Endless Knight (The Arcana Chronicles #2)(42)

For these reasons, I would wait, but also because my overarching strategy had just changed. In this game, I planned to kill Death—and the Hierophant. My claws tingled at the thought, my poison beginning to renew. I just needed to find him.

I had a feeling he’d soon come to see his catch, but not until we were contained.

Meth-mouth shackled Selena himself, saying, “Prettiest breeders I ever did see.” Spittle bubbled up on his blistered lips. “Don’t you worry—you won’t go on the hooks for a long, long time.”

Matthew stared blankly as he was chained. He’d checked out, and considering our circumstances, I didn’t blame him.

Jack roused just as his wrist cuffs clicked shut. Blood streaming down his face, he lunged for the guard, who laughed.

When Jack and I shared a look, I tried not to reveal how on edge I was.

The men must’ve considered Lark and me to be minimal threats; we were the only ones with a single ankle cuff.

They think we’re helpless girls. I might’ve laughed. Worst mistake of their lives.

As the guards filed out, Meth-mouth pointed to the prisoner closest to me. “You’re on the hooks as soon as we gather the flock.”

The prisoner whimpered at this news. Dressed in rags, he had no limbs, just cauterized, oozing stumps where his legs and arms should be.

“See you in ten.” As they returned to their hub, the guards’ laughter echoed down the mine.

I almost vomited, but choked it back.

The doomed man was in shock, feverish, his eyes glassy. Between chapped lips, he rasped, “T-ten minutes, then.”

The other captives murmured phrases of sympathy to him—because he was about to be eaten. They called him Tad.

Jack grated, “Evie, did they hurt you?”

I shook my head. “Finn’s the worst off.” The wide, bloody holes on his pants leg revealed gouged-out skin. But I didn’t think the bone had snapped. Surely he’d wake soon.

“We’re goan to get out of here. Doan you worry.”

Tad turned those desperate eyes—to me. “Please, h-help me. Can you reach me? They don’t waste a bullet first.”

Finn had said that the cannibals fed on the living. I don’t think I’d quite believed it until tonight. I’d once seen a deer being cleaned, the gutting. For Tad to go through that while conscious . . .

But how could I help him? “We’re going to escape. Just hang on.” Hang on? I bit my lip. Stupid Evie, he doesn’t have arms!

Selena rolled her eyes at me, and I deserved worse.

“Finn, wake up!” With his illusions we could escape. He would make us invisible. The guards would open the cell door, see no one inside, then dash off to recapture us. I would use my claws to sever the chains. We’d stroll out of here.

Finn didn’t stir.

“There’s no escape,” one of the other prisoners said, the sole woman, a middle-aged lady with sunken eyes, clad in a tattered sack dress. A square chunk of skin was missing from each of her thighs.

Tad begged me, “Kill me. Smother me.”

“Evie, you stay put!” Jack ordered. “You can’t help him.”

Was I going to sit back and let a man be butchered alive? In Arthur’s basement, I’d realized that I had power to fight back against evil, that I could help others. All I had to do was repurpose myself. I’d wondered how many were chained out in the world.

With that thought in mind, I reached for my cuff and used a claw to jimmy it open, earning a stern: “Damn it, fille.”

The lock popped open with a click, spooking the other prisoners. “Stop this, girl!” “They’ll come quicker, and there’s no fighting them.” “Tad’s gone anyway.” “They’ll whip us for this!”

Selena snapped, “They’re going to kill every single one of us—or worse—and you’re worried about a whipping? You might be resigned to your fate down here, but I’m not!” To me she said, “Carry the hell on, Evie. Your glyphs are getting brighter. Free us all, and we fight.”

Jack shook his head. “You doan listen to her. Sit your ass back down and act chained. We doan make a move without Finn, and he should wake soon. If those guards come back and see you freed, they might take you instead!”

I wavered.

“Bébé, we can’t help everyone. Be smart about this.” In French, he added, “That man will never survive, even if we freed him.”

In a desolate voice, Tad said, “The others are r-right. There’s no fighting the Teeth. Not that I would be a help anyway. They bring even more guards when they harvest. More than a dozen of them.”

God, I wanted to fight.

Tad was now crying. “But could you . . . would you put your hand . . . over my mouth and nose? Please. I can’t hurt you, can’t stop you. It’d be a mercy.”

I glanced at Jack. He shook his head firmly. “You need to look like you’re chained.” Whatever he saw in my expression made him bite out a curse, then mutter, “Hurry.”

Lark said, “I can let you know when they’re coming.”

“How?”

Her eyes began to sparkle red. “They have a couple of rats that survived down here. I’ve moved them into the central area now.”

I crossed to Tad, lifting his head into my lap, shocked by how little he weighed. “I’ll make this better.” I sounded so assured, while inside I was horrified, had no idea how I was going to do this.