I noticed the way Rhiannon’s breath caught when his hand slid lower onto the small of her back. Ember’s idea that she would eat him alive echoed in the back of my mind. Av didn’t participate in the conversation. Her eyes scanned the crowd for her spirit friends.
I’d seen the way she worked so many times, but this was particularly impressive. The Shades were directing paths of foot traffic, making it easier for us to move through the crowded gallery as the humans instinctively moved out of the spirits’ way. We were in sight of the auction hall when Avaline tensed.
She raised up on her tiptoes, placing a hand on my chest, batting her lashes at me. I bent down, appreciating the way she’d added a little spring in her movements, like she was excited to tell me some trivial secret. I let myself smirk, the smug expression of the asshole everyone assumed I was covering my face.
A few sharp looks told me that my ruse was working. All anyone saw was a man who’d fuck one of the most powerful women in the city, in public no less, one week and bring another to a major society event the next. That was good.
Av whispered in my ear. “There’s double the guards we expected, and they’re wearing strange uniforms.”
Ember responded immediately. “Down here as well.”
Av whispered. “The Shades say they’re closing in on us.”
Rhiannon had stepped ahead of Eryx, and was now several paces ahead of the rest of us. When she turned swiftly on her heels, my heart began to race. The look on her perpetually calm face was one of panic. It was only a flash, only for a moment, but whatever she’d seen, it had spurred her to action.
“Get out,” she hissed. “The swords are fake.”
Eryx didn’t ask her how she knew, he simply nodded, taking her hand in his. “We’re going now,” he said, keeping his voice low. “Av?”
Av nodded, turning to me with a petulant face. “Do we have to go so early? I wanted to bid.”
I smiled at her. “Rhiannon has a headache, darling.”
She buried her face in my arm, and I felt her lips moving in silent communication with the dead. A path opened up through the crowd and we took it. Shades materialized at our sides. I took a risk.
“Are you getting out, Verona?”
“Yes,” came the staticky reply. “We’re right behind you.”
But I heard the sound of clashing metal in the background. Somewhere below us, Ember and Lara were being attacked. The plan had gone to shit. We’d known this was probably a trap and bet that we could make our play in time to win. I didn’t have time to be devastated about being wrong.
We all had to get out, and fast. None of us were going to end up in the Asylum tonight. I squeezed Avaline’s hand and pushed her forward through the crowd. I murmured a prayer to Paloma for a miracle, and one to Tanith for a swift end if Paloma did not see fit to answer.
CHAPTER 38
EMBER
The soldiersthat streamed into the catacombs were not the caliber of the guards we’d dispatched earlier. These were warriors, through and through. As soon as Lara and I heard their footsteps, quiet and calculated, we shimmied up the ropes attached to our harnesses and into the shadowed archways of the watery room.
A soft crackle came through my earpiece, then Briony’s voice filled my ear. “Lara? Ember?”
Elsewhere on the comm line, faintly, I heard noises that I hoped meant our friends were escaping. Lara and I could make it out of this. We’d certainly fought our way out of worse. She held up her hands.Eight. She’d counted eight of them.
We could handle eight easily. I wasn’t worried, but neither did I want to give up the element of surprise. I made a soft noise, hoping Briony understood that we could not answer her.
“Okay,” she replied. “I take it you’re not in a position to answer. That’s fine.” The teenager sounded a little out of breath, like she might be pacing, or at the very least, pretty hyped up. It was probably the latter, and I wanted to know how much coffee Eli’d let her have, but of course now was not the time to ask.
For a moment, I watched as the soldiers fanned out, then I followed Lara onto a narrow passageway atop the catacombs’ arches. I nearly stumbled as something below caught my attention. When I paused to look, nothing was there, but I could have sworn I saw movement in the water below.
Please let me be wrong, I prayed to Paloma. Gargantuan sea monsters had never really been my thing. Not Kraken, not Ceti, not sweet blue whales.Respect the seahad always been my motto, and by that I meant,stay the fuck out of it.
The water rippled, a menacing movement and my heart sank. Unlike the soldiers, what might be in the water worried me, but we had to keep moving. Lara silently counted us down through long-established hand signals, giving me tactical directions so I could listen to Briony over the comm line. I nodded to Lara to show I read her clearly.
Three.
“Two things…”
Two.
