22
Keeping my back against the boxes, I moved as quietly as I could. My heartbeat sounded loud in my ears, practically drumming along. The scent of the dirt and dust of the boxes filled my nostrils, mixed with the heavy scent of the herbs I had taken from Della’s house that clung to me like a heavy perfume.
Though I knew everything to be completely dark, I saw in a series of shadows. Before moving on, I glanced again at the boxes, wondering where Lorst could have taken me. Few places could hold this many boxes, making it a warehouse of some kind, possibly one of the warehouses along the dock. I knew of no other warehouses within Elaeavn.
I paused long enough to prepare a few darts. There had not been time to gather any morgan berries, so I ignored the cander powder. Unfortunate. The powder would be more potent than my alternatives. That left me with barsange leaves and the greavethorn. Had I thought of it, I would have crushed the leaves before leaving Della’s house. As it was, I worried about how loud it would be. Any sound seemed out of place, enough to get me caught. Or killed.
After placing the leaves into my cloak to deaden the sound, I quickly pinched them between my fingers. I grabbed a small vial from my pouch and crumbled the leaves into the vial. The stem would be harder. I had to snap it in half to reach the retained sap for this to work. The sound would draw attention.
Once I did it, I would have to move quickly. If there were someone in the warehouse who could Slide, they would be on me as soon as they heard the sound. If they were Elvraeth, they would be Sighted too. I had not bothered to hide my tracks; it would not have mattered on the dusty floor.
Not wanting to wait any longer, I snapped the greavethorn stem.
The sound seemed to explode in the warehouse. My heart hammered loud enough that it alone could get me discovered.
I worked quickly, dripping the sap into my vial and stirring the ingredients together with the end of one of my makeshift darts. I loaded half a dozen with the slippery liquid, a sedative that should knock my attackers out quickly, but that number wasn’t enough to help me feel prepared. Other than these few darts, I had my knife. Not nearly enough, but all that I had.
I hurried forward, slipping along the corridor of stacked boxes. At another intersection, I turned, moving toward where I thought I’d heard Cael sigh. It bothered me that I’d heard nothing since then. I could not lose her, not again.
The line of boxes ended, opening into a shape almost like a room with stacked boxes for walls. Cael slumped on a chair, dull chains wrapped around her wrists and ankles. Blood dribbled down the corner of her mouth.
I heard a soft skittering sound and ducked just in time. A long knife went sailing over my head, tumbling end over end before sinking into one of the boxes. I did not bother turning toward it, instead focusing on the soft shimmering moving along the edge of the blocked-off area.
The Slider.
Whoever it was moved quickly, skimming forward a few steps each time they moved. Much like Lorst, only with none of the casual smoothness that he managed. I flicked a dart at the spot I thought they would appear in next. The first sailed high, but the second did not. Unfortunately, the dart caught on the trailing edge of a dark cloak.
Where was Lorst?
I hated that I needed him, that he could help, but what choice did I have against another who could Slide? His help could be the difference in Cael’s survival.
I readied another pair of darts. Shadows shimmered again. I followed the movement, a trailing sort of shape. The Slider reappeared behind Cael. Dark hair edged with streaks of gray. A sharp jawline. A heavy wool cloak, the cut of which reminded me more of Thyr than of Elaeavn.
A long bladed knife was clutched in his hand, the point suddenly piercing the edge of her neck. He watched me with an almost amused smile.
“You should guard your thoughts, Galen.”
Damn.
I slammed my barriers into place. I’d lowered them as I searched for Cael, wanting to let her know that I still searched for her, but should have shielded my thoughts as I attacked.
“You know my name,” I said. I twisted the darts in my hand, backing toward one of the stacks of boxes. I could not see over my head, but I would not be caught from behind.
“And how you feel for this one.”
The darts trembled. I could flick them—I knew my speed and thought I could make the throw before he pushed with the knife, but I did not know how accurate they were. Not like my usual darts. Had any of them remained, perhaps the first would have hit.
“You don’t need her,” I said. “You just wanted the crystal. You have it; now let her go.”
He shook his head. “Not yet, I think. Not without your friend showing himself.”
Lorst. Where was Lorst?
“I came alone,” I said.
The knife pressed deeper. I could practically feel it sinking into her flesh, as if it hurt me as much as it hurt her.
“You think I didn’t Read you when you first appeared? You planned on Lorst being here as well.”
Planned. Somehow he didn’t know that Lorst had brought me here.
My mind raced, trying to piece out how. Had he read me when we first appeared, he would have been after us longer. That he hadn’t told me that something hid us from him, at least at first. And I had lowered my barriers so that Cael could know that I was here.
“He only showed me where to go. There was no promise of help,” I said, thinking to delay.
The knife hesitated. I thought to send one of my darts but still didn’t dare. I could not risk him jerking and slamming the knife deeper into Cael. No amount of healing would bring her back then.
He tried Reading me, scrambling at the barriers inside my head. From the way the corners of his eyes twitched, I knew that he failed. Not like Cael. She could climb over any barrier I managed to create. Against just one, even a Slider, she should have been safe. How had he kept her from Compelling him?
