Free Masquerade (Creepy Hollow, #4) by rachel morgan Page B

out of here now .”
    He nods. “Cal,” he says gently. “This is Violet. She’s going to help us get out of here.” 
    The little girl turns her face toward me, and all I can feel is surprise. I was expecting someone who looks just like Ryn, but she couldn’t be more different. Her hair is dark blonde with streaks of honey, caramel and gold. Her eyes, currently wide with fear, are gold too. Almost luminous. I’m left with the feeling that she may possibly be the most beautiful faerie child in existence.
    As we run for the other room, the prisoners cry out for our help. “I’m sorry,” I shout, unable to look any of them in the eye. “We can’t stay any longer or we’ll be trapped here too. The Guild will send people to rescue you, I promise.”
    We hurry into the other room and run past the table—just as the mangled chandelier comes flying toward us. Calla screams. I turn and throw up a shield, then groan and collapse onto my knees as the force behind the chandelier threatens to overpower me. Zell gets to his feet on the table. “I don’t care if I have to break every bone in your body, Violet. You will not get away from me this time, and you will not take that girl.” He pushes his hands forward as though doing a press up against the air, forcing the chandelier even harder against my shield. Dammit, he’s so strong!
    Behind me, Ryn is speaking to Calla, asking if she knows how to open the stone door.
    “Yes, it’s—it’s that stone there. No, the next one. You have to pull it.”
    “Ryn,” I gasp. “I can’t . . . hold him off . . . for much longer.” I hear the rumble of the stone door sliding open. Perhaps Ryn and Calla are already out, running for their lives, leaving me here to fight Zell. But then I feel Ryn’s hand on my arm, pulling me onto my feet.
    “You have to take Calla, okay? I’ll keep Zell busy so you have time to get away.” He holds his hands up and adds his shield to mine.
    “What? Ryn, we can’t leave you—”
    “Go! You’re exhausted, Vi. I’m not. I can do this.” He focuses his attention forward, his eyes narrowed.
    “Ryn, he’ll kill you. It’s us he wants, not you.” Without looking away from Zell, Ryn pushes me backward. I stumble on my heeled boots, losing hold of my shield as I catch myself against the wall.
    “Go!” he yells once more.
    I grab Calla’s hand and run.

 

     
     
    I sneak Calla out of the kitchen door and into the gardens. Wisps of cloud move slowly across the moon, but the stars are bright, and it’s light enough for us to see our way. “Do you have one of those metal bands on your ankle?” I ask.
    She shakes her head. “They were still making a small one for me.”
    “Okay, so you have to be very careful not you use any magic, all right?”
    “I—I’ll try.”
    We creep along in silence while I try to figure out what to do next. When we round a corner and come upon a row of carriages and those long black cars with the stretched middle part, it seems to me that the best way out of here is probably the same way we came in.
    I open the back door of the nearest car and Calla climbs inside. I get in after her and close the door as quietly as I can. The light inside the car fades out, but not before I notice the dark patch of blood along the bottom of Calla’s nightdress. “You’re hurt,” I exclaim. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
    “I’m not,” she says. “It isn’t my blood. I . . . I did something bad.” I can just make out the tears welling up in her eyes. Oh, flip. What am I supposed to do with a crying child? I have no idea what to say! Her lip starts wobbling. “Is Ryn going to die?”
    “What? No, of course not.” I take Calla’s small hand in my own. “He’s a really good fighter. He’ll get out of there.” He damn well better get out of there.
    “But we just left him with that bad man.”
    “Yeah, we did . . .” Something I’m feeling intensely guilty about. It’s not what I’ve