He grunts and lists to one side, eyes widening as blood trickles from his mouth.
Taking advantage, I hit him again. Hard. Something small and sharp pings off of my cheek.
A shard of tooth.
Groaning, Lyam clasps both hands to his face. He sways on his feet. Seconds pass as he stands in shock, cradling his jaw. Then his expression hardens, and the anger is back.
He steps toward me.
I raise the bloody chunk of rock.
Lyam tries to speak, but the sound is a gurgling mumble. After one last glare, he retreats, backing away with unsteady steps.
He backs toward the stairwell, teeters on the top step.
Gravity overtakes him, his upper body bending back until one leg flails in the air. Then he’s gone.
Thuds and grunts echo as he tumbles, but at last, he’s silent.
I wrap my arms around myself and lean against the door. Emotion builds in my gut before climbing out in tearless sobs. Every breath hurts, whistling through my swollen throat.
Still desperate to be outside and away from this place, I grasp for the rim of the window.
A hand wraps around mine, and I scream.
“Brooke. It’s okay. It’s okay.” Wet fingers squeeze mine. André. “Help is coming.” He reaches through and puts a hand on my shoulder.
“How did you know?” I ask, my voice scraping through bruised tissue.
“Luci called me. She called everybody.” He pats my shoulder. “I’m here now, and I won’t leave you. Just hold on.”
His assuring gaze fixes on me, and I sink with relief. With it come the tears. Tears of pain and fear, anger and loss. A flood of emotion that chokes my words. With my head resting on the door and my hand in André’s, all I can do is nod.
And hold on.
53
The foyer is filled with people. I sit on a bench in Maison Marteau, a blanket around my shoulders and Luci at my side.
It’s been an hour since André found me, and he, too, remains close by. After Luci called him and told him what was happening, he went out into the storm, checking the nearest entrances to the catacombs.
When he found me, he stayed with me, his hand locked with mine. Not long after, a neighbor came with tools to open the door.
I’ll never forget that moment. The metallic snap of the bolt cutter, padlock clanking to the cobblestones. I pushed out for my first breath of freedom, never happier to see the sky. Even as it poured rain on my face.
Across the room, Ric stands huddled with his parents. Chantal and Vincent wear tense expressions, but neither of them looks like they’ve shed a tear.
Though their son’s body lies below us in the dark.
Lyam didn’t tumble far, but the fall was fatal. André and the neighbor went down long enough to find him and confirm his death.
His body will be recovered, but not before Alice’s. Luci made sure of this when the first police officers arrived. She sent them down with a hand-drawn map after I described the room.
The room where I found Alice.
I picture the dark, red stain beneath her, and shivers course through me.
“You’re freezing,” Luci says, wrapping her arm around me as if to share her warmth.
