Page 120 of Bones
I shuddered. Madame couldnotcatch me.
That night I stood in the middle of the clinic and allowed myself a moment of grief. It swept over me with a surprising intensity. The kids slept in their beds upstairs and the fire crackled in the wood stove. If Icouldchoose, Mac’s crew would be the kind of people I’d want for a family. My eyes prickled as my heart ached. This could have been something sogood.
I clung to a delusional sort of hope that Madame wouldn’t punish anyone too severely for my escape. I hated being forced to choose between the chance that Madame punished Mac’s crew and the chance that the powered person murdered the entire hold.
I had to believe that Trey would be ok. I had to?—
Mac opened the door. The dark expression on his face gave me a second of panic that he knew my plan, but then he spoke.
“Madame wants you.”
My stomach twisted.
I followed him through the dark, quiet hold, our boots crunching in the snow. Mac didn’t speak to me, and I couldn’t tell what that meant. My dread rose as we entered the watch tower and went straight down to the dungeon. I hadn’t seen Madame since I’d passed out down here weeks ago.
Inside the torture room, stood Madame, five of her lackeys, and Zana, the third member of the council. I glanced at the chair and my heart stuttered in shock at the sight of Nemo restrained in it. He'd been stripped of his shirt and blood dripped down his bruised face, but there was a defiant fire in his expression as he held Madame's gaze. I glanced back at Mac, but as usual, I couldn't read his expressionless face.
“Hello, Bones.” Madame smiled that unhinged smile. “We caught a big fish today.”
I looked at Nemo again. His torso was tanned from the sun like he often worked outside without a shirt. He had strange tattoos across one arm and his lean body was more muscular than I’d guessed. Blood matted in his greying hair. He turned his head toward me, making eye contact. He frowned at me, but then Madame spoke, and he turned his attention back to her.
“The question is,howbig?” She tapped her knife on the palm of her hand. “Have we finally reached the top of this ridiculouslittlerebellion,Nemo?”
Nemo didn’t answer.
“Oh good.” Madame’s smile made me feel sick. “I was hoping you’d do this the hard way.”
I swallowed down the bile rising in my throat as she sliced open his chest from his collarbone down to his navel. He screamed hoarsely like he'd been screaming for a while. I healed him with shaking hands when she gestured at me with the bloody knife, trying to breathe through my mouth to avoid the sickly-sweet scent mixed with blood.
“Who is the leader?” Madame asked him once I finished.
He didn’t answer, and she grinned as she lifted her knife again. Panic gripped me as I realized this might be a long night.
Sure enough, Madame carved him up for hours. Eventually, she seemed to get bored and had her men start beating him. I healed him again and again, my ears ringing with the sounds of Nemo's screams. My jaw clenched so tightly it ached.
You’re getting out of here. You’re getting out of here,I repeated in my head over and over.
It had to be close to dawn by the time she stopped. Nemo never said a word, but by the end he slumped in the chair, gasping in ragged breaths and half-conscious.
“Get him out of here,” Madame said. “We’ll do this again tomorrow.”
The men started unbuckling Nemo to drag him back to his cell. I didn’t wait to be dismissed. I didn’t care if it pissed her off. I turned on my heel and strode out the door, avoiding Mac’s gaze as I passed him. She didn’t yell after me, but I heard her voice demanding that Mac stay. As soon as I got out of the watchtower, I started to run.
When I reached the clinic, I slipped in as quietly as I could and changed out of my bloody clothes, throwing on my warmest gear. Then I reached into my mattress and pulled out my small stash of supplies, shoving it into a pack I'd swiped from a house visit. Last but not least I folded up the quilt I'd grown so attached to and shoved it inside. I hadn't been able to figure out how to steal a bedroll, so the quilt would have to do. I hesitated a moment, but then grabbed the little wooden dandelion and packed it too.
As soon as I had everything, I slipped back out the door. Thank the gods, the sun hadn't risen yet, but it would any second. The loggers had packed up the sleighs last night. I'd been sure to walk past to see so I knew exactly where I needed to go. The horses nickered at me as I entered the stable, and Violet poked her head over the stall door. A lump rose in my throat, but I just darted to the sleigh that waited to be hitched up to the horses and slid under the heavy tarp. I crawled across the sleigh bed, edging past the sharp tools. Finally, I reached the wooden panel at the front, curled into the smallest ball I could, and waited, trying to ignore the dull pain in my back.
Only two minutes later, the tarp shifted and someone started crawling in just like I had. I reached down to my boot, sliding my knife out. My entire self recoiled in horror at the idea of using it, but I could not let this chance get away from me. My fist clenched on the knife handle, but then the person got closer and I let out all my breath in a shaky rush.
Trey reached me, dressed in his warmest gear with a leather pack completely with a bedroll strapped underneath it. He met my furious and shocked gaze with a calm expression.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I hissed.
“Goin’ with you,” he said.
I gaped at him. “What?”
His eyes were so solemn. “I’m goin’ with you, Bones.”
