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He offered me the cell, and I took it without attempting to catch his hand. I stepped away, dialed home, and asked a nonexistent boyfriend to come rescue me. Then I hung up and flashed the guard another smile.
“Thanks for that.”
I held out the phone. As he reached for it, I dropped it, then wrapped my hand around his and yanked him forward. Hard. But even unbalanced, he reacted, his free hand moving so fast it was almost a blur as he raised the gun. I clenched my fist and punched him in the neck. The gunshot zinged past my earlobe, and warmth spurted down my neck. I cursed silently and grabbed his leg, yanking his feet out from underneath him. He landed with a thump on his butt, his face at eye level and perfectly positioned for a punch.
I hit him again, feeling skin mash and bone shatter under the force of the blow. As he went down, I grabbed the gun, leapt up onto the platform, and ran into the hall. Over my shoulder, I said, “Azriel, hide the body in one of the rooms.”
I didn’t wait to see if he would do as I asked. The other guard would have heard the shot, but he hadn’t come running. Which meant he was either taking care of Tao or lying low. If it was the former then I had to get there fast. And if it was the latter …
I didn’t want to think about the latter. N
ot when there was already blood running down the side of my neck.
The end of the hall came into sight. It was a T-intersection, and shadows haunted both the left and right corridors. I slowed and flared my nostrils, searching through the scents in the air in an attempt to pinpoint the guard’s location. I couldn’t smell him, but Tao was located to the right, which meant the guard probably would be as well.
If I was wrong, I’d get a bullet in the back.
I closed my eyes briefly, gathered my courage, then ducked low and stepped out, keeping as close to the walls and the thicker shadows as I could.
At the far end of the corridor, a door was open. Inside, two men were struggling. The one on the bottom of the pile—and taking one hell of a beating—was Tao.
I slid to a stop and pointed the weapon. I might not have fired a gun at a human target before, but I did have weapons training—though I’m sure Mom would have had a fit if she’d known just how extensive Riley’s fight training had been.
Mom. My gut clenched at the mere thought of her. I thrust the fear aside and said, “Hey!”
The guard whipped around and reached for his weapon. He was fast, I’ll give him that, and had the weapon in his hand between one heartbeat and another. But I didn’t give him a chance to fire. My shot took him in the shoulder and flung him back against the wall. As his gun dropped to the ground, Tao twisted around and kicked it to the other side of the room.
“About fucking time you got here,” he said, his hostile tone negated by the relief evident even through the swelling almost encasing his eyes. “I was beginning to think I’d actually have to free myself.”
He’d obviously recognized my scent rather than my face. I grinned. “Have I ever let you down before?”
Amusement teased the corners of his lips. “Never, my sweet.”
“So there was no need for impatience now, was there?” I squatted down beside the guard and pressed two fingers against his neck. His pulse was rapid but strong. He might be out right now, but I doubted it would last all that long. I removed his shirt, tore it into strips, then tied his hands and feet together. I used the remainder to stanch the shoulder wound. I didn’t want him bleeding to death before Rhoan got here.
“Um, I could use a little attention myself,” Tao commented.
I squatted beside him. His hands had been chained tightly behind his back, and his wrists were raw and bloody. The silver was eating into his skin.
“Azriel,” I called softly.
Tao jumped when the reaper appeared next to him. “Damn,” he muttered, “I wish you’d give some warning before you do that. You could send a less sturdy heart into failure.”
“Given your heart is sturdy, I don’t see the problem.” Azriel glanced at me. “You wish me to melt the chain?”
“Please.”
He released Valdis and the sword began to hiss and spit fire. Azriel frowned. “There is magic attached to that silver.”
“Ilianna said that Tao had been spelled to prevent him using his fire—could the chain be the source?”
“Possibly.” He passed the tip of Valdis over the links, not quite touching them. The hissing grew more intense. “The spell is twofold. One is containment, the other is notification.”
I paused. “You can tell this by just passing the sword over the links?”
“I can’t. But Valdis can.”
“Hang on,” Tao said, craning his neck around to see what Azriel was doing. “Who the hell is Valdis?”