“You should have left her, Galen, returned to Eban. You will not find Elaeavn any more welcoming than when you last were here.”
I smiled bitterly. “You are mistaken, friend.” I saw Cael blink twice at me and swore I felt her whispering in the back of my mind. “Elaeavn was never welcoming to me.”
He surprised me by smiling widely, like a wolf showing his fangs. “No. I suppose for one like you it would not be.”
I chose not to take the bait as I nodded toward Cael. “You know that she is one of your family. Her father will be angered to learn what you have done to her.”
The knife tensed again. A stream of blood dripped down Cael’s neck. An artery ran just beneath the knife and if he pierced it, there would be nothing I could do to stop the flow. My hope now was to distract him enough—just enough—that he gave me a window to flick one of my darts.
“You think I don’t know who she is?” He laughed softly. The sound died out quickly in the warehouse, fading into the shadows and darkness. “Ironic that it would be her to lose the crystal. Yet fitting. A shame you chose to kill her, Galen.”
At that moment, the fabric of his shirt shifted as his arm tensed. I could wait no longer.
With a flick of my wrist, the dart flew forward. This one flew true and should have hit the arm holding the knife. If Cael was lucky, the arm would go immediately numb and he’d drop the knife.
But it missed. He Slid, taking Cael with him. They reappeared barely two paces to the left of where she had been. The dart now hung uselessly from a box behind their last position.
His laugh deepened. “How many darts do you have left, Galen? I know that you prepared only a few. I can keep this up far longer than you.”
“Who are you?” I asked.
His eyes narrowed and shadows clouded his face. “Someone who is ready to take the next step. Who is ready to do what others would not. Who is willing to—”
I saw the shimmer before the Elvraeth Slider.
Cael disappeared. The Slider stood holding the knife pointed at empty air.
Lorst appeared, standing casually across from the other Slider. “Who enjoys talking too much,” he said, as if finishing for him. “Always too much, Josun.”
A sneer parted Josun’s mouth. “Lorst. You have returned.”
There was something about the way he said the name that made me stare at Lorst. A familiarity. They had faced each other before.
Josun ignored me the moment Lorst arrived, as if I was no longer much of a threat. I was unaccustomed to being so summarily dismissed, but watching as they Slid, shimmering from place to place as they reappeared, I realized that neither had much to fear from me right now. The worst I could do would be to knock one of them unconscious, and only then if I managed a lucky throw of my dart.
“I would say the same to you, only I think you wish you could really return. It’s a shame that the council no longer thinks you should.”
Lorst flickered around the small area as he spoke, moving steps at a time almost as if punctuating his words as he Slid. The other Slider moved along with him, making it seem as if they danced. And then Lorst flung a pair of knives.
Both missed, but the Elvraeth Slider’s face changed, turning angry.
I crept backward, careful to keep the boxes behind me, another pair of darts in hand. I might not be able to do much now, but I wanted to be ready for whoever ended up victorious. Though he might have helped me—and even kept his word—I didn’t feel certain that Lorst could be fully trusted.
“Galen?”
I turned at Cael’s soft whisper and saw her only a few paces from me, chair wedged between two massive stacks of boxes. I resisted the urge to run over to her, careful to pay attention to what Lorst and the Elvraeth were doing. I couldn’t risk either suddenly appearing next to me or, worse, behind me, but they both seemed more concerned about the other.
“Here again, Josun?” Lorst was saying. “You have not given up on this delusion? Has not Brusus shown you that you were mistaken?”
Something about the name triggered a memory, though I could not remember quite why. Someone Della knew, I felt certain.
I reached Cael. Blood trickled from her nose and from a wound on her cheek, but she looked otherwise unharmed. Running my hands over her arms and legs, I looked for signs of other injuries, the type that weren’t so easily seen, but thankfully found none.
The chains holding her were lorcith and too tight for me to slip off her wrists or legs. I would have to carry her out.
“Not yet, Galen,” she said.
“Are you…”
“I’ll survive,” she said. “Thank you for coming for me.”
Lorst and the Elvraeth still moved around the open area, taunting each other. I wondered when one of them would attack, what made the Elvraeth delay.
“I told you that I would get you home safely.”
“Is that the only reason you came for me?” she asked.
I met her eyes, risking that momentary distraction. “You know that it’s not.”
She smiled.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement.
I flicked a dart and was rewarded with a soft cry. A sellsword, different than the one I had seen patrolling outside. How many more might there be?
It was then that I understood why the Elvraeth delayed. Give the sellswords time to arrive. And then let them take Lorst.
Thinking myself foolish, I looked around, heart nervously pounding. Stationed between boxes were four different sellswords. Another three stood atop the boxes, holding crossbows. My back suddenly throbbed, as if remembering the last time I had been shot.
Lorst could Slide away from this, but there would be no way that Cael and I would get free. Not without a fight.
23
I tapped Cael on the arm softly, pointing around the room to the different sellswords. The four men on the ground carried sharp Neelish blades. Likely as not, the blades had been rubbed in poison, though I didn’t know what they used. Most pierced by a Neelish blade died quickly, painfully. I wouldn’t know of an antidote without knowing the poison.
