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She scoffed.
I whipped the chain forward. It coiled around their feet before I ripped it backward. “I’m serious, Huntress. I won’t kill them if I don’t have to. I’ll take them down; you take them out.”
“And when that stops working?” she asked with a grunt, as another guard rounded the corner.
“Don’t speak as if you’re already defeated.”
A man surged forward, reaching for her. I slung a dagger across his hand. When he drew back, Paesha struck, sinking the tip of her sword into his stomach. Had it been my blade, he would have died. But since it was her, he’d survive it, and I envied her for it.
Another two guards appeared, and I whispered so only she could hear me. “Don’t let them pass. Stay on my left. The second there’s a break, we run.” I turned to stare viciously into those cold, mismatched eyes. “There’s a painting around the corner. It’s a woman holding a red vase. If this goes to shit, grab Quill and take the passage behind it. The hinges are on the right side, and they squeak when you open it.”
Her breath caught as she realized what I was saying. I would be the one to stay behind.
“That’s not an option, Maiden.”
I lowered my chin as the guard she’d been fighting closed in. “No one gives a shit if I’m captured. Quill needs you to get her out of here. She’s just a kid.”
“Together, then.”
Paesha was a whirlwind of steel, her sword silently slicing through the air with beautiful precision. She’d trained, and it showed. I couldn’t help but notice some of her movements reminded me of Orin’s. We fought, battling in sync, stacking, letting the bodies of her victims fall into a pile. But the guards kept coming, and we were tiring.
They charged in waves, and while Paesha moved like a dancer, I moved like a killer, taking them down one by one. She was quick and precise. But she was not trained like I was. Our only advantage was how little experience these men had with true fighters. War had only been a promise for so long now, so most knew nothing of its brutality.
After what felt like an eternity of battling, of taxed muscles and aching shoulders, we managed to thin their ranks, though the bodies had piled up. A very distant part of me could feel the coil of Death’s power thrumming in my veins. Urging me to take the immortality of the maimed. As if I’d lusted for the blood of the fallen. And maybe I had, especially when I’d killed that single guard. But the post-power fatigue hadn’t come to me and, as far as I knew, neither had Death. Though maybe he lurked, waiting for more to die.
The Huntress drove her sword into the throat of the last guard to come for us. Minimally, he would never speak again. Likely, he’d struggle with every breath for the rest of his hundred years.
“Go!” I shouted, spinning on a heel to grab Quill from where she stood, eyes shut, ears covered, sobs wracking her body.
I led the way, leaping over the thrashing and moaning men, who were too ignorant to have saved themselves. The hallway was stained with so much blood, nearly as much as she and I had been, but we’d almost made it to our escape route.
“Wait,” Paesha hissed, jamming an arm out to stop me from leaving the hall. She pointed to her sword before gesturing for us to press our backs against the wall.
I held a firm hand over Quill’s mouth to hide the sobs as Paesha’s battle cry pierced the air and she lunged, jamming her weapon out just in time to cut the guard down. But she’d missed, the blade bouncing off his silver armor.
With only the top of his face hiding behind a steel mask, the beast of a man looked down at her with a terrible grin before snatching her around the throat and lifting her from the ground. Her legs swung wildly, and despite my hand, Quill released a gut-wrenching scream that filled me with so much fear I could hardly concentrate.
Gods. I’d have to kill two men today.
I didn’t have time to process what kind of monster that made me. Setting the child down for the second time, I ran forward, throwing all my weight into a kick at the back of his legs. He fell hard to his knees but hadn’t released the Huntress. I went in with my dagger. Paesha scraped at his clutched hand with her fingers. He swung his massive arms, unable to get to a standing position, thank the old gods.
In the heat of the moment, the bloodied hall became a blur. She lunged forward. I threw a dagger, the man stilled, and Paesha froze. Seconds later, he was on the ground, unmoving.
“Come on, we have to go!” Her tense voice forced the world back into motion.
The dark passageway was not empty. We’d tucked against walls and held our breaths, keeping Quill as quiet as possible but allowing her to run on her own. She hadn’t balked at the spiderwebs, nor squealed at the mice. She was as determined as we were.
It hadn’t occurred to me to ask if she could swim until we’d jumped into the disgusting water.
“Hold your breath, Quilly,” Paesha said, treading the murky filth, her voice quiet. “Just like Orin taught you last summer, okay?”
I scanned her eyes for a reason behind the tremble in her words but saw nothing there. It wasn’t until we were peeking out of the water on the other side, staring up at the parapet, that I saw her wince. She’d be fine, of course, but she could slow down our escape. And we couldn’t afford to draw anyone toward the Syndicate house. Not if we were going to hide Quill. It seemed few knew where she stayed.
Cradling her side as we pulled ourselves out of the moat, Paesha slowed before reaching Hollis and Althea in the carriage.
“Show me,” I demanded, the second we were racing through the city streets.
“Mind your business, Maiden,” she answered with an eye roll.
