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Twisting, I ripped my hair from his fist. I tackled his legs, knocked him down, and clawed at his eyes with my fingernails. When he covered his face with his hands, his scimitar clattered on the floor.
I lunged, my fingers straining to reach it.
“Ardis!”
Gasping, I scrambled to my feet.
Wendel stretched out his empty hands. Surrendering. He never looked away from me as he fell to his knees and let the assassins capture him.
Chunks of the plasterwork ceiling fell. The backbone of the Sofiensaal groaned, then broke. Fire plunged from above and roared across the ballroom. I stumbled back and shielded myself from the heat. Smoke stung my eyes. Blinking back tears, I tore the skirt of my gown and pressed the silk to my mouth.
When the smoke drifted away, Wendel had vanished.
33
Ifled from the burning ballroom.
Coughing, I sucked in a lungful of cold, sweet air. When I stumbled upon a horse hitched to an ambulance, it whinnied and shied away with flattened ears. Firefighters scrambled to pump water onto the flames.
“Thank goodness you’re all right!”
Lady Maili touched my arm. The sleeves of her beautiful silk gown looked a bit singed, and her eyes were bloodshot from the smoke.
I cleared my throat. “Have you seen Wendel?”
“I’m afraid not,” Lady Maili said. “Are you alone? Why don’t you come with me?”
“Thank you, but I can’t.”
Lady Maili pursed her lips and let me go.
I wandered into the street.
The night whirled around me like a merry-go-round that wouldn’t stop. Konstantin. He could help. Flames still bright in my eyes, I plodded through Vienna.
Wind raked its fingers through my hair and scraped the heat from my skin. Shivering, I hugged myself. My lungs burned with every breath.
Why did I feel like I was drowning?
Smoke. It had to be the smoke.
Shadows smothered me. Not much farther to the Hall of the Archmages. Not much farther before I was off the streets. What if the assassins were already hunting me? I walked faster, my teeth chattering.
Across the street, a tall man stalked with purpose. His pale hair glinted in the lamplight. I had seen him before, in the photograph inside my locket.
My father.
The Grandmaster.
Between one blink and the next, he disappeared. Was he no more than a hallucination?
I staggered to the Hall of the Archmages. Gasping, I leaned against the doors until they groaned open. The room tilted. I landed on my knees. I clawed my way standing again, only to sprawl out onto the floor. The chilly marble beneath my cheek soothed the burning of my skin.
I splayed my fingers against the stone and clung to the sensation of reality.
Then I fell into darkness.
“Ardis?”
