Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer [54]
There was a grotesque thing in the safe room. It had apparently discovered the secret compartment. Not only that but it had managed to open the whisper lock. Amazing. Butler had it covered though. He was sneaking up behind the creature, and any moment now the intruder would find itself nose down in the carpet.
Artemis switched his attention to Holly. The elf was back to bed banging. Slamming the frame down over and over again, as though she could . . .
It hit Artemis then, like a blast from a water cannon. If Holly had somehow smuggled an acorn in here, then one square centimeter of ground would be enough. If Juliet left that door open . . .
“Juliet!” he shouted into the walkie-talkie. “Juliet! Don’t go in there!”
But it was useless. The girl’s walkie-talkie lay buzzing on the kitchen floor, and Artemis could only watch helplessly as Butler’s sister strode toward the cell door, muttering about carrots.
“The safe room!” exclaimed Butler, quickening his pace. His instinct was to go in all guns blazing, but training took over. Fairy hardware was most definitely superior to his own, and who knew how many barrels were aimed at the other side of that door right now. No, caution was most definitely the best part of valor in this particular situation.
He placed a palm against the wood, feeling for vibration. Nothing. No machinery then. Butler curled his fingers around the knob, twisting gently. With his other hand, he drew a Sig Sauer automatic from his shoulder holster. No time to fetch the dart rifle, he would have to shoot to kill.
The door swung open noiselessly, as Butler knew it would, having oiled every hinge in the house himself. Before him was . . . Well, to be honest, Butler wasn’t quite sure what it was. If he didn’t know better, that is at first glance, he could have sworn that the thing resembled nothing more than an enormous quivering. . . .
Suddenly the thing exploded, jettisoning an amazing amount of tunnel waste directly at the unfortunate manservant. It was like being battered with a hundred sledgehammers simultaneously. Butler was lifted bodily and flung against the wall.
And as he lay there, consciousness slipping away from him, he prayed that Master Artemis hadn’t managed to capture the moment on video.
Holly was weakening. The bed frame was nearly twice her body weight and the ridges were tearing cruel welts in her palms. But she couldn’t stop now. Not when she was so close.
She slammed the post into the concrete again. A cloud of gray dust spiraled around her legs. Any second now, Fowl would tumble to her plan and she’d get the hypodermic treatment again. But until then . . .
She gritted her teeth against the pain, heaving the bed frame to knee height. Then she saw it. A sliver of brown among the gray. Could it be true?
Pain forgotten, Captain Short dropped the bed, sinking quickly to her knees. There was indeed a small patch of earth poking through the cement. Holly fumbled the acorn from her boot, clasping it tightly in bloody fingers.
“I return you to the earth,” she whispered, worming her fist into the tiny space. “And claim the gift that is my right.”
Nothing happened for a heartbeat. Perhaps two. Then Holly felt the magic rush up her arm like a jolt from an electrified troll fence. The shock sent her spinning across the room. For a moment the world swirled in a disconcerting kaleidoscope of color, but when it settled, Holly was no longer the defeated elf she had been.
“Right, Master Fowl.” She grinned, watching the blue sparks of fairy magic seal her wounds. “Let’s see what I have to do to get your permission to leave this place.”
“Drop everything,” sulked Juliet. “Drop everything and check the prisoner.” She flicked blond tresses expertly over a shoulder. “He must think I’m his maid or something.”
She hammered on the cell door with the flat of her hand.
“I’m coming in