He found an unsettled Nathaniel in the abbey, armed once again with the iron candlestick as he watched the door. Behind him, Meg tended to her father, who was sprawled on the flags.
"Come, Nat. We must take our leave," Will said.
Nathaniel's relief was palpable. "This is not the fun and games I was promised, Will. I will think twice the next time you invite me to a party." He turned to Meg and offered his hand, but she shook her head.
"I must tend to my father," she said, exchanging a long look of yearning with Nathaniel.
After a second, Nathaniel gave a restrained nod in parting and hurried to Will's side.
"There will be time to renew acquaintances another day," Will said.
"London is a world away." Nathaniel glanced back briefly as they passed through the door. With a wan smile, Meg waved goodbye. "And after this day, I understand why your time is spent in stews, and your heart your own."
"That is my world, Nat, not yours. I happen to like doxies. What they lack in romance, they make up for in vigorous entertainment."
The cloisters rang with the echoes of their running feet, and within seconds they were through the gatehouse to the forecourt where the carriages waited. Will informed Reidheid's driver that his master had instructed they be delivered to the house at Cowgate with speed.
Mere moments later, the carriage rattled through the gate in the west wall towards the sharply inclining cobbled street that led up to the castle. The city was dark, but candles burned in many of the windows in the tall stone houses on either side.
Will glanced back at the receding palace to ensure there was no sign of pursuit before settling back into the leather seat. He examined the amulet in the palm of his hand where it glowed dully in the half-light.
"This has been a good night, all told, Nat," he said. "We have escaped with the prize we sought, from under our Enemy's noses. We have shown them that England is a threat to be reckoned with-if they had not realised it yet, they know now they cannot abuse us with impunity. And-" He paused, allowing himself a moment to enjoy the memory. "-Tom Miller has been avenged. Our time in Edinburgh has been well spent. A victory on every front."
Lulled by the rocking of the carriage, Will put his feet up and considered the next stage. The Enemy would come looking for the Shield if they needed it to complete their mysterious plan, and that could possibly be used to England's advantage. A trap, perhaps. And then they could turn the tables and recover the Silver Skull, perhaps even strike a devastating blow at the Unseelie Court in the process.
He realised Nathaniel had slipped into morose silence, and was staring into the pitch black wynds that ran off the main street. "Thinking of Meg?" Will asked.
He shook his head. "Our enemies were not Spaniards, Will."
"Their allies-"
"Who were they?"
"Nat-"
"What were they, Will?"
A cold pit formed in the depths of Will's stomach. He would rather see Nathaniel dismissed and sent back to a more mundane life in the shires than be destroyed by the truth.
Before Will could put Nathaniel's mind at rest, a mournful howl echoed along the street from somewhere behind them. The cries of waking babies, the barks of chained dogs joining with it, the slams of shutters and doors, moved up the street like a drum roll.
Nathaniel started. "What was that? A hunting dog?" He paused uneasily. "I have heard no dog like that."
Will knew exactly what it was, and his frustration mounted and turned to anger. Pulling himself half out of the window, he peered back down the street, but there was only a sea of darkness. "Faster, driver!" he called. "As if the Devil was at your back!"
"Yes, sir!" At the driver's whip-crack, the horse picked up its pace so that Will and Nathaniel were thrown around in the back of the carriage.
"What is happening here?" Nathaniel said with an edge of desperation. "You urge the driver to speed because a dog howls? That makes no sense to me."
"The agents of the Spaniards do not give up easily, Nat," Will dissembled. "We need to reach the house in Cowgate where we will be safe, for now."
"Why safer there than here? Or at the palace?"
"Not now, Nat!" Will snapped.
Leaning out of the window once again, Will thought he could now see specks of red light swimming in that ocean of dark, and above the thunderous sound of the wheels on the cobbles, he wondered if he could truly hear the pounding of paws, like a blacksmith's hammers ...
"Hold tight, Nat! If you thought the journey to Edinburgh was hard, there is a rougher one to come!"
Glancing over his shoulder, the driver saw something that Will couldn't, for his face grew white and fixed in horror.
"Keep your eyes on the road!" Will yelled. "Let me worry about what is at our backs!"
As the howling grew louder, the driver cracked the whip wildly, driving the horse into a panic. The carriage skewed across the street, and as the driver guided it to the left towards Cowgate, it lifted off two wheels and threatened to turn over. Will and Nathaniel hurled themselves over to the other side to use their weight to bring the carriage down with a jolt.
"Damn him!" Will cursed. "He will kill us!"
"What scares him so?" Nathaniel shouted.
As the carriage raced down the slope towards Cowgate, Will dragged himself to look out of the window once more. The dog was by the side of the door, keeping pace perfectly. It turned its red eyes upon him, and then it leapt, jaws torn wide.
Will threw himself back just in time. Saliva splashed across his face as the motion of its snapping jaws caressed his skin.
The beast slammed against the side of the carriage with such force that it felt like they had been struck by another carriage. As the wheels skewed across the road again, the wood of the side and roof cracked and splintered under the brutal assault. The dog crashed across the roof and a second later the driver released a sickening shriek, abruptly cut short.
The carriage spun across the road in the opposite direction, the sound of the protesting wheels lost beneath the terrified neighing of the horse, quickly swallowed by a horrifying snarling as the dog tore the creature to pieces.
In the frenzy of the attack, the carriage pitched at an acute angle, hovered for a scant second, and then finally went over. Will and Nathaniel were flung across the interior as it crashed on the cobbles and skidded to a sudden, bone-jarring halt.
Dazed, Will checked on Nathaniel, who was stunned, lying in a heap. From nearby came wet echoes of the dog tearing through the remains of the horse. As he watched his friend, conflicting urges tore through Will. Could he put Nathaniel at risk of greater contact with the nightmarish world Will had protected him from for so long? What was more important: his friend's sanity and life, or the secret war?
"Nat! Nat!" Will whispered insistently, coming to a reluctant decision. "No bones broken? Good. I have work for you."
"N ... now?"
"Especially now." Will sat Nathaniel up and thrust the amulet into his hands with a pang of shattering regret and the feeling that he had damned him forever. "Take this back to the house. You will be safe there."
In the background, the rending and tearing died away.
"I am the one they want. I killed one of them. They believe I have the object they desire. You will have time to make good your escape before they realise their mistake."
"But they will kill you!"
A growl, circling the carriage.
"I made my peace with that outcome a long time ago. It is as inevitable as the snows of winter-if not now, then later." He pulled Nathaniel to his feet and helped him clamber out of the window above his head before flashing him a grin. "Know that I do not plan to go easily into the arms of the Reaper. "