Free Along Came a Wolf (The Yellow Hoods, #1): Steampunk meets Fairy Tale by Adam Dreece Page B

anyway. 
    LeLoup had meant to ask him about this other doctor, but he had had so much fun terrorizing the poor man that he’d forgotten to do so.
    With false graciousness, LeLoup said, “Doctor, I do so appreciate your visit. Without you, I’d have just these kind gentlemen to talk to,” he said, gesturing to the empty cells. “I must say—they aren’t as amusing as they once were.”
    The doctor frowned in confusion, looking to the other cells. “There’s… no one there,” he said quietly.
    LeLoup stood up and exaggerated his own glance at each of the other cells. “Well, I think they have grown a bit thin—the food here is terrible. Even by local standards. Especially the cheese. Substandard.”
    Stretching once more, he stood up and found himself feeling a bit disoriented. Andre was vaguely aware that something inside himself had snapped that day outside of Klaus’ house. He wasn’t the man he’d once been. He felt freer and stronger—yet unbalanced, like a heavy club that could smash better but was harder to wield. Thoughts of revenge and restoring his reputation were increasingly dominating his thoughts; meanwhile, his long-held professional code of ethics was melting away.
    LeLoup looked at the doctor. “I don’t have many friends here,” he said sadly. “In some ways, I’ve even abandoned myself. How about we declare that we are friends? What do you say? You could call me Andre and I will call you Doctor .” 
    LeLoup tried to give the doctor his most charming smile, but he was distracted. When he’d said his own first name aloud, it had felt foreign, as if he had said someone else’s name. He was only LeLoup now.
    “Ah… okay,” replied the doctor submissively, “but my name is—”
    “You’re name is Doctor! Don’t demean yourself with a commoner’s name, like mine . You are a special man—a smart man. You have devoted your life to an important profession. Allow me the honor of calling you Doctor?” LeLoup gestured dramatically, moving toward the bars. His intense, green eyes drilled into the doctor’s own.
    The doctor and LeLoup stood only inches apart, the iron bars separating them. LeLoup then leaned in further. His face pushed up against the bars.
    “You are a doctor, right?” he asked, grinning disturbingly.
    The doctor gulped hard and nodded. Sweat was running down his face and dripping off his chin.
    If LeLoup had wanted, he could’ve reached through the bars and grabbed the frightened man, but he didn’t.
    He gave the doctor a sheepish look, and pulled himself back. “I’ve been too forward, haven’t I? How rude of me. My mother always told me that all things come in good time. You can’t rush a good thing like friendship. What do you think?”
    The doctor lost his grip on his bag and it dropped to the floor with an echoing thump. He quickly wiped his sweaty palms on his pants.
    “There’s that echo,” said LeLoup. He watched the doctor’s every muscle as he bent to pick up his bag.
    “So, how is my friend?” asked LeLoup, grinning. “That is why you are here, no? My friend, the horseman, visited you and asked you to pay me one more visit, didn’t he? I can tell.”
    The doctor swallowed hard. He looked around in case somehow he’d missed seeing someone else in the room. “Y-y-yes,” he stammered.
    “Then we are friends. We should celebrate our friendship with a good meal. We could have some wine, some cheese, and whatever excuse they have for meat around here. What do you think?”
    “Um, yes?” said the doctor, again confused.
    In a disappointed voice LeLoup said, “But we have a problem. We cannot do this—not now. Do you know why?”
    After a couple of awkward seconds, the doctor replied, unsure, “Because… you’re in jail?” He had been stepping back and now found himself pressed up against the back wall.
    “Oh—I thought it was because of my new look. Not fitting for a man of class, I suppose,” said LeLoup, touching his face as he