The Unfailing Light

The bookcases themselves began to fall over. Madame did not move, but she started to sing in a low, shaky voice. I stepped closer to listen, but could not make out the words. It sounded like an old Russian lullaby.

I heard Sucre's warning in a low voice behind me. "Duchess, get down!"

I turned in time to see a white, furry mass hurtling in my direction. I screamed and dropped to the floor. It was an enormous wolf, and it dove straight for Madame Metcherskey.

"Stop!" I screamed. I didn't care anymore if I woke every last person in the institute. I screamed until I was hoarse.

Madame never stopped singing. Not until the wolf had ripped her throat out.

The wolf held fast to Madame, growling low. Madame did not fight or struggle at all.

"Get a stick or something! Can't you stop it?" I cried, scrambling backward out of the room on my hands and knees. "Kill it! Hurry!"

Sucre shook his head. "It's too late to save her, Duchess." He held out his hand to me but I pushed it away.

I heard a sickening crunch as the wolf's jaws clamped down on Madame's neck. My stomach heaved. Danilo pulled me up and curved me toward him so I wouldn't see.

"I wish I could throw a glamour over all of this for you," Sucre said, "but it's taking everything I have to keep the noise from reaching the other rooms."

I shook my head, not even caring that I was sobbing into the crown prince's shoulder. "It's all my fault. I brought Madame back with my horrible curse. She deserved so much better than this."

The bookcase stopped shaking, and the ghost stopped wailing too. I did not know if the wolf had scared off the ghost or not. But the wolf's terrible business was finished. It let go of Madame's neck, her spine completely severed. There was no blood since she had already been dead, but there was a terrible stench. I could not hold my stomach contents in anymore. I pushed away from the crown prince and retched in the corner.

The wolf rocked back on its haunches, preparing to leap. It stared at me with its yellow eyes and I felt a shiver run down my spine. It was as if the wolf knew me.

"Get out of the way!" Sucre said, as the wolf leapt over us and ran down the hallway. With a loud crash, it broke through the large window at the stairwell landing. It was a long drop to the snow-covered ground below.

We ran to the end of the hallway and looked out. "Careful of the glass, Duchess," Sucre warned. The wolf was nowhere to be seen. It had landed on all four paws below us, then run off into the woods.

I looked around and back down the hall, toward the library. "What a mess!"

"No one will see it. I will make sure of it." Sucre looked me up and down. "You have caused enough trouble for the night. Clean yourself up and get some rest."

"But-"

"Now, Duchess. The crown prince and I will take care of this."

Danilo looked at the library with disgust. "I'm not sure what you wish me to do, Monsieur."

I nodded, trying hard to hold back tears, so they would not see. It was no use. Sucre spotted a teardrop and touched a finger to my cheek. "Ah, the taste of sorrow and regret," he said, licking his finger. "Bittersweet."

I shuddered and hurried back to my room. I did not care if the headmistress found them or not.

It was close to dawn, and our room was dim and gray. Elena and Aurora were still snoring, but Alix's bed was empty. My heart skipped a beat, and I ran back down the hall to tell Sucre. She could be killed by the wolf if it spotted her.

"Monsieur! Alix is missing!"

"Oui?" He looked thoughtful. "Return to bed at once, Duchess. I will go and look for her."

"But-"

"I am here under the empress's orders to keep all the students at Smolny safe. You will be safe if you stay in your room. Your crown prince has already taken the remains to dispose of them. Everything will be back to normal in a few hours."

I wanted to laugh. What was normal anymore? A giant wolf had sneaked into Smolny and attacked my undead teacher. An undead teacher who had been trying to calm an angry adolescent ghost out of terrorizing the students. I shook my head and headed back to my room. I was too tired to argue any more with Sucre. I decided to trust him to bring Alix back safe.