He let out a scream that made the hairs on her arms rise. It wasn’t the scream of a man, but a monster. His voice warped from the warm tones she had known into something howling with rage.
Even from her distance, she could see his body changing. His spine arched, bulges appearing that shouldn’t be there. Something moved underneath the skin of his back. Snakes underneath the long columns of back muscles, writhing with every movement. Then, two wings split open the skin of his back. They flared out of his body, even as he leaned forward and dug his now clawed hands at the floor.
Tears slid down her cheeks, and she pressed a hand to her mouth to silence her own cries. The howling rage of his voice filled the air, but that was no longer Remy. Her father had been right. They weren’t trying to kill her people. They were building an army, and all they needed was to bring everyone back to this chateau to turn them into slathering beasts like the rest of them.
Amicia stepped away from the door, unable to watch what happened next. She couldn’t bear to see him as anything other than the miller’s boy who used to throw apples at her when she got too close to him.
Why had she thought she could save him? She? She was just the tinker’s daughter who had gotten too close to the monsters underneath the bed.
She grabbed onto her skirts to still the shaking of her hands. The huntsmen’s cottage was her only chance at a small bit of safety. They wouldn’t search there, not right under their noses. They couldn’t.
In her haste to leave, Amicia didn’t notice the stand with a candlestick beside it. Her hip caught the table at the right angle to rattle the candlestick.
She snagged it, stilling the sound.
All fell silent.
She would have heard a hairpin drop onto the floor, and that was somehow worse than the howls of pain from Remy who had also paused to listen.
A voice in her head whispered, Run.
Amicia bolted toward the kitchen even as the first call resounded from within the strange room beyond. The braying of hunting hounds chased her down the hall.
Chapter 5
Her heart thundered in her chest, and her lungs heaved for air even as her vision swam with dark spots. They were coming for her. Hunting her like nothing more than prey they could catch in their claws.
The pattering sound of her footsteps was too loud, even to her own ears. They would find her if she didn’t hide. Tuck herself into another nook or cranny and hopefully find a few moments of peace. Moments to figure out how she would get out of this chateau and out into the forest once more.
Fire. If only she hadn’t lost her torch.
Amicia raced into the kitchen, catching herself on the door just before she slammed into the wall. She turned and closed the door behind her. The loud click of the door handle was the pound of a nail in her coffin.
They heard the sound. The hungry growls followed, the clicks of their nails on the floor, and the soft hush of their wings beating at the air.
She spun on her heel and pressed her back against the solid wood. There was no lock. She only had a few heartbeats to save herself.
She could run out the back door and into the snow once more, but the chateau had little cover from the sky, and they would find her if she bolted. They would hunt from above as they had in her own village.
Remy... He might be with them, perhaps, and she wouldn’t even be able to recognize him.
Did it mean her people were still alive? Surely not. She had burned the city to the ground like her father had requested. No one could have survived that. They must have caught him before she’d spilled the braziers and taken away their chances of turning her people into monsters.
The knot of guilt that had churned her stomach for so long now eased. She understood why her father had been so set this must happen.. Her people would have died a horrible death either way. At least with the fire, their souls had burned away, clean and pure.
She shook her head and stepped away from the door. Her father had not raised a daughter who would freeze in fear. The back door wasn’t an option, but old chateaux such as this hid many secrets. Perhaps passages allowing the servants to move easier.
All she had to do was find one before the creatures found her. If she was right, then she would live a few more moments as a human. If she wasn’t…
A shiver trailed down her spine like one of the Dread had run their nail down her back. If she was wrong, then life as she knew it would cease, but her body would continue on.
She ran to the wall where all the pots and pans hung, then swept her fingers over the stones. There had to be something. Some hidden latch she could pull or a button she could push to reveal the chateau’s mysteries.
The pounding feet of creatures passed the door. Their claws scraped the ground as they moved, but it was the thud and slide of a wing hitting the kitchen door that made her flinch. They had passed by the servants’ quarters for now, a small blessing that wouldn’t last for very long.
Her shoulder hit a pan.
It swung on its hook, and each swing was a clock ticking down to her last breath until it fell and struck the stone floor.
The clang was enough to warn the Dread where she was. She froze but already knew she had limited her time even more. A call resounded through the hallway beyond, and the hunt changed directions.
The door bulged forward as something strong hit it from the other side. Amicia dropped onto her hands and knees, then crawled underneath the table below the pots and pans. She pulled herself as tight as she could, wishing there was more than just a few baskets full of rotten vegetables to hide behind.
Please. If there is anyone listening, please help me.
The door rocked forward again, this time the wood splintering. A clawed hand reached through the gap, and a yellow eye stared through the warped wood. It rotated wildly in the socket until it settled on her, their gazes locked. The eye disappeared as more of the creatures clustered around the opening.
She had only moments of control remaining over her own body, of knowing she was still herself.
Amicia shifted backward again, pushing with her heels until her back hit the wall. A small click echoed in her ear, and a tiny panel in the wall opened underneath the table.
She held her breath. Surely, this wasn’t something the servants had used. It was only large enough for a child to fit through, or a small woman who was thin enough to slide through.
The time to think had already passed. Amicia jolted forward and shoved at the panel. The stone gave way beneath her hand, allowing her to push it open and slide through on her belly. She pulled herself into the narrow tunnel beyond.
She could just barely remain crouched once she slid through the narrow opening. Stone on either side pressed against her sides and stone from above touched her head and back. But it was enough room to slither through the walls.
She kicked out with her foot behind her and touched the loose stone that had opened the panel. The rock slid back into place as the door shattered and the creatures burst into the room.
Amicia moved. A heavy net of spiderwebs filled the strange tunnel. Their gossamer threads clung to her hair, stuck to her lips and face, and tangled in the long length of skirts trailing behind her. The many legs of spiders skittered along her arms and back, angry she had so carelessly destroyed their hard work.
She choked the whimpers in her throat, swallowing whimpers until they lodged in her chest like peach pits.
Hand over hand, she dragged herself through the small tunnel in the wall until it opened into a space between rooms. The hidden area where servants might have brought food, drink, or messages between nobility who had gorged themselves on fine dining and solitude.