“Can you Compel them?” I whispered.
Her eyes flickered to them. “I’m weakened. Compulsion takes great energy. Can you get us out of here?”
I shook my head. “Not with the chains. I could carry you but not protect you at the same time.” I didn’t dare leave her open to attack from one of the sellswords.
She looked at the three men standing atop the boxes. I saw tension on her face that I had not seen since we left Eban. I couldn’t tell if she was scared, but she certainly seemed tired.
A thought came to me and I nodded toward the men on top of the boxes. “I need only one. Have him give me cover.”
She nodded once. “Galen, if this doesn’t work…”
I didn’t let her finish. Without thinking about what I did, I leaned toward her and kissed her on the mouth. She kissed back, smelling of sweat and fear but tasting of fresh rain. I didn’t want to die without taking the chance to kiss her once.
“I just need one,” I said, pulling back.
“You will have it.”
I palmed my remaining darts. Six remained, two of which were tipped in toxins I’d mixed before coming to Elaeavn, making their efficacy uncertain. The rest were only sedatives. If this worked, then a sedative would be all we needed to buy us the time to escape.
Lorst flipped knives toward Josun but continued to miss. Both men Slid from place to place, never lingering long enough for the other to get a fix. I couldn’t tell how Lorst threw his knives. They seemed to appear from beneath his cloak and fling toward the Elvraeth without being touched. Some even seemed to pull out from the wooden boxes they had lodged into before shooting out in another direction. Did he simply Slide too fast for me to see?
I didn’t have to wait long for Cael’s Compulsion to take hold. Atop the stack of boxes, the man nearest us suddenly turned and fired his crossbow at one of the other men across from him. He fell from the top of the boxes in a heap.
The other man turned, aiming his crossbow. I didn’t give him the chance to pull the trigger. My dart flew true and he fell, dropping his crossbow to the ground as he slumped across the box.
The other sellswords started moving.
At first, they seemed to ignore me, focusing on Lorst. If they got too close to him, it wouldn’t take much of the poison on their blades to incapacitate him. Sliding as he did, he might not see them. Not as I could.
As strange as it seemed, I’d have to protect Lorst for us to have any chance of escape.
I quickly flicked two darts. Both struck home, the first hitting one of the sellswords in the neck, the other flying askew but catching the man in the shoulder. They fell immediately.
The remaining sellswords realized that I was there and turned toward me. Lorst flickered in front of me briefly and glanced over at Cael before Sliding again, disappearing in a shimmering of shadows. Josun followed him. Neither seemed concerned about me.
Sellswords stood on opposite sides facing me, working together to force me to divide my attention. It was not the first time I had faced such tactics, but usually I was better prepared. A crossbow bolt went zipping toward one of the men but missed. Cael still Compelled her man. I did not need another attacker.
One of the sellswords made a run at me, dancing toward me with his sword whirling.
I flicked a dart. The sword deflected it, sending it back toward me.
Without waiting, I sent another. This one missed as well, flying high and over his head. One of the makeshift darts. My usual darts would fly true.
That left me with one dart and two attackers.
But I didn’t see the other. While the one made a run at me, the other had drifted into darkness. With an angry flick of my wrist, I sent my last dart toward the man charging me. It hit him in the arm, burying deep into his flesh. He toppled forward, sprawled acro
ss the ground.
I glanced over my shoulder. Cael still focused on the man overhead on the boxes. Her eyes drifted closed. How much longer could she hold onto the Compulsion? I didn’t know what would happen if she lost control, if the sellsword would regain his focus.
Where was the other man? I didn’t see him, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t nearby. It didn’t help that Lorst and the Elvraeth continued to Slide in and out of sight, obscuring my view and distracting me as they did.
Cael gasped softly.
I turned quickly. The last sellsword had his sword extended overhead, ready to slice toward her. I had no darts remaining.
Just a knife.
With a quick motion, I sent the knife spiraling toward the sellsword. It sunk through his cheek, piercing the back of his head with a spray of blood. When his sword clattered to the ground, relief flooded me.
Then something struck my shoulder. Hot pain shot through my arm.
I looked down to see a crossbow bolt sticking out of the same shoulder Della had healed. Blood ran down my arm, hot and thick. My hand twitched uselessly.
Cael’s Compulsion had failed.
Looking up, I saw the man readying the next bolt. There wasn’t enough time to do anything that would keep him from firing, not that I had anything I could hit him with.
It seemed that he raised his arm in slow motion. I readied to duck, but he aimed it not at me, but at Cael.
I felt helpless and looked around for something—anything—I could throw at him. On the ground not four paces from me lay one of the crossbows. I dove, grabbing it and rolling, pointing up toward the man as I fired, fearfully holding my breath.
I heard the snap of his crossbow firing and I heard him let out a harsh cry as the bolt I’d shot at him sunk into his neck. He fell, dropping from the boxes and landing on the ground in a growing pool of blood.
With trepidation, I turned back to Cael, fearing the worst.
Somehow, she looked unharmed.
Lorst stood nearby, a surprised look on his face as he clutched his stomach.
The Forgotten (The Sighted Assassin Book 2) Page 15