Page 9 (1/2)

The guards The one who’d letof keys One of them had to open Juliet’s shackle Once the silver was off her, she’d gain strength and start to heal

I hoped

I hurried to the guard who’d fallen in the hallway His key ring jutted out from his hip I re the way, I noticed that one of the gray metal doors was stenciled with the word Kitchen I tried the knob; it opened

The Goon Squad’s kitchen looked azines and newspaper sections strewn across its top There was a ht Beyond the counter was a refrigerator

I opened the fridge and surveyed its contents On the top shelf sat a carton of s, and a Tupperware container of so for: bottles of blood Juliet had coive her some nourishment

With four bottles clenched in my arms, I left the kitchen and returned to Juliet’s cell She was still on the cot, rhythood foot As soon as she sahat I carried, she reached for the bottles She downed the first tithout taking a breath I started to uncap the third, but she shook her head

"Can you get this silver off h the keys until I found a few that looked like they ht fit the shackle On the third try, the lock clicked open Juliet sighed with relief as the silver fell away from her skin I dropped the shackle on the floor, away from her A puff of smoke went up where some silver links touched the Old One’s body I picked up the chain again, considering--it ainst the Old Ones

I wrapped the length of chain around my waist, like a belt, the perfect accessory for my ruined dress My kind of fashion statement: Mess with me and you’re dead

Juliet scooted forward to the edge of the cot "I’ It didn’t look better If anything, it looked worse: foul-sreenish pus mixed with the blood that ran toward her ankle I cut a strip of cloth from the fallen Old One’s robe and used it to bind up the wound

I looked at Juliet’s bright orange prison outfit, PRISONER stenciled in bold letters across the back Not exactly subtle "Would you wear that thing’s robe?" I asked "We could pull the hood forward to hide your face"

She wrinkled her nose with distaste, but she nodded I stripped the robe off the Old One, revealing an eated bones

Juliet shuddered "And to think I once wanted to join theiven me about the Old Ones But we didn’t have time for more questions now Black Robe had been about a foot taller than Juliet, so I had to cut arment was on her and the hood pulled up, she was inize You almost couldn’t tell there was anyone inside the robe at all

Juliet stood and took a step Iave way, and she collapsed in a heap on the floor She hoith frustration and pounded the Old One’s corpse with her fists

"Hold these" I handed her the bottles of blood and then scooped her up in my arms like a child I tucked Brown Robe’s sword under my arm As I carried Juliet out of the cell, she twisted around to stare at the headless, dried-out yellow corpse that lay on the floor Then ere down the hall, up the stairs, and breathing the frosty air of a cold March night

6

THE ALLEY BEHIND CREATURE COMFORTS, A MONSTER BAR in the New Coh with trash and reeking with the scents of urine and vo out at one o’clock in theto hide Juliet here until I could talk to Axel, the bar’s owner, about giving her refuge The scarier and more deserted the alley, the better

After we’d slipped out of the Goon Squad building, I headed straight for this alley, hugging the buildings and staying in the shadows I was pretty sure no one had seen us Now, I looked up and down the deserted alley Certainly no one had followed us