Montague Von Vexx's Arc

Chapter 9 of 11

They turned back toward the castle, but a low groan stopped them on the path. It came from a squat stone building near the dark tower, one Montague had walked past a dozen times without a second look. Its door had been sealed for as long as he could remember. Now the seal was breaking from the inside. Black ooze pushed through the cracks in the old oak door. It ran down the steps in thick ropes and pooled at their boots. The tower behind it stood quiet, its red windows watching. Alastair drew Montague back by the sleeve and did not speak. The door split open. A pale hand pushed through the ooze, then an arm, then a face Montague had only ever seen in his mother's grief. A woman, thin and blinking, with their mother's eyes. She fell to her knees on the wet stone. Montague moved before Alastair could stop him. He caught her shoulders. She was warm. She was breathing. "I waited," she whispered. Alastair's hand closed on Montague's arm, steady at last. Their sister was alive. The plan had just changed.