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Killian
“Nobody calls me Josephine and lives, Lieutenant.”
The longer I spent in Jo’s presence the more I liked her. I damn well respected a woman who held her own, because her spitfire nature shone as she spoke with a smile on her face, shouting right back at the Royal Navy themselves.
“You know him?” I questioned, nearing the window to put eyes on the “droves” Jo had mentioned.
There were at least thirty men out there. I cursed under my breath. Quite a gathering for one woman.
“I know all of them,” she said. “I’ve spent more time in jail than free here at this point.” She chuckled dryly, and my admiration grew a bit more.
I redirected my attention to Ainsley. “Thirty men. I know you're skilled, love, but I’m not convinced either of us are that good.”
Ainsley lifted the curtain and peeked out, quickly dropping it. “Uh, Jo,” she said, her eyes wide. “You might want to put those out.”
Looking out my own window again, I spotted the guards lighting mechanical torches, aimed in the direction of the house. “What the…? Bloody hell.”
“A sort of fire amusement,” Jo said. “How do you think so many homes caught fire so quickly? They paraded around with those things earlier on.”
“For you?” I inquired, intrigued as to why these men would wish to harm this woman.
Jo shook her head. “No, because it’s a Tuesday, and they wanted to remind the village who’s in charge.”
Bash’s madness over losing Ainsley was likely being felt down the line to the grunts themselves if this was his sort of entertainment. Or, if this were normal, it would more than likely grow even worse.
Jo peered over my shoulder to Ainsley. “No one knows I cast magic, girl. Not for certain, at least.”
Ainsley glanced out the window once more before dropping the curtain and walking toward us. “You might not have a choice now. Come with us. Let us get out of here together—and run. We have an airship.”
Jo observed her steadily, then rubbed the side of her face. “It’s a fool’s errand. The shipyard is half a mile from here at least.”
“We have to try,” Ainsley pleaded.
I placed my hand at the small of her back, looking down at her determined gaze, fixated on Jo.
“This is your last warning.” The lieutenant's shouts sounded again.
“I must agree with Ainsley,” I said to Jo. “We will be safer together. I don’t see that you have any other options at your disposal.”
Jo eyed us, staring at my arm around Ainsley before shaking her head and tossing her hands up in the air. “Oh, to be young and full of hope.” She stepped away from the window and cracked her neck. “Let’s pray death doesn’t have its arms open wide for us tonight.”
I moved to put my sword away, and Jo grabbed my wrist. “You’re going to want to keep that close. I’ll knock the fire out and rattle them if I can. When I move, you follow close. I’ll weave us to the shipyard. You better hope your men are ready,” Jo said, eyeing me up and down.
“They always are.” I smiled, confident in Rek’s paranoia. Especially as he’d be hovering over the burning city.
“Time’s up!” The shout from outside had Jo shoving us behind her.
“Stand back,” she barked. “On my command.”
The door to her dwelling flew open, and I gawked at the barrage of fireballs prepared to strike the home. Jo waved her hands, eliminating the flames and sending the closest soldiers flying back on their asses.
It was on.
She fled from the house and Ainsley kept pace as I took up the rear.
“Fire!” The order came, and bullets pommeled into buildings and the dirt around us.
We weaved in and out as Jo had said we would. She knew these streets as well, and her stealth would be what saved us. Every turn she took us on bought us an advantage over our attackers, whose shouts grew farther away each time Jo moved through a different alley.
