Page 9 of The Dragon and the Dove

Ransom was already running, shooting like an arrow towards the north passage. If Andreas had sent Lark into the heart of his enemy’s lair it was for one reason only: to capture the Saint-maker.

The door to the bathroom swung open just as Ransom reached it. Sera appeared before him, bleary-eyed and frowning in one of his nightshirts. ‘What’s going on?’

Ransom hauled her to him. ‘The walls are crawling.’

She looked up, quailing as a skeleton wrenched itself from the wall. ‘All hell.’

‘Lark,’ he said.

She stiffened. ‘Where?’

‘No idea.’

Lark Delano knew these catacombs like the back of his own decomposing hand. He could be anywhere.

‘We have to get everyone out,’ she said urgently.

‘Stay with me, spitfire.’

Sera grabbed his hand so tight his knuckles cracked. They ran for the other passages, slamming their fists against every occupied bedchamber door. Soon, the halls were flooded with Order members, shouting and swinging whatever they could find: oil lamps and pokers, jugs and canes. They made quick work of Lark’s army; the skeletons down here were so old they were half dust anyway. Some of the younger ones, like Tobias, even made a game of it, eagerly counting their slain.

Until the roof began to tremble.

Dust streamed from the ceiling as the bones that made up the infrastructure of the catacombs cleaved away. The passages turned cloudy.

Ransom called back his shadows, seeing how useless they were in this fight. He couldn’t kill a man that was already dead, or hold up the damn ceiling.

The east wall caved in with a shuddering groan, and that panic came again.

Anouk was still in the Cavern.

Move, Hale.

They bolted for the main passage where they crashed into Val. ‘The west tunnel’s just buckled,’ she cried. ‘The whole thing is coming down!’

‘Make for the exit,’ said Sera, shoving her north. ‘Drag everyone you meet with you.’

A rare spark of fear flickered in Val’s eyes. ‘But what if Andreas is out there?’

A stone slab came down, nearly flattening all three of them. ‘One threat at a time,’ said Ransom, pushing Sera after her. ‘Go! Both of you!’

She stalled, gripping his shirt. ‘What about Theo? He was asleep in the—’

The rest of her sentence was lost to the thud of another falling slab. Ransom swung her out of the way, taking the brunt with his left shoulder. ‘Forget Versini,’ he gritted through the pain. ‘He’s already gone.’

The walls shuddered.

Val grabbed Sera’s free hand and yanked her away. ‘Theo’s a Versini. They know how to survive!’

Sera went north towards the exit, while Ransom went back for his sister. When he reached the Cavern, Anouk was standing in the doorway with her hands braced on the frame. Her cheeks were red, her dark hair matted with sweat and dust.

Gone was the ease and confidence of just a few moments ago. She looked frightened now, her arms trembling with the weight of the stone above her.

With a sickening jolt, Ransom realized she was holding the entire place up with her magic.

‘Is everyone out?’ she rasped.

It was impossible to know. There were only thirty or so of them here now, a mere fraction of the Daggers who once filled these halls. But half the tunnels had already caved in.