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Chapter21
We needed the element of surprise, and if I moved too quickly, they’d catch me. But a weapon swooped through the air as the door flung open and I lunged toward Noah, pushing him off the bed as a sharp blade whizzed past my arm, cutting through my shirt.
“Get up!” I said, completely unnecessarily, since Noah was already pulling his blade from under the bed and charging the cloaked figure brandishing daggers with the Seelie symbol. Noah’s advance caught the attacker off guard, and the ottoman next to the chair in the room fell over as the enemy knocked into it.
Before Noah could grab him, he rolled, moving toward the mirror in the room. I whipped out my own sword and jumped on top of the bed in an effort to get at our visitor from a different angle.
As I jumped at him, he shifted the mirror at me and I turned my head, rounding my shoulder to minimize the damage the glass would do as I crashed into it. While the connection sent our new friend stumbling back, it wasn’t enough to knock him off his feet. He agilely bounded across the room, as if he’d practiced here. I could barely see him. My eyes were probably better adjusted than Noah’s since I’d been up, but still the intruder moved as though it was broad daylight and they could see just fine.
As Noah engaged in a duel inside the tight cramped room, I lunged once more at the attacker from the other side, trying to subdue him long enough so that Noah could hold him and we could bring him down together. Question him.
The stranger got the upper hand with Noah, simply throwing him off balance, but that momentary lapse was enough for him to swing his sword at me.
I twisted, growling as I fought his blade, stopping it before it crashed into my neck.
Noah was back, throwing a punch to his face before engaging in their sword fight again.
If I could get the hood down, perhaps we could have an inkling of who this was. Whoever they were, they were adept at fighting, taking on both of us.
I ran the two steps forward to the fight, sliding sideways and knocking the attacker off his feet.
I wanted to get the sword from him as well, but he clung to it, sliding across the wooden floor as Noah and I both reached down to grab him.
The space was tight, and in the darkness and confusion I knocked into Noah’s head.
“Ah, sorry!” I yelled as the little snake slithered between us.
We all stopped, the window illuminated the man’s hooded figure.
We had him now. We’d find out who this son of a bitch was. Noah glanced at me and we charged.
But instead of fighting back, the cloaked figure ran to the side, leaping forward at full force as he broke through the window.
He soared through it and onto the ground below, picking up in a run.
“Noah,” I shouted, running backward a few paces and sheathing my sword. “He can’t get away!”
With that, I sprinted toward the window myself, closing my eyes as I barreled through it into a free fall toward the street below.
My ankle rolled as I landed, but I couldn’t stop. I flung myself forward, operating on adrenaline only. The figure darted through the empty streets. I wished some people had been out, it might have slowed him down, but with the curfew enacted, we were basically just racing, and he had the lead.
I could hear Noah catching up behind me until he was right beside me. One glance and I knew he was as motivated as I was.
“Where are the others?” I said, shouting.
Noah shook his head and pressed forward, inching ahead of me.
We ran through the town, gaining on the attacker, but he started throwing objects at us, slowing our advances. A few barrels were cut loose as he ran by one of the now empty market stands, sending wooden barrels rolling in front of our path.
“Ugh,” I cried, avoiding them, but narrowly keeping myself from falling.
A few carts were dislodged from the side of the road and pulled forward. But Noah and I moved gracefully around everything. The attacker’s attempts to hinder us helped us catch up the distance that had been between us initially.
Finally, he turned, throwing another sharp object, like the one that had cut my arm inside the bedroom.
“Look out!” I yelled at Noah. He ducked, heeding my warning.
More objects came flying our way, but we avoided them successfully, continuing our chase.
