“Don’t stand,” he said to me. “Roll until you’re clear.”

“And then what?”

“Run.”

At least the plan was easy to follow. I rolled to the right until I reached the conference table. It remained upright and underneath was the syringe. Unbroken. I palmed it, careful not to prick my skin even though I was immune.

A few guards regained their feet and yanked the fabric up, exposing my hiding place. Right as I resumed rolling, a pair of black boots with scapulas stitched on them blocked my path. I stopped and stared at the boots to keep from panicking. The flat triangular shoulder bones worked well as shin guards, reminding me of Tohon’s comment about using all your resources.

“Going somewhere?” the Skeleton King asked.

I glanced around. More pairs of boots surrounded the king. At least Belen had escaped for now.

“Not anymore.” I pressed my arms to my chest, covering my raw and bleeding flesh. The thought of being tortured again almost pushed me over the edge.

“Get up,” he ordered.

And then I remembered. “I need help.”

When he reached under to clasp my hand, I jabbed the syringe’s needle into his palm at the same time as I grabbed his wrist with my other hand. He tried to jerk back, but I held on tight and depressed the plunger, sending the plague into his body.

He screamed and dragged me out from under the table. I released him as the guards pulled their swords while still keeping the fabric off the Skeleton King’s head. Impressive.

The king yanked the needle from his hand and slammed his palm down on the conference table. “Cut my hand off at the wrist,” he ordered. “Now!”

Smart. Too bad his confused guards didn’t catch on. They hesitated over his alarming request, allowing the plague to spread up his right arm.

The Skeleton King snatched a sword from one of his men.

“Elbow by now,” I said.

The king swung the blade down on his elbow. With the awkward angle and limited range of motion, he didn’t have enough force to sever the arm. All he managed was a nasty gash.

Frantic, he pushed the sword back into the guard’s hands. “Cut my arm off at the shoulder or I’ll die.” He knelt next to the conference table and stretched his arm across the top.

Finally catching on, the guard brought the weapon down on the king’s shoulder. An awful scraping noise and a loud crack sounded. However, the king’s arm remained in place.

“Wow, that bone armor really works,” I said.

He stood to pull off his chest protector.

I shook my head. “Too late.”

When he rounded on me, I knew I should have kept my mouth shut. The Skeleton King seized my upper arms and yanked me to my feet.