THE BEARDED HUNGARIAN SMILED ATme. Not a cruel smile. Not a victorious one, either. It was a bit sad, as if I were some dumb, poor beast that had just discovered it had been fatally shot and would soon end up on the hunter’s dinner plate.
Behind him, two dark figures emerged from the misty cavern mouth and stood like soldiers, awaiting a command: the robed men who’d been following us.
Hands shaking, I dazedly stared at the man through the bars. Sarkany... Rothwild. One and the same. It was Rothwild who’d given me the bewitched banknote in the hotel lobby. Rothwild who’d followed us onto the Orient Express. Who’d stolen Lovena’s wolf dog. Who’d killed the widow and made the baroness jump. All Rothwild.
And Rothwild who wore two of the bone rings on his finger.
He’d known the entire time that he needed all three rings.
He just hadn’t known where to find them. Not until Huck and I led him to Sighi?oara. And here, to Bra?ov.
I could hear his heartbeat. The men in robes. My father’s—I could hear them all. Yet it was different. Not the scattered thumping from the ring in the museum. Not the stronger thumps from the twins’ ring. This was louder, slower—as if all their heartbeats were nearly in unison. A heartbeat with a murmur. A sickening, rhythmicswishbetween the thumps.
Blood music.
“Now, then,” Rothwild said as if all of this were perfectly normal. “I believe you have something that belongs to me. Kindly hand it over if you don’t want to perish in that dungeon cell with your father.”
“Donotgive it to him!” Father bellowed.
Rothwild pressed his face to the bars. My father’s big arm shot around my waist and picked me off the ground. He carried me several steps back. Away from Rothwild and the barred door.
“Touch her, and I’ll kill you,” Father said, setting me down.
Rothwild’s deep-set eyes gleamed. “With what? Your arm is quite broken. A wounded bear cannot protect its cub. Miss Fox, make this easy on yourself and hand me the ring.”
“Don’t you dare!” Father warned me.
Like I would? I wasn’t a fool. It was the only thing we had for bargaining.
Rothwild squinted at me. “You were clever, burning the banknote in Bucharest. Did you have help? Is it the crow witch’s work? A protective spell? Maybe a charm? I know you saw her.”
“AndIknow you stole her dog.”
He spread his arms out, shrugging. “I only wanted the bone ring band. I asked nicely. I was even willing to pay. If she’d given it to me, I would have let her be.” He let his arms drop to his sides. “Alas, she didn’t deserve Lupu. What kind of parent can’t protect their own children?” His eyes flicked to my father’s face. “Not a very good one.”
Father spat a string of filthy curses.
Rothwild ignored him and continued speaking to me. “She’ll get what’s coming to her. Right now I’m more interested in what the Zissu brothers gave you.”
“Oh?” I said, trying to match his casual tone. “And what’s that?”
He glowered at me. “You want to play games? We will play. Lovena’s warding magic is weak. It won’t hold, not here. For the time being, however, why don’t the two of you take some time to think over your predicament. I think you’ll come to the only conclusion.”
“Which is?” I said, fighting dizziness and the horrible sound of the bone ring’s bands.
“I’m the only person with a key to that cell,” he said, smiling darkly. “And while you’re wasting my time, who will protect the Irish boy? Not your crow witch, and certainly not the Zissu brothers. I can tell you that.”
No!
I shouted at Rothwild, but he was already striding away. The thumping noise grew weaker with every step he took. And after he’d exited through the cavern tunnel, leaving his two robed goons flanking either side of it, the bone ring’s sound disappeared completely.
“Empress?” my father said, sounding concerned. “You all right?”
I pushed his hand away, angry and frustrated. Panicked. I didn’t have the strength or patience to explain the sound of the ring bands to him. And what did that matter when we were both stuck behind bars?
“Did you hear what that man said?” I picked up the flashlight from where he’d dropped it. The lens was cracked. The beam flickered off and on before steadying. “He’s already hurt Huck once.”
“He’s a tough lad. If Jean-Bernard can survive that poison, so can Huxley.”
