I licked my dry lips. ‘We keep trying until we no longer can.’
‘Amen.’
She Without An Ear miaowed, then we hastily followed Thomas deeper into the maze.
I hada good sense of time, born out of many hours waiting for targets to appear or for the right moment to show itself, so I didn’t need to check my watch to know that thirty minutes passed before the strange rumbling started again.
Thomas flinched but then he straightened his shoulders and held his head high.
‘The maze shifts every half hour,’ Thane said.
‘It appears that way.’ I marked the wall with chalk, just in case. It wouldn’t hurt. ‘We can confirm it next time it moves.’
Thomas pointed. ‘There are two doorways ahead, one heading left and one heading right. Which way do we go?’
She Without An Ear miaowed. ‘Right,’ I said.
‘Why?’
I waited a beat but no further feline communication was forthcoming. I shrugged. ‘Why not?’
‘We’re basing our strategy on a cat?’ Thomas asked.
I could think of far worse things on which to base our strategy. ‘Do you have another plan?’
His silence was all I needed. ‘Right it is,’ I said and strode ahead.
We turned into the next maze corridor. It was shorter than the others and we were immediately confronted with a junction. She Without An Ear nudged my cheek with her paw. ‘Straight ahead?’ I asked.
She purred.
Alrighty. We crossed over – and as soon as we did, I realised there was something ahead. I held up my hand to stop. ‘Wait here,’ I said and handed She Without An Ear across to Thane. The cat protested but I ignored her. ‘This might be something.’ I paused. ‘It might be dangerous.’
Without waiting for a response, I skipped ahead. There was definitely something there, lying on the ground in a heap. I slowed my steps and approached it warily. Bones, I realised: I was looking at a collection of human bones and next to those bones lay a bag and the unmistakable form of an intact bellarmine jug.
Chester Longchamps. It had to be.
Taking out a pinch of Wicker light powder, I illuminated the area. Longchamps was dead for a reason and I wanted to ensure that we didn’t join him. There was no sign of any monster, but I spotted a streak of dried blood on one of the walls leading away from us. There appeared to be more dried blood on the ground but little else.
Thane and Thomas joined me. She Without An Ear jumpedto the ground and began to paw at the fallen jug, while Thomas stared at the yellowing bones. ‘Chester,’ he said quietly.
I nodded. ‘Presumably.’ Without the benefit of sunlight, his vampiric body wouldn’t turn to dust immediately but the lack of flesh suggested that the decomposition process was well underway.
I toed a section of ribcage and Thomas flinched. ‘About two months, right?’ I said. ‘For a vampire’s remains to fully decompose in an underground spot like this one?’
Thomas nodded. ‘The state of his bones fits with the time when he vanished. He likely died soon after he entered the maze.’ Something dark glittered in his red eyes. ‘He was a bastard. I’m not sorry.’ He bent down, picked up the bag and examined its contents. ‘A lot of his stuff will be useful, though.’
Thane picked up the bellarmine jug. ‘I suspect what’s in there will be most useful.’ He reached for the stopper.
‘Wait,’ I cautioned. I swung my backpack off my shoulders and rummaged inside for the preservation spell.
‘Trilby?’ Thane said.
‘They knew I’d be here sooner or later.’ How or why they knew was a different matter.
Thomas looked up and frowned. ‘Who’s Trilby?’
‘An above-grounder,’ I told him. ‘They run a stall at your market, though how often I don’t know.’
