“You can’t keep us down here forever,” Elizabeth said. “Not if you like living in this house. You’ll need someone to keep the electricity running and to feed the animals.”
“The animals?” He laughed, dry and brittle. “You should be far more concerned with your own fate, Mistress. Now tell me, have you had any secret visitors?”
From the corner of my eye I could see the person whose funeral shroud I was sharing: a girl a little younger than me with wild red hair and freckles. The cold had frozen her eyelids open and iced over the corneas. There was dried blood on her lips. I squeezed my eyes shut.
“Visitors?” Elizabeth said. “There’s just the one door, and you have the only key.” She paused for drama’s sake. “Why, has someone come? It isn’t Juliet and Montgomery, is it?”
“Quiet, woman,” the Beast snapped. “Your only concern should be trying not to starve down here.”
“That’s just it,” Elizabeth said boldly. “We might starve, but you might, too. Let a few of my girls free, just to work in the kitchen. They can make enough food to keep us all alive, including you.” For a moment there was silence, and I was desperate to know what was happening. “Come now,” she entreated. “What was your plan—slaughtering the lambs in the barn and eating them raw? Not much of a proper meal. Wouldn’t you rather have roasted chops with a rosemary glaze, and buttered potatoes on the side? McKenna makes the most succulent lamb chops, I can assure you.”
I wondered if Elizabeth had noticed the same thing I had—that the Beast was more human than he was before. Roasted potatoes would never have appealed to him previously. It wasn’t just the lack of claws, but the fact that he’d kept them imprisoned instead of killing them. Could he have found a bit of humanity? Could he possibly be reasoned with?
“An interesting proposal, Mistress.” I could practically hear his mouth watering. “But I don’t know your servants, and therefore I don’t trust them. I shall take someone of my own choosing.”
His boots whirled, and then a startled cry came from one of the girls—only this cry I recognized.
“Lucy,” he said, low and seductive. “You’ve always been in love with Edward, haven’t you? He’s gone, but we do bear a striking resemblance. You can take care of me now. Come.” She shrieked as he dragged her toward the door. “I hope you know your way around a kitchen.”
The door slammed closed, and the massive lock clicked. It wasn’t but another moment before Elizabeth threw back the sheet. I jolted upright, away from the redheaded girl’s body, gasping for fresh air. I scrambled to the far end of the room, putting as much distance as I could between me and the bodies.
“He took Lucy,” Elizabeth said.
“I know.” I pressed a hand against my head, trying to think. “She won’t be safe for long, not once he realizes she doesn’t know the first thing about cooking. He might turn on her—any of us—at any moment. I don’t care that he doesn’t look like a monster anymore. He is one, at heart.” I squeezed my fist hard enough that my nails dug into my palm.
Elizabeth opened the secret door into the passageway and drew a key from a hidden pocket in her petticoats. “I’ve kept this from the Beast. It’s the key to my laboratory. You’ll find all manner of instruments there that can be used as a weapon. If the passageways lead there, I’ve never known about it, so you’ll have to enter the main part of the house.” She pressed a small sewing kit into my hand as well. “For Montgomery.”
“Thank you. I’ll be back for you all as soon as I can.”
I started to crawl back into the narrow passageway, but Elizabeth touched my back. “Wait, Juliet. If you see Hensley, please tell him to be careful. But also—be careful yourself. The Beast isn’t the only unpredictable one.” Her hand drifted to her bruised wrist. “Like most children, Hensley is subject to wild changes in moods over nothing. But unlike most children, he has unnatural strength. He doesn’t always realize when he hurts those he loves.”
I swallowed uneasily. “I understand.”
I crawled back through the tunnel until it opened more, and I was able to retrace my own footprints from earlier.
“Montgomery?” I whispered as loud as I dared.
“Here,” came a faint call.
I crawled faster until I found him. He’d moved into an alcove protected from view, leaving a trail of small dots of blood. I touched his hair, his face, his arms, to reassure myself he was safe.
“Take this,” I said, pressing the sewing kit into his hands. “Elizabeth gave it to me for your shoulder.”
“Elizabeth! She’s alive?”
“All of them are. The Beast locked them in the cellar.” I paused. “He’s different, Montgomery. He melded with Edward. He’s more human than he was before.”
In the shadows, I couldn’t make out Montgomery’s face. “Does that change anything?”
I balled my fist. There were times for mercy, but this wasn’t one of them. “No. He took Lucy. If I don’t stop him, there’s no telling what he’ll do to her. Besides, it isn’t just Lucy I’m worried about. We need to get everyone out of the house, so that you and I can face the Beast on our own. Balthazar came up with an idea. If one of us could lure him out of the house, the other could lead the servant girls to safety using the passageways.” I frowned down at his wounds. “I’m afraid you can’t do either, though.”
“It’s my shoulder that was hit, not my legs,” he said. “I can walk. I’ll stitch the wound myself and then sneak out of the house and set the goats loose. The Beast will smell them and come outside to investigate. That should give you time.”
I nodded, thinking. “We’ll need a signal for you to know everyone is safe and it’s time to lure the Beast back into the house.” I tapped my fingers anxiously against the wall. “The windmill. I’ll stain the sheets a different color for the signal.”
“That will work. Once you’ve gotten everyone to safety, promise me you’ll stay near Balthazar. He’ll keep you safe.” On impulse, he took my hand.
I intertwined my fingers with his. Who would keep him safe, I wondered?
“Go on,” he said softly. “They need you. But Juliet . . .” He pulled me closer. “Be careful.” He pressed his lips to mine, and I longed to hold onto him forever. Neither of us was blameless. We both had sins to atone for. And yet my love for him didn’t diminish.