Page 132 of The Dragon and the Dove

Chapter 34 Valerie

Val was a saint but right now she felt about as useful as one of the boulders Anouk had dredged up from the Verne. Less useful. At least they were being assembled into golems. Creatures, who along with Ransom’s monstrous shadow dragon, were currently terrorizing the city. Scattering the townsfolk. Levelling buildings. Killing bannermen trapped in Andreas’s thrall.

Val’s magic burned in her chest.

This wasn’t the plan.

The Hales weren’t in their right minds.

They weren’t in control.

Sera plummeted down the fire escape to stop them, while Val fought Caruso’s hold on her.

Apparently he didn’t give a rat’s ass about her free will.

‘Get off me, you brute!’ she yelled, trying to wriggle free.

‘Not unless you promise to stay on this roof,’ he said, tightening his arms around her.

‘I can’t breathe.’

‘If you can complain, you can breathe.’

‘Oh, piss off!’ She stamped on his foot.

It earned her a breathy laugh. ‘Vicious little kitten.’

Spinning in his arms, she lifted her chin to glare at him. ‘You should have warned us he’d try something like this.’

His brows lifted. ‘How the hell could I have predicted this?’

‘You were Andreas’s lapdog until two weeks ago!’

Those bright eyes darkened. ‘I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.’

‘Pretend what you like.’ She shoved him off, and this time he released her. ‘You should have seen it coming.’

‘What do I look like, Saint Oriel?’

Another chorus of screams rang out as Ransom’s dragon swooped over Merchant’s Way. ‘We need to get off this stupid rooftop.’

Raising a warning finger, Caruso growled, ‘Make one move towards that fire escape, and I swear to Saint Cadel I will tie you to that chimney until Merchant’s Way is completely deserted. We’re supposed to be on watch.’

She rolled her eyes. ‘The Strix aren’t coming! This is just another one of the Silver-tongue’s performances. We’re wasting—’

Click.

Val froze at the sound of a crossbow arrow sliding into place.

Caruso stiffened as it whistled past his left ear, narrowly avoiding both of them.

He whipped his head around. ‘Where the fuck did that come from?’

Val barely had time to register the weapon Sera had dropped by the fire escape – or the man now wielding it – before the next arrow flew.

She threw herself at Caruso, knocking them both to the ground with less than a heartbeat to spare. The arrow whooshed overhead, shattering a window in the next building.

They leaped to their feet as their assailant darted behind the chimney, frantically loading another arrow. Caruso charged him. The arrow skewed skywards as he pounced, both men hitting the ground in a thud. Caruso landed the first punch. And then five more in quick succession. With remarkable quickness, the man’s face went from pale to purple, blood spattering the rooftop in generous globs.