heartless.
His thighs and back ached from remaining in one position for too long. As a child, his mother had forced him to stand or march for hours on end as punishment for various infractions, real or imagined. The pain now bore him back to the pain then, and a similar helpless feeling bubbled up inside.
He’d sat on the beach beside the Chancellor, held yarn for her, and never imagined for an instant that she was anything but a friendly old lady. How had he not seen?
But none of the others had seen, either. If Bonnie and Sebastian trusted her, why shouldn’t he? They were better at interacting with people, more used to doing so. If she’d fooled them, what hope had he had?
And now Bonnie and Clara lay in an enchanted sleep, the source of which had been created and brought into the house by nine-year-old Helen. The poor child; he could only hope she never knew what she’d done. Especially if things went badly.
Which they would. The Chancellor had no intention of letting any of them survive. She’d take the Books, kill Sebastian, then order the rest of them killed as well.
Gods of the wood, Sebastian. What was he going through even now? If the Chancellor’s plan worked, they’d both die alone and in pain. And Ves didn’t know how to keep it from happening.
A faint thump sounded from somewhere above.
The two guards heard it as well. “What was that?” one asked.
“A squirrel?” guessed the other.
“At night?”
“A raccoon, then.”
There came a series of creaks, as though someone was walking across the floor over their heads.
The guard with the gun came to his feet. “Someone’s up there.”
