“Sorry!” blurted Mariana.
Fiona’s arms whirled. For a moment her body was suspended in air, until her feet plunged through the plaster ceiling. She was barely able to grab a nearby joist to prevent herself from falling completely through. Below her, a female voice shrieked as Fiona’s legs flailed in the air.
“You okay, Fiona?” Alan grabbled around for her shoulder.
She groaned. “I’m fine. I guess this is why the attic’s off limits.” Jolly Jasper continued to roar with mechanical laughter. “Can you pull me up? We need to get out of here. Like, now.”
She heard a faint creaking noise through the puppet’s tinny, maniacal cackle. Her stomach turned. Is someone opening the door?
Alan leaned down and gripped Fiona under the shoulders, hoisting her up onto a plank. The broken ceiling scratched her skin. She straightened, her legs trembling. On her feet again, she steadied herself. She stared in horror as someone pulled open the attic door—but there was no one there. Had an invisible Tobias come to spy on them?
“What’s happening?” Alan whispered almost inaudibly.
Footsteps pounded up the stairs, and Fiona’s muscles went rigid. As quietly as she could, she whispered a spell to snuff the light, plunging the room into darkness.
Two guards stepped into the attic, one holding a flashlight. It was the pale behemoth and a smaller man with blond hair. She might be invisible, but Fiona’s heart pounded so hard she was sure they could hear it. Behind the two guards, a feminine form lingered in the doorway. The flashlight’s glare lingered on the bellowing puppet, still twitching as he laughed.
“You think someone’s still in here?” Mrs. Ranulf pushed between the two men into the light. She wore a silky green bathrobe and combed her hair with her fingers, tidying it.
The blond’s flashlight darted around the room. “I saw the door open on its own. The witch must have hidden itself with magic.”
That meant Tobias must be in here, too. He was the one who’d opened the door.
Mrs. Ranulf prowled further into the room, and the guards shuffled behind her. Fiona shoved away her panic, trying to come up with a plan. They needed to sneak out past the guards, and through the open door. But how are we going to get past them without rattling the floorboards?
Mrs. Ranulf pushed a curl out of her eyes. “I have the revealing dust.”
Fiona’s heart leapt into her throat. What is revealing dust? Before she had the chance to find out, she felt a strong pair of arms around her back and behind her knees. Someone lifted her up as if she were as light as a dandelion puff. Is it Alan? She wrapped her arms around his warm neck as he crept silently along the boards. How is he doing this so quietly? She inhaled and smelled a familiar vernal scent, mixed with burned oak. Tobias.
So he wasn’t with the Purgators. It was all a mistake. This was just an attic; Tobias had nothing to do with the cult. Fiona had only poked the sleeping beast. Mariana was right. And I’m an idiot for pushing us into this. She dug her nails into her palms. What’s wrong with me?
On the other side of the attic, a plank rattled, followed by a crashing noise. Fiona cringed, tightening her grip on Tobias’s neck. Either Alan or Mariana just fell through the floor.
While Tobias silently slipped past the guards, Mrs. Ranulf pulled a small vial out of her bathrobe, stalking toward the sound of the splintering ceiling. She popped the cork and pointed. “There.”
Tobias gently put Fiona down just outside the attic door, standing by her side. She turned back to watch Mrs. Ranulf hold up a handful of the red powder. The witch-huntress blew into her hand, and a puff of sparkling red powder erupted into the air. It coated everything within a six-foot radius—including Mariana, her foot stuck through the ceiling. When the dust touched her skin, she unleashed an agonized shriek. The sound pierced Fiona’s heart. There was no way out of this, and it was all her fault.
Mariana continued to scream. Mrs. Ranulf shot a mournful glance to the behemoth, the face of a reluctant martyr. “Cleanse the rest of the attic. The witch must go to the holding cell.”
The blond guard grabbed Mariana by the arms, and Fiona felt Tobias brush her skin as he rushed back onto the planks. But his path was blocked. The behemoth held up a chalice, chanting in Latin. “Exorcizamus te, omnis immunde spiritus, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii.” As quickly as Tobias had rushed out, he stumbled back into her, nearly knocking her down the stairs. His body was shaking, repelled by the spell. The guard continued, “In nomini et virtute Domini nostri Blodrial.”
The smaller guard dragged Mariana sobbing across the planks to the holding cell at the back. Mrs. Ranulf followed close behind, her head bowed in prayer.