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I'm face to face with Azreal and his dead, kohled eyes. "What about your fear, poppet? Where should we begin? You can't even help your own father."
"I'm not listening to you," I say. I try to concentrate, abandon my fear. But it is so very hard. Azreal continues."All that power, yet you cannot do the one thing that matters."
A moment ago, the amulet began to glow, to show me the way out. I clutch it in my hand, secretly angling it toward the last two tunnels. Which is the one?
A hard slap stings my cheek."Are you listening, poppet?"
Keep concentrating, Gemma. Do I imagine it, or does the amulet glow? It does! It is faint but real. The tunnel directly behind Azreal is the one. I've found the way.
"We visit your father from time to time," he says.
"What do you mean?" I say. My concentration is gone. The glow disappears.
"When he is under the drug's spell, his mind is most receptive to us. Such games, such games. We told him about you. About your mother. But he's getting weaker. And we're losing all our fun."
"You leave him alone."
"Yes, yes. For now. Let's play."
"Stop where you are!" Felicity stands poised on a rock, her bow drawn back, one eye squinting on the arrow that she aims in a sweeping arc, taking in the whole of the room. The Poppy Warriors caw at her. Her mouth curves into a hateful smile, a mimic of the bow's string.
"Put the bow down now, poppet."
Felicity trains the arrow on Azreal."No."
His grin vanishes."I'm going to eat you alive."
"I don't bloody think so," she says through tears.
With a great caw, he charges for her. Felicity's arrow flies hard and fast, piercing Azreal's neck just above the protection of his chain mail. His eyes widen as he sinks to his knees and falls to the dusty floor, dead. There is a moment of stunned silence, followed by pandemonium. The Poppy Warriors shriek in anger and grief. There is no time to lose. "This way!" I shout, running for the tunnel the amulet has shown me. Felicity and Ann are on my heels, but so are the Poppy Warriors. We hadn't the chance to grab a torch. The tunnel is dark as pitch as we barrel through it, bumping into one another, feeling the rats tickle over our feet, hearing one another's desperate gasps and ragged breathing. And just behind us, there is the hideous cawing of those shape-shifting knights.
"Where is it?" Felicity cries."Where is the way out?"
It is still too dark to see my hand."I don't know!"
"Gemma!" Ann yelps. They are in the tunnel with us. I can hear them closing fast.
"Keep moving!" I shout.
The tunnel takes a sharp turn. Suddenly, I see it up ahead--an opening, and beyond that, the gray haze of fog. With an urgent burst of speed, we rush out into the thick air, breathing in deep gulps. We're on the shore.
"There's the boat," Felicity screams. It's sitting where we left it. Ann scrambles in and picks up the oars as Felicity and I push the
boat away from the shore, wading into the murky water as we do. With effort, we climb in.
The birds come in a great black swarm of screeching.
Ann and I paddle against the current while Felicity takes aim against those terrible winged things. I close my eyes and row for all I am worth, hearing the sound of that awful cawing and Felicity's arrows slicing the air.
Something bumps the boat.
"What was that?" Ann asks.
"I don't know," I say, opening my eyes. I look around but see nothing.
"Keep rowing!" Felicity instructs, letting fly. Birds fall from the sky. They change into men and sink below the water.
"They're going back!" Felicity screams."They're leaving!" We give a cheer. Ann's oar is yanked from her hand. The boat is bumped so hard that we shake upon the water.
