I moved further down the hall, closing the distancebetween me and the armed men. The line of soldiers shifted slightly, some of them were clearly not prepared to face me.
“I’ll give you one chance to leave,” I said in a calm voice.
“Drop your weapons, Kent,” someone shouted.
I did not plan to waste any more time. Without any effort, I jumped and kicked off the wall, rotating my body in the air, and released three of my daggers almost at the same time. When three of the soldiers fell to the ground, one by one, I was already by the front line. Frozen by a sudden bout of stupor, my next blade easily took out soldier number four. Quickly recovering, I collected my knives that were still dripping with blood. The next moment, I had to avoid a direct strike from a sword, then kicked the attacker in his groin, before slicing his arm. The wound was severe enough to stop him from fighting, but not bad enough to kill him on the spot.
Next, two men received slashes right below their knees as I crouched between them. Then I slowly stood up, watching the remaining group that no longer looked so eager to fight. They eyed the gruesome injuries I generously bestowed on their friends.
“You fucker. I always knew you were off.”
The familiar voice came from the opposite corner. It was the soldier, whose name I never cared to remember, that tried to ambush me with a couple of his friends. Slowly, I turned my head in his direction.
“I was the sword fighting champion in my division. Ifanyone can take you out, it would be me.” He kept talking as I stepped closer.
The hall was filled with pools of blood and the groans and cries of the defeated. I stepped through the bodies, closing in on the last guard.
“You’ll regret ever coming at me,” the soldier warned.
I could clearly hear the uncertainty at the edge of his voice.
“I will spare you if you show me where the queen's apartments are.”
“I’m not showing you shit!”
I took off my knife, then my arm stilled by my side.
“You're a freak!” He clenched the handle of his rapier with both hands.
The next couple of moments were a blur of explosive actions. I sprinted forward, avoiding the swing of his blade. I took two quick steps up the wall and rotated my body in the air, while releasing two of my daggers that landed precisely in each arm of the guard.
“You fucking stabbed me!” the guard squealed from where he fell on the floor.
“Where are the queen’s apartments?”
“Don’t... Don't! I’ll tell you everything,” he whimpered.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Mayer approaching me.
“I didn’t want you to be involved in this.” I gave him a side eye.
“Too late,” he responded.
His shoulders were slumped forward, but his face was a mask of somber determination.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
I returned all of my attention to the man who was rolling on the floor.
“Well?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
ALINA
My eyes darted from window to window. If only I could get to one, then I could transform. But as if knowing what I was thinking, both soldiers tightened their grip on my arms, nearly dislocating my shoulder. I cried out.
