Did I just escape from one trap to land in another?
That was a problem for later.
Liang burst in, a large gun in his hand.
“How many?” Emrys asked without even looking at him.
“Three dozen Hollowborn and some of Vexley’s footmen with guns. More are coming.”
Emrys cursed.
“Are you ready to run, little thief?”
He didn’t wait for my answer. Shadows swirled from the wet floor and veiled him. And when they dissipated, he was gone. An unkindness of ravens swarmed the domed chamber instead and left through the steep corridor.
“You heard Lord Emrys, Miss Daphne,” Liang said, his voice laced with urgency. “Let’s get you out of here before this whole place goes to hell. Please keep up.”
I blinked rapidly and ran my shaking fingers through my hair. What should I do? Liang followed the ravens, and his steps died out.
If you want to live, stay close to me, Emrys told me. I’d dwell on his trickery later, I decided, and ran up the corridor toward the battle.
Emrys
Blood and Peaches
The first blow cracked the Hollowborn’s skull like porcelain, black blood staining the checkered tiles.
“Stay close!” I growled at Daphne. Among the thunder of Liang’s gun, the smoke and the smell of gunpowder, she was behind me—a gentle light in the chaos.
Oh, how I missed this—the sound of bone giving way, the crackle of unleashed power surging down my spine like an electric storm. Ibecamethe storm. No longer shackled. No longer still, but deadly like an Apocalypse horseman whose time for vengeance had come.
Darkness clung like armor, my shadows surging forward, cleaving through the next abomination in a spray of black fire. The thing shrieked as it disintegrated. I inhaled through my teeth, tasting the ash, grinning like a madman.
Not bad. Not bad at all, considering that a slice of my power now lingered in Daphne. The manor shook. They came in swarms.
Good. Wish there were more.
They were crawling up the vaulted ceiling like giant insects dropping on us, encircling us.
The more I destroyed here in these halls, the less would remain to plague the world outside. Blades of shadows spiraled from my arms, and I swept a dozen, my laughter shaking the walls.
Even in the fray, I was aware of Daphne. A gasp, a stumble, the jingle of the ridiculous amount of jewelry she was wearing. Among blood frenzy and tactics, I sought her, making sure she was safe.
The Hollowborn came in droves—jagged mouths and eyeless faces. They crawled from every crevice drawn by the shattered wards.
“To the stables!” Liang reminded me, loading his gun. His face was expressionless, but his eye gleamed. Gods, he was enjoying this, too.
Chaos raged through me.
My time had come. And someone had to pay for all these decades I spent rotting in this manor.
“Cagliostro!” I roared. “Are you here? Show yourself, you coward!” If I could only get my hands on the traitorous bastard who locked me here…
Nothing. Only waves and waves of Hollowborn and some of Vexley’s men, the living more cautious than the dead. Liang made quick work of them.
Blood splashed against the tapestries. Black lightning exploded around. My spell shook the bones of the manor.
The Hollowborn screamed, clawing at their faces as my magic tore through them. I barely registered the stench of burning flesh, the splatter on the walls, the distant gunfire from Liang down another hall.
