Page 12 of The House Saphir
“Although,” Armand quietly mused, “given that the ghost of the duchess was a fake, perhaps the investigators were right to suspect you.”
Mallory turned her full focus to Triphine. “All right, I’m listening. What is up there?”
“That’s the thing. I don’tknow. I think it moved in last night, but I’ve been too afraid to go up there. It soundsbig.”
“How can you be afraid?” Mallory shouted. “You’re dead!”
“Why must you always bring it up? You are the most insensitive girl I’ve ever met!”
“Are you talking to the duchess?” asked Armand. “What is she saying?”
“She’s saying thatyouare a nosy buffoon who shouldn’t ask so many questions.”
He squinted at her. “I cannot tell if you are lying, and I find that very irritating.”
A loud scraping sound was followed by another crash.
Mallory tucked her purse away and took hold of the mannequin, gripping it like a shield.
Armand’s voice lowered to a whisper. “If this is some joke you play on people who are foolish enough to come on this tour—”
“Stop talking,” she hissed. “It’s probably just a rat.”
“That sounds a lot bigger than a rat. Perhaps we should call the investigators back or… What are you… Is that a knife?”
Mallory yanked her dagger from its sheath and crept up the stairs, unable to avoid the creaking floorboard at the top.
“Why do you have a knife?”
She reached the landing and started for the hall. A faint glimmer of moonlight spilled through the windows that framed a sitting area at the top of the steps, but the light did not reach the depths of the long corridor. The walls were adorned in crimson wallpaper and dark wood trim. Several bedroom doors stood open between unlit candle sconces.
Mallory stopped to listen, but all she heard was her own breathing—and Armand’s.
She whipped her head around, surprised to see that he hadfollowed her… and somehow managed to do so without stepping on that creaky floorboard.
“What are you doing?”
He blinked at her. “If thereissomething up here, I’m not letting you face it alone.”
“Do you have a weapon?”
“Of course not.”
She let out a sound of disgust. “Your heroics are the stuff of epic sagas.” Turning away again, she muttered, “Lots of bravado, but ultimately pointless.”
“What’s that?”
The pitch to his voice made Mallory tense as she squinted into the inky darkness of the corridor.
One of the bedroom doors was opening wider, hinges creaking.
A hand appeared. Long fingers wrapped around the edge of the door.
It was so dim, Mallory wanted to believe she was seeing things. But from here it almost appeared that the hand hadclaws.
It was followed by a head, peering around the doorframe. Wide yellow eyes glinted as it emerged into the hall, one clacking step at a time. The creature stood on two legs, nearly reaching the ceiling, but its back was hunched forward, its knees cocked at odd angles. Its body was covered by matted gray fur along with the tattered remains of a tunic. Its head was distinctly wolflike, with a jaw that hung open to reveal a row of jagged teeth.
Its lips twisted into a snarl that was both human and beastly.
