was swollen and mean-looking. “Oh, right,” she said, pulling it out of his grip and wincing. “It must have happened when I smacked into the wall of the tunnel. It didn’t hurt until you mentioned it just now.”

Ian frowned, worried about the nasty gash. “We’ll need to get that tended to. Come on, then. Let’s sneak into the keep and get you cleaned up and a bandage put on your hand before someone spots us. Then we can think up a good story to tell them about the beast.”

Just then a voice to Ian’s right said, “Lookit the two lazy gits, lying around all day while the rest of us work on our chores!”

Ian cringed. The voice belonged to the most hated boy at the orphanage, Searle Frost. He was a recent addition to Delphi, having been dropped off one afternoon by an elderly aunt who claimed not to be able to care for him any longer. It soon became apparent why. Searle was a difficult child and a bully through and through. He was also one of the few boys at the orphanage who were bigger than Ian.

“Theo,” Ian whispered. “Go on to the back of the keep and see if you can’t get in through the laundry room in the cellar.”

“But what about you?” she whispered back.

“I’ll be along as soon as I’ve dealt with Searle.”

“Ian …,” Theo moaned. “Don’t cause trouble. Just ignore him—ow!” Theo’s hand flew to the top of her head, where a rock had just bounced off.

In an instant Ian had jumped to his feet and was hurtling toward Searle. “How dare you hit a girl!” he roared.

Searle, who’d been laughing and pointing at Theo, quickly became serious and focused on Ian, charging toward him. He pulled up his sleeves, bracing himself as Ian barreled into him.

Ian and Searle collided with a great whump and Ian tumbled to the ground, pulling Searle with him. He rolled on top of the larger boy and got in a solid punch to his chin, but a moment later the air left his lungs as Searle’s fist connected with his stomach. Ian lurched forward and tried to get his knee up into Searle’s belly, but he missed and sent it into Searle’s elbow instead, which, judging from the boy’s yelp, hurt fiercely.

Squirming around, Ian quickly wound his arm under Searle’s chin, attempting a headlock, but his adversary’s elbow found Ian’s rib cage and he grunted again in pain. He heard the shouting of other children who had come over to watch the fight, and somewhere, mixed into the frenzy of noise, he heard Theo shouting, “Stop it! Both of you, stop!”

But Ian didn’t stop. His anger was fueled by fear from being chased by a giant beast as well as the building fury from being fed up with Searle. As the two tumbled around on the ground trying to gain the commanding position, Ian shoved his elbow as hard as he could into Searle’s stomach. By this time Ian had his face buried under Searle’s arm, but he heard a satisfying “Uhn!” as he made contact. A moment later his satisfaction evaporated when Searle’s fist connected with his cheek. He saw stars before he was lifted off the ground by his shirt collar, then dropped to the earth like a sack of potatoes.

Ian sat dumbly for a beat or two, his head still a bit dizzy when he blinked and saw the keep’s groundskeeper, Landis, with a choke hold around Searle. And then, from behind Landis, a chilling voice demanded, “What is going on here?”

Ian looked up to see Madam Scargill marching toward them, wearing a frosty look of anger.

“I caught these two having a bit of a row, ma’am,” said Landis. “I think they was fighting over this.” With his free hand he held up the box Ian had found in the tunnel.

“That’s mine!” Ian said, jumping to his feet and attempting to snatch it out of Landis’s hands. But the groundskeeper held it high out of his reach. “Landis, that’s my box!”

“Is not!” Searle snarled from the crook of Landis’s elbow. “It’s mine and you stole it from me!”

Ian’s jaw dropped. He genuinely disliked Searle, but he’d never expected his nemesis to be so deceitful. “That’s a lie!” he roared, his hands balling into fists as he readied himself to go at it with Searle again.

Landis must have sensed Ian’s intent, because he shook his head in warning and said in a low, measured voice, “Now,