“I don’t know. I was brought here and left. A guard brings me food and water once a day and lets me relieve myself. If there are others, they haven’t been around for a party yet,” Versanne finished wryly.
Malcolm helped him to his feet, surprised by how much weight the man had lost and how unsteady he appeared. He wouldn’t be running circles around anyone. They would be lucky if he could make it out of the catacombs considering how many stairs they had to climb. It would probably take until dawn.
“Just stand there,” Malcolm said to Versanne. “But when the guard comes make some noise. Keep talking to him. I’ll be close by.”
As soon as he slipped around the bend into the shadows, he heard the guard exclaim in surprise.
“What areyoudoing down here?”
“As if you didn’t know,” Versanne retorted. “I have lost track of how long I’ve been in this hell.”
The guard probably told the truth and hadn’t known, or he wouldn’t have brought Serena into the catacombs. It didn’t matter. The man worked for Boney, and Malcolm couldn’t let himself be seen.
Stealthily, he tiptoed around the corner. The guard’s back was to him, his gun drawn and pointed at Versanne. And Serena stood a few feet behind. An angel in the darkness, her hair reflected the lantern light like a shining sun brought down to Hades.
“I don’t know how long I’ve been held down here,” Versanne said, talking loudly. “Is this how the emperor treats the citizens of Paris?”
The guard was undaunted. “If Imperial soldiers put you here, then they must have a—”
Malcolm launched himself onto the man’s back, and the guard dropped the gun with a yelp of surprise. Even Serena cried out at his sudden appearance. Wrapping his arm around the man’s neck, he used a practiced hold until the guard went limp, and Malcolm instantly released him to the floor.
Serena was in his arms nearly before the man hit the limestone. He could feel her trembling, which startled him since she’d been so brave in all other situations. He wished he could hold her until she calmed, but they needed to get moving.
“The guard won’t be asleep for long,” Malcolm said, setting her from him and moving toward the chains he’d left on the cavern floor.
“What are you doing?” She looked horrified.
Being careful not to give Versanne’s name, he said, “My associate is not strong at the moment—”
“Bah!” Versanne said. “I’m fine,Anglais.”
Malcolm ignored him. “It’s going to take us a while to get back to the top. I have to chain this man so he doesn’t come after us.”
“But we can’t leave him down here in the dark,” she said, sounding revolted.
“They left me,” Versanne said.
“He said he didn’t know you were here,” she pointed out, turning on the Frenchman.
Malcolm had to put a stop to her interference and the quibbling. After he’d chained the man’s hands and feet, he snatched up the second lantern.
“Let’s go.”
“No,” she said stubbornly, “we cannot leave him.”
“If he came after us, I would have to shoot him,” Malcolm explained. “This is better. The same soldier who has been bringing my associate food and water every day will find the guard tomorrow and set him free. Now come. We’ll go out the way we came in. It’s closer than the exit at the other end of the catacombs.”
As Malcolm expected, Versanne needed assistance getting back to the entrance and even more help going up the stairs. Letting Serena go first and light the way since she seemed desperate to escape, he got his old comrade onto the steps and moving sluggishly upward. Each time Versanne faltered, Malcolm pushed him from behind. It was gruelingly slow.
Before they’d made much progress, the sound of many feet up above, quickly descending, made them all freeze.
“We are sunk,” Versanne announced in his usual optimistic view.
“Hurry,” Malcolm said, determined to get off the stairs since Serena was in the direct line of fire. Practically dragging Versanne, he pivoted, and soon they were back in the entrance chamber.
“Behind the display cases?” Serena suggested.
Malcolm glanced at them. They were enormous, and it was unlikely he could shift them although he appreciated her faith in his strength.
