“Mistress!” Auriana said, moving to stand between the apparition and Feor. “Run!”

“No!” Feor’s voice was thick with despair. Justin, her other student, grabbed her by the arm and dragged her back toward the kitchen, and Marcus and Raesinia followed suit.

Auriana raised her hand, and the giant suddenly paused. He leaned forward and took another step, straining as though walking into a heavy wind. His back foot, digging in for purchase, broke through a floorboard with a crunch.

“No . . . ,” Feor moaned, looking over her shoulder.

“Can she hold him?” Marcus said.

“She’s not strong enough—”

Auriana looked back at them. Her face was a crimson mask, blood pouring from her nose and the corners of her eyes.

“Mistress, run.” Her voice was a bubbly rasp.

“Marcus!” Giforte shouted. “Come on!”

There was firing in the backyard. Giforte had gathered two dozen Mierantai, and they charged the thin cordon of Patriot Guard hiding in the back hedges. Several were hit by musketry as they ran, but the Guards took to their heels before their opponents reached them. Lieutenant White and several of his flik-flik crew, sacks of equipment on their back, followed at a dead run.

Marcus took hold of Raesinia’s arm in one hand and Feor’s in the other, and ran, Justin keeping up behind them. A rear guard of Mierantai followed, while the second floor of the house still spit and fumed rifle fire, keeping the Patriot Guards hunkered down. A piercing scream cut through the battle racket, and Marcus knew the monstrous Penitent had broken through Auriana’s desperate defense.

Giforte, ahead, was beyond a small gate in the hedge and waving frantically. Marcus and his two charges reached it just as the kitchen door of the house exploded, bits of doorframe flying into the yard as the giant shouldered his way through.

“Just run!” Marcus shouted.

But the rear guard was already turning, rifles lowered and bayonets fixed. A volley crashed out, balls pocking the wood around the door and scoring again and again on the monster. His huge head snapped back, and Marcus could see a strip of the black mask hanging loose where a ball had torn it, with a smudge of red underneath.

Marcus ran, following Giforte and the flik-flik team. As the captain had said, the hedge door led onto an alley, twisting between the rear walls and hedges other estates. Screams from behind them indicated that the Penitent was in pursuit.

“Giforte!” Marcus said. The captain slowed enough for him to pull alongside, breathing hard. “We’ll lead him off, through one of these other yards. You get clear!”

“But—”

“White and the others will never outrun him!” The flik-flik team was visibly flagging under the weight of their equipment. “He wants Raesinia. We’ll draw him off and try to lose him. You have to get word to Janus.”

Giforte considered only for a moment, then gave a quick nod. “Good luck!